JoA Recaps for Season 2

shrams · 23 Oct 06 :: 07:42

I'll start with this one and post more later. I wrote these for my LiveJournal, generally the same night an episode aired, or the next day, so these were my first impressions, but hopefully this time I can catch the typos. I can't find the entry or file for "Back To The Garden" so I'll see if I have a printout I can maybe scan. These aren't super-detailed recaps, but they're a combination of my feelings and an attempt to describe the most significant parts of the episode for people who hadn't seen them.

Joan of Arcadia - "The Cat"

How did I love this episode? Let me count the ways. More to come after I've seen it again. In no particular order:

1. Adam and Larry the cat...I always knew Adam had to be a cat person! Loved how he and the cat bonded so easily, till the call of the outdoors drove the half-wild beast away.

2. Luke and Grace - I can really see this relationship working. He's finally getting around her defenses, and she's finally got someone who will at least try to understand her. The wordless hug in their last scene was wonderful. First time I've seen Grace cry, and the only episode I can think of where Joan didn't cry. I like this development.

3. Joan reading "The Cat in the Hat" to Larry, according to the instructions on the Feral Cat pamphlet. Hm, I wonder if Adam read anything to Larry, or just talked to him, or more likely, didn't say anything and they were both cool with that.

4. Helen telling Adam he has the potential to become a commercial artist. Not exactly what he wanted to hear, but she's given him a suggestion that should be easier to handle than being a janitor all his life. Better to make money through some form of art, and still do his own stuff on the side. Not to mention how much she's broadening his horizons on trying different types of art.

5. Adam's posters for the missing Larry. I think he's got the Warholian pop art down now.

6. Helen finally voicing her feelings about Aunt Olive, saying just a fraction of the things I'd been thinking, but it was obviously cathartic for her. And a much-needed kick in the butt to Aunt Olive.

7. Kevin patiently helping Olive learn to not only be independent in her wheelchair, but also teaching her how to ask for help; props to Olive for taking his advice as it was meant, and using it.

8. Will standing up for Chief Roebuck, but also recognizing his boss is doing the right thing by quitting.

9. Grace and Luke's text-messaging. "Blackwidow-4-U" and "Gravity_Boy", heh.

10. Friedman persistently chasing Judith. "Memorize 'Hamlet' and then I'll go out with you." The look of horror on Joan's and Adam's faces when he asks, "The character or the whole play?" and Judith answers, "The play." Well, it won't do him any harm to learn it, and Judith deserves a date with Friedman. I do hope he pays attention to the character of Ophelia, and ponders any resemblance she might have to his belusted Judith. Run, Friedman, run!

11. Last but not least: Luke telling Adam to eat one of Aunt Olive's baked crickets. "They're supposed to be good for sex." Adam, enthusiastically grabbing one, says, "I'm going in." I can't believe Helen didn't slap his hand away from the crickets. Joan, dear, please pay attention...stop being rude to your boyfriend and start noticing how much he loves you. Don't let him get away because you're too selfish to listen to anything he says.

A vast improvement over the last episode. I'll probably think of more things when I've seen it again.

shrams · 23 Oct 06 :: 08:16

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.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 23 Oct 06 :: 19:33

Those are awesome! So much fun to read. More please.

Deb

shrams · 24 Oct 06 :: 04:25

Thanks! Here's another:

JoA's Election Episode, cleverly titled "The Election"

Some of the highlights include:

SchoolJanitorGod: (handing some flyers he's holding to Joan) I think you dropped these.

Joan: Oh, so he Supreme Being cares about Student Council elections?

God: I care about anything that involves free will.

Joan: Most people express their free will by not voting.

God: You have a chance to make a difference here.

The candidate God wants Joan to support, Brian Beaumont, tells Joan that, "I know recent polls show me at 11% and Lars Klosterman running at 54%, but I'm optimistic that Arcadia voters want a candidate who's going to make a difference."

Brian has actually written a 48-page mission statement, while Lars is basically running on good looks and popularity. Lars finds out Brian's dad is in jail, and spreads inall around the school, and his henchmen deface the posters Adam has made for Brian by painting jail bars over his face. This pisses Adam off, not only ruining his artwork, but the smear campaign they're running on an essentially nice guy.

Joan looks for, and finds, asecret of Lars' that she considers spreading: Lars is gay, and she has a photo of him and his boyfriend kissing. She's thinking of printing it on pink paper and spreading it around the school, but before she does it, she realizes how devastating and horrible it would be, and even if it meant Brian winning the election, she's not going to use those tactics. So, she tells God.

Joan: I couldn't do it. I couldn't win that way.

God: Yeah. It's amazing how many people could have.

Joan: So, Lars is gonna win?

God: Landslide.

Joan: I drove myself crazy for nothing.

God: You were involved, Joan. That always makes a difference.

