A few comments on "Recreation"
Jan. 17th, 2004 02:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ealgyldenUnsurprisingly (but happily), Joan has been picked up for a second season.
It's funny that I'd think an episode with a big party, a brawl (in bathrobes!) and an explosion was mellow, but I did. This was a more relaxed hour than last week's high drama, which worked nicely with the themes of reconnecting and rebuilding. The characters and the show needed a moment to breathe.
Random loves:
"Strip scrabble." "TMI!" and then, even more so, Helen whispering something into Will's ear followed by his immediate agreement to go. The "ewww!" faces on Joan and Luke were perfect.
The Prime Mover God, even though this week I can't figure out what to call him. AntiDrug!God? Assembly!God? Labcoat!God? It's so much easier when the ep's Prime Mover is in the Navy or is a flight attendent or something. Regardless, I liked him and his not-at-all-subtle lecture. He was nicely goofy. He also might be the only Godform so far other than DeeliebopperGirl!God to have used the phrase "perfect system," but don't quote me on that because I'd have to double check. That's usually her thing, though- she's called Joan a perfect instrument, referred to the universe as a perfect system, and so on. Interesting to see it in this context.
Grace sliding down the banister. So very cute.
Luke overhearing God and paying attention when Joan obliquely refers to her divine directives. Luke is my first choice as the one to know Joan's secret, if anyone ever finds out (honestly, I wouldn't mind if no one did, provided that Joan's careful about Price's "massive doses of thorazine"). It's handy that he's named Luke, if one sees scenes like those as foreshadowing- Luke the Evangelist was a physician and a man of science (though not perhaps by modern standards) like our boy. His Gospel is the one most focused on social justice (shades of Luke G's crusader father) and which gives the greatest attention to the women of Jesus' life and their actions (Gospel Luke is Mary's witness; is Luke G. going to be Joan's?). It's a possibility, at least, though I still hope no one finds out for a good, long time.
Joan and Luke having no idea how to throw a party and make it "right." Why do they need a keg? Because that's what the movies and tv shows all say a cool party should have, and how else would a geek and a subdefective learn about cool parties? Just like the rest of us not-cool people (er, apologies to any of you who were cool in high school!).
Other stuff:
The part of me that loves these characters and wants them all to be happy was dreading this episode, while the part that loves the show and wants to it to be good was rather hopeful. The kiss last week was wonderful, a giddy expression of joy and satisfaction. But where to go next? I think Joan and Adam would be a very sweet couple, but not yet. They were a tangled mess of miscommunication and noncommunication throughout the episode, which rang true to me, and I liked that their responses to the kiss didn't fall into traditional TV gender clichés- the boy was the one who wanted to talk it out, and the girl was the "ignore it and it will go away" type. Joan obviously inherited more from Helen than her sensitivity to others' pain.
You know, I hate seeing Adam suffer, and I really wanted Joan to stop running and talk to him, but I get where she's coming from. She's not ready for a real romantic relationship, and she knows it. She's scared, poor kid. Sure, she mentioned to God a few episodes ago that she wanted a boyfriend, but an abstract figure labelled "Boyfriend" is a very different thing than real, live Adam, with all of his pain and his scars and his needy vulnerability. He's wonderful, but he's a lot of work, and she's dealing with a lot already. And considering the amount of power she seems to have over him as "just" a friend and a crush, I don't blame Joan for wanting to take it very slowly before going any farther. She and Adam now need to redefine their relationship, but she never had it defined in the first place. It's just this messy, intense thing that bleeds over into numerous aspects of both of their lives.
Teen!God really needed a hair cut (aiee, the pouf!), but I appreciated him turning up when he did. Yes, it wasn't great for Adam to see Joan dancing with some other guy when she'd been turning him down all night, but the alternative was him going silently off in a sulk again, without the two of them ever talking about where they go from there. Instead, Teen!God guided them into their final conversation and their very sweet dance. I wish the music credits had included who sang the song over their dance, since it's not up on joanofarcadia.com yet, but the lyrics were interesting for the two of them:
Tell me where you are and I'll come for you.
