Chris Marquette Message Board

I've always been on Adam's side in this episode.  I know too many people like Judith, who deliberately take risks because it gives them some kind of a rush, and they always think everything's going to work out fine.  And when it doesn't, most of them can't handle it, because "it's not fair."  Well, actually it is.  It's damned fair.  It's just that some people take one or two risks and end up with horrible consequences, and others take dozens of risks, and nothing happens...till the odds win out. 

I know a lot of people who have become severely disabled because of something they did, a risk they took, that didn't have to happen.  So I agree with Adam that it's hard to see anyone just throw their life away.  Especially after what he went through with his mother.  At that time, he didn't understand why his mother would just abandon him, unless he'd done something to cause it.  He probably couldn't see, or recognize, any signals that she was in some kind of emotional/spiritual pain. 

So from his perspective, here's his mom, healthy and an artist, generally a cool person, and she did something he didn't understand, with the end result that she's left him, and he does understand it didn't have to happen.  Maybe it's his fault for being a bad son or something, to his way of thinking, but his mom's death didn't have to happen.  Neither did Judith's.  She wasn't some wide-eyed innocent who had no idea that bad things might happen in the bad part of town, late at night, while buying drugs...  I have no sympathy for people who are deliberately stupid like that. 

I would probably do the same thing Adam did...and I'd probably feel guilty about it afterwards.  But when people make any kind of choice, there are repercussions, good or bad.  I know Joan was all wrapped up in her concern for Judith, and scared to death, so she wasn't able to even think that Adam might have had a good reason for leaving.  But I don't think he was wrong to leave.  It's not like Joan was alone at the hospital and had no way to get home.  He didn't say, "I can't stay, and you've got to come with me, because I can't be here."  He knew he couldn't stay, and she had to, but he didn't want to talk about it, or argue about it.

Nine times out of ten, if Adam and Joan have an argument/disagreement/problem, I take Adam's side.  Not just because I like the character more than Joan, but because I'm so much more like Adam than like Joan.  I found very little in her life that I could identify with, and her actions and motivations often stymied me, because they made absolutely no sense from my perspective.  Whereas with Adam, almost everything he did (until Independence Day) made a fair amount of sense to me, logically or emotionally.

I wonder if any of these episodes will have the same impact on me now, since I'm at a much greater emotional distance from the show and characters than I was when the show was still on.

BTW, I think the interview went well.  It was pretty painless.  Now I have to wait about two weeks for the results.  There are three openings, but six of us from my office applied.  Awkward!  If I don't get it, I've still got my current job, which I love, but this would pay about twice as much, for pretty much the same thing.  Plus it will eventually become permanent, with benefits.  I'm sure they'll need more people to do the same thing later on, and by that time I'll be even more qualified.

I suspect they're desperate for attention, but don't know how to get it as themselves.  They could try doing something interesting or useful, but I guess it's easier to pretend to be someone who's popular.  You're right, it's very sad.

Nice work, TeeJay!  It's been a long time since I've seen that episode, but now I remember it fairly well.

I think she's saying, sarcastically, that Adam and Iris are perfect for each other because they're both so emotionally damaged (Iris by...whatever.  Not sure they know much about her at that point.  Adam has been damaged by his mother's suicide).  Therefore, if they ever have kids, (probably sooner rather than later, by  accident rather than design), the kids will likely be emotionally damaged, too, because it's unlikely Adam and Iris will be able to solve their own, or each other's problems.  They're both too broken to "fix" the other.  It's definitely Grace being cynical again.

This wasn't one of my favorite episodes, but I thought the lesson Joan learned was a good one.  It also reminded me there were often scenes in the sides that didn't make it into the episode, so those of us who read the sides for spoilers often had an incorrect preconception of upcoming episodes.

Good job on the recap, and it was nicely detailed.  I'd like to see more for other episodes.

Thanks, Deb and TeeJay!  I feel pretty confident about the interview situation.  Now I'm going to go relax, away from the computer, and try to get to bed before midnight for a change, so I can get a good night's sleep.

Ah, this is so much easier to read now!  Thanks!

I'll post more soon.  I've got a job interview tomorrow and need to spend some time updating my resume, etc., but then I'll have a bit more time to post, and read, and watch some of the things collected here.

The grade-Z horror flick is called Skinner, and it starred Ted Raimi.  I think it came out about 15 years ago, something like that.  I didn't see Willard; not fond of rats.  I thought Final Destination 3 was pretty amusing.  Don't forget, it also features Kris Lemche, a.k.a. Cute Boy God.  It's also got an interactive menu so you can try to change the ending at different points in the movie, or change who lives and who dies.  That was pretty fun.

