Episode title

[Claude Dallas]

Since English is not my first language, I may be mistaken, but isn't there an anomaly in these episode titles? #14 seems to be the episode number in the season, and unless I misunderstood, it should be written Lets rather than Lest. Am I wrong?
Below is the french title as it appears on screens.

 

[James from London]

it should be written Lets rather than Lest.

"Lest" is an old-fashioned English word that sort of means the opposite of "let". So in this context, it's about wanting to avoid the truth being known, e.g., you better keep your mouth shut lest (or else) people will find out the truth.

 

[James from London]

#14 seems to be the episode number

There's people more qualified than me [yer actual Americans] who can explain this one, but "14 with a bullet" has a kind of triple meaning involving pop chart positions, episode numbers and actual bullets. And/or it's simply a reference to this:

I don't think I've actually realised until this moment how complex this episode title is, so thank-you for that! The Dallas equivalent that springs to mind is "Crash of 83" which took me several decades to fully appreciate.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Yes, "#14 With a Bullet" is indeed one of their first attempts at a clever episode title, and it is rather clever.

As JFL said, it is a phrase used at that time in the music business. A song might debut as "#30" on the Top 40 Singles chart, but the DJ's would understand that it was destined to go up the chart quickly (maybe because it was the latest release from a popular singer, or maybe it was associated with a hot movie). So they'd say it was "#30 with a bullet," implying it would quickly (as quick as a shot) rise higher as more people heard it and liked it. In the context of this episode, though, there was literally a bullet at the center of the episode (centered close to Karen's spine), so it was a play on words combined with the episode number.

When I typed "origin of the phrase Lest the truth be known" into google it explained "lest" and likened the phrase to "an effort to keep the truth hidden". But when it attempts to give examples of how to use the phrase, they cite "a 1984 episode of Knots Landing where a secret is revealed"!

 

[Claude Dallas]

James

There's people more qualified than me [yer actual Americans] who can explain this one, but "14 with a bullet" has a kind of triple meaning involving pop chart positions, episode numbers and actual bullets. And/or it's simply a reference to this:

I don't think I've actually realised until this moment how complex this episode title is, so thank-you for that! The Dallas equivalent that springs to mind is "Crash of 83" which took me several decades to fully appreciate.

Thank you so much for the explanation. That's very interesting, and if you don't mind i'll use it on my website when it come to explain that to my readers.
And if you can explain the Crash of 83 title i'll really appreciate

 

[Claude Dallas]

Yes, "#14 With a Bullet" is indeed one of their first attempts at a clever episode title, and it is rather clever.

As JFL said, it is a phrase used at that time in the music business. A song might debut as "#30" on the Top 40 Singles chart, but the DJ's would understand that it was destined to go up the chart quickly (maybe because it was the latest release from a popular singer, or maybe it was associated with a hot movie). So they'd say it was "#30 with a bullet," implying it would quickly (as quick as a shot) rise higher as more people heard it and liked it. In the context of this episode, though, there was literally a bullet at the center of the episode (centered close to Karen's spine), so it was a play on words combined with the episode number.

When I typed "origin of the phrase Lest the truth be known" into google it explained "lest" and likened the phrase to "an effort to keep the truth hidden". But when it attempts to give examples of how to use the phrase, they cite "a 1984 episode of Knots Landing where a secret is revealed"!

Thank you so much for the explanation, that's very kind

 

[James from London]

if you don't mind i'll use it on my website when it come to explain that to my readers.

Of course!

And if you can explain the Crash of 83 title i'll really appreciate

'Crash of 83' is the 1983 episode of Dallas where the Wentworth jet crashes -- so far, so clear. But what took me ages to twig is that it's also a pun on the ecomomic crash of 1938.

 

[Toni]

Of course!

'Crash of 83' is the 1983 episode of Dallas where the Wentworth jet crashes -- so far, so clear. But what took me ages to twig is that it's also a pun on the ecomomic crash of 1938.

I always thought it as (only) a nod to the "Airport" movie series...

 

[Stillwitty]

Yes, "#14 With a Bullet" is indeed one of their first attempts at a clever episode title, and it is rather clever.

As JFL said, it is a phrase used at that time in the music business. A song might debut as "#30" on the Top 40 Singles chart, but the DJ's would understand that it was destined to go up the chart quickly (maybe because it was the latest release from a popular singer, or maybe it was associated with a hot movie). So they'd say it was "#30 with a bullet," implying it would quickly (as quick as a shot) rise higher as more people heard it and liked it. In the context of this episode, though, there was literally a bullet at the center of the episode (centered close to Karen's spine), so it was a play on words combined with the episode number.

When I typed "origin of the phrase Lest the truth be known" into google it explained "lest" and likened the phrase to "an effort to keep the truth hidden". But when it attempts to give examples of how to use the phrase, they cite "a 1984 episode of Knots Landing where a secret is revealed"!

And LEST we forget the classic, "I'll be your #1 with a Bullet" Fall out Boy, 2005...