Special Ed

This isn't going to be one of those haunted "lost episode" creepypastas, just to clarify. No paranormal bullshit, no blood or gore, no disturbing imagery. This is simply my experience with an unaired episode of the animated series, "Ed Edd n Eddy," in which I don't think anyone else has seen. "Special Ed."

Usually, adults start to reminisce about their childhood during their college/early adult years. They start feeling nostalgic for the kid shows they watched, the toys they played with, the video games they played as a kid. Me? I started to go through my "nostalgia phase" rather early, actually. As a teenager, I started growing a bit obsessed with the many things I grew up with, and I started to rewatch all the children's shows I used to watch as a little tike. Y'know, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, PBS Kids, but the channel I used to watch the absolute shit out of was Cartoon Network. 

I still remember coming home from middle school every Friday looking forward to watching the network's weekly block, Fridays (or Cartoon Cartoon Fridays if that's what you remember it by) and watching shows like Foster's Home or the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. My favorite by far, though, HAD to have been Ed Edd n Eddy. Naturally, I wanted to rewatch that show the most. 

Here's the thing, though; I was still only around 15 years old. I didn't have a job and my parents at the time were struggling financially (since my dad had recently quit his job), so my source of watching movies and shows were torrents. Yeah, I did risk losing our cable and internet a few times by forgetting to use a VPN, but torrenting was really my only option in watching whatever movie or show I wanted at any time. 

I forget the exact name of the site, not that it's even up anymore by this point, but I used to use this particular torrenting site. It acted as sort of a preservation archive for TV shows and movies, run by the community and even had its own forum site for torrent requests. You could find nearly any mainstream show from networks like Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and of course, Cartoon Network. It was the website of my 15 year old self's dreams, and I was ready to binge watch all my childhood shows. Ed Edd n Eddy was my first choice.

With just a quick search away, I found the entire series on one torrent. All six seasons (well... does season 6 even count as its own season? I mean, it only has one episode), the Big Picture Show finale, and even the holiday specials. Obviously, since it was over 60 episodes plus the movie, it took awhile to download. When it did, however, I was ecstatic.

I decided to watch "All Eds Are Off," one of the episodes I remember the most. I googled the season and episode number, happened to be season 5. However, I noticed that in the torrent file, the number of the episode was wrong. Instead of being episode 10, it was listed as episode 11. Upon further inspection, I realized that all of the episodes up to episode 5 were listed incorrectly. What was supposed to be "Cool Hand Ed / Too Smart for His Own Ed," the episode that was in its place was named "s5e5_SpecialEd.mp4," while what was supposed to be episode 5 was bumped up to 6, "s5e6_CoolHandEd_TooSmartForHisOwnEd." 

Now, the title "Special Ed" immediately struck me as familiar. I remember reading an interview with Danny Antonucci about the creative process behind the show, and he briefly mentioned the episode. "There was one episode called 'Special Ed' that didn't go through - it was just too real." According to sources, not one crew member remembers production of an episode by that name, essentially deeming it as simply a scrapped episode not making it past the concept stage. So, why on Earth was there an episode included titled that? Shits and giggles? 

I decided to find out.

The mp4 in question was only about 12 minutes long, while every other episode was at least 22 minutes in length. The episode begins with the usual intro, nothing out of the ordinary at all. After the intro, the episode immediately began with no title card. Although strange, the lack of title card is the only odd occurrence in this entire episode. Other than that, the episode was pretty normal. Maybe a bit sensitive on the subject matter, but I'll get to that.

The episode starts off with Double D at his locker, taking his books out and putting them in his book bag. Suddenly, Ed and Eddy run to Double D visibly nervous and in a panic. When he asks what the commotion was about, Eddy says he needs to borrow his math notes since there was supposedly going to be a test in class that Eddy and Ed didn't know about. When Double D asks why they didn't study, Eddy sarcastically asks when he ever studies for anything while Ed said he was busy watching the new Fish Bowl 3 on TV the night prior. Double D hesitantly hands Eddy his notes, and so he lifts up his shirt and frantically starts writing the notes on his stomach. When Ed asks to take a glance at the notes, Eddy tells him to get his own. Suddenly, the bell rings and Double D takes the notes back, while he and Eddy walked to class. Ed began to sweat nervously as the camera closed up on him. 

The episode then cuts to the classroom, the teacher (face obviously hidden much like any other adult in the series) handing out the tests. Double D smiles and thanks the teacher, writing his name on the paper. Eddy takes the test from the teacher's hand and starts peeking under his shirt, writing the answers on his paper. As the teacher then places the test on Ed's paper, he frantically takes his pencil and attempts the first question. 

"2 + 2 = __"

Ed takes a guess and writes "CHIKIN" as the answer and continues onto the next question. 

Moments later, Eddy and Double D both finish their tests at the same time, handing their papers to the teacher walking by. Ed, still visibly struggling, is now on the last question. 

"4 x 4 = __"

Ed writes "TOSTE" as the answer and shakily hands the teacher his paper, looking as if he was on the verge of tears. The bell rings, and so Ed tries following Eddy and Double D out the door. He's then stopped by the teacher, asking to see him for a moment. Ed nervously sits down in front of the teacher's desk, and so she begins to explain how poorly he's done so far in class. Ed starts to break down, asking if it means he's going to summer school. The teacher explains how that's not the case, rather if he does not improve on his subjects and get at least a D, he's being moved to a special education class. Eddy and Double, peaking into the classroom, gasp in disbelief. They walk further into the hallway and begin panicking. 

"YOU'RE THE BRAINIAC HERE, SOCKHEAD. WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO ABOUT ED?!"

"I suppose, we could... tutor him ourselves."

I forget exactly what happens between this and the tutoring scene, concerning it was actually rather boring, but in a nutshell Double D and Eddy attempt to tutor Ed by teaching him books, math and science. This results in Ed engaging in his usual stupidity, mistaking the textbooks as sandwiches, drinking the chemicals in the test tubes growing a beard, all the usual shenanigans you'd expect from Ed in an episode like this. I felt like this could have been made into a montage sequence rather than several long, drawn out episodes, but then again I suppose this is why this episode never aired. It was just boring. 

Towards the end of the episode, Ed takes another math test and passes with a C-, just enough to pass. As the Eds walk down the hallway, Eddy explains an idea inspired by the experience of tutoring Ed, a scam involving "tutoring" people. I honestly would have rather seen how that went down instead of this long episode. The episode ends and the end credits roll.

Like I said, the episode was pretty boring. What can I say? There was barely any excitement or humor within the episode aside from Ed's stupidity, and I can definitely see why this episode never broadcasted. It was just too real. 

It's been many years since I first watched the episode, and eventually my age-old PC broke down beyond repair. Therefore, I don't have access to the episode anymore. I really wish I knew how much interest people had in lost media, because I sure as Hell would have made some type of download link. I can't remember the name of the torrent site I got it from, and even if I did, it's most likely gone now anyways. Unless someone stumbles upon it again, it's gone for now. Not that it was a very good episode to begin with, just like Danny Antonucci said... "it was just too real."

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