Recreation .... Night Without Stars

TheCentralScrutinizer · 26 Sep 11 :: 15:57

Wherein Joan introduces new levels of confusion for Adam because even though she whines constantly about not having a boyfriend, she's not ready to couple. Even with a boy who's stupid about her. I think we all get a bit frustrated with Joan in this stretch of eps because she's such a flake with Adam that she loses him to Babyvoice. I remember reading the TWoP recaps of these eps and Deborah was pretty annoyed at the writers and their ridiculous need to subvert destiny and keep these two kids who were obviously meant to be together from ever figuring that out. :witsend:

Editsound · 26 Sep 11 :: 19:18

There is that visible writer's hand about these episodes. They did seem to be delaying the relationship for "story" reasons instead of character reasons. I am never happy when I can see the strings being pulled, but I do give them credit for one thing. Making the cause of the delay, Joan's cluelessness to her own feelings, felt kind of real. It is very human for someone to not see what is right in front of them. So, that was a good device, even if it wasn't completely convincing.

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 02 Oct 11 :: 03:13

I hated Iris. I wanted Joan always with Adam and to never even have an Iris at all.

CappuGirl · 02 Oct 11 :: 17:54

so these threads made me have another little JOAthon. Thanks Deb My fall dep is cured! lol
I never saw the point of Babyvoice. she just appears out of nowhere and vanishes into thin air right after she's served her purpose as a useless little plot twist.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 02 Oct 11 :: 19:35

I have a feeling they might've gotten rid of her due to negative fan reaction.

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 03 Oct 11 :: 06:03

That voice is so annoying. Iris is ugly too compared to Joan.

Moonlight · 04 Dec 11 :: 07:32

And, sadly again, I may be in the minority here. I didn't really hate Iris. It really wasn't her fault. In fact, if I remember right she even went to Joan and asked her about her feelings for Adam before she even accepted the date. Joan is the one who denied her feelings. And I believe Adam was just a bit confused. Joan talks him into buying concert tickets then backs out of the concert. What does that say to him? Iris just got caught in the middle of that and in the end she was the one who got hurt. Just saying.

I always wonder why God put Joan in that position of backing out of a commitment. What was the point of that? Didn't really seem fair to Joan or Adam either one did it, and it certainly ended up not being fair to Iris. I guess it's just as someone above said and the writers were just prolonging the inevitable couplehood of Adam and Joan but in every episode I'm always trying to find the underlying point behind God's instructions to her and in this episode, I have trouble finding it. Yeah, she was supposed to work with the kids, but couldn't she have done that and still gone to the concert? Just never understood why working with the kids meant having to sacrifice the concert and losing Adam in the process. Anyway, maybe I'll re-watch that episode and try to figure it out.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 04 Dec 11 :: 08:00

Iris was an obstacle. Did God put her there? I don't know. But Joan was supposed to lose Adam to Iris so she could figure out how much he meant to her and take the leap toward building a relationship with him. That's how I see it anyway. They didn't have to make Iris so annoying. She should've been a formidable opponent for Joan (just like Bonnie should've been). It was a cheat, and I hated it.

Moonlight · 05 Dec 11 :: 03:23

Well, didn't say I particularly liked her creating an obstacle for Joan and Adam. The writers of the show chose to do that and I didn't say that I liked that they did that. And her personality was a bit abrasive to everyone except Adam...though you have to admit Joan wasn't very nice to her. It's just that most commentary I've read about this episode really cuts her down and the issue for me is she did not chase after Adam, he chose to date her. She asked Joan if it was a problem, Joan said no denying her true feelings. Once Adam dumped her for Joan, she was actually pretty great about it. The writers of the show notwithstanding, I don't see any reason for the personal attacks against her.

I love, by the way, the scene where Joan is in the kitchen letting all of her thoughts, feelings and emotions come out in front of her mom, but she refuses to let her mom talk to her. One of my favorite Joan and Mom moments. My teenager does stuff like that to me all the time.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 05 Dec 11 :: 03:43

Iris not unaware that Adam was into Joan. I think she knew exactly what she was getting into, but she was willing to take a chance anyway because she liked Adam so much. That's probably one reason she didn't act like a jerk about it when Adam dumped her for Joan. She probably knew it was bound to happen and felt him pulling away long before he finally broke it off. To me, she always seemed like she had her eyes wide open.

Moonlight · 05 Dec 11 :: 04:23

Maybe your right....I never quite saw it that way...relationships are confusing. Even if she did sense an Adam/Joan couple vibe, which she admits to Joan that she did...the fact remains, he asked her. She didn't go chasing after him. Maybe she thought she'd misjudged the vibe...she'd only just met them both. She couldn't have known them too well. And it was obvious to me that she genuinely liked him. It wasn't an obvious effort on her part to come between them. Only on the part of the writers of the show. And again, I always love the episodes where I could see a real point in God having her do whatever he's asked her to do and in this episode, I just couldn't really see a point.

Chris Marquette Message Board

#1 26 Sep 11 :: 15:57

Recreation .... Night Without Stars

#2 26 Sep 11 :: 19:18

Re: Recreation .... Night Without Stars

#3 02 Oct 11 :: 03:13

Re: Recreation .... Night Without Stars

#4 02 Oct 11 :: 17:54

Re: Recreation .... Night Without Stars

#5 02 Oct 11 :: 19:35

Re: Recreation .... Night Without Stars

#6 03 Oct 11 :: 06:03

Re: Recreation .... Night Without Stars

#7 04 Dec 11 :: 07:32

Re: Recreation .... Night Without Stars

#8 04 Dec 11 :: 08:00

Re: Recreation .... Night Without Stars

#9 05 Dec 11 :: 03:23

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#10 05 Dec 11 :: 03:43

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#11 05 Dec 11 :: 04:23

Re: Recreation .... Night Without Stars

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