Oath to an Ed

"Oath to an Ed" is the 22nd episode of Season 1 and the 22nd episode of Ed, Edd n Eddy. In this episode, the Urban Rangers are introduced and Eddy seems interested in joining due to their uniforms. The Eds then try to complete the deeds of the Urban Rangers in order to get the official uniforms.

Plot
Edd starts his morning by taking a shower. When he returns to his room, he finds that there are some new clothes laid out on his bed, and he happily puts them on. Unfortunately, they are stiff and restrict his movement, and when Double D heads outside, he finds that his friends are also wearing the stiff new clothes, apropos of a sale. Eddy, unhappy with the clothes, leads his friends to the creek, where they wash their clothes to break them in. The clothes are poorly made, however, and when the Eds take them out of the water they crumble into pieces.

Later on, the Eds are clothed normally and are lazing about in a tree, eating cherries, when Rolf captures Eddy with a butterfly net and brings him back to Jonny and Jimmy, claiming that he has just demonstrated how to rescue a kitten from a tree. Eddy is at first upset, but this manner disappears when he notices the cool clothes the three are wearing. When he asks where the uniforms came from, he learns that Jimmy, Jonny, and Rolf are members of the Urban Rangers, and that they can become members too if they are able to earn a badge.

The trio are each given a red neckerchief that designates them as "Wee Roaches" (aka recruits) and given a task to earn a badge. The other Rangers will be participating in this task as well. The task Rolf assigns is the "Don't Bug Me I'm In The Hammock" badge. Eddy is confident that they'll be able to earn a badge, and Edd rigs up a system of ropes and pulleys for Ed to use to lower them into the hammock. Things soon go wrong, though, when an excited Ed leaps into the hammock, tearing it. The Eds only hope is to rig up a painted piece of wood that shows them in the hammock, but Rolf is smart enough to easily see through this ruse, and as a result the Eds do not receive a badge.

The next task is to trim the hedges, an important part of suburban life. While Eddy trims as fast as he can, Edd works slowly and carefully. Ed is instructed not to do anything this time, and so he stands around idly. When the time comes for Rolf to inspect the hedges, the Eds have done good work and it seems like they'll get a badge. Ed intervenes again, however, this time pulling on one of the shrub's roots and totally uprooting it, ruining his friends' efforts. The Eds do not win a badge, of course.

For their third task, the Eds have to walk an old lady across the street. Unfortunately, Rolf's Nana was busy and could not volunteer, so instead Rolf has recruited Nazz to help. Upon seeing her, the Eds start to sweat. Eddy volunteers Ed for the job, but Ed refuses, instead pushing forward Double D, who faints. Rolf then tells Eddy to do it, and Eddy worriedly grasps Nazz's hand and starts to lead her across the street. When he finishes, he lets go and relaxes, only to gasp when he realizes he lead Ed across the street. To add insult to injury, Ed notes that Eddy's hand is really sweaty. Rolf then comes over, and while he does congratulate Eddy on his form, he also notes that Ed is not Nazz, and refuses to give them a badge.

The next task the Eds will face is remarkably easy. All they have to do is microwave a frozen burrito. Edd goes to work, reading the instructions and punching them in, but Eddy gets impatient and increases the microwave temperature and speed. The burrito then overheats and explodes all over the Eds and Rolf. Rolf gives them yet another task: changing a roll of toilet paper. They fail when the toilet paper holder flies all over the room and lands in the toilet. Fed up, Rolf storms away, declaring that they will never get a badge.

Rolf has taken a candied beet and is eating it to calm his nerves when Eddy arrives and begs for one last chance. Fed up, and just wanting to eat his beet in peace, Rolf agrees, and Eddy leaves. Shortly thereafter, the Eds last test is given: they have to deliver a pie to a neighbor and be nice to her. As Eddy approaches the ramshackle prop house, Edd warns him to mind his manners. Eddy knocks on the door, and when it opens he starts to go into a spiel about how he baked his a pie for his neighbor only to have the pie flipped into his face. The neighbor they've been faced with is Sarah, who is going to take full advantage of her untouchable position to mock Eddy. While Eddy tries to stay calm and continue with his speech, soon her taunts become too much, and he shuts up to try and keep from saying anything. Eventually, though, her taunts drive him over the edge, and he yells at her, which causes Rolf to refuse Eddy any chance at getting a badge. Eddy then asks for another chance, which only makes Rolf even madder.

The Eds stand by the sidewalk, and Rolf strips them of their neckerchiefs. Rolf then sentences them to the "Walk of Shame" and has Jonny bring him a bucket of lard. For doing this, Jonny gets a badge, which only angers Eddy further. The lard is then poured on the sidewalk, and the Eds are pushed in. As the Eds slip and slide down the sidewalk, Rolf and Jonny salute while Jimmy plays the drums. We are then treated to a shot of Plank, decked out in full Urban Ranger regalia; even he, it seems, was able to complete tasks and earn badges.

Memorable Quotes
Eddy: "Rolf, please. Give us one more chance. Please!" Rolf: "Yes, one more chance now, let me finish my beet!"
 * Rolf: "Those Ed-Boys are crazy like chickens. Except they lay no eggs! Ah, candied beets to calm my nerves."