In a conversation with her mom, while eating ice cream late at night, where Joan confesses what she almost did, and is hating herself for even thinking of it, she adds,

Joan: I didn't like losing, though. Being involved was supposed to make a difference and I don't really see how.

Helen's words of wisdom: Ah, well, you need more chocolate sauce.

What Joan really needs is some good news. There's a knock at the door.

Joan is thrilled to see Adam, who tells her about an incredible opportunity, made?possible by Brian Beaumont's efforts. In return for Adam making?the campaign posters, he looked into some art scholarship possibilities for Adam, who is thrilled almost beyond words. Brian found him a mentoring program where "They're going to pay me just as much as the?hotel..."

Joan: Really?

Adam: For doing something I love! It's...I just...I just need to give you a hug. (The world's best hug ensues, as Helen looks on in fondness at her daughter and future son-in-law.)

So Adam can quit shampooing carpets and cleaning toilets at the hotel, and do something he loves instead, and get just as much money? That's awesome! Brian may have lost the election, but at least Joan has seen some good ripples from her involvement, and she and her friends really made an effort to help him win. They help not only because of Brian's 48-page mission statement, but the fact that he really wanted to make some significant changes that would affect their school lives.

It was great to see Grace go from her attitude of "I'm going to vote for E. Fudd, just like I do every year," to actively campaigning for Brian. Who knows, it might get a few more younger people to vote. At least it showed the difference between apathy and enthusiasm for a cause.

Last edited by shrams (24 Oct 06 :: 04:39)

shrams · 24 Oct 06 :: 04:26

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.

Last edited by shrams (24 Oct 06 :: 04:39)

TheCentralScrutinizer · 24 Oct 06 :: 04:31

Ooh, is there any way you can edit that and fix the formatting, Shrams? I'm afraid my eyeballs will explode if I try to read it as it is.

Deb

shrams · 24 Oct 06 :: 04:32

Joan of Arcadia - 207 - P.O.V.

This one was slightly better than last week's episode, but Joan is still very unlikeable. It's annoying when I can't like the main character of a show, but everyone around her is making progress and maturing, and she's regressing. In a nutshell, Joan gets jealous when she sees Adam and Judith hugging. It's obvious to anyone (except Joan) that it's a comfort hug, there's nothing lustful about it, but she freaks out and assumes the worst. Being Joan, she doesn't talk to either one about it, just acts bitchy but refuses to say why, then attacks Judith in the hallway. Yep, catfight, in the middle of the school hallway, with Adam there trying to break it up, and Vice-Principal Price finally showing up to put a stop to this nonsense.

Joan's God assignment of the week was to make a videography of her life, to be shown on a Public TV station. She wants to document her relationship with Adam, but he's reluctant to participate. For one thing, this is an extracurricular assignment she just took on out of the blue, but he has a project for art class that's due, and she doesn't have time to help him, as she promised. So he takes some time to try to follow Joan's direction for the video, but he's exasperated because she's not showing what they're really like, but some fake idealized picture of what they're like. She wants him to run into the room like he's thrilled to see her ("But I don't ever do that"), but he does try. Then she tells him to kiss the camera, pretending its her, and he balks. He does not want to do it, and is in fact angry about it, and Joan gets pissed. She doesn't ask why, and he doesn't explain, just goes off to work on his own project.

Judith offers to help him, but she has been taking videos of Joan taking videos of people (Joan is basically sticking the video camera in people's faces at inappropriate times, catching a family argument at home, etc.). Judith surreptitously turns her video camera on and positions it so it will record Adam and herself. She gets him to talk about his feelings for Joan; they both say that Joan has saved their lives. Judith opens her arms and Adam reluctantly hugs her. Joan has been outside the window with her video camera long enough to see them talking (not working) and then the hug. When VP Price gets Friedman to play back a tape of Joan and Judith fighting, instead they see the video Judith took of she and Adam, and Joan finally hears what they were saying. Price is disgusted and doesn't want to waste time watching this "soap opera" but at least now Joan knows the truth. Adam's project, BTW, is some kind of mobile with pieces of broken glass; it reflects his and Judith's faces over and over.

Joan and Judith don't get suspended; instead they're condemned to try to wash graffitti off the school walls. They've come to sort of a truce, and then Joan goes over to Adam's shed to talk to him. She doesn't apologize, but wants to know what he's doing. He's looking through a box of videos, but not watching them. She asks what they are, and he says he and his mom used to take videos of each other. (I have my doubts that the Roves could have afforded a video camera 10 years ago, but never mind.) Joan offers to watch them with him. Adam has a small TV/VCR combo set up on the table next to him; first time we've seen that. He says he hasn't watched the tapes since his mother died. Joan says she'll watch them with him.

