Given that Earl Hickey, played by Jason Lee, is the main character in the show and is trying to turn his life around, one might think that he would be a better candidate for being the best character. But in this case, the Crab Man, aka Darnell Turner, aka Eddie Steeples, is a lock for the best character for a couple of reasons. For one, the character was almost always completely chill and didn’t worry that much about anything. He had his moments when he was definitely stressed out, but quite often Darnell was the most chill character on the show and didn’t let much bother him. As a highly-educated man that lived in a trailer park thanks to Witness Protection, which was discovered in flashbacks during the course of the show, Darnell was definitely out of place among the rest of the characters. There were times when he dumbed it down just enough to appear that he really did belong in his situation, but the Crab Man was more or less the diamond in the rough since he was capable of putting up with everyone and keeping his own level of intelligence a secret at the same time.
Of course, My Name is Earl was more cartoonish than a lot of shows, but the quality of the show wasn’t such a big deal since it was a lot of fun and brought to life several memorable characters that are easy to understand and get into. The fact that Darnell was married to Joy Turner, played by Jaime Pressly, was kind of awkward since he and Joy’s ex, Earl, were still good friends, but Joy was a definite pain in the rear that could be sweet but was usually downright nasty. But the pairing of the two was still hilarious since it put one of the most aggressive characters with the most docile, at least outwardly, and it worked in a way that was hard to imagine at first.
But on top of that, Darnell was a great character since he tried to be friends with just about everyone. He had his likes and dislikes and definitely had his pet peeves, such as guns. He knew the use of a gun and why they were desired objects to the residents of Camden, but he didn’t agree with the need for them. Darnell was also the type of person that didn’t hold grudges that often unless it was over something terrible since he was so laid back that trying to get a rise out of him was kind of hard to do at times. There was an episode when Earl, who had gone back to his old ways for a brief period of time, tipped Joy and Darnell’s trailer on its side along with Ralph, Randy, and a few ladies they picked up. Darnell was definitely irked, but he wasn’t ready to start throwing knives like Joy was, since his biggest concern came from realizing that his pet, Mr. Turtle, had been left on his back likely for the entire night. Keep in mind that a lot of people might have come in swinging had they found their home turned on its side, but Darnell wanted to hear Earl out first.
Out of all the characters on this show, Darnell was usually the most forgiving, which was fortunate for everyone else since he was also one of the most dangerous characters on the show given his level of training, which was rarely brought up. Crab Man was basically the guy that everyone liked for the most part and was there to just get through each day doing the best he could with what he was given. One of the most fun parts about Darnell is that he wasn’t a perfect individual and he didn’t go through the show without displaying emotion, but he was the kind of guy that just rolled with most of what happened and didn’t stress out about that much. There were moments when he showed more emotion than usual, such as when Joy caught a nasty infection in her big toe and Darnell reacted in a way that didn’t help, which was to be afraid of even touching Joy no matter if she bagged her foot, cleaned herself constantly, or was even kept in a plastic bubble.
There were plenty of great characters on My Name is Earl, but Darnell beats them out for the best character since he was the type of person that was fun to watch and listen to without being challenging or dumbed down for anyone. When it came to being a supporting character he was great since he was the kind of guy that everyone managed to get along with, and he was always down to help his friends as much as possible.
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