Original artwork, not a still
Let's try again, shall we? I have two beans, then I add two more beans. What does that make? / A very small casserole.
— Blackadder · 1983
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Baldrick is answering a practical question that Blackadder never asked. Four beans suggest food to him before they suggest a number, and the tiny casserole is a perfectly consistent result in that private logic. The exchange captures why their conversations keep derailing: Blackadder wants a correct abstraction, while Baldrick wants to know what is for dinner.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for BlackadderShow the scene
At the opening of ‘Head’, the second episode of Blackadder II (1986), Blackadder gives Baldrick a simple addition problem using beans. Asked to combine two beans with two more, Baldrick supplies an answer based on what they could be cooked into. Blackadder tries several approaches to the lesson before accepting that his servant is not thinking in the required way. The Renaissance insult follows the failed arithmetic exercise.
Sources (2)
- Head — episode subtitle transcriptBlackadder II — Head; quoted conversationReference checked
- Blackadder II — WikiquoteHeadReference checked
Context reviewed
