![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
"It's impossible to guard against chaos"
Chess as a metaphor for life is a cliché so old that Moses probably rolled his eyes when he heard it, but somehow JoA made it work for me last night. Darn you, Amber Tamblyn! Darn your painfully expressive face!
This episode was written by Josh Brand, presumably the same Josh Brand who was responsible (with John Falsey) for Northern Exposure- the blend of snap and sentiment seemed like his work, and JoA head honcho Barbara Hall also worked on Northern Exposure, as a writer and producer.
The overall balance of the show felt a little better than in previous episodes, and I can't put my finger on why. If anything, the ties between the Joan plot and the Will/cops plot were more tenuous than usual- while Joan's actions had a demonstrable ripple effect on the arson case in "The Fire and the Wood" and the (unresolved) serial killer case in the pilot, she barely encountered the kidnapping in "Touch Move." Maybe the difference was that the shifts in tone weren't so abrupt? Not that I'm a "yay, kidnapping!" type, but since this particular case was non-violent (or had been thus far), the juxtaposition wasn't as jarring as the "Joan is snarky and sensitive"/ "ahhhh! extra-crispy corpse!" cuts last week. There were also some nice thematic ties between the two plot threads, what with the various riffs on the role of miracles and on logic vs. intuition and/or the supernatural, but the ties were just there, without the need for Mime!God to illuminate. Or maybe I'm just getting used to the format. Whatever the difference was, it was an improvement. Still not perfect, but better.
I love the way the family dynamics are being developed. The post-dream scene with Will, Helen and Kevin worked wonderfully in this respect. Will and Kevin don't really connect well, but Will needs to help somehow, even if all he has are ineffectual gestures, like fetching unneeded glasses of water. By contrast, Helen is Kevin's confidant- she's closest to his pain and his dreams, and she's struggling to find a balance between keeping his spirits up and protecting him from false hopes. Kevin is his mother's son, with the same need to protect (himself as well as the rest of the family). Overall, it was a brief but effective scene. Plus, it had the first of Kevin's many, many funny lines in this episode: "Dad, I'm not actually on fire." Ha! I know he's using humor as a defense mechanism and not always healthily, but healthy or not, Kevin cracks me up. Of course, he makes me cry too, but phone commercials make me cry. You can just imagine what this show does to me.
The relationships between Joan and her brothers also continue to charm me. Poor Joan seems to have been infected with Luke's "no one ever listens to me" virus in this ep, as her constant protests that she doesn't know Dax (I kept picturing Terry Farrell every time they said that) and that she can't play chess go unheeded. That no one listens has been and will continue to be a theme on this show, I imagine- it seems to be one of Luke's defining characteristics, Joan and Will have both been similarly plagued, and even Mime!God snarked about it. Anyway. Joan and Luke also nicely displayed the proper "I can pick on my sibling but no one else can" vibe, as Luke was willing to take on the Heathers for Joan (not that they noticed). And I loved the way he said, "You called me a nerd." Very cute. Meanwhile, Kevin hit just the right blend of reassurance and teasing with his advice on the evilness of high school. "If you need me to roll over anybody, let me know." Awww. I like Will and Helen, but if their screentime were eaten up by their children, I wouldn't complain. Amber, Jason and Michael have wonderfully convincing sibling-esque chemistry.
Joan's bookstore job was mentioned in passing, but I'm guessing she no longer has it. Oh well. And I was happy to see the parking lot priest back, even if he looked terrified at Helen's reappearance. He doesn't seem to like having the big questions tossed at him cold (hard to blame him), but his answer on prayer and miracles was much better than his non-answer on why bad things happen to good people. His statement that "you may not recognize the answer [to a prayer] right away; most miracles occur in hindsight," will be particularly important to the Girardis, I think.