Joan puts in a tape labelled "Adam, age 7" and it shows a cute, curly-headed tyke who bears a strong resemblance to a young Chris Marquette, but is not one of his younger brothers; however, the kid looks younger than 7. Elizabeth has reddish hair, which may be where he gets the occasional auburn highlights. She wants to see Adam's latest drawing. It's kind of strange, and not very good. It's supposedly a dinosaur. Elizabeth's talking to him, and he's responding, as though he were much younger than 7, but what do I know from kids? Anyway, seeing his mom and hearing her voice devastates Adam, especially when she asks him to kiss the camera, and he does. That's when 17-year-old Adam turns to Joan and cries on her bosom. Joan is crying too, but silently. For the record, I'd like to make it clear Chris Marquette is a much better cryer than Amber Tamblyn. I think the scene would have been much more powerful if it were Grace who offered to watch the tapes with him, since she presumably knew his mother, and would probably have had some memories of her own.

Next week should be good. I know what's coming, and I think it's going to be a very intense episode.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 24 Oct 06 :: 05:11

Great stuff, Shrams.

This made me giggle with joy because of our fic, Butterflies...

Adam: For doing something I love! It's...I just...I just need to give you a hug. (The world's best hug ensues, as Helen looks on in fondness at her daughter and future son-in-law.)

The next one made me giggle, period. Because, well, that last sentence is damn funny...

Anyway, seeing his mom and hearing her voice devastates Adam, especially when she asks him to kiss the camera, and he does. That's when 17-year-old Adam turns to Joan and cries on her bosom.

Deb

shrams · 24 Oct 06 :: 07:07

Well, he did! The line is funny, but the scene was heartbreaking.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 24 Oct 06 :: 16:21

Yeah, I just love the totally blunt, matter-of-fact way you put it.

Deb

TeeJay · 24 Oct 06 :: 17:55

I haven't even really had time to read your recaps. Thanks for sharing, I'll get to them when I have a minute (or hour) to sit down and take a good look at them.

-TeeJay

shrams · 24 Oct 06 :: 19:10

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.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 24 Oct 06 :: 19:17

They don't tale long to read, TeeJay, maybe 3-5 minutes each. And they're worth it! Good luck on your interview Shrams. I hope you have time to enjoy all the stuff that TeeJay has painstakingly collected here very soon. She busted her butt on this site and it's just chock full of treasures because of her dedication.

Deb

TeeJay · 24 Oct 06 :: 19:54

I just read them. Great stuff, I really liked them. Although I noted that you liked a lot of things in the episodes less than I (and probably Anne and Deb) did. I mean, I never much cared for the cop plots, I always fast foward them when I watch an episode now. I never cared that much about Kevin, but I liked the Luke and Grace and other student stuff. But for me now, it's all about Adam and Joan.

And I'll be crossing my fingers for your interview tomorrow as well, shrams.

Sisterdebmac wrote:

I hope you have time to enjoy all the stuff that TeeJay has painstakingly collected here very soon. She busted her butt on this site and it's just chock full of treasures because of her dedication.

Thanks, I'll blush any time now. Yeah, well, I do admit a lot of work and time has gone into it, but it has (mostly) all been fun. I just wish I had more time to get all the stuff finished up that we haven't had time to prepare yet. But where would be the fun in having a complete website? Updating it is half the fun, right? And we wouldn't have come this far without your precious input, Anne and Deb. So thanks go out to you too.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 24 Oct 06 :: 21:26

Yeah, the cop plots ... sometimes I also forward them, because I can hardly follow it ...
Sometimes I just watch the Joan/Adam scenes. LOL I also love Grace and Luke a lot. The Kevin stuff, well ... I followed it but it wasn't my main interest. This was Adam and Joan of course.
I'll read the recaps soon, but at the moment I am too busy with downloading pictures and translating website stuff, sorry.

TeeJay · 24 Oct 06 :: 22:35

Wow, everyone's frantically back at working on the site. I love that. Just finished my 1x16 recap (Double Dutch). As soon as Deb's added her two cents, I'll upload it. And you go, Anne! I would love to see some of the recaps go up in the German section. Send them to me when you're done with them, I'll give them a little polish.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 24 Oct 06 :: 23:22

I'm currently working on 1x05 or 1x06. I'm sure you'll have to polish it a little because I sometimes don't know the exact translation and I also can't remember often what they said in German. It's more than a year since I watched the German version. I even have to check the German episode titles because I don't remember them exactly. LOL

shrams · 25 Oct 06 :: 05:37

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.

TeeJay · 25 Oct 06 :: 07:35

I think what made me like season two so much despite its more or less big flaws was what Chris just confirmed for us in our interview: They made Adam grow a backbone, grew him up. He had more confidence, didn't buckle under, spoke up when he didn't like something. That suited him very well and made me personally like him even better. Until he started sleeping around on Joan, that is...

I also always try to make it to bed before midnight. Rarely succeed. Didn't last night. But I think I'm gonna be okay today. Will cross my fingers for you today, Shrams. What kind of job are you applying for?

