Joan of Arcadia

[theatremouse]

A lot of their scenes come off as stilted or something and I can't put my finger on why. I think it might be the actress. Or maybe that's how the scenes are supposed to play. I don't know.



totally right there with ya. have been wondering for weeks now whether its the poitier or the writing of the character or whether they WANT her to come across that way, and i cant tell, but she irks me.



GG: i'm thinkin the same about that scarf. ack!

Edited by: theatremouse at: 2/21/04 1:38 pm

[Gatito Grande]

First, a word about the week before's ep (I just re-watched it yesterday): Didn't Joe Mantegna look like he was doing his best "George Bailey in extremis"? I almost expected to see a snowy bridge and Clarence!



Now, onto last night's ep: gotta agree on feeling unease about the whole Kevin and Rebecca thang: I don't think either of them (Jason Ritter and Sydney Tamiia Poitier) are really that good of actors, for one. Kudos to Rebecca for figuring out "maybe I don't want to date a normal 19 year-old", but hello, subordinate employee? That's a lot more objectionable in my book.



What does everyone make of Adam and Helen? When Grace joked to Joan about "Adam and your mom," I took it as typical Grace deadpan-yuks, but what was that "self-portrait" about? When I thought about it, I realized that, especially in light of Helen's reading of Adam's mom's post-mortem letter, Adam could be doing a lot of . . . I dunno: displacing? Projecting? Mixing up feelings for "Jane" and her mom? Her mom and his mom? A Big Ol' Pubertal Mess? (I understand those of you who dislike Iris, but why the heck is he dragging her into all this---except that they're both scarred by dysfunctional families?)



I also felt cheated about Casper: just when they were making it about Joan gaining Casper's trust---and I was thinking "Is Casper really gonna join Joan's AHS crew?"---they wimped out and had her take off. (Though I do get God's point about how we don't get to know "how things turn out")



Joan: take off your mile-long scarf when you jump, before you kill yourself!



I liked the Will and Luke reconciliation, but I was kind of surprised when Luke stormed in the house: I didn't see that coming at the station.



And of course: Friedman was Friedman! ("help you find the Girls Lockerroom" )



GG Agree about the niceness of Grace's smile. And on the J/G front: I still honestly can't see it happening . . . but sure as heck wish Joan wouldn't blather on about "a boyfriend" either. Like some generic Y-chromosome makes life All Peachy Keen? (And I sincerely doubt any guy at AHS wears a motorcycle jacket as well as Grace does: think outside the Y-box Joan!) Out

[BBOvenGuy]

Quote:

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What does everyone make of Adam and Helen?

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Well, two things spring to mind. First, Helen is the first mom-figure Adam has had in his life for a long time, so there are sure to be mom-issues there. Second, Helen is the first person who has really been able to challenge Adam on his art.



Adam may not look like it all the time, but he's got a tremendous ego where his art is concerned. Why else would he think he could drop out of school after one sale? How else could he survive all the hostility he's had to endure for being different? And now he has a girlfriend who apparently thinks he can do no wrong artistically, which only makes his ego bigger.



The self-portrait looked to me like a little kid lashing out at someone who dared to criticize him. It was more of a self-portrait than he realized. This art class is going to be interesting, because Helen isn't going to stop pushing. The question is whether Adam will understand why he's being pushed and go with it.

"The stories we tell - that's us explaining how we think the world works. Once we speak it, once we say it aloud, that makes it real for us - and real for everyone else who hears it too. When we tell a story, we invite people to visit our reality. We invite them to move in. Our stories are the reality we live in." - David Gerrold, The Martian Child

[The Rose24]

Quote:

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But this episode was a bit preachy and eh. I didn't like it.

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No disrespect, but it is a show about a teenager who talks to God. Yes, it is going to be preachy sometimes.

Tara: My heart doesn't stutter.


Tara: Willow, I got so lost.

Willow: I found you. I will always find you.

[xita]

Oh none taken. However, if it was a religious