Don't you know my love for you is true?
Just give me a sign and I'll be behind you
Don't you know I have to find you?
Don't tell me that it's over.
That's not how it should be.
Babe, I recognize, I see it in your eyes.
There's way too much hurt, too many lies
But if we come together, make our love forever
That will be the greatest treasure.
Don't tell me that it's over.
You've just got to believe.
[then I didn't get the next couple of lines, but the last line used is...]
I guess sometimes things don't work out like we planned.
I have mixed feelings about the Will/Helen plot. The New Agey spa and its jerk manager were badly stereotypical, which put the plotline at a disadvantage from the start (why would anyone partake of such self-righteous hospitality?). I very much wanted to deck the spa manager and the investment banker myself, so it was hard not to cheer for Will when he did, even though it was "wrong" (well, I wish he'd punched the manager, too. Lost opportunity). I also sympathized with his not wanting to be there in the first place- it was really not his thing, traditionalist that he is (a fair part of my languishing "Bringeth It On" post is about Will and his identity- I should probably finish that), and he was too uncomfortable to make the effort for Helen's sake. At the same time, I really wanted him to do just that, make the effort for Helen's sake. She needs a break, and she was obviously hoping this would be a good one. Oh well.
But I'm pleased that they're dealing with the aftermath of his kidnapping, because I was starting to wonder if they would. I think that was the other part of his extreme reluctance to take the weekend off, along with his discomfort with the whole spa thing (not the least because it involved physical and emotional nakedness, just the sort of vulnerability he's trying to avoid) and his stress about his new job. If he slowed down enough to relax, he'd have to stop running from the fear and pain. He needed to do it, yeah, but he also needed to be forced into it. Having a fight with a jerk and getting "grounded" did the trick and made talk to Helen about his trauma. It may have even forced Helen to begin confronting her own reactions to the kidnapping, since she was apparently doing some repression of her own- in "Jump," when she asked what he was doing and he responded that he was making a list of demands (about his possible new job), she responded with a joke about "who are we taking hostage?" Not, perhaps, the most sensitive remark, all things considered. And in this episode, when he said that "the last time [he] surrendered [his] gun, [he] nearly died," she responded by echoing Annoying Spa Manager, a reaction sure to upset Will even more. We've seen quite a bit of Helen's denial and Will's stoicism before now, and we've seen that neither is all that healthy, so hopefully they'll deal with this problem and this plotline won't be dropped.
Next week is a repeat of "Just Say No" and the week after is "Bringeth It On." Incidentally, "Just Say No" was the last episode I did a long post for (well, I guess this one is longish), and I never posted on the Helen plotline like I meant to do (I'm trying not to spoil anyone who missed it). "Bringeth It On" is the ep that gave me such evil writer's block- I've been writing that post for months. Oh well, maybe I can finish it this time around.
It's funny that I'd think an episode with a big party, a brawl (in bathrobes!) and an explosion was mellow, but I did. This was a more relaxed hour than last week's high drama, which worked nicely with the themes of reconnecting and rebuilding. The characters and the show needed a moment to breathe.
Random loves:
"Strip scrabble." "TMI!" and then, even more so, Helen whispering something into Will's ear followed by his immediate agreement to go. The "ewww!" faces on Joan and Luke were perfect.
The Prime Mover God, even though this week I can't figure out what to call him. AntiDrug!God? Assembly!God? Labcoat!God? It's so much easier when the ep's Prime Mover is in the Navy or is a flight attendent or something. Regardless, I liked him and his not-at-all-subtle lecture. He was nicely goofy. He also might be the only Godform so far other than DeeliebopperGirl!God to have used the phrase "perfect system," but don't quote me on that because I'd have to double check. That's usually her thing, though- she's called Joan a perfect instrument, referred to the universe as a perfect system, and so on. Interesting to see it in this context.
