*Joan* in brief, for now
Oct. 24th, 2003 09:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ealgyldenAs usual, I want to watch Joan again before I post on it. I'm not sure why I always need to ponder this show before I have anything to say about it, exactly. It's not like I post anything deep. It's pretty much the same sort of things I say about CSI/WaT, except all the "Eeee! Archie!" stuff is replaced with "Eeee! Adam!" But briefly- this was a much darker episode than the previous ones, and while it turned out as I had expected (based on the unsubtle previews), I wish I'd been wrong. Helen and Will's relationship gained a lot of needed depth, though, so I guess that's a plus. Nate Dushku is a lot less attractive than his sister. Sydney Poitier, on the other hand, easily as gorgeous as her father. I want the Girardis' house so much. And Lieut. Dave... I can't talk about him yet (sob!).
Here's the review of Joan from EW that I mentioned earlier. Actually, I have no idea if that'll be accessible without the Super-Secret Password, so if you can't read it and want to, let me know. It's one of the least enthusiastic reviews I've read for the show, and while I don't agree with it (obviously), there's not really a lot I can specify to counter it. Ken Tucker and I just watch the show differently, I guess (and it might help that I don't have his strong preference for Miss Match, never having seen it). But one thing that I do think he misread is this: "Joan's God is not all-accepting and forgiving. Instead, we get the Old Testament Jehovah: full of commands, vengeful, and capricious (thus the small-town crimes Mantegna tackles)."
I don't know, I've yet to see Joan's version of God be vengeful (full of commands, sort of. But they're "suggestions, not assignments"). The emphasis in the show has seemed to be less on the effects of God's actions than on humanity's (and the representative Joan's), as we've had illuminated for us by Mime!God and his reality strands, Chess!God and his "touch move", Mrs. LandingGod, the boat mojo, and the weight of others' burdens, and the rest. It seems to me that Will's cop plots have far less to do with the Vengeance of God than the evil that men do. It's the downside to the whole "free will is one of my better innovations" deal, after all.
(I wouldn't consider them "small-town crimes" either. Murder rate like that in a small town and pretty soon you'll run out of people to kill. But that's another issue.)
Here's the review of Joan from EW that I mentioned earlier. Actually, I have no idea if that'll be accessible without the Super-Secret Password, so if you can't read it and want to, let me know. It's one of the least enthusiastic reviews I've read for the show, and while I don't agree with it (obviously), there's not really a lot I can specify to counter it. Ken Tucker and I just watch the show differently, I guess (and it might help that I don't have his strong preference for Miss Match, never having seen it). But one thing that I do think he misread is this: "Joan's God is not all-accepting and forgiving. Instead, we get the Old Testament Jehovah: full of commands, vengeful, and capricious (thus the small-town crimes Mantegna tackles)."
I don't know, I've yet to see Joan's version of God be vengeful (full of commands, sort of. But they're "suggestions, not assignments"). The emphasis in the show has seemed to be less on the effects of God's actions than on humanity's (and the representative Joan's), as we've had illuminated for us by Mime!God and his reality strands, Chess!God and his "touch move", Mrs. LandingGod, the boat mojo, and the weight of others' burdens, and the rest. It seems to me that Will's cop plots have far less to do with the Vengeance of God than the evil that men do. It's the downside to the whole "free will is one of my better innovations" deal, after all.
(I wouldn't consider them "small-town crimes" either. Murder rate like that in a small town and pretty soon you'll run out of people to kill. But that's another issue.)
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-25 01:47 pm (UTC)It's restricted, alas.
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Date: 2003-10-25 05:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-25 05:39 pm (UTC)"We're sorry. The access code you supplied is incorrect or may have expired."
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-25 06:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-25 06:04 pm (UTC)Sure. Thanks. :-)
I missed JoA again this week, but I might start tuning in again if it looks like they'll do a plot arc after all.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-10-25 06:32 pm (UTC)I'm starting to think that they're working toward a half-season or season-long arc after all. It feels like they're working toward something anyway, but I can't pinpoint what yet. They're woven some interesting parallels between Helen and Kevin, though, with Joan tugging on the strings, so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.