Chris Marquette Message Board

Thanks. 

I need to read the recaps for No Bad Guy and Requiem.  I read the one for Double Dutch.  I think that's all the recaps that are up at the moment.

I've been swamped with working on my novel, and I'm involved in several other fandoms -- this one is lower on my list than it was two years ago, or even a year ago.  I'll need some time to catch up to speed.  There's a lot of stuff here I haven't read yet.  Once I get some obligations taken care of, I'll have more time.

Ah, you're right there...the last great ep.  (Sniff.) 

Tomorrow I'll post the reviews for Secret Service, and something I wrote just prior to Trial and Error.  I'll have to check, but I don't think I actually did a recap of T&E or anything afterwards.  I think I was too shocked and disheartened to spend that much time reviewing or transcribing any of it from then on.

I don't think I did a recap/review of "Romancing the Joan", perhaps becase it was one of the eps I really disliked.  I didn't like Roger, his behavior, Joan's reaction, etc.

19th February 2005
9:35pm:  Joan of Arcadia "Independence Day"
God, how I hate lazy, sloppy, OOC writing. Some parts of it were very good, but how dare they mess with my Adam!  Trying to turn him into some typical, testosterone-poisoned, inconsiderate asshole.  I've been trying to find ways to justify his behavior, but the best I can do is assume someone (maybe Friedman, for a giggle) has programmed an Adam-bot that is about as realistic as the Buffy-bot.  It looks right, the voice is right, but the words and actions...obviously there was a programming glitch somewhere.  I actually liked Joan (in some ways) more than Adam in this episode.  That is just plain wrong on so many levels.  Bring back my beloved show, and my beloved Adam, and get rid of all the stupid Sweeps-inspired idiocy.  It ain't working.  The ratings suck, and are at 50% of last year's ratings for the 16th episode.

I'm sure there will be more ranting and raving to follow, until I see evidence that this aberration in character has been rectified.  We didn't even get to hear the apology!  Instead we got more stupid music that was supposed to take the place of any actual dialogue.  I like U2, but damn, people, that was unnecessary.  Hm, do I want to hear a song that has lyrics that might fit in with the scene, or do I want to hear the actual words the characters have to say to each other?  Difficult choice, not.  I suspect the songs are more effective when one is familiar with them and already knows the words.  If you have to struggle to understand the words and their relevance, and it takes concentration away from the scene, it's a pain in the ass.  What is happening to my show?!?
Current Mood:  pissed off

Thanks, TeeJay, for posting this for me!    You're welcome, Samsy-Marie! 

Pg 25 doesn't really belong in there, but I got into a sort of rhythm scanning both sides of the page.  Next time hopefully it will be just the Adam scenes or scenes where they're talking about him, or they pertain to his and Joan's storyline.

Heh, I don't think there's any such thing as "too paranoid" where Lost is concerned.  I didn't tape the episode, so I can't go back and check, but someone posted that they thought he looked like the dude in the orientation video, Dr. Marvin Candle -- I think that was one of the names he used.  He was in two orientation tapes.  Someone else pointed out that in one of the other stations, maybe the Tailies' one, they'd found a glass eye.  Might belong to the same person, and got "lost," hence the patch.  Hee!

I don't trust Juliet, either, but I trust her more than Ben.

Damn, wasn't Eko enough of a sacrifice?  I'm hoping what Eko told Locke was meant as, "You (the group of you, one by one) are next, rather than Locke specifically.  I like Locke!  I've always thought of the island as some kind of living entity, though I know it doesn't really make sense.  Hm, maybe it's an ancient god or some very powerful shape-shifting being that's taken on the form of an island for purposes we don't understand, and is luring people to it for the occasional sacrifice.  Unlikely, but with this show, not all that unbelievable!

ETA:  I just noticed I'm now Unchallenged!  Go me!

Really?  I've got to look for that!

I have mixed feelings about seeing actors I like in really extreme roles.  It's a great stretch for their acting to go to different extremes, but it can be hard for me to watch.  I know, realistically, people are capable of all kinds of things they think they'd never do, but some people are almost too convincing!  There have been times when I've first seen an actor playing a really creepy or repulsive guy, and I just can't get over it, especiallyl if they often play a similar character (i.e. Jack Nicholson).  If it's just an occasional role, and they've built up enough collective goodwill from previous roles, I can handle the occasional disturbing character (i.e. Keanu in The Gift or The Watcher).  I think Chris falls into the latter category. 

I know in my head that these people are just actors playing a role, but if they make it realistic enough that I can really see that aspect as a part of their personality that they usually suppress, it can be hard to get that out of my mind.  I have a feeling this particular role of Chris's is going to be very difficult to watch.

