Stop, Look and Ed

"Stop, Look and Ed" is the 18th episode of Season 2 and the 44th episode of Ed, Edd n Eddy. In this episode, Eddy believes that following the rules is unnecessary as he believes that nothing seriously bad will happen if a rule gets broken. Eddy then proceeds in convincing the kids of the Cul-de-Sac that they should break all the rules. Eddy succeeds much to the chagrin of rule-abiding Edd.

Plot
The episode begins with The Eds, hard at work building their Jawbreaker Surveillance Satellite. Ed is shown twanging the rubber band despite Edd's warnings that the satellite is not yet finished. Ed soon becomes too anxious on launching their satellite and decides to wind the propeller a bit. The satellite then takes flight and soars haphazardly throughout the neighborhood. The Eds try to follow its path, only to find that it crashed into a tree in a private yard.

Ed and Eddy rush over to retrieve the wreckage, but Edd stops them and points out to them that there is a sign on the lawn that reads "Keep Off The Grass". Eddy asks why should they keep off the grass. Edd reminds his friends about the importance of rules, however, Eddy refuses to obey the sign and takes a step onto the grass which shocks Edd. He then tries to get Edd to step on the grass, but Edd refuses due to it not being in him. Ed then cleverly crawls underneath the grass as if it was a carpet, claiming he is smarter than a sign before ripping some grass off so he can play in the dirt. Eddy's lack of respect for rules and order outrages Edd, but Eddy then decides to find even more rules to break.

Meanwhile, The Kids, save for Rolf, are trying to retrieve their basketball from a patch of wet cement without getting themselves in it. The basketball however sinks before they can get it. Jonny states that could have been them, but it was a good thing Plank read the sign. Eddy arrives to the scene and tells the kids to be disobedient and just get the ball. He then jumps into the cement and retrieves the Kids' basketball. He then convinces the kids that they don't need to follow rules anymore. Edd tries to talk some sense into the Kids, but they take Eddy's side and proceed to begin a spree of rule-breaking by playing in the cement.

Rolf is then shown trying to get a bunch of chores done. Eddy then appears and tells Rolf he should stop doing his chores and do what he wants for a change. Edd protests to Rolf that Eddy is trying to destroy the order as they know it, but Rolf gives up his chores and joins The Kids, who are busy enjoying themselves playing in the patch of wet cement, leaving Edd as the only person who still obeys the rules. Edd is angry with what Eddy did, but Eddy traps him in a box and takes him away to his house in order to "re-educate" him.

In Edd's Room, Eddy attempts to loosen Edd up, while poor Edd can only watch on as Eddy had tied his hat to his bedroom lamp. Eddy starts by rearranging the books on his bookshelf, which Edd claims he had arranged in alphabetical order, but Eddy simply states to Edd, "Alphabets are for soup!". Eddy then finds a book called "Joys of Rules" and he then defaces the said book by trapping a fish in the pages. Edd goes over to give Eddy a thrashing, but his hat gets pulled away by his bedroom lamp in front of his two friends for the first time. Edd puts his hat back on, saying if they tell anyone about what they just saw, he will never speak to the two of them again. After witnessing a hatless Edd, Eddy removes a "Do Not Remove Under Penalty Of Law" tag from Edd's mattress, while Ed litters his room.

After Eddy removes the tag on Edd's mattress, Edd gives up and tells Eddy he'll join them in their spree to destroy order. Eddy is happy to hear this, but Edd gets freaked out when he sees Ed is holding his ant farm. Edd yells at Ed to put down the ant farm, but Ed accidentally drops the ant farm, causing the ants to be set free. Edd grabs Ed's neck with his feet and yells at Ed to pick up his ants. Eddy tells Edd to calm down while Ed says he is sorry. Ed and Eddy quickly escape a berserk Edd and both of them then see the chaos and rule-breaking the Kids are causing.

Eddy is triumphant, and figures that they can do whatever they wish without any rules. But Edd (who happens to be wearing pantyhose on his head as noted by Ed) gets everybody's attention and proudly announces that he'd told on all the kids to their parents and that their parents are coming home to discipline them. The other kids try to get everything back in order after hearing this. Edd tries to assure everyone that order will soon be repaired before he is cut off by an angry Eddy and Ed who grab ahold of him. Eddy states they now have to do what grown-ups tells them again.

An angry Kevin suddenly states to Edd that he broke the number one rule which was don't squeal. Rolf runs by and states Wilfred is a quiet pig. However Kevin convinces Rolf and Jonny that they should punish the Eds for getting them into trouble. Rolf agrees, saying that the closet can wait. Jonny angrily states that he has got goosebumps. Eddy tries to talk himself out of it by claiming that Edd's pantyhose is too tight, but the kids don't accept his excuse.

The Eds are then shown imprisoned in a makeshift bird cage. Eddy states to Edd he can't believe the latter told on them. Edd apologizes and notes that he isn't sure what came over him. He then guess that the flagrant disregard for rules must have caused him to go temporarily insane. The episode ironically ends with the Eds trying to get bypassers to free them by brandishing signs asking for help, but all the kids ignore them as they pass by.

Memorable Quotes

 * Eddy: [to Ed who wants to start the propeller] "Hang onto your neck, Orville."


 * Eddy: [dazed after being hit for six by the out of control machine] "Wait up! That's my waffle."


 * Jimmy: [clinging to the satellite] "Space junk attack! Darn my perfectly manicured nails."


 * Edd: [seeing Eddy standing on his shirt] "Excuse me, but has my shirt become a doormat for everyone's filthy shoes?"

