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Escape from New York

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Escape From New York is the sixteenth episode of the eighth season on Wings, and the 164th episode overall in the series.

Synopsis[]

As Casey enters the airport and approaches the lunch counter, Helen excitedly tells Casey she was given tickets to Rent. Roy is jealous, but Casey is not familiar with it. Antonio enters and orders a coffee then changes his order to a Fresca because it's on his bucket list. Antonio then shares how he had a near death experience yesterday when a car jumped the curb at the video store and now he is seizing the day. Antonio also shares that last night he called a friend just to tell them how much they be to him and Brian enters threatening Antonio with death if he ever calls him again at 2 am.

Later, Joe enters stumbling and explains that he has an inner infection causing impairing his equilibrium and preventing him from flying. Helen tries to find someone else to attend with her but Casey has to work and Fay's already seen it. Despite Roy's begging, Helen invites and then cajoles Brian into going with her. In New York, Helen and Brian wait in line for their tickets. Brian is skeptical about the play since none of the poster have nudity. When Helen arrives at the box office and asks for the tickets, the clerk informs her that she can only release the tickets to the proper holdee and closes. Helen is depressed about not getting in and despite Brian's attempt to sneak them in, they leave. Back on Nantucket, Joe rests at home until Antonio knocks on his door wanting to connect. Disturbed by Antonio sharing the story of his first sexual experience, Joe tries to rush him out only to fall and injury his back. Antonio helps Joe to the couch and then continues his story. Back in New York, Helen and Brian walk down the street lamenting not being able to see Rent when a woman in a towel calls down for help. Her cat knocked her shoe out the window and she wants Brian to bring it up to her apartment because she's "hardly got a stitch on". Brian eagerly obligious leaving Helen on the street where she sees a game of three card monte. Thinking she can win, Helen places a bet and does win. Brian reappears disturbed by what he saw in the woman's apartment and when Helen tells him about her good luck, Brian notices that the "money" she won has Barney Rumble on it. With the loss of her cash the pair is stranded because Helen didn't bring her credit cards for fear of them being stolen and Brian didn't bring money because Helen was paying. They try to call Joe, but back on Nantucket, Antonio is yelling at Joe to relax and tells him he needs to be free from distractions including visits and phone calls as he rips the phone cord from the wall. Unable to contact Joe, Brian tries begging strangers on the street with fake stories until it begins to rain and the duo is forced to seek shelter in a club. Unfortunately the club is charging a $20 entrance fee unless you enter the talent contest. Desperate, Brian agrees and they enter. As Brian is very impressed with all the beautiful women, Helen realizes that this is a drag club. However, the prize for the drag contest is $250, and Brian thinks maybe Helen could win.

As the drag show begins, Brian volunteers Helen. As Bella DeBall, the hostess and MC, signs Helen up for the contest, she also offers to help out with her name and outfit and they head to the back to make Helen a star. Back on Nantucket, Antonio demands that Joe begin to shares personal stories about himself. Wanting to distract Antonio, Joe asks him to make some hot cocoa. Antonio exits to the kitchen and Joe painfully crawls on the phone frantically trying to reconnect the phone. When Antonio reenters to find Joe on the floor he's very unhappy and drags Joe away screaming. Back in New York, Bella introduces the newly transformed Helena Handbasket! Helen begins her lip sync performance of "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor and quickly gains confidence as the song goes on. After Helen's performance, Bella introduces the finalists, Eva Destruction, Helena Handbasket, and Ginger Vitis with Ginger winning for her performance of "New York, New York". However, Helen did receive a consolation prize, two tickets to Rent. When Brian suggests they sell the tickets to get money to travel home, Helen suggests he do drag to earn that money because she still wants to see Rent.

