MovieChat Forums > Everybody Loves Raymond (1996) Discussion > Regarding "The Can Opener"

Regarding "The Can Opener"

posted 8 years ago by andrereichenbacher
5 replies | jump to latest

You know, the episode where we get two different versions of what happened between Ray and Debra that involved the can opener of the said title? Where they don't tell us what actually happened and decided to leave it up to the viewer's imagination? Well, I think I can eliminate Ray's version quite easily. Because in his version, Debra is sitting with her legs up on the kitchen table when he comes home and is immediately totally cold and standoffish towards him. Debra would NEVER do either of those things. She would not use the kitchen table as a footrest and she would not be mean and rude to Ray when he is just getting home. It's usually after he has gotten home and has been there for at least a few minutes and when he has opened his mouth and said his usually stupid idiotic things is when Debra starts to get upset with him, but not when he has just stepped in the door and delivered his dumb pet name for her. That's how I know that Ray's version of the story is not what actually happened. He exaggerated for comic effect, you see.

As for the story Debra told, that is, IMO, FAR more believeable. Ray has been in bad moods because of his job at times and he can be downright mean and nasty when he doesn't get his way. Things have to be all about him and everything has to be on his terms or he wants no part of it, after all. So that's why I'm pretty sure Debra was telling the truth to Robert, who, as we all know, LOVES hearing about stupid s*** Ray says and does.

There you have it.

[–] SkiesAreBlue 8 years ago

I agree with you. Although they both exaggerated, Ray's side was worse. Debra never had that attitude with Ray nor did we ever see her with her feet upon the table reading a magazine at that time of day. She is usually up to her elbows coping with the children and he waltzes in, asks, "what's for dinner" without ever thinking of helping her, like taking the kids up stairs for their bath while she gets their dinner ready. Anyway it was sweet how they made it up but the carrying on with Robert and Marie. Yes Robert loves to hear how Ray screws up and Marie is upto wanting the dirt on Debra. When Marie comes in "helping" the situation, I know where I'd like to put her can opener.

I've been lucky to be able to watch the series on my iPad but the service I was subscribing to is coming at an end in Feb and so will my ability to watch episodes at will. We still have re runs on our free to air channel but it was great that I could pull up an episode if it was being discussed. Now I'm going to to rely on my memory😁

SkiesAreBlue

[–] Ditto-head 8 years ago

I totally agree. Debra's version was definitely closer to the truth, IMHO. It's very easy to picture Ray having a melodramatic hissy fit over something petty. It's impossible to imagine her lounging around with her feet on the table.

[–] Wildstyle26 8 years ago

Yeah. This is the same Ray who had a meltdown over wallpaper, instead of his parents driving a car into the house.

__________
If you're gonna pretend to cut her hair, at least put some scissors in your hand!

[–] Candyhearts27 8 years ago

We have seen Debra being lazy quite a few times, and isn't always dealing with the kids like she says she is. Like in the episode, Sex Talk. Debra is sound asleep on the couch. She then lies and says she was cleaning or something. Or in Baggage, when Ray gets home from work, and Debra is lying down on the couch, reading a magazine. Or in Good Girls, Debra is the one sitting on the couch, watching TV. I think in The Can Opener, they were both lying. No way would Debra be as sweet and loving as she says she was to Robert. The same with Ray. It kind of reminded me of that episode of the Dick Van Dyke Show, when Rob and Laura have a fight, and they both end up lying about who was right and who was wrong. In the end, it turned out they were both wrong.

[–] Wildstyle26 8 years ago

To be fair on some of this.

1. Sex Talk. She fell asleep reading a sex talk book, and it was for Ally's sake because she asked about sex.

2. In Good Girls, I believe the kids were asleep, so she had some down time.

Debra takes breaks and has her down time now and again. But I don't equate that with being lazy. Lazy is what Ray is, who grumbles at having to do anything not fun. lol Marie certainly isn't lazy, but she's not constantly moving all the time. We've seen her sitting down and reading, watching her French lessons. In a deleted scene, when they babysat for Ray and Debra, both of them were asleep. lol

Now, I do think both had their own spin on things. There's the saying there's 3 sides to a story. 1 person's side. The other person's side. And the truth. Usually in one's own story, they will be the innocent victim. It happened in Fresh Prince and All in the Family with these types.

Maybe if you take the Debra from Ray's story, and put her with the Ray of her own story, you'll get a closer version. lol

__________
If you're gonna pretend to cut her hair, at least put some scissors in your hand!