So Will and Helen are both lapsed Catholics. As with Jack and (to some extent) Danny on WaT, I'm not surprised. At some point, Joan and her parents will likely end up discussing the whole "instrument of God" situation, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out. Helen, while a practical woman, was willing to investigate non-standard healing methods for Kevin, up to and including seeking a miracle (praying for something personal, going to Lourdes, etc). She didn't fully accept the psychic, but neither did she dismiss her entirely. Will, on the other hand, is pragmatic to a fault; he is a cop, after all. He considers his Catholicism something he grew out of, he hated every minute of working with the psychic (the Mme. Blavatsky crack was great), and nothing we've seen of him reassures me that he'd take the particulars of Joan's "special connection to the universe" well.
Grace dresses just like my high school best friend. Adam was very cute, even though he had about two lines. And good riddance to the Heathers!
MailLady!God was amusing, and I liked the Matrix joke. I would have been more upset about the money than Joan was, though. Visits from God are all very well, but twelve bucks is a book or a movie. Mean ole God. And she was played by the killer lunch lady from BtVS "Earshot," which wigged me for a moment.
I wasn't a huge fan of Teen!God after the pilot, but this time he really won me over. It helped that he wasn't saddled with reams of exposition, I think. He came, he snarked, and he was gone. He could do that often and I'd be perfectly fine with it. And I loved the "you didn't read that book, did you?" "Oh, like you don't know. 'Cain? Where's your brother?' Hmm, very passive-aggressive," exchange. I commented on that very same passive-aggressive moment in Hebrew school a billion years ago and got in trouble. Kudos to Joan for getting away with it.
My favorite manifestation in this ep, and possibly my favorite so far, was Chess!God. Don't get me wrong, I love the divine snark. It's Joan's native language and it's fun for the audience, so I haven't minded that every manifestation so far (even DeeliebopperGirl!God, to some extent) has been bitingly witty. By the time she sits down to that chess game, though, Joan needs a break. Her "life is completely unraveling" around her, and while a lot of it is due to her own actions (as God so helpfully points out), a moment of comfort and stability would not go amiss. And so she gets Chess!God, a warmer and more reassuring, albeit still challenging and philosophical, manifestation than the others she's encountered thus far. I suspect that a more abrasive persona, like ElectricCompany!God from "The Fire and the Wood," would have triggered tears or sarcastic sniping, defeating the purpose of the moment. Chess!God offers explanations and rules without excessive ambiguity (one of my quibbles with Teen!God in the pilot), and while his explanations are couched in that hoary "chess is life" cliché, it apparently isn't a metaphor with which Joan is overly familiar and it works for her. His thoughtful, serious demeanor inspires the same in her- the whole "touch move" exchange is a glimpse of a Joan with wisdom and sensitivity that she herself doesn't recognize yet (as seen in her comment to Teen!God that she isn't very smart). Chess!God reminded me of Giles in his wise, comforting patriarch mode. I really wish we'd see him again, but I doubt we will. Oh well.
The preview for next week's "The Boat"- I am so looking forward to this episode (despite the apparent "God in the radio" bit). Noah jokes! Yay! And Mrs. Landingham was in the preview! But the episode I'm most anticipating is number nine (TV Guide-type summary spoilers, nothing too heavy). Please, please, please let the ratings stay good...
In other matters... as we probably all know by now, this upcoming week has been reprehensibly designated "Marriage Protection Week". I tend not to get political in my journal- there are so many bright folks out there who express the beliefs I share so eloquently that I rarely feel the need. But I did want to point to my lovely new icon, courtesy of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
carolinecrane, and direct you to some others that she has made for sharing. Or make your own with the pairing or slogan of your choice. Or write that happily-ever-after slash you've been telling yourself was too corny to post. Or get political in the real world and contact your nearest or noisiest elected official. But please, speak up.
This episode was written by Josh Brand, presumably the same Josh Brand who was responsible (with John Falsey) for Northern Exposure- the blend of snap and sentiment seemed like his work, and JoA head honcho Barbara Hall also worked on Northern Exposure, as a writer and producer.
