Changing Nature

The Sinclair family are having a barbecue as they celebrate the upcoming arrival of the Bunch Beetles, a species of insect who come to Pangea on May 14th once a year to eat all the cider poppies which tend to grow excessively around spring. However, after the countdown, the Beetles don't return, much to the confusion of everyone. Four days later, without the Bunch Beetles, the cider poppies have completely grown out of control and are overtaking Pangaea.

As the Sinclairs and Earl's best friend, Roy, try to deal with the situation by trimming down the cider poppies, one of the Bunch Beetles, Stan, unexpectedly arrives at the Sinclair's house. He explains that he was making his way to the mating ground at a swamp, but became lost and that he needs to get there now since Bunch Beetles have a short lifespan. Charlene volunteers to help Stan, but when they get to the swamp, they discover that FruitCo, a subsidiary of the WESAYSO corporation, has built a wax fruit factory over the mating ground, not only that but when they meet one of the factory's workers, they also find out that the Bunch Beetles who arrived at the factory have been sprayed with insecticide, causing the entire species to become extinct, thus making Stan the last of his kind.

Charlene reports the extinction of the Bunch Beetles on DNN (Dinosaur News Network) and even points out how the WESAYSO corporation is also responsible for the cider poppy crisis, but when Earl and Fran see the news on the TV, Earl takes over the interview and tries to defend the company's actions by claiming that it was all in the name of progress to which he believes is good. Intrigued by the interview, which he watches from his office after being called by his boss, B.P. Richfield decides to have Earl be in charge of the task force.

When Earl and Roy are being interviewed about the task force, they explain that they're going to send helicopters to fly across the world to spray the cider poppies with defoliant and assures reporters that it is safe, even though it was donated to them by B.P. Richfield who prefers to remain anonymous. Robbie questions Earl about spraying the continent with poison and asks if there is a safer alternative, but Earl refuses, claiming it will take too long, and says Mr. Richfield has told him that the defoliant is safe. The defoliant is sprayed, which gets rid of the cider poppies, however, the next day it is revealed that all plant life on Pangea has been killed, resulting in a famine. Earl then reassures his family that Mr. Richfield has found a way to bring back the plants.

In Richfield's office, he, Earl, and Roy try to figure out how to revive the plants. Richfield states that they have to make it rain and in order to do so, they need clouds, which he thinks come from volcanoes (which actually produce smoke). Richfield states that in order to make clouds they need to set off a bunch of volcanoes by dropping bombs in them. Earl is reluctant since their last idea backfired. However, Richfield convinces Earl that this is no time to lose faith in progress and they all go with the plan.

Soon, bombs are dropped into volcanoes, which create giant thick black clouds that cover the entire planet. Earl thinks the clouds will create rain, but the rest of the Sinclair family disagrees. On the news, Howard Handupme reports that the clouds are blocking off the sun and causing global temperatures to drop precipitously. Earl tries to look on the bright side, claiming that even though they might get snow instead of the rain the sun will come out and melt it all away making the plants grow, however, Howard Handupme reports that due to the thickness of the clouds scientists have predicted that it will be tens of thousands of years before the sun shines over Pangaea again, thus creating the Ice Age. Earl calls Mr. Richfield about the problem, but Richfield refuses to listen, claiming it's good because everyone is flooding the stores buying WESAYSO's products.

Later, Earl apologies to Stan for the destruction of his mating ground and the extinction of his species. Earl then apologies to his family for his unintentional part in his company's bringing the end of the world and that he put too much faith in progress and technology and not having any respect for nature. Earl explains to Baby that he was put in charge of the world and he didn't take good care of it and now because of him there won't be a world left for Baby, Robbie or Charlene to live in. Robbie and Charlene assure Baby that whatever happens, they'll all stay together as a family. Earl also assures them that it will work out okay in the end, stating "dinosaurs have been on Earth for 150 million years and it's not like we're going to just... disappear!" Outside, the Sinclair home is being buried in the snow along with the wax fruit factory which caused all the problems in the first place.

Howard Handupme, after taking a look at the long-range forecast, signs off for the last time by saying goodbye to the viewers, ending the series on a very ambiguous yet somber note.