Edd: "I have good news for us all. I took the liberty of phoning all your parents."
 * Ed: [questioning why Edd is wearing a pair of pantyhose on his head] "Why is Double D wearing pantyhose on his head?"


 * Eddy: [mixing up the books on Edd's shelf] "Alphabets are for soup!"


 * Rolf: "Why do you hinder Rolf's drudgery, three-haired Ed-boy? If my chores are not complete, I will be banished to the…cupboard."

Eddy: "Geez Louise." Ed: "Cool." Edd: [puts hat back on] "If you say one word to anyone, I'll never speak to you again!" Ed: [with a skull on his head while dumping crumbled up paper on to the floor from Edd's garbage can] "I am dead from the neck up!"
 * [Edd's hat has come off and Ed and Eddy are staring at Edd, stunned]

Edd: [seeing Ed holding his ant farm] "No, Ed, progress, not PROCESS!! Put them down Ed! You leave my ants alone! [Ed drops his container of ants, and Edd puts his legs around Ed's neck, choking him] 5,239 ants, Ed! Pick them up! PICK THEM UP!" Eddy: "Slow down, Double D." Ed: [choked voice] "I'm sorry."
 * Ed: [while carrying Edd's ant farm] "Yum, like cheese?"

Edd: "Ed, you can't do that!"
 * Ed: [riding Wilfred] "Ed on a pig!"

Rolf: [while chasing his animals] "Wilfred is a very quiet pig, Kevin."
 * Kevin: "Double Dork! You broke the number one rule: don't squeal!"


 * Ed: [He proceeds to bang his head against the dirt] I'm a woodpecker [he resumes, then stops] Except with dirt.

Trivia/Goofs

 * The exact amount of ants Edd has in this episode is 5,239. However, in "The Ed-Touchables" he had 4,837. It's possible that he'd acquired more or that his ants laid eggs.
 * This is the first time Edd's hat comes off, but the audience were only shown Ed and Eddy's reactions to what they saw. Edd's hat comes off again in "The Luck of the Ed" and "Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show".
 * Eddy references the movie The Shining by telling Rolf that "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
 * We learn that Jimmy manicures his fingernails.
 * We learn that Edd goes temporarily insane when rules are broken.
 * Running Gags:
 * 1) Eddy convincing the others to break all the rules.
 * 2) Edd trying to prevent anyone from breaking the rules.
 * Ed, Eddy, and the kids breaking rules.
 * 1) People stepping on Edd's shirt with their filthy shoes.
 * Jimmy is technically wrong and Eddy is technically right, you won't get cramps by eating before you swim.
 * Near the end of the episode, when the Eds are trapped in a cage, Jonny can be heard saying the line "Listen to the clams gurgle in the bucket, Plank." This line was spoken by Jonny in "Who, What, Where, Ed". Also, Jonny also said "Gesundheit!", which he said it from the episode "Key to My Ed".
 * Near the end of the episode, when the kids are about to put the Eds in their cage, at the same time, Kevin's shadow appears and the camera zooms out. You can see Eddy's shoes are missing.
 * In the beginning of the episode Ed's leg is wrapped around the ladder Edd is standing on, but in the next scene he is standing on the ground.
 * Eddy calls Ed "Orville", a reference to Orville Wright, one of the Wright Brothers.
 * 27th time the Kankers did not appear.
 * Rolf is shown with four toes while he is relaxing, but all the other characters have three toes.
 * Rolf says to Eddy that if he doesn't do his chores, he will be banished to the cupboard, but later he says, "Yes, the closet can wait". Whether or not this was a mistake is unknown.
 * Rolf is shown with a tan after he abandons his chores; but when Edd reveals he has phoned everybody's parents his skin color returns to normal on the line "Yes, the closet can wait".
 * This episode appeared in the GameBoy Advance video entitled "Cartoon Network Collection Vol. 1".
 * This is the first time that one of the kids are naked (in this case Jonny).
 * Eddy's feet and shoes got covered up in cement due to them being in the wet cement for a while. However when Eddy is about to throw the giant box down on Edd, his feet no longer have cement on them.

Rules Broken
This is a list of all the rules that were broken in this episode and who broke them:
 * Eddy and Ed broke the "Keep off the Grass" sign rule (though Ed was technically not on the grass, as Edd stated).
 * Everyone, besides Edd, broke the "Keep Off of the Wet Cement" sign rule.
 * Ed rode on Wilfred (Edd told him he can't do that).
 * Eddy tied Edd's hat onto a ceiling lamp.
 * Ed and Eddy ate some cake with their hands.
 * Eddy talked while he had his mouth full.
 * Eddy trapped a fish in the "Joys of Rules" book (after telling Edd he should get a life).
 * Eddy ripped off the "Do Not Remove Under Penalty of the Law" tag on Edd's mattress (claiming he felt his hand was slipping before doing so).
 * Rolf became a lazy good-for-nothing and let his animals run around the neighborhood.
 * Kevin broke the dirty dishes using rocks launched by a slingshot.
 * Nazz drank soda and rudely burped (Kevin noted that was "good on ya").
 * Jonny ran around naked (except his sandals, and Plank covering his sensitive area. He even told Plank to feel the wind).
 * Sarah and Jimmy pigged out on ice cream in a kiddie pool.
 * Eddy rearranged Edd's books (which Edd claimed were alphabetized, but Eddy states in response that alphabets are for soup).
 * Ed threw Edd's trash onto the ground and put his plastic skull on his head (claiming "I am dead from the neck up!").
 * Edd broke the No.1 Rule - "Don't squeal" (as stated by Kevin).

Video
eL6UdWhYvfo