Ed: [blindfolded] "Is it fun yet?" [Edd giggles.] Eddy: "Kind of frilly, ain't it?" Jonny: "That scarf makes you a Wee Roach, just like Plank!" Jimmy: "We were Wee Roaches, till we got our badges. See? Light Bulb Changing Badge, Garbage Bag Replacement Badge, Clothes-Pin Alignment Badge and Laundry Sorting Badge." Rolf: "Line up and present yourselves so you may earn a new badge! Look, Wee Roaches, the Don't-Bug-Me-I'm-In-The-Hammock badge."
 * Edd: [fiddling nervously with the neckerchief] "Oh dear, a new neurosis."

Eddy: [complaining while trying to move his arms through the stiff clothes] "I hate new clothes!" Ed: "I love clothes." Eddy: "Let's go break 'em in. Follow me. Aah!" [He falls down.] Ed: [moving step-by-step while chuckling at the same time] "Look at me!" Edd: [tiptoeing] "Ed!" Eddy: [struggling to move, his body flat on the ground] "I said, 'FOLLOW ME'!"
 * Edd: [tiptoeing out in his stiff clothes] "There must've been a sale."

Ed: [thinking of yet another B-movie] "It looks like the head of the monster from 'I Was a Teenage Appetizer from Planet Sushi: The Second Coming'." Rolf: [after a brief awkward silence, smiling] "No shears for you, potato Ed-boy!"
 * Rolf: "The Trimming-of-the-Hedge badge is important." [wbringing out a pair of cutters from the box] "It says 'Look at me! I am a hotshot!' Trimming shears are important for this."

Eddy: "I'm into easy! Where's the badge-bearing geriatric?" Rolf: "My Nana was too busy frying weeds, but trendy Nazz-girl agreed to take here place." Nazz: "Hi, guys." [The camera zooms in as the Eds sweat and get nervous as Nazz giggles in the background.] Eddy: [wiping his sweat on Ed's shirt] "Uh, Ed, you're up, pal." Ed: "Uh, Double D wants to." [He shoves Edd forward, and Edd faints.] Rolf: "Wee Roach Eddy, finish this task before nightfall."
 * Rolf: "Next badge. Escorting the elderly across the street should be as easy as combing Papa's back hair."

Trivia

 * Goofs:
 * When Edd read the sticky note, his name was spelled "Edward" when it should have been "Eddward." This is, however, common of his parents and has been seen in many other episodes.
 * When Edd exits his house in his stiff clothes, his house is pink instead of blue.
 * Before Eddy takes off his new stiff clothes, his shoes are there, but they disappear when he takes the clothes off.
 * Eyebrow Color Error.jpge the hedge cutting began, when Rolf was talking about trimming shears being important, his eyebrow is black. However, when Ed comments that the scissors look like the head of a monster from a movie he saw and Rolf stares at him, Rolf's eyebrow is suddenly blue instead of black.
 * This episode marks the very first appearance of the Urban Rangers.
 * This is the first episode where all of the Eds wear different clothes than the ones they normally wear.
 * The Eds only needed one badge in order to become an Urban Ranger (as told by Rolf). However, Eddy gets the "Crybaby Boohoo Badge" in "The Good, The Bad and The Ed" and all of the Eds are given the "Mark of Manhood" badge in Ed, Edd n Eddy - The Mis-Edventures. Jimmy claims that he and Jonny needed multiple badges. However, it is possible that after being removed from the Urban Rangers, the Eds lost all chances of joining again because of their many failures at the tasks they had to do.
 * The burrito that the Eds attempted to microwave had the words: "Burrito: Yoghurt and Liver" on it.
 * This is the fourth time Kevin doesn't appear.
 * This is the 12th time the Kanker Sisters don't appear.
 * This is the first time Edd is seen wearing an undershirt.
 * This is the first time Rolf's Nana is mentioned.
 * We learn that Eddy had a pet gerbil that behaved like Ed before (when Eddy saw Ed act like a washing machine).
 * Apparently, Eddy hates new clothes. Of course, he could only mean that he hates stiff clothes.
 * The Urban Ranger symbol is identical to the loser sign.
 * The background music used in this episode was also heard in Ed, Edd n Eddy - The Mis-Edventures during the fourth scam.
 * Although shears were shown, they did not resemble normal hedge shears but rather scissors.
 * The Urban Rangers were not seen in their regular clothes.
 * Because Plank was promoted to a Ranger at the end of the episode, he is awarded the uniform and wearing it. However, you'll notice in future episodes, he's not wearing the uniform. Plank is still a Ranger but is only seen in his Wee Roach form.
 * This episode was included in the Game Boy Advance Video cartridge entitled Cartoon Network Collection Special Edition.
 * No scams take place in this episode, but Eddy does come up with a scam idea (using Ed as a washing machine to wash the kids' clothes).
 * Ed's line "I love canoes" would be said again in "Rambling Ed."
 * Rolf never referred to himself in the third person in this episode. In most episodes, Rolf usually refers to himself in the third person.
 * Eddy was shown having an interest in the Urban Rangers in this episode. However, after failing the tasks he (along with Ed and Edd) was given, in future episodes such as "An Ed in the Bush" and "Ed Overboard," he is shown to hate them.
 * The title card from "Dueling Eds" is similar to this episode's title card.