Grace sliding down the banister. So very cute.
Luke overhearing God and paying attention when Joan obliquely refers to her divine directives. Luke is my first choice as the one to know Joan's secret, if anyone ever finds out (honestly, I wouldn't mind if no one did, provided that Joan's careful about Price's "massive doses of thorazine"). It's handy that he's named Luke, if one sees scenes like those as foreshadowing- Luke the Evangelist was a physician and a man of science (though not perhaps by modern standards) like our boy. His Gospel is the one most focused on social justice (shades of Luke G's crusader father) and which gives the greatest attention to the women of Jesus' life and their actions (Gospel Luke is Mary's witness; is Luke G. going to be Joan's?). It's a possibility, at least, though I still hope no one finds out for a good, long time.
Joan and Luke having no idea how to throw a party and make it "right." Why do they need a keg? Because that's what the movies and tv shows all say a cool party should have, and how else would a geek and a subdefective learn about cool parties? Just like the rest of us not-cool people (er, apologies to any of you who were cool in high school!).
Other stuff:
The part of me that loves these characters and wants them all to be happy was dreading this episode, while the part that loves the show and wants to it to be good was rather hopeful. The kiss last week was wonderful, a giddy expression of joy and satisfaction. But where to go next? I think Joan and Adam would be a very sweet couple, but not yet. They were a tangled mess of miscommunication and noncommunication throughout the episode, which rang true to me, and I liked that their responses to the kiss didn't fall into traditional TV gender clichés- the boy was the one who wanted to talk it out, and the girl was the "ignore it and it will go away" type. Joan obviously inherited more from Helen than her sensitivity to others' pain.
You know, I hate seeing Adam suffer, and I really wanted Joan to stop running and talk to him, but I get where she's coming from. She's not ready for a real romantic relationship, and she knows it. She's scared, poor kid. Sure, she mentioned to God a few episodes ago that she wanted a boyfriend, but an abstract figure labelled "Boyfriend" is a very different thing than real, live Adam, with all of his pain and his scars and his needy vulnerability. He's wonderful, but he's a lot of work, and she's dealing with a lot already. And considering the amount of power she seems to have over him as "just" a friend and a crush, I don't blame Joan for wanting to take it very slowly before going any farther. She and Adam now need to redefine their relationship, but she never had it defined in the first place. It's just this messy, intense thing that bleeds over into numerous aspects of both of their lives.
Teen!God really needed a hair cut (aiee, the pouf!), but I appreciated him turning up when he did. Yes, it wasn't great for Adam to see Joan dancing with some other guy when she'd been turning him down all night, but the alternative was him going silently off in a sulk again, without the two of them ever talking about where they go from there. Instead, Teen!God guided them into their final conversation and their very sweet dance. I wish the music credits had included who sang the song over their dance, since it's not up on joanofarcadia.com yet, but the lyrics were interesting for the two of them:
Don't you know my love for you is true?
Just give me a sign and I'll be behind you
Don't you know I have to find you?
Don't tell me that it's over.
That's not how it should be.
Babe, I recognize, I see it in your eyes.
There's way too much hurt, too many lies
But if we come together, make our love forever
That will be the greatest treasure.
Don't tell me that it's over.
You've just got to believe.
[then I didn't get the next couple of lines, but the last line used is...]
I guess sometimes things don't work out like we planned.
I have mixed feelings about the Will/Helen plot. The New Agey spa and its jerk manager were badly stereotypical, which put the plotline at a disadvantage from the start (why would anyone partake of such self-righteous hospitality?). I very much wanted to deck the spa manager and the investment banker myself, so it was hard not to cheer for Will when he did, even though it was "wrong" (well, I wish he'd punched the manager, too. Lost opportunity). I also sympathized with his not wanting to be there in the first place- it was really not his thing, traditionalist that he is (a fair part of my languishing "Bringeth It On" post is about Will and his identity- I should probably finish that), and he was too uncomfortable to make the effort for Helen's sake. At the same time, I really wanted him to do just that, make the effort for Helen's sake. She needs a break, and she was obviously hoping this would be a good one. Oh well.