-TeeJay

shrams · 25 Oct 06 :: 07:47

TeeJay, the job is called Microimaging Technician. It's a lot of sorting and filing paperwork, then scanning the papers into our intranet so various County employees who need the case file can access it at the same time. Eventually we can get rid of the paper files. Our county had, last I heard, over 25,000 case files, so I will be employed, along with about a dozen other people, for a good, long time.

Back to JoA: I like the show for many reasons. Adam became my favorite reason for watching, but I also liked the general premise. Also the fact that they kept emphasizing that you can't judge people on appearances, and people will often surprise you (sometimes positively) if you let them. I was looking forward to a show that would (hopefully) realtistically deal with someone with a severe disability, and while I didn't always like Kevin's attitude, I often uderstood it. I liked Helen and Will, and some of the family scenes were great. Luke was an unexpected bonus, just a really cool character. I also liked Grace more than I thought I would. The way everyone interacted was always interesting to see.

My Show is Back! Finally! Joan of Arcadia "Friday Night" (208)

Dude, that was just...words cannot describe. I knew it was supposed to be the best episode ever, but I really wasn't expecting that. I was not expecting to cry over Judith. Cheer, maybe, but not cry. I blame it on Joan's crying, and the Warren Zevon song at the end, "Keep Me In Your Heart" from The Wind, if you're interested. Though I think it was an outtake or some other version than the one on the album. But I digress. Deliberately. 'Cause this is hard to write about.
I knew it was coming, 'cause I'm a spoiler junkie, but seriously, it was Judith, the attention-whore plot device who's been ruining this season. So why did they wait until her last episode to make her a semi-decent person I could actually care about? And Friedman! Who knew Friedman was human, and multi-dimensional? And Luke and Grace, in a modern-day version of "The Gift of the Magi"! Cracked me up. And Adam and Joan's date. Which actually went off without a hitch! They got all the way through the date without a crisis! Then, when a crisis comes along, Joan dismisses her "stupid" date, with Adam standing right there. Then, she blames Adam for telling Judith she's an idiot, and running off. Which, I could totally understand, because I felt the same way Adam did. Just like I predicted, God pointed out that it wasn't Joan's fault, Judith made certain choices. When Joan asked why Judith couldn't see the other choices, He said she had the opportunity.

The God appearances worked well this time. I knew we had to have Dr. God for this one, and I'd heard about Dog-Walker God. I notice Cute Boy God sat this one out. Looks like Joan gets to scream at him next episode instead. At least Dr. God was nice to Judith, and she liked him, even if she didn't know it was God. I'm kind of surprised she lasted as long through the episode as she did, with those wounds, and I was really surprised Will didn't (gently) insist she tell him the name of her friends who deserted her. But I can shove those things aside because they have more to do with timing constraints and emotional impact than logic. I loved Helen hugging Friedman. It just occurred to me she probably needed to hug and comfort someone – anyone -- as much as Friedman needed a good mom-hug.

I was wondering if we'd see Less-Than-Perfect Adam in this ep, and I was right, but as usual, I can forgive him his flaws. He's human. He's not always there for Joan when she needs him, but I knew it had to be mom's suicide-related stuff. I can see why that wouldn't occur to Joan, and for once it's not because she's self-centered. She was very Judith-centered in this ep, and I'm glad she was. Joan needs to learn she can't save everyone, or solve their problems, but has to learn to accept that. People make choices all the time, good and bad, and then have to deal with the consequences. Like Kevin choosing to get in the car with Andy, knowing Andy was drunk, and then ending up paralyzed. It's not like God was punishing Kevin for making a wrong, stupid choice; it was, as God said, natural consequences of certain choices. It's possible Kevin could have gotten home safely, with no one suffering anything worse than a hangover, but that's not what did happen. Maybe it happens that way 9 out of 10 times, but for that 10th person, man, that sucks. Why take a chance? But that's just me, being overly cautious. That's okay, I prefer a rather dull, safe life to one that's "exciting" and "colorful" and "fun" and "dangerous".

I totally understood what Adam was saying about not being able to watch another person throw their life away. When Joan tried to protest that Judith didn't do that, Adam said something very similar to what God told her in "Jump", that some people kill themselves all at once, and others do it a little bit every day. I'm glad Judith tried to reassure Joan it wasn't her fault. She knew it was her own fault, she knew she was stupid. It hurt her that Adam couldn't stay in the room, wouldn't really look at her, but I think she understood. Judith liked living recklessly, and she went into that situation with eyes wide open. She probably wasn't expecting the drug deal to go bad, or for someone to stab her several times, but she had to know, on some level, that it was an unwise, reckless, wrong choice. But she did it anyway, probably because she'd always survived before, so why not this time?

It's very hard for me to understand that kind of thinking, because it's antithetical to how I live my life, but it seems to make sense to a lot of people. And probably most of them survive their self-destructive phase, but she didn't. Even though Judith told Joan this was the first time in her life she really wanted to live, she accepted that it wasn't going to work out like that. She wanted so much for Joan to tell her the date was wonderful, so she could have that little bit of vicarious enjoyment for an experience she would never have (a really nice date). I think it took Joan a while to get that, but I suspect Joan's learning curve is going to go up rapidly in the rest of the season. I hope so, anyway.