The overall balance of the show felt a little better than in previous episodes, and I can't put my finger on why. If anything, the ties between the Joan plot and the Will/cops plot were more tenuous than usual- while Joan's actions had a demonstrable ripple effect on the arson case in "The Fire and the Wood" and the (unresolved) serial killer case in the pilot, she barely encountered the kidnapping in "Touch Move." Maybe the difference was that the shifts in tone weren't so abrupt? Not that I'm a "yay, kidnapping!" type, but since this particular case was non-violent (or had been thus far), the juxtaposition wasn't as jarring as the "Joan is snarky and sensitive"/ "ahhhh! extra-crispy corpse!" cuts last week. There were also some nice thematic ties between the two plot threads, what with the various riffs on the role of miracles and on logic vs. intuition and/or the supernatural, but the ties were just there, without the need for Mime!God to illuminate. Or maybe I'm just getting used to the format. Whatever the difference was, it was an improvement. Still not perfect, but better.
I love the way the family dynamics are being developed. The post-dream scene with Will, Helen and Kevin worked wonderfully in this respect. Will and Kevin don't really connect well, but Will needs to help somehow, even if all he has are ineffectual gestures, like fetching unneeded glasses of water. By contrast, Helen is Kevin's confidant- she's closest to his pain and his dreams, and she's struggling to find a balance between keeping his spirits up and protecting him from false hopes. Kevin is his mother's son, with the same need to protect (himself as well as the rest of the family). Overall, it was a brief but effective scene. Plus, it had the first of Kevin's many, many funny lines in this episode: "Dad, I'm not actually on fire." Ha! I know he's using humor as a defense mechanism and not always healthily, but healthy or not, Kevin cracks me up. Of course, he makes me cry too, but phone commercials make me cry. You can just imagine what this show does to me.
The relationships between Joan and her brothers also continue to charm me. Poor Joan seems to have been infected with Luke's "no one ever listens to me" virus in this ep, as her constant protests that she doesn't know Dax (I kept picturing Terry Farrell every time they said that) and that she can't play chess go unheeded. That no one listens has been and will continue to be a theme on this show, I imagine- it seems to be one of Luke's defining characteristics, Joan and Will have both been similarly plagued, and even Mime!God snarked about it. Anyway. Joan and Luke also nicely displayed the proper "I can pick on my sibling but no one else can" vibe, as Luke was willing to take on the Heathers for Joan (not that they noticed). And I loved the way he said, "You called me a nerd." Very cute. Meanwhile, Kevin hit just the right blend of reassurance and teasing with his advice on the evilness of high school. "If you need me to roll over anybody, let me know." Awww. I like Will and Helen, but if their screentime were eaten up by their children, I wouldn't complain. Amber, Jason and Michael have wonderfully convincing sibling-esque chemistry.
Joan's bookstore job was mentioned in passing, but I'm guessing she no longer has it. Oh well. And I was happy to see the parking lot priest back, even if he looked terrified at Helen's reappearance. He doesn't seem to like having the big questions tossed at him cold (hard to blame him), but his answer on prayer and miracles was much better than his non-answer on why bad things happen to good people. His statement that "you may not recognize the answer [to a prayer] right away; most miracles occur in hindsight," will be particularly important to the Girardis, I think.
So Will and Helen are both lapsed Catholics. As with Jack and (to some extent) Danny on WaT, I'm not surprised. At some point, Joan and her parents will likely end up discussing the whole "instrument of God" situation, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out. Helen, while a practical woman, was willing to investigate non-standard healing methods for Kevin, up to and including seeking a miracle (praying for something personal, going to Lourdes, etc). She didn't fully accept the psychic, but neither did she dismiss her entirely. Will, on the other hand, is pragmatic to a fault; he is a cop, after all. He considers his Catholicism something he grew out of, he hated every minute of working with the psychic (the Mme. Blavatsky crack was great), and nothing we've seen of him reassures me that he'd take the particulars of Joan's "special connection to the universe" well.