But I'm pleased that they're dealing with the aftermath of his kidnapping, because I was starting to wonder if they would. I think that was the other part of his extreme reluctance to take the weekend off, along with his discomfort with the whole spa thing (not the least because it involved physical and emotional nakedness, just the sort of vulnerability he's trying to avoid) and his stress about his new job. If he slowed down enough to relax, he'd have to stop running from the fear and pain. He needed to do it, yeah, but he also needed to be forced into it. Having a fight with a jerk and getting "grounded" did the trick and made talk to Helen about his trauma. It may have even forced Helen to begin confronting her own reactions to the kidnapping, since she was apparently doing some repression of her own- in "Jump," when she asked what he was doing and he responded that he was making a list of demands (about his possible new job), she responded with a joke about "who are we taking hostage?" Not, perhaps, the most sensitive remark, all things considered. And in this episode, when he said that "the last time [he] surrendered [his] gun, [he] nearly died," she responded by echoing Annoying Spa Manager, a reaction sure to upset Will even more. We've seen quite a bit of Helen's denial and Will's stoicism before now, and we've seen that neither is all that healthy, so hopefully they'll deal with this problem and this plotline won't be dropped.
Next week is a repeat of "Just Say No" and the week after is "Bringeth It On." Incidentally, "Just Say No" was the last episode I did a long post for (well, I guess this one is longish), and I never posted on the Helen plotline like I meant to do (I'm trying not to spoil anyone who missed it). "Bringeth It On" is the ep that gave me such evil writer's block- I've been writing that post for months. Oh well, maybe I can finish it this time around.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-01-18 02:02 am (UTC)*wishes that she'd realized this when it started and not now*
Well, I picked up Smallville mid-way into the first season, I could try it with Joan of Arcadia, too. Because it does sound really good.
Could I watch next week's episode and not be too confused, do you think?
(no subject)
Date: 2004-01-18 06:55 am (UTC)Next week's a repeat of the fifth episode, so you shouldn't have trouble with it- JoA's not one of those "repeat all of the info from the pilot for the first six episodes" shows, but they do try to make sure that newer viewers have enough to work with. If you have time and you want to know what happened in the first four eps, though, Deborah's recaps (http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show.cgi?show=113&limit=&sort=&) at TWoP are great- she loves the show, and she doesn't feel the need to be mean about it for the sake seeming clever.
Oh, I just remembered! "Just Say No" is the Six Degrees of Buffy ep, which is neat considering how often JoA gets compared to BtVS. Eliza Dushku's brother is in it (though he's not nearly as pretty as his sister. Oh well).
(no subject)
Date: 2004-01-19 01:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-01-18 07:18 am (UTC)Luke is my first choice as the one to know Joan's secret, if anyone ever finds out
ITA. Adam isn't right because he's got too much going on and God already warned Joan about that. And Luke--Luke just gets discounted so often that he's used to sitting in the back of the class and observing. He's a scientist after all and he sees much more than Joan thinks.
"No one ever listens to me. And yet, I still talk." I love Luke. Also, that's an interesting look at Biblical Luke vs. show Luke. I never thought of that, though I should have.
They were a tangled mess of miscommunication and noncommunication throughout the episode, which rang true to me, and I liked that their responses to the kiss didn't fall into traditional TV gender clichés
Yes, yes, and yes. These two really know how to mess things up. But it's good because it's so consistent. And I also liked how it was Adam that wanted to talk about it and Joan avoiding it. It's perfectly in tune with how their characters have been presented thus far.
Sure, she mentioned to God a few episodes ago that she wanted a boyfriend, but an abstract figure labelled "Boyfriend" is a very different thing than real, live Adam, with all of his pain and his scars and his needy vulnerability.