I loved the fact that we got to see how much Friedman truly cared about Judith; I think they would have made an interesting and possibly believable couple. Now he'll never know how it would have worked, but I'm amazed that he wasn't angry or turned off when Judith said it was all a goof, she didn't really want him to memorize all of "Hamlet". For a lot of people, myself included, that kind of hurt and humiliation would be hard to get over. I can be self-righteous about a lot of things, but I know my own limits of compassion, and they're way short of what I think they should be. Hard to admit that in some ways Friedman's a better person than me, but so be it.

Grace and Luke are so good for each other. I usually have a hard time believing in this "opposites attract" thing because so often it's not written well, and the characters are over the top about it. In this case, Grace and Luke are learning things from each other that they might not get from anyone else, and their worlds are expanding. I'd like to see the same thing happen for Adam and Joan. They have the potential to be really good for each other, if they can both relax a bit and get away from all the pressure. If they can ever really sit down and talk, and listen to each other, they could learn a lot about themselves, as well as each other. They each might pick up a new coping mechanism or a new way of looking at the world.

It usually seems like Adam is further along the path to spiritual enlightenment than Joan, but there are times he can't take the pressure, and she can. Just like there are many times when he's able to remain fairly calm and composed and just do what's necessary, whereas she's often at one emotional extreme or another and can be very flighty and unreliable. I'd like to see them bring out the best in each other, instead of the worst. They haven't gotten to that point yet, thank all the JoA gods, but maybe they'll find it easier to talk about the really important things now. Like, while they still can, instead of always putting it off to a more convenient time. The convenient time is now, damn it, not some nebulous time in the future when there's no stress at all and they have all the time in the world. It just doesn't work that way, and I imagine Joan is learning that the hard way.

Helen had a lot of good scenes tonight, and so did Will. That hug when she said that they still have Kevin, even after everything he's been through, that was perfect. I even began to doubt Lucyfer's totally evil plan to corrupt Will when she called him. She seemed genuinely upset; unless she's a very good actress. It might tie into something that happens a couple of episodes from now, but maybe not. I guess the jury's still out on whether Lucy really is Satan or not. Maybe I'll add more after I've had time to really process this and watch it a couple more times. This one was intense, much more than I expected.

TeeJay · 25 Oct 06 :: 13:22

Thanks for the explanation about the job, Shrams. I hope it works out and that you'll be employed for a long time. It's so sad that nowadays it seems to have become normal to be or have been unemployed for a longer period of time. It took me more than a year to find a job after I finished my Masters Degree at uni. Luckily, I have not been unemployed since and have a pretty good job now. Not my dream job, I have to admit, but it's challenging and interesting and it more than pays the bills. And in times like these, I realize every day just how much I should be grateful for that.

But to come back to Friday Night, I find it interesting that you touched on something that I just used in my latest chapter of Deb's and my story, Butterflies. Because Adam and Joan are having a talk about Judith and how Adam felt about her. And it's very much in line with what you said. I'm glad to see other fans think the same way. Loved your recap, btw. You said a lot of things that I have previously thought/discussed myself. What I found most interesting of all was the comparison of your own compassion and personality with Friedman's. Truth be told, I don't know how I would have recacted myself. But probably also not as nobly as Friedman. I was never a touchy-feely person, at least not really. And I think a lot of people perceive me as much tougher and less emotional than I actually am. But maybe that's just my preconception. I sure as heck am not even close to Joan's or Adam's eye-watering potential. While I can cry at the drop of a hat in movies, I very rarely cry in real life. Is that weird? Or maybe my life just doesn't have as much drama. Which can only be a good thing, right?

How did we end up talking about me? Let's stop that, I feel so exposed all of a sudden.

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 25 Oct 06 :: 16:20

Shrams, great recap. Irina and I were just discussing Friday NIght recently and it prompted me to pull over my thoughts from the old MB at Melissa's site. Since you probably haven't gotten over to that thread, I'll re-post my feelings about the ep here, because I was also blown away when I finally got to really watch it...

Good God, y'all.

OK, first of all, getting the DVD ROM to work was an all day ordeal. My computer started acting weird after we got it in and when I got home, I discovered that Firefox got scrambled somehow and wouldn't work so I had to use IE to relinstall it and reboot twice to get the DLL error that mysteriouly appeared to go away.

And then, I downloaded the codec for DivX only to discover that they no longer support WinME and it wasn't going to work. I somehow remembered that some sites offer free downloads of older versions of stuff so I Googled and found one and finally had the Power DVD (which is also giving me an error, but still working) up and playing in beautiful full screen on my 17" monitor. Cool enough, but I need better speakers. It sounds clean but I can't get enough volume. I just have these tiny, crappy $10 speakers. I'll find something better.

