China Syndrome (The King of Queens)

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“China Syndrome”

The King of Queens episode

Episode no.

Season 9
Episode 12, 13

Written by

Michael J. Weithorn

Directed by

Rob Schiller

Production no.

912, 913

Original airdate

May 14, 2007

Episode chronology
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"Single Spaced"	–

List of The King of Queens episodes

China Syndrome is the series finale of the long-running US American sitcom The King of Queens. The finale has the length of two regular episodes, being counted as the 12th and 13th of the ninth season, running about 44 minutes without commercials.

1 Plot
2 Taping
3 Cultural references
4 Original airings by country
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot

After Doug has learned that his wife Carrie has not given up the apartment in Manhattan as she had promised (in the previous episode Single Spaced), he is disappointed with her and does not want to attend her father Arthur's wedding with Ava St. Clair (Lainie Kazan), which takes place in Poughkeepsie. However, his best friend Deacon Palmer takes him there anyway.

When Ava St. Clair learns that Arthur is not gay as she thought, she leaves the ceremony. She had wanted a companion, not a regular husband. Arthur, who is upset because Ava left him at the altar, has his mind set on getting married and proposes to Veronica Olchin (Anne Meara) in the men's room, and she accepts. Carrie and Spence, their respective children, are flabbergasted by the spontaneous decision. The ceremony is performed by Rabbi Feldman (Josh Cooke), because the original bride Ava was Jewish, although neither Arthur nor Veronica are. Veronica reveals to Arthur that she is Albanian Orthodox (to which Arthur replies: "What the hell is that?"), and Arthur lets the rabbi continue his prayer. The wedding ends with Arthur smashing a glass with his foot, while everyone cheers, "Mazel tov!"

Immediately afterwards, Carrie is notified that the baby she and Doug wanted to adopt is waiting for them in Beijing. However, Doug does not want to have a baby with her anymore and they split up. A very pregnant Holly (Nicole Sullivan) also shows up at the wedding, as does the Heffernans’ neighbor Lou Ferrigno. At this point, it is also revealed that Holly's husband has left her. When Lou tries to cheer everyone up with "Such a happy day," he is greeted by very unhappy expressions.

Doug, who sits outside in the back of the building where the ceremony is performed, makes an offer to Spence to become his new roommate, since he is divorcing Carrie, but later rescinds the offer when Holly tells him her story. He challenges each of them to a wrestling match, but falls asleep while fighting with Holly. When Arthur learns that Doug will not toast him as his best man, he pitches the role to Spence, who turns it down, and ultimately, Deacon is forced to make the toast.

Spence tries to move back in with Doug's cousin Danny because Arthur will be living with his mother Veronica now. He learns, however, that Danny has a new girlfriend Sandy (Jillian Bach) who is living with him. In the end, Spence and Danny patch up their friendship and become roommates again.

Meanwhile, Kelly points out to Carrie that she shouldn't feel so guilty about keeping a secret from Doug. After all, Doug let Carrie down a lot in the past. Carrie is convinced and tells Doug off.

Both decide that they want to get the Chinese baby for themselves and board the same plane, although Carrie leaves the house first, and Doug has to find his passport, which Deacon finds in the vegetable crisper. Doug later surprises Carrie by greeting her with a gruff "Hello!" and showing her his passport in triumph. He also adds that "Deacon's BLT was delicious, as is my revenge."

They use the long flight to sort out their problems, and eventually, they get back together. After getting little Ming-Mei from the adoption agency, Carrie finds out that she is pregnant. She is scared about the changes to come, but Doug is optimistic that they will be able to handle it together.

The episode fast-forwards one year and shows Doug and Carrie with their two small children in their living room. Arthur comes in with a suitcase, announcing that "it didn't work out".

The episode ends with a three-minute montage of scenes from the show's nine seasons to A Million Billion's song Milk & Honey. The final scene shows the words thanks for the ride…

[edit] Taping

The finale was taped March 15, 2007^[1].

[edit] Cultural references

The episode title China Syndrome alludes to the nuclear meltdown accident of the same name. In 1979, the movie The China Syndrome with Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon was made about a fictional power plant accident of that sort.
Arthur Spooner wants the wedding's harpist to play Dueling Banjos, a piece from the 1972 movie Deliverance.
The wedding between Arthur and Veronica was written into the episode because Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara are married in real life.
While wearing his suit, but no pants because he refuses to attend Arthur's wedding, Doug is watching The Price Is Right in his living room, as he can be heard ranting: "Let's see: I'm divorcing Carrie, and Ensign Curtis here just cost himself a trip to the Showcase Showdown!"
The popular fashion reality show America's Next Top Model is also referenced in this episode. Danny and Spence are huge fans of the show, and they pick Marquesa over Lisi; however, Sandy prefers Lisi because "she's way better for couture".
In the very last scene, Doug is shown wearing the same Mets shirt that Kevin James later wears in select scenes of I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, in which he and Adam Sandler pretend to be gay.

[edit] Original airings by country

USA - Aired on CBS on May 14, 2007. It was #12 in the Nielsen Ratings with 13.61 million viewers. The season average was #33 with 11.4 million viewers, which was higher than the past two seasons. CBS would air an encore of the episode on May 24, 2007.
Germany - The dubbed double episode was aired October 15, 2007 on Kabel 1.
UK - In a regular hour long slot on Tuesdays at 21:00 on Paramount Comedy 1, episodes 11 & 12 were shown on March 11, 2008. Rather than showing the finale as an hour long special, episode 13 (minus the 3 minute montage) was shown the next week on March 18, followed by the first episode of season one.