Grace dresses just like my high school best friend. Adam was very cute, even though he had about two lines. And good riddance to the Heathers!
MailLady!God was amusing, and I liked the Matrix joke. I would have been more upset about the money than Joan was, though. Visits from God are all very well, but twelve bucks is a book or a movie. Mean ole God. And she was played by the killer lunch lady from BtVS "Earshot," which wigged me for a moment.
I wasn't a huge fan of Teen!God after the pilot, but this time he really won me over. It helped that he wasn't saddled with reams of exposition, I think. He came, he snarked, and he was gone. He could do that often and I'd be perfectly fine with it. And I loved the "you didn't read that book, did you?" "Oh, like you don't know. 'Cain? Where's your brother?' Hmm, very passive-aggressive," exchange. I commented on that very same passive-aggressive moment in Hebrew school a billion years ago and got in trouble. Kudos to Joan for getting away with it.
My favorite manifestation in this ep, and possibly my favorite so far, was Chess!God. Don't get me wrong, I love the divine snark. It's Joan's native language and it's fun for the audience, so I haven't minded that every manifestation so far (even DeeliebopperGirl!God, to some extent) has been bitingly witty. By the time she sits down to that chess game, though, Joan needs a break. Her "life is completely unraveling" around her, and while a lot of it is due to her own actions (as God so helpfully points out), a moment of comfort and stability would not go amiss. And so she gets Chess!God, a warmer and more reassuring, albeit still challenging and philosophical, manifestation than the others she's encountered thus far. I suspect that a more abrasive persona, like ElectricCompany!God from "The Fire and the Wood," would have triggered tears or sarcastic sniping, defeating the purpose of the moment. Chess!God offers explanations and rules without excessive ambiguity (one of my quibbles with Teen!God in the pilot), and while his explanations are couched in that hoary "chess is life" cliché, it apparently isn't a metaphor with which Joan is overly familiar and it works for her. His thoughtful, serious demeanor inspires the same in her- the whole "touch move" exchange is a glimpse of a Joan with wisdom and sensitivity that she herself doesn't recognize yet (as seen in her comment to Teen!God that she isn't very smart). Chess!God reminded me of Giles in his wise, comforting patriarch mode. I really wish we'd see him again, but I doubt we will. Oh well.
The preview for next week's "The Boat"- I am so looking forward to this episode (despite the apparent "God in the radio" bit). Noah jokes! Yay! And Mrs. Landingham was in the preview! But the episode I'm most anticipating is number nine (TV Guide-type summary spoilers, nothing too heavy). Please, please, please let the ratings stay good...
In other matters... as we probably all know by now, this upcoming week has been reprehensibly designated "Marriage Protection Week". I tend not to get political in my journal- there are so many bright folks out there who express the beliefs I share so eloquently that I rarely feel the need. But I did want to point to my lovely new icon, courtesy of
carolinecrane, and direct you to some others that she has made for sharing. Or make your own with the pairing or slogan of your choice. Or write that happily-ever-after slash you've been telling yourself was too corny to post. Or get political in the real world and contact your nearest or noisiest elected official. But please, speak up.
no subject
Nice choice of
no subject
A Miss Match fan, eh? How is that, anyway? I'm a sucker for romantic comedies, but that show's not carried on any of the channels I get. Pity. But JoA is wonderful, so I'm not complaining. One new addiction at a time is plenty.
no subject
Miss Match is wonderful. Charisma Carpenter, formerly of Buffy and Angel is a recurring guest star as the lead's high school nemesis, too. I'll have to see if I can add it to one of the tapes I'll be making late in November. :-) At least so you can get a taste for it. Or is that cruel since you don't receive it there?
no subject
no subject
The good news is that we get two episodes this coming Friday (a week from today). I'm really going to have to remember to pay attention to the ratings.