And now, with all that boring stuff aside, I'll tell you that I have been longing to see the scene from Friday Night on the date in the restaurant just to see Adam say, "You look so pretty, Jane." The way he says that, the expression on his face just melts me every single time. Now, I could've watched the clip. I've got in onfile from j-a.org. But that's not what I wanted.

You see, I missed this episode when it first aired because I was in LA with my former writing partner at a screenwriting conference. We didn't get back to the hotel room in time. I don't know why I didn't get it on tape back home. I had my buddy Dave taping my shows while dogsitting for me. The next weekend, Pete and I were in tiny Safford, Arizona, trying to see the Pope Scope on a research trip for a sci-fi story we wanted to write. I did get back to the motel in time to see No Future. And I was completely shocked because I had no idea Judith died. And I just remember I waited and waited for them to say what happened and they danced around it in the dialog for a little bit, which annoyed me.

Later in the season, Friday Night was repeated and I don't know why I didn't get it on tape that time either, except that my J/A ship thing and my Chris crush didn't blow up into an obsession until T&E. So I don't have many eps on tape. I'm sure the first time I saw Firday Night, I was affected. But it was also post T&E and before we knew for sure if we were losing the show. I'm not sure I paid close attention. Because this episode is one of those perfect gems that you maybe get only once or twice a season.

I'm a big fan of seeing things in context, watching episodes in order for maximum impact. But I know this show so intimately that I don't think it's completely necessary anymore. So I don't feel too weird that I chose Friday Night as the very first ep I would watch from my S2 set.

What does feel weird is that I've been trying to keep myself in a good mood for a while. Right now, TeeJay and I are working on a rather fluffy/angsty/sweet/sexy/hopeful JOA fic series that just makes me giddy. I am trying so hard to stay inside the bubble I've been calling happyland that it is very weird that I would want to watch Friday Night.

It's dark and painful and we lose a character. But it's also tightly written, incredibly emotionally impactful and prefectly acted by every single cast member. I love that there is no cop plot at all, except as it surrounds Judith. There is nothing in this episode that feels wasted to me. I cannot fast forward through a second of it. There are so many incredible moments that I could spend the next hour describing them. And you guys don't need that because I know that you've watched the ep repeatedly yourselves. What I do wanna say is that I feel like I saw it for the very first time tonight. And it feels like the Jump of S2 to me somehow.

As for Adam, I know you guys hate that he left Joan at the hospital on her own. I'm not fond of it myself. But I don't think it foreshadowed their split. I just think that Adam honestly gets wigged out by things sometimes and it overwhelms him. I believe that he couldn't take being there, seeing Judith in that state, knowing she put herself in harm's way to score drugs.

Now, admittedly, it's a little self-indulgent to put those feelings over your girlfriend's need for your support in a terrible time. So he's not perfect. He's just a kid, really, and he is kind of used to wallowing in his misery and hiding from things. After his mom died, he never again had anyone to help him through stuff until Joan.

In this case, his feelings are completely shoved aside. But that's not really Joan's fault. She can't be expected to deal with her friend lying there with her internal organs all swiss cheesed and be sensitve to his pathologies too. Can she?

There's just so much going on in this ep. And all of it is heartbreaking. Not the least of which is seeing Joan and Adam have their perfect date while Judith is freakishly, fatally injured. Harsh. Man, these characters are really put through hell in this ep, aren't they?

I've always been grateful that TPTB didn't decide to take a comedic approach to the date and have something ridiculous and embarrassing happen to Joan. I mean they planted the seed with that story from Helen. Thankfully, what we got instead was a sweetly dignified affair that both of them loved, until events took a dreadful turn.

As for Chris, I like the long hair, this we know. And the hoodies. I even like the toques. The slicked back look didn't work for me in The Gift. I have to overlook it during that incredible scene in the hotel in that ep. But here, I actually thought it worked. Maybe because it was fuller and thicker so you can't really stick it all down. I thought he was just gorgeous on the date. The eyebrows were working overtime, TeeJay! Loved that suit with the fancy cuffs and links and all. He was completely drool-worthy.

So, Deb's rating for the ep:

4 hankies out of 5

For the drool-worthiness of Chris:

4 DDTs out of 5

Deb

PS: TeeJay, I got no writing done tonight because of the computer issues and my determination to see at least one ep. And I can't stay up till after 1am again.

I did reread Grave Admissions and I think it's ready to go except for one question, when did Joan take her pants off so that she would feel the jeans on the backs of her legs? Or is she wearing shorts on the couch? If so, you need to say that. It's going to throw people.