DK's role on ER sounds like one of those I can handle, since I'm used to him playing such a nice guy.  Same for Jake Weber (currently on Medium) as a child molester on NYPD Blue and a very creepy, psychotic brothel-owner in the movie Skin Art.  Blech!  But there's enough goodwill built up that it will still overpower those occasional roles.

I'm not sure if this makes sense to anyone else; maybe I'm just too sensitive.

I never saw Judging Amy, unless perhaps there was an episode that Chris was in, so I can't make comparisons with that.  I wasn't really expecting to make an emotional connection with the teenage characters, but Adam got to me right away.  Joan was...offputting.  Maybe it's because I don't personally know anyone who is a teenager now, and things are so very different than when I was that age.  Joan's family is nothing like the family I grew up in, except for some of the dynamics between Kevin and Luke.

I wanted to see Joan slowly start to learn various lessons, and start to grow up, but instead it seemed like she stubbornly resisted any change in that direction.  Sure, she didn't like taking on all the responsibilities that adulthood entails, and wanted to postpone it.  But she just didn't come across as the kind of person I would want to know, or spend time with. 

I liked a lot of the other characters to varying degrees, but if it hadn't been for Adam, I might have given up on the show.  They started reducing the elements that made the show unique (the whole God angle) in favor of making it more viewer-friendly.  Oddly enough, they seemed to think one way to do that was to bring out the worst in Joan, rather than show the best.  The show was supposed to be about people striving for their potential, but it was like Joan was throwing that away, much as Judith threw her life away, in favor of being "normal" and fitting in, and behaving like so many other teenage characters.  It was just disappointing.

I thought it was only in sitcoms that the characters never change, and never, ever learn from their mistakes.

Usually the dramas I like are the ones where characters do change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not.  When they remain static, I get bored, especially if I'm not all that drawn to them in the first place.

I often find the sidekicks or minor characters more interesting than the lead, in almost any show.  For instance, I didn't much care for Buffy, but I adored Xander and Willow.  And Oz.

I thought the first half of Season 1 showed Joan as more interesting and likeable, but around "Recreation" she started getting mean, and incredibly self-absorbed.  Plus, I really have a problem with all the times she lied.  Somehow, lying about God-related stuff just seems wrong to me.    There were times I liked her in the second season, but not all that often.  I was annoyed at the writers that they wouldn't let me like her, because of the unbelievable way they were writing her.

It wasn't?  It was the first time I could recall.  Do you remember when she said it before?

It always seemed to me that Adam showed his feelings for Joan, and told her how he felt, much more often and more easily than she did.  Probably because she had the God thing to hide, and he didn't have a huge secret (after "Jump") that might make her change her feelings about him.

Joan of Arcadia - "The Book of Questions" (210)

This was the long awaited Bat Mitzvah episode.  It wasn't really what I expected, but it was still pretty good.  I think something very important happened at the end of the episode between Joan and Adam, but I think it's up for interpretation now.

The whole episode was about questions to life's difficult problems, and nobody got any easy answers.  As expected, Joan wanted to know why Judith had to die.  Female-Student God told Joan she needed to help Grace with the bat mitzvah.  Joan asked why there are so many religions, and God said that there are so many people and they all need to relate to God in different ways.  That's all that religion is, people trying to find ways to relate to God.  That didn't seem to be a good enough answer for Joan. 

The episode started out with Joan being outraged about flyers offering counseling for students who wanted to talk about Judith's death.   Grace very quickly and casually announced to Joan and Adam that she was having this thing on Saturday, with food and stuff, and they could go if they wanted, but she didn't care, it was no big deal.  Joan wanted more details, and Grace reluctantly told them it was her Bat Mitzvah.  Adam was surprised, because he knew she was supposed to go through this several years ago.  She told him to drop it, and left. 

Adam seemed to think they should go see the counselor, but Joan vehemently disagreed.  She got angry at him for even suggesting it, because of her own unfortunate experience with Dr. Dan, the incompetent psychiatrist she had been seeing.  I had the impression that Adam wanted to go for counseling, and maybe he wanted Joan to go with him.  I think he was also trying to prevent her from having to go through everything he went through regarding his mother's death, keeping everything inside instead of confronting it head-on and talking to someone about it.  Joan didn't want to be reminded of Judith's death, because it makes it all too fresh for her. 