A very different, and hilarious, recent horror movie I loved was Snakes on a Plane.  At first I thought I'd never watch it, not being fond of snakes, either.  The more I saw about it, though, the more it intrigued me.  I saw a clip of Samuel Jackson on Jon Stewart's show, and the two of them were giggling like insane fanboys, so I just had to check it out.  I can't even say the name of the movie around my mother, she's that snake-phobic.  The novelization was quite good; all the characters actually had names, and one minor character's fate was different at the end of the book than the movie, and that made me happy. 

30th October 2004
11:23pm:  Joan of Arcadia - Wealth of Nations (206)
Briefest synopsis:

Dead gerbil, dipped in shellack to make it *seem* like there's nothing decaying inside, precariously balanced on a shaky cage that's about to collapse under its own weight.

Best lines: Adam: You stole from the homeless?
Joan: Yeah. I'm a horrible, evil person.
Adam: Well, yeah!

Perhaps next week's episode will more closely resemble a gnome with a really nifty Fire Spear? One can only hope.

I've also gone in for the vampire and serial killer books.  I like mysteries, psychological horror, and things that really make me think.  I've read several real-life profiler books, and wrote one epic serial-killer novel, which was a fan fic based on a really bad grade-Z horror movie.  The screenwriter contacted me via e-mail, and said he loved my novel, and it was obvious I'd done a lot more research than he had, and I'd come up with a better early childhood trauma.  I'd also made his main character likeable, and he still couldn't figure out how, but he was amazed I'd done it.  That was fun. 

At first, when I watched the previews for Saw, I was intrigued, but the reviews I read turned me off.  From all the various previews I've seen, it does look more like torture than a quick death.  I love the Final Destination movies, because it's fun to try to anticipate what will happen when, and how certain people will die.  The problem I find with most horror movies is that I can't work up much sympathy for the victims.  They often come up with characters who, IMO, deserve to die, or at the very least, are too stupid to live.  There are also certain images I just can't handle, and I think it's Saw II that made me go, "Oh, no, no way in hell am I watching that."  So, to each his or her own.  I loved The Sixth Sense, btw, but The Ring didn't do much for me.  Oh well.

I found the rest of the reviews, including "Back To The Garden," so here it is.

Tomorrow, I'll review the Joan of Arcadia ep "Back To The Garden".  I haven't been able to bring myself to re-watch it yet, because I hated certain parts of it so much.  I have to watch it again, though, in closer detail, because I know I missed a lot of stuff.  Plus, any scene Adam is in, I tend to focus on him and not notice minor details, like other characters in the scene.  I'd pay good money to watch "Adam of Arcadia" every week, just Adam doing his thing, going through his daily life, with or without the other characters on the show.  Actually, just Adam would be good, thanks.  No, I'm not obsessed, why do you ask?  Oh, I also must watch Friedman walking into a door, and being tripped by Grace.  And the Adam/Jane kiss in the bookstore while she's working, interrupted by Sammy v 2.0, "Please, try not to mate in the store."   Yeah, there's some good stuff worth re-watching.

Joan of Arcadia episode "Back to the Garden" by Joy Gregory.  Recap and review.

Keep in mind I wrote this by using Dragon Naturally Speaking. Let me know if I've missed any word-replacements. Some were truly amusing, but I'm trying for a coherent narrative.

This is one of my least favorite episodes. It had some excellent moments and scenes for my favorite characters, but parts of it really annoyed the hell out of me.

One of the first scenes that really annoyed me was when Will took the accident photographs away from Kevin. I know he was just trying to protect his son, but Kevin has a right to know as much as his family does about his accident. It's clear there's a lot he doesn't remember. The photos were pretty grim, but I'm thinking Kevin was handling it pretty well. His parents need to give him more credit for being mature enough to handle seeing the photos.

I was happy to hear Grace asking Joan if she and Adam had made up yet, and reminding Joan of how much she humiliated Adam at Judith's party. You remember, the fun one where Joan made a fool of herself by getting tipsy and trying to publicly grope Adam, and he pushed her away. The party the police had to close down when the ambulance arrived to take comatose Judith away. It seems to me when Joan is doing anything less than wrecking a piece of his artwork, Adam is pretty forgiving of her transgressions. Loved Grace's line, "My dad found out about Judith's party, and now he thinks I'm being tainted by the heathen shiksa." They see Judith, who declines to go to class with them. She figures she can still pretend to be sick for a few more days. Yeah, alcohol poisoning's a real good excuse. Milk it for all it's worth. She's skipped three days of classes so far. I assume that means after she got out of the hospital.