And I posted this question publicly as a tease. I'm sure that a few of our fellow Dorquettes and A/J shippers are sitting there wondering right now how that above paragraph plays out.

wink

TJ TeeJay
Moderator
Posts: 376
(4/12/06 12:46 am)
Reply Re: Friday Night First of all, I'm really glad you managed to get the DVD ROM working and to play the JoA episodes. Have you checked out the other goodies I put on there? smile I hope POS will behave now. He has to, you depend on him! And I hope you can get better speakers as well. Have you tried fiddling with the built-in Windows volume setting? You know, when you double-click the little speaker symbol in the system tray. I sometimes find that even though the Volume Control is set to maximum, the Wave control isn't. And I kinda have a spare set of speakers too. But with a German plug and 220 V technology. Don't think that's any use to you. I think you can get decent speakers with a separate volume control for not much more than $10 - $15, though. Mine couldn't have been much more expensive (I got them from a friend for free a while back).

I'm so glad you got to see Friday Night. To be quite honest, this episode didn't strike me as all that special in s2. Maybe I need to have another look, I don't think I watched it more than two or three times. At least not the whole thing. And I can't even say why, because I didn't think it was a bad episode. But I sure can say that for me it's not the Jump of the second season. It probably also has to do with the slicked back look. I didn't like it in The Gift and I didn't like it in Friday Night. I like his hair wavy and natural. At least when it's long. I don't mind a bit of gel to make it more messy or a little spiky when it's short. Truth be told, I don't like the hair in the SM Gunshot Wedding pic either. God, I'm so fussy about these things, aren't I? So shoot me. I don't even have a right to be, it's silly. But we're the Dorquettes, so I guess it's part of the deal.

Oooh, the eyebrows are working overtime? Man, I gotta rewatch this episode. I'll put that on the agenda for tonight then. After sports. Nice incentive to strech out on the couch and get immersed in happyland-JoA. Okay, bittersweet happyland.

Deb, don't worry about not getting any writing done. Watching JoA is much more important. I'll comment on the thighs issue in a separate e-mail. I thought I had explained this earlier in the story... I'll have another look when I'm home.

-TeeJay

Edited by: TJ TeeJay at: 4/12/06 12:47 am
TJ TeeJay
Moderator
Posts: 379
(4/12/06 1:55 pm)
Reply Re: Friday Night I just rewatched this one with Lars. And I still can't say it's my Jump of s2. I did like it, there were some incredibly thoughtful and some incredibly sad moments. I almost cried again at the end (which is not always an indicator of quality, though--I cry over the silliest, kitschiest stuff).

I agree that this episode had so many good moments, I also didn't feel like wanting to fast forward through anything. What I didn't like was that one comedic line they wrote for Adam. When the waiter asks him how he'd like his steak prepared and he says, "In a pan." Come on! It made him look stupid. I think even Adam can be expected to know that you can have rare or medium-rare or well-done steaks. Granted, it made me smile the first time, but now it kinda annoys me. But maybe that's just me being too over-protective of him. I think I've written too many fanfics....

And just to confirm, I don't like the slicked-back look. Not in The Gift and not in Friday Night. The suit was... well... nice, but I kinda prefer the casual look. Natural is comfortable. Indeed, even for Adam. Or should I say: especially for Adam?

And I still have issues with Adam just leaving the hospital, especially after accusing Judith so openly. Wasn't he aware that it might be the last thing he'd ever say to her? Yes, I am trying to understand that what he said to Joan in the end, about not being able to watch another life being thrown away, and I do understand a part of that. Maybe I'm too much trying to root for Joan in this episode. I guess you're right with saying that Adam is too used to wallowing in his own grief, being left alone with his problems. In the end we all go back to what we're used to, don't we?

And watching that last scene there on the Girardi's front porch hit a little close to home for me. That was kinda like what we were the night we heard Carsten died. We didn't camp out on any front porch, but his best friends met at Thorsten's place, just trying to take comfort in each other's presence. And it helped. I didn't feel quite so bad after I got home that night. It was a horrible day for all of us, but it really helps to know you have friends you can rely on, who will help you through tough times when you need them.

I'm still saddened when I think about Carsten, but it doesn't quite hurt that much anymore.

Okay, guys, we need to stop talking about all these depressing things. I wanna go back to happyland too. Maybe I should read the last two chapters again, huh, Deb? wink

-TeeJay

germanjoan
Moderator
Posts: 296
(4/12/06 2:14 pm)
Reply Re: Friday Night That pan thing made me laugh the first time I saw it but now ... I don't know, I think it's kina lame. I have to agree with TeeJay, it makes him look stupid. Even a sixteen year-old should be able to know what that question means.
Well, maybe he was supposed to be nervous because that was the first "real" date they had. We'll never know.

Quote:
And I still have issues with Adam just leaving the hospital, especially after accusing Judith so openly. Wasn't he aware that it might be the last thing he'd ever say to her?

Oh yeah, me too. First time I saw it, I was soooo mad at him! But now, after rewatching it several times, I can agree here:

Quote:I guess you're right with saying that Adam is too used to wallowing in his own grief, being left alone with his problems.

(My English doesn't work right today, sorry.)