Grace later ran into Luke and invited him to the Bat Mitzvah, and he seemed more excited about it then she did.  Meanwhile, Will had been trying to get answers from a witness to Judith's murder, one of her friends who was with her.  The guy, Ryan, doesn't want to talk, he's afraid of incriminating himself.  (I don't suppose there's any connection to Ryan Hunter, who appears much later, but it's worth noting:  On this show, guys named Ryan are bad.)  This lawyer backs him up, which pisses Will off.  Later in the day, or perhaps the next day, Lucyfer walks into his office, and leans against the door, wishing Will a happy birthday.  He says it's not his birthday, and she tells him she got him something anyway.  The whole scene is very smarmy.  She has had Ryan, the witness, picked up on a flimsy charge.  She says he looks like a surveillance picture they have of someone who robbed a store.  Will can see that Ryan bears little resemblance to the man in the picture, but goes along with it, because Lucy assures him she's done this before and it will work out.  Later, Will gets home and tells Helen about getting Ryan to talk.  She wasn't happy that he's using tactics he didn't used to do, and he said that's the way things get done.  Helen still has trepidations about Lucyfer, and so do I.  I think she's trying to entrap Will into doing something ethically and legally wrong.

Joan and Adam are in the bookstore, looking at books on Judaism.  Heh, Adam is actually reading "Judaism For Dummies".  Joan is telling him some of the things she has learned.  He looks over her shoulder and points out that it says that the Torah contains the wisdom of life, and comments that would be pretty handy.  Then he looked nervous and awkward, and very hesitantly asked Joan if, last year, when she was talking to God, she learned anything important, like about death.  I got the feeling he was thinking of both Judith and his mother.  Joan was very upset with him for even asking, and she reminded him that he promised he would never bring the subject up again.  He just wanted to know if she learned anything useful.  She tried to explain, and after several false starts, said it just doesn't work that way.  She doesn't have any answers.  He hugs her, and at this point Sammy v 2.0 walked by and looked disapprovingly at them.  He said he hoped this was work-related.  Adam said it is, and holds up the book he was reading, and said Joan was just showing him a good book.  Then Grace showed up, and Sammy v 2.0 asked if anybody is actually going to buy anything.  He walks off, after asking plaintively why they don't just hang out in an arcade like the other delinquents.  Hm, he doesn't get an answer to his question either.

Grace was there to ask Joan for help in buying a dress.  They have to go shopping the next day.  Adam perked up at this, and repeated, "Dress?"  Grace essentially tells him to mind his own business.  Apparently he's very used to her bossing him around.  Joan was all excited at the prospect of having some way to help Grace. 

The next day, while they were shopping, Grace complained about wearing a dress, and all of the ways it opresses women.  Joan wasn't really paying attention, and held up a red dress and said something about it being very sexy.  Grace was disgusted that Joan obviously isn't listening to her.  Joan found a cute, sleeveless black dress.  A blond woman came in, and called out, "Gracie!"  Grace looked very alarmed, then tried to smile.  Her mother turned to Joan, and said she's been wanting to meet her.  Joan said she was beginning to think maybe Grace didn't have a mother.  Sarah, Grace's mother, said she knows she's not supposed to be there, but it's obvious to the audience she was very excited.  She looked very attractive, sophistocated, and together.  Joan and Sarah talked somewhat awkwardly while Grace went to try on the dresses.

Kevin is waiting in some kind of the lobby.  Beth shows up, and he tries to act real casual, but he says he wants to make sure she's all right.  She had told him that she was going to be deposed for the case, and she doesn't want to mess things up.  They go for coffee, and it seems like Kevin is still somewhat interested in her.

Joan goes to Adam's shed, and finds him painting a portrait of Judith.  It's kind of a Warholian piece, and he tells Joan he's using a photo he took of Judith the day of their date.  He went for coffee, and Judith was telling him what kind of flowers to get for Joan.  Joan thinks Adam is a little bit obsessed, but he thinks this is a healthy way of dealing with his feelings.  He tells Joan she should try doing the same thing.  She gets angry, and says she doesn't paint.  He tells her she should write, then, and try to get some of this stuff out in the open, so she can look at it.  Joan says she can't do that.  She suddenly remembers she needs to help Grace pick out some shoes, and leaves in a hurry.

Later we see her in her bedroom, writing in a notebook.  There are a lot of the words written very large and bold, and the word "why?" is very prominent.  She's muttering to herself, then throws a notebook across the room in frustration.  There's a knock on her bedroom window, and she opens it to let Grace in.  Grace returns Joan's shoes, and says she won't need them, and Joan won't need to help her with the makeup, either.  She's canceling the Bat Mitzvah.  Joan is shocked, but Grace refuses to answer her questions, and leaves.