I have a feeling Ms. Lischak's AP Physics class is much more interesting than the norm. When Joan arrives late, Lischak rattles on about the indeterminacy of Joan's arrival. She was just explaining the concept before Joan arrived, how we can never truly predict events. At least, that's how I translated it. Joan looks at Adam, and asks, "Am I supposed to know what she's saying?" Adam says, "I wasn't listening. I was looking at you." Joan looks less than thrilled at this, but I'm going to take it as meaning she's slightly annoyed that he won't be able to fill her in on what she missed in class.

When Lischak asks Joan what she is going to do for her project on the indeterminacy in her life, Joan recalls Gardener God planting a pathetic little tree by the bleachers, and telling her if she wants an assignment, she'd better get to class. Joan gets a bright idea to try to plant a garden near the bleachers, "the rankest place in the school," to see if anything planted there could actually grow. The bleachers are the only smoking section in the school, and it appears to be where the stoner kids hang out. Lischak seems to think Joan might be on to something with this project. Joan thinks she can get her friends to help her, and they can share the grade. Her friends are less than enthusiastic.

There's an amusing bit where Friedman is asked about his project, and Grace stage-whispers to him, "Am I ever going to get laid?" He tries to ignore her and says something about the Mars Rover, then Grace repeats her suggestion for his project, as Adam grins and looks back at Joan. He looks really amused, as though thinking perhaps he has a better chance than Friedman of getting laid, quite possibly sometime this season, I'm guessing, unless God has other plans for Joan. Don't look at me like that, I'm not talking about Cute Boy God, or Goth God, or any other hot God, just The Divine having plans for Joan that require her to become a nun or something. Which would really be a bummer for Adam.

Anyway, now they're in gym class! Gym is always good for some laughs, usually at Friedman's expense, and also the rare chance to see Adam in short sleeves. Need I mention he's got great arms? While they are running around the gym, Joan is begging Adam to please help her with her garden. She tells him she will never, ever ask him for another thing again, and I hope he's not naive enough to actually believe her. He grins at the uncharacteristic begging, and agrees. Now the gym teacher wants them all to do sit-ups, in pairs, one holding the other's ankles. Grace asks Luke if he's fondling her ankles. He smiles, and says yes, he is. For some reason, this pisses Grace off, and she leaves the class. Meanwhile, Adam is doing sit-ups while Joan kind of leans on his knees. Awww.

After school, Joan is working at the bookstore, and Adam comes in and tells her he's found someone to cover for him at work, so he can help her with the garden. Joan seems overjoyed, and actually says, "Thank you!" She kisses him enthusiastically, until they're interrupted by her new boss, Sammy v 2.0. Also known as New Sammy, Sammy: The Next Generation, The Sammy Strikes Back, and Revenge of the Sammy. Also, go away, Sammy v. 2.0. Bring back Original Sammy and his crazy wife. Not-the-real-Sammy asks if they would like him to dim the lights. Adam looks embarrassed, while Joan mumbles something about being happy. So-Not-the-Right-Sammy cracks, "Try not to mate during business hours, Ms. Girardi." He walks away, and Judith shows up. She starts talking about her new friends, (the D students) and starts picking on Adam. He's trying to be polite, but is annoyed with her. He's trying to be nice for Joan's sake. Then Judith asks him, "Are you nervous because someone else is treading on your territory?" Creepy, much. It's obvious she's jealous of Adam, and she certainly acting like she would prefer to be Joan's boyfriend. I don't object to the implied hoyay, except that Judith is so incredibly skanky. Plus, back off, beyatch! Adam gets tired of Judith's attitude, and says he's going to work on his own project. He leaves, and Judith grins like she's just won this round. She wants Joan to go to the mall, but Joan angrily points out she has to work. I'm thinking Original Sammy would have never tolerated all these work-place interruptions. I hope "Kevin Hill" tanks so we can get him back.

Joan talks to cute Loner Kid God (not as exciting as Stoner God, Comfy Jeans God, or Loser God, but that's what He's called in the script), complaining that none of her friends wants to work on her garden. God has a great shout out to Lost when he says, "Everybody always has something better to do, till they're on a plane, then they're all over Me."
Later, Joan is by her locker, and Adam brings her a sandwich, because he noticed she wasn't at lunch. Joan is upset that he doesn't seem to like Judith. I have no idea why he would. Now get this: Joan confesses, "I just had this kind of fantasy where we would all come together and be like one person with a lot of heads." Uh...okay...'scuse me while I go throw up. Okay, better now. Joan hurries on to reassure Adam, "That sounds kinda freaky, but you know what I meant." Mercifully, Adam doesn't say anything. I think he's trying to delete the mental picture from his photographic memory.