LuzGrrrl
Member
Posts: 350
(4/12/06 4:01 pm)
Reply Re: Friday Night For the record, "In a pan" doesn't bother me as much as Joan saying "Awesome ordering" in response to it. Uh, what was so awesome about it? I think they were both just too cutesy in that specific moment. But then I don't remember ever going to a restaurant that fancy on a date at 16-17, whatever they're supposed to be mid-S2.

Yes, what Adam said to Judith was harsh. But do you think really thought she'd die? Most kids think of themselves and their peers as invincible. Maybe it didn't occur to him that it might be the last thing he'd ever say to her.

Also, I forgot to mention that I love how Joan shoves him when he turns up at the house. A slap would've been too much. That childish, but painful-looking shove was just perfect.

I'm sorry, I do like the cleaned-up Adam here. I can't really explain it. I'm not into suits at all. And I love him all skater-dude like. But he just looks so damned elegant.

And I cried like a baby at the end. I mean, I was sobbing last night. It hit me really hard. I guess I was just in the right mood.

Deb

TJ TeeJay
Moderator
Posts: 383
(4/13/06 12:39 am)
Reply Re: Friday Night Okay, I think I got annoyed over the "In a pan" line that I didn't even really notice the "Awesome ordering" line of Joan's. Yeah, now that you say it, it's not such a great line either. Don't like either.

You're right again, Adam probably never thought about that it might be the last thing he'd ever say to Judith. And I'm sure he felt bad about it afterwards, after she died. Hey! This is gapper material! Maybe someone could write a quick, little fic about him talking to Joan about it?

Yes, I love the shoving scene too. In fact, as sad as it is, I the last scene of that ep is what I like best about the whole episode. It's one of the few times we see Grace actually crying. And Friedman was so heart-breakingly devastated. Great acting, by all of them. The shoving scene was what probably inspired me for a scene I wrote in "Old Wounds", plus something Anne and I talked about over Yahoo Messenger a while ago.

You know what I realized last night when I had a quick look at some Chris pics on my hard drive? I said I don't like the slicked-back suit look, right? I may retract that statement for those daydream scenes from Romancing The Joan. The scenes where they are at the gallery and it's first Joan and Adam married and then, later, Stevie and Adam married. I really dig the suit look in those. Maybe it's the red tie, I don't know. I can't explain it.

-TeeJay

shrams · 26 Oct 06 :: 08:00

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.

Last edited by shrams (26 Oct 06 :: 08:15)

TeeJay · 26 Oct 06 :: 12:30

Glad to hear the interview went well. I hope you get the job. And I'm glad to hear you currently have a job, so even if you don't get it, you'll still have something to rely on.

-TeeJay

PS: As of yesterday, I have a new fancy title: Clinical Operations Manager (as opposed to Senior Clinical Research Associate before). Sounds important, doesn't it? Well, it's not. They just changed our job descriptions, is all. No promotion, no increase in salary. But that's okay, I was only recently promoted from CRA to Senior CRA, and that came with more money. So in Adam's words: We're cool, yo. I love this company. You don't even have to go to the boss for a promotion and ask for money. They will promote you after a while if you do your job well. Or at least that happened to me. In my previous job you had to suck up to the boss for that. Which totally sucked because he was a sleezebag. And a chain smoker. And an a$$hole. Ughch!

shrams · 26 Oct 06 :: 17:49

I worked at an HMO that would automatically give you a raise every year (not much, but a little bit), but that's the only place. I had one job where I asked for a raise and told my boss why I felt I deserved it. He had me write out a list of what I actually was doing, to compare it to my job description. End result: a 12% increase and an apology from himself and the Board of Directors for taking so long to realize all I was doing for the agency. Now that was niiiiice.

Chris Marquette Message Board

#1 23 Oct 06 :: 07:42

JoA Recaps for Season 2

#2 23 Oct 06 :: 08:16

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#3 23 Oct 06 :: 19:33

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#4 24 Oct 06 :: 04:25

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#5 24 Oct 06 :: 04:26

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#6 24 Oct 06 :: 04:31

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#7 24 Oct 06 :: 04:32

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#8 24 Oct 06 :: 05:11

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#9 24 Oct 06 :: 07:07

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#10 24 Oct 06 :: 16:21

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#11 24 Oct 06 :: 17:55

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#12 24 Oct 06 :: 19:10

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#13 24 Oct 06 :: 19:17

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#14 24 Oct 06 :: 19:54

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#15 24 Oct 06 :: 21:26

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#16 24 Oct 06 :: 22:35

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#17 24 Oct 06 :: 23:22

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#18 25 Oct 06 :: 05:37

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#19 25 Oct 06 :: 07:35

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#20 25 Oct 06 :: 07:47

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#21 25 Oct 06 :: 13:22

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#22 25 Oct 06 :: 16:20

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#23 26 Oct 06 :: 08:00

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#24 26 Oct 06 :: 12:30

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

#25 26 Oct 06 :: 17:49

Re: JoA Recaps for Season 2

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