Ethel Mertz. She is Fred’s wife and Lucy’s best friend. Ethel is the voice of reason who always manages to get caught up in her good friend’s shenanigans. There is, however, more to this beloved I Love Lucy character than what meets the eye.
Ethel is Beautiful
Some cannot see beyond her ability to shut her husband down in an argument. There is more, however, to Ethel Mertz than telling Fred Mertz to shut up.
Ethel is always willing to give Lucy’s ideas a chance. This is true even when those ideas are ridiculous from the start.
Season 6 of I Love Lucy, for instance, brings the Ricardo-Mertz gang to Miami Beach, Florida. The group stays at the Eden Roc Hotel where Ricky’s band serves as entertainment. In an effort to keep their men from judging a bathing suit contest, Lucy devises a plan that includes a boat that runs out of gasoline mid-trip.
Ethel’s thoughts about the idea are not positive but she, nevertheless, goes along with it while hoping for the best. It is this supportive, optimistic outlook that causes Ethel’s beauty to shine from the inside out.
Ethel is Talented
Ricky is not the only person with talent in the group. Fred and Ethel are former Vaudeville performers who still have it! This becomes especially evident when the gang goes to Hollywood. Ethel and her husband score a few gigs of their own because of their former lives as entertainers.
Ethel is a Big Ham
Along with great talent, Ethel is an amazing singer, comes the opportunity for incredible pride. Humility escapes Ethel during Season 4 of I Love Lucy as the group heads to Hollywood. The gang stops by Ethel’s hometown where she is all the rave of the locals.
Instead of correcting her father and the townspeople about who is actually the star of the group, Ethel allows her family and friends to believe Hollywood is calling for her. She even decides to do a solo performance after cutting the gang out of what should have been a group picture for the local paper. Lucy, Fred, and Ricky manage to get back in the performance, which angers Ethel who wants the limelight to herself. In the end, the newspaper journalist credits them as the “Company” of Ethel Mae, which is right up the solo performer’s alley.
She, Too, Has Plans
Lucy isn’t the only trickster in the group. Ethel also has plans, which come to the forefront during Season 4 when Lucy is trapped in Richard Widmark’s house Ethel’s plan to pretend she and Fred are from the psych ward in hopes of rescuing their friend serves as quick thinking.
We Love Ethel Mertz
She is the loveable housewife who speaks her mind when necessary. Ethel Mertz adds balance to I Love Lucy, which paves the way for Lucy’s wild ideas and Fred’s extreme frugality.