Coming Out of the Casket

"Coming Out of the Casket"
Harold visits UCI.
Directed by	Mike L. Mayfield
Written by	Brad Neely
Original air date	October 24, 2011
Starring	Frank Harold Steve
Previous	"Baby Boom"
Next	"Secret Society"

"Coming Out of the Casket" is the fourth episode of Season 1 and the fourth episode of China, IL.

Summary

Harold comes back to life after dying and has some insecurity.

Plot

Harold's return.

Following the death of history professor Harold, the Dean tells the staff that attendance in history class is low and demands that more kids be put in that class or it is discontinued. After a failed brainstorm session with the other history professors, Frank becomes startled when he sees a ghost massaging him. The next day, he enters the history office covered in ectoplasm and speaks to Steve and Pony about the incident, and Steve calls for a paranormal investigator to look into this. Baby Cakes, the one whom Steve managed to reach, sets up equipment around the history building, hoping to catch the ghost.

A motion detector in the lower story alarms, and the ghost turns out to be Harold, who has come back from his death to tell Frank something. Interrupting, Steve asks Harold to help the history department get more students, and Harold agrees, temporarily pushing off Harold's confession. Taking Frank with him, Harold makes a positive impression on the students. The next day, Steve's lecture is interrupted by Harold, whose method of teaching is well-perceived. Later, Frank and Harold go for a run outside, and Frank claims his life is better with Harold in his life. Taking this as a sign Frank loves him, Harold kisses Frank, but then realizes his mistake and vanishes as Frank retches in disgust. A disgusted Frank then meets with Harold to discuss the incident but is interrupted the class applauds Harold, who reveals he came out as gay and confesses his love with Frank, assuming he's gay as well.

Harold comes out of the closet.

Stepping outside the building, Frank sees there is a party in support of his and Harold's alleged homosexuality and tries to crash it but is stopped by Steve, who forces Frank to play along for the sake of the history department. Following a white lie from Frank, Harold goes onstage and asks Frank to marry him, and a pressured Frank agrees. Later that day, the history department is sabotaged when Harold is captured and placed in his corpse courtesy of Crystal, and at registration the next day, low registration from students plagues the history department. However, the ghost of Harold sends Frank an apology text for jumping to conclusions, and when it's read out loud by Frank, registration for history class skyrockets as the students cheer. As registration day draws to a close, Frank is texted once again by Harold asking him to pull the plug on his corpse, and when Frank complies, Harold's ghost leaves the body.

Trivia

• Harold previously appeared in "Baby Boom" as a background character.
• The title is a reference to the phrase "coming out of the closet."
• When Steve and the others first encounter Harold, the pictures in the background are of Arby Dangers, Harold, Matter Lortho, and Bobo Keeshee, among others.
• While Harold and Frank show off with some students, at least two male students are shown with erections.
• Steve and Crystal wager on student registration for their respective departments, the winner receiving the privilege to amputate the loser's testicles. Steve wins the bet, and for this, he gets to amputate Crystal's testicles.
• Later episodes, such as "Bi-Topping-Ality", reveal that Crystal had testicles because she is transgender.
• Because of low student registration for history classes, Crystal switches to the Spanish department.
  • However, later episodes, starting with "Dean's List", show that Crystal still has partial involvement with the history department, with Crystal eventually making a complete return by "The Diamond Castle".
• History vs. Spanish scores:
  • Beginning of Registration Day: 94–1, Spanish
  • Frank receiving Harold's text: 258–3, Spanish
  • End of day: 294–3, History
• Frank's line, "Hips won't lie," is a reference to the Shakira song "Hips Don't Lie".

Quotes

Baby Cakes: I bet heaven's a ghost town.

Pony: Duh. That's the point, right?

Baby Cakes: No, I mean like no one's good enough to be there. Just Jesus playing fetch with Old Yeller.

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Harold: Killing natives? No, that's more your thing.

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Frank: I'm like Robin to a dead Batman.

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Harold: I'm gay as a girl, like you! I love you too, Frank!

[The class cheers.]

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Frank: You can't fake gay sex, okay? Hips won't lie.

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[Harold proposes to Frank.]

Pony: [Intoxicated] Dream team! Gotta say yes!

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Pony: Crystal has nuts?

Frank: Oh, yeah, biggins.

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Frank: [Reading Harold's text] "Frank, please pull my plug. Not that plug, the life support, haha."

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Frank: I hope you're good enough for Jesus.

Characters Appearing

• Baby Cakes
• Christopher Columbus
• Cravid
• Crystal
• Donny
• Falgot
• Frank
• Harold
• Jesus Christ
• Leonard
• Nelly
• Old Yeller
• Pony
• Sammy
• Stephen Smith
• Steve
• The Dean

Gallery

Harold's death.

Frank encounters a ghost.

Upon investigation, Baby Cakes and the history staff discover that the ghost is deceased history professor Harold.

Harold becomes popular with the students.

Alone with Frank, Harold kisses his co-professor.

Overcoming his fear, Harold admits his homosexual feelings toward Frank, and assumes Frank feels the same.

The Spanish department captures Harold to hinder the history department's popularity.

Because of the Spanish department, the history department's enrollment shrinks.

A still-captured Harold sends Frank an apology for assuming the latter's sexuality.

Knowing Harold's still alive, the students switch to the History Department.

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"Baby Boom"	"Secret Society"