Earlier we had seen Joan in Grace's bedroom, waiting to see what Grace looked like with the dress on.  Grace came out of the closet she'd been hiding in, and she looked great.  Her father came in, and was thrilled to see her in a dress and high-heeled shoes.  She warned him if he cries on the dress, the shoes will become lethal weapons.  He grinned, and hugged her, and it's apparent that Grace is fairly close to her dad, despite frequent arguments on the subject of religion. 

We see Joan in the bookstore again, and she's trying to get hold of Grace.  Apparently she has called a number of times, and Grace isn't returning her call.  A large, heavyset man walks into the bookstore, and wants to find "Sense and Sensibility."  He tells her how much he enjoyed "Wuthering Heights", and Joan seems very surprised that a man who looks like him would be reading those books.  He tells her that sometimes a tough exterior can hide a tender heart, and calls her by name.  She realizes this is yet another God avatar, and once again asks about Judith.  He tells her it's not about finding answers, but about asking the right questions.  He mentions that it broke his heart that, in "Wuthering Heights", that heroine almost ruined her relationship with Heathcliff mind not being honest about her feelings.  Joan doesn't see what that has to do with anything.  She really should learn to pay more attention to everything God says, in my opinion.  She persistently asks again why Judith had to die, and he walks away, with the book in his hand.

Joan goes over to Grace's house to look for her, but she's not home.  Sarah tells her that Grace will be home soon.  Sarah is wearing sweats, no makeup, and is unsteady on her feet.  She's very friendly, but it's obvious that she has been drinking.  She tries to hide the bottle from Joan, but Joan has already figured out what's going on.  She decides not to wait for Grace, and leaves.  Later, in Joan's bedroom, she is berating Luke for not telling her about Grace's mother.  He says he was trying to protect Grace's privacy.  Grace shows up and yells at both of them, Joan for daring to come to her house, and "Freak!" for telling Joan about her mother.  Again with the name-calling, tsk-tsk.  Luke denies he told Joan anything, and Grace says that's it, it's over, she's breaking up with him.  She runs down the stairs and Joan stops her.  Joan tells her what she's gotten out of this whole Bat Mitzvah thing is that it's about taking responsibility, taking a stand.  Luke tells Grace he already got her a present.  For some reason, that seems to get to her.

At the Bat Mitzvah, Grace looks very attractive in the black dress.  Joan is wearing a red dress and looks pretty as well.  Adam is in a suit and tie, and Friedman, Glynnis and Luke are there as well.  Grace sings the portion of the Torah she memorized, and everyone is happy for her.  Then Grace gets to make a speech of sorts.  She talks about arguing with her dad, until she finally realized, that very day, that it's all about questioning things.  The Torah doesn't provide answers, but it's a book of questions.  It's all about searching for the right answers, and she thinks it's a great way to approach adulthood.  Her parents seem very proud of her.

At the reception afterwards, Grace's another comes up to her to tell her how proud she is.  At Grace's look, she says she's drinking ginger ale.  Grace says she's not going to go there, and tells her mother she loves her.  Joan has a conversation with the party guest who appears to be a middle-aged aunt.  This is another God avatar.  Joan once again asks God why Judith had to die.  God's tells her again it's not about the answers, but about asking the right questions. 

Luke wants Grace to come outside with him and look at something.  They look up at the stars and Luke points out the Perseid meteor shower.  Grace is suitably impressed, and asked him how he got them to do that.

Joan is sitting at a table in the back of the room, surrounded by empty glasses.  Adam sits down next to her, and gives her a drink.  Joan wants to tell him something, but seems to have a little trouble phrasing it.  She finally says she was scared to ask about Judith, because she didn't want to find out Judith died because of their date.  She didn't want to find out that maybe they shouldn't be together.  She says she didn't want to lose to people she loves so close together.  Adam puts his arm around her and let's her rest her head on his shoulder.  He'd looks thoughtful. 

This is the first time she is actually told him that she loves him, but more importantly, it's an oblique way to let him know she is still talking to God.  The episode ends with grace and Luke still looking up at the stars. 

I hope this means that Joan will talk to Adam again about God, because I think that's a huge barrier between them, and until they get past that, they will have trouble really being comfortable in their relationship.

I hate it when movies are so pretentious and are trying something so different that the audience can't keep up and has no idea what they've just seen.  There's a difference between clever, intelligent film-making that requires concentration on the part of the audience (Identity, The Prestige), and a muddled mess that leaves the average viewer wondering why the hell they wasted time and money on it (Eyes Wide Shut, Vanilla Sky).

I loved the episode, and Chris was perfectly cast.  TeeJay, I'm pretty sure you'll like the whole series.  I'd say "The Bone Scatterer" is a pretty good representation of it.  Some of the episodes explored various urban myths and legends.  It's similar to Supernatural in some respects, and that's a good thing!