The following exchange takes place between the garden and the bleachers, and makes me hate Judith even more, if that's possible. I don't give a rat's ass that she immediately looks guilty 'cause she's hurt Joan's feelings. A guilty look does not an apology make. Keep in mind Judith's new crowd of friends are sitting on the bleachers, in easy auditory range. Judith is complaining about Joan's friends. Joan points out that Grace saved her life. Judith isn't impressed. "Doctors exaggerate. I coulda slept it off." Now Joan is starting to get angry. "I was in the hospital with you for two days!" Then Judith asks her, "Aren't you great?" No sense of gratitude at all. Joan is trying to talk some sense into Judith, but she objects. "Now I'm supposed to take advice from this nut job who sees people who aren't even there?" She and her new friends laugh and deliberately trample over Joan's garden, on their way to get Big Gulps. I'm waiting for a lightning bolt to strike them, or even a Fire Spear, but I'm doomed to disappointment.

Luke and Grace are arguing in the hallway about their relationship. Grace doesn't deny they have relationship, surprisingly, but she insists, "This is about my privacy." Luke responds, "Fine, then, be private and alone, because that's clearly what you want!" He walks away, and we can see from Grace's face this is not what she wants. Janitor God walks over to Joan and removes a bottle she's just put into the garbage can. He advises her, "This can be recycled. Do I have to make a new Earth every seven days?" Joan snaps back, "So many people pray to see you. If only they knew." He does the patented God-wave, which I interpret as his way of saying, "This conversation is over."

Joan and Judith ran into each other in the hallway at school. Judith tries to explain that she has been at four high schools in two years, and none of her friends have stayed with her. She points out that here, now, she and Joan are friends. Joan agrees. Judith seems intent on screwing up on a regular basis. She asks if Joan will be there it she messes up again. Joan is confused. Judith says she will be the one Joan will cut loose. Joan will still have her friends, but Judith will be alone, and she doesn't do alone well. No shit. She needs to be the center of attention, and if there's no one to admire her coolness, she can't cope. Friedman walks up to Judith, and is blathering away at her, thinking he's being seductive, and walks right into an open door. Judith isn't the only one who smirks. Sorry, Friedman, always the comic relief, never the romantic hero.

Early the next morning, before school starts, Adam is at Joan's garden, throwing some of the accumulated garbage into a trash can. Judith comes up to him and asks if he wants a cigarette. Adam replies, "No thanks. Big fan of the lungs." They talk or couple of minutes about how this is the first time Joan and Adam have worked on separate projects, instead of working together. Judith asks if that's because of her that they're not working together. Perpetually polite Adam first denies it, then admits that yeah, it is because of her. Then he actually says, "I'm sorry." For what? Does he think he's hurt her feelings by saying that she's interfering with his relationship with Joan? Sometimes he can be too polite. Judith doesn't respond to his apology. Adam says, "Think I'm gonna clean up some more. Wanna help?" Judith, bitchy again, says, "no thanks," and walks away. Hm, which friend should Joan drop if she had to make a choice? I really hope it doesn't come to that, because Joan, being occasionally flighty and not-entirely-bright, and wanting to help a poor lost soul, would probably make the wrong choice.

Joan shows up to work on her garden, and sees Adam has done some work there. He's waiting for her reaction. She asks about the little tree that appears to have very odd, bent white cylinders for leaves. Adam admits that they are cigarette butts. He dipped them in leftover Slushies (Big Gulps), and tells her that sugar makes killer glue, and Joan smiles like she was actually listening. She notices one of Adam's sculptures, sort of a little man, which appears to be holding some kind of stick with orange, yellow and pink crepe paper, perhaps, wrapped around it so it looks kind of spiky, but in bright colors. Yep, definitely designed by Adam. "Cool," Joan observes. Adam explains, "It's a gnome. They live the under the earth and guard the buried treasure." He points to the stick thing. "This is his Fire Spear. I had a serious Dungeons & Dragons habit. I'm better now." That's okay, Adam, I always knew you were a geek at heart.

Will and Helen are in the lawyers office, talking about some of their memories of Kevin's accident. They are interrupted by Kevin, who wheels into the office unexpectedly. After he had a brief conversation with former nun Lily, she convinced him that he needs to take charge of his own life. He starts to talk about what he remembers of the accident. Helen interrupts him to talk about her memories but it doesn't bother him as much as it bothers me. The scene ends with Helen and Kevin hugging awkwardly, due to his wheelchair being in the way.