Okay, this reply has no point but to say I agree with you. Because I do. This is the perfect way to describe Joan. She likes the abstraction. The real thing? Not so much.
Teen!God really needed a hair cut
Heh. Oh, hell, yes.
If he slowed down enough to relax, he'd have to stop running from the fear and pain.
::sigh:: You've shamed me into feeling for them again. Man, and I was all happy with my annoyed recriminations, too. Ah, well. ITA. I missed the greater significance of Will and Helen having to sit down and talk to each other about their problems.
But I think a lot of my annoyance had to do with what Will said. He was upset over the fact that he "was willing to leave [his] family." Well, he was gonna die, what other choice did he have? He even knows this! So, why all the self-recrimination? Did he even consider the fact that in the face of certain death all sorts of funky psychological/biological stuff goes on, hormones get released, etc.? That's just part of humanity. But Will's being too hard on himself and I think that's what ultimately is annoying me. It's all so very arrogant of him, that he should be above all this silly human nonsense.
Anyway. Yeah, this post was all about the ITAness. Lovely write-up, I must say. I adore getting your perspective on these things. It keeps me honest. ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-01-21 03:27 am (UTC)Precisely! He doesn't have Adam's mountains of baggage (and he's not a potential boyfriend), he knows how to listen (too bad the favor's rarely returned), and he worries about her. He seems like a natural choice. Eventually. Not any time soon. I hope.
"No one ever listens to me. And yet, I still talk."
Great line. Man, I love Luke.
You've shamed me into feeling for them again. Man, and I was all happy with my annoyed recriminations, too.
Heck, you can still be annoyed with them. I sure am. I don't think they were acting like that without reason, and I sympathize with those reasons, but that doesn't make it any less annoying. And that's why I love this show so much! *g* The characters act like real people, even when it makes you want to smack 'em. Which it really does sometimes.
But I think a lot of my annoyance had to do with what Will said.
Yeah. He needs to be "the strong one," even when it would be more natural or logical to let go a bit. He's a traditionalist. Good thing he has Helen to smack him on the head and tell him that it's okay to be scared and so on. Otherwise, sheesh.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-01-19 05:25 pm (UTC)Also agreed on your speculation that Luke is looking more and more like the prime candidate to learn Joan's secret. In a way, I don't want Luke to be a scooby-equivalent to Joan the Chosen One, but perversely, I am also interested to see how this would play out if Luke did learn the truth.
For the first time, I'm enjoying hanging out at TWOP. It's been a long time since the recapper there loved a show as much as I did. It's... surprisingly pleasant and gratifying, I find.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-01-20 10:26 pm (UTC)In a way, I don't want Luke to be a scooby-equivalent to Joan the Chosen One, but perversely, I am also interested to see how this would play out if Luke did learn the truth.
Yes, that sums up how I feel. I like Joan's isolation with her secret and the burdens it brings (I like what it does for the show, that is, even though I feel bad for her), so I'm in no hurry to lose that. But I am curious about how it would be handled if/when someone like Luke did find out. Would she gain a useful confidant or just another source of pressure? How would the dangers she faces because she's been "chosen" be increased, since she doesn't live in a willfully blind city like Sunnydale, or a large and strange one like LA? I'm sure we'll find out sooner or later, but I'm in no rush. That goes for the show in general, really. I love the way they've been taking their time building the characterization by dropping hints, weaving in details, and allowing the characters to behave like people (Adam's episodes-long anger, Kevin's irritating but realistic wallowing, etc).
I'd pretty much stopped going to TWoP entirely before JoA started, because I couldn't stand the bitterness and "meaner and cooler-than-thou" attitude of the place, but Deborah's recaps have been wonderful (and the boards are more fun than usual as well, even if I rarely post). It's refreshing to read recaps written by someone who enjoys and even loves her show.