Credits[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

  • Melora Marshall as Box Office Woman
  • Lillian Adams as Older Lady
  • Christina Moore as Terri
  • Eric Sharp as Dealer
  • Ray Laska as Bouncer
  • Calvert DeForest as Club Patron
  • Mark Davis as Bella DeBall
  • Maria Cina as Lola
  • Alexis Del Lago as Eva Destruction
  • Jazzmun as Ginger Vitis

Quotes[]

  • Antonio Scarpacci - "For instances, I realized I've never told certain people how much they meant to me, so last night I just picked up the phone. You wouldn't believe the response I got."
    Brian Hackett - "You enter call me at 2 am again, I will kill you. Then I will hurt you."
    Antonio Scarpacci - "He won't admit it, but I touched him."
  • Antonio Scarpacci - "Okay, tell me everything. How you feel, your hopes, your dreams, your fears."
    Joe Hackett - "Tired, hungry, winning the lottery, snakes. There. Now you know more about me then Helen."
  • Antonio Scarpacci - "I can see this is going to be tough for you, so I'll get the intimacy ball rolling. Let me tell you about my first time. I was 14, she was 61."
    Joe Hackett - "Okay, that's it."
    Antonio Scarpacci - "When she led me to her room, I couldn't help but notice how her teeth glistened in the moonlight...in the glass on her nightstand."
  • Helen Hackett - "It's not fair. We came all the way to New York for nothing!"
    Brian Hackett - "Come on Helen, you and me, just like the old days. I thought that's what you wanted."
    Helen Hackett - "No, I wanted to see Rent, I just said all that other stuff so you'd come."
    Brian Hackett - "I know, I only came because you were paying."
  • Antonio Scarpacci - "Now the doctor feels, and I concur, that if you want to get rid of these spasms, you need to relax! And that means no distractions, no intrusions, and no phone calls."
    Joe Hackett - "Did he say anything about oxbonious, bizarre, psychotic visitors?!"
    Antonio Scarpacci - "Don't worry. None of those are getting passed me."
  • Helen Hackett - "And now, I'm wet. God, this is all your fault!"
    Brian Hackett - "What? The rain is my fault? Why is the rain my fault?"
    Helen Hackett - "Oh, don't pull that innocent act on me. You know what you did!"
  • Helen Hackett - "Brian, this is a drag club."
    Brian Hackett - "What the heck are you talking about? I mean, why-why would all these women be at a drag club? ...Oh."
  • Helen Hackett - "Did you read the sign, Brian? $250 bucks for best drag queen. Do you really think we'll be able to pass you off as a woman?"
    Brian Hackett - "No. But we just might be able to pass you off as one."
  • Brian Hackett - "Of course, if they find out that you're really a woman, it's all over. So remember, you're a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman. Okay? Bella, over here! Woman, man, woman."
  • Helen Hackett - "My drag name? My drag name is...Helen."
    Bella DeBall - "Oh, no, no, no, no. "Helen" says all the wrong things: cashier, file clerk, soccer mom. What it doesn't say is magic! We can help it along. Now, what are you going to wear?"
    Helen Hackett - "Well, does this say anything?"
    Bella DeBall - "Yeah, but let's not listen to it."
  • Joe Hackett - "But I don't have those kinds of stories! I never dated my grandmother's friend, I never made love on a gurney, and no part of me of has ever swelled up to twice its size!"
  • Brian Hackett - "Alright, alright! Now we can sell these tickets get on home."
    Helen Hackett - "You kidding? I am not leaving New York without seeing Rent. You need money, honey, you start spreading the news."

Trivia[]

  • The title of this episode is a reference to Escape From New York, the 1981 American science fiction/action film co-written and directed by John Carpenter.
  • The main plot revolves around Helen trying to see Rent, the rock musical by Jonathan Larson loosely based on the 1896 opera La Bohème, that premiered on January 25th, 1996 in New York City (a mere 13 months before this episode aired).
  • The secondary plot about Antonio and Joe alone is heavily inspired by Misery, the 1990 American psychological thriller based on a Stephen King novel and starring Kathy Bates and James Caan.
  • Brian reveals that he is not a fan of musicals except for Cats.
  • Brian's date for the night was apparently injured (or killed) in the same car accident that Antonio nearly missed.
  • Antonio reveals that he lost his virginity at age 14 to a 61-year-old woman.
  • Brian notices that the fake money Helen won bears an image of Barney Rumble, a character from the long running The Flintstones cartoon.
  • Helen's drag name was "Helena Handbasket".
    • Four years later, in the Friends episode "The One With Chandler's Dad" (aired on May 10, 2001), Chandler's father performs as a drag queen also named "Helena Handbasket".
  • During her drag performance, Helen vogues, a dance move popularized by Madonna but which actually originated in drag ball culture.
  • This episode is currently unavailable for streaming in the United States likely due to the music rights for "I Will Survive?" by Gloria Gaynor, which is the song Helen lip syncs for her drag performance.

Gallery[]

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