Back to the garden. Yeah, I just had to. Lischak is leading her students towards Joan's project. Excuse me, the joint project of Joan, Adam, Grace, Luke, and Judas. Excuse me, Judith. Yeah, Judith planted a few bulbs. Grace and Luke had done some work at the last minute to plant some full-grown flowers. The garden actually looks pretty good. As she's walking the class to the garden, Lischak is lecturing. "Indeterminacy, my warriors! Who will catch a cold? Who will stumble and fall along the dusty path?" Grace takes this perfect moment to demonstrate indeterminacy, and trips Friedman.

Lischak asks Joan to explain her project. Luke hands Joan a paper he's written, that she has obviously not seen before. "We posit that no-one behaves according to predetermined assumptions. Humanity and beauty have the potential to coexist where the obstacles are the most challenging. We offer our garden as an inquiry into the nature of hope, the greatest indeterminacy of all." Hm. I must have missed the point of that speech the first time I watched it. Now I'm wondering whether it is supposed to be applicable to Judith. She is certainly a challenging obstacle. I assume Joan is the one offering her some hope. Damn. Were we actually supposed to like her at this point? 'Cause it's not working.

To underscore the theme of indeterminacy, an anvil – er, bulldozer, shows up, ready to mow down Joan's garden. Lischak tries to explain it's a class project, but the foreman is unmoved. He's got a union driver being paid hourly wages, and they've got to build new bleachers. He's sorry about destroying the garden, and it's very nice, but he's got a job to do. Judith is standing in front of the bulldozer, and refuses to move. Most of the students stupidly start chanting Judith's name, as though she is some kind of heroine. The foreman finally picks her up bodily and moves her away. Adam does not join in the chanting, and he's in the back of the group. Grace, oddly, is chanting. It's all very annoying. Even more so when Joan and Judith hug. I guess all is forgiven. Bullshit. Judith is a scheming, manipulative, attention grabbing bitch, and she won't stop until she brings Joan down to her level. That's my theory, anyway.

Joan breaks away from her hug with Judith then she sees Loner Kid God (who, I must say, is rather hot) sitting alone in the bleachers. He tells her, "It was a cool garden, Joan. And I loved the Fire Spear!" Joan asks, "So what I was growing..." She trails off uncertainly. "Grew." He leaves, lesson imparted, and Joan goes back to her classmates, and once again overly-enthusiastically hugs Judith. No, Joan, don't encourage the psycho stalker! Bad idea. The scene fades out.

The Good: All the scenes with Adam, Grace, Luke or Kevin.
The Bad: The anvillicious bulldozer and gratuitous chanting.
The Ugly: Judith's growing obsession with fitting herself into Joan's life. This isn't a healthy thing, and I'm not sure Joan is ready to deal with someone as disturbed as Judith. I guess we'll find out eventually.

Spoiler for next week: Joan's cranky, crazy Aunt Olive (Cloris Leachman) comes for a visit, but has a stroke, and may have to stay with the Girardis. In more exciting news, God wants Joan to adopt a feral cat. She and Larry the cat don't see eye to eye. When Olive moves in, Joan can't take care of the cat, so she gives him to Adam. Later, she's a bit jealous that the cat and Adam have quickly bonded. No duh there, Joan. Cats prefer people who are mellow and calm and low-key, to people who are hyper and unpredictable. Joan has always struck me as more of a dog person. It should be a fun episode, since Chris Marquette really likes cats. Even though Judith will be in the episode, it has to be better than this week's ep. Maybe the cat's coolness will cancel out Judith's presence. Or maybe the cat will viciously attack her. One can hope.

Moonves is also the jerk who cancelled Quantum Leap, so I've hated him for years.  I just have more reason now.  He used to be with NBC, but I guess he switched networks somewhere along the way.

Hm, I haven't seen those two movies.  I saw Skeet in The Craft, Scream, Touch, and As Good As It Gets.  I saw Angus in Equilibrium, Spartacus, and Second Skin, which was great.  Looks like he's going to be in Saw III.  I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the first two.  I like some horror movies, but torture?  Nope, not a fan.

Jericho's been picked up for a full season, actually.  It's doing a lot better in the ratings than I ever expected.  None of my friends are watching it, either.  Everyone I know is the type of person who would pick it apart for the bad science.

I'll take a look at my journal and see what recaps are there.  I'll post whichever ones I can find here.  Which would be the best thread to post them in?

The AG thing sounds like fun.  Maybe I'll write the Joan/Grey's crossover sometime, maybe to take a break on the other project.

I just got a Mac, which I vastly prefer to my PC, but I have to go to View and Make Text Larger to read this board!  Otherwise the font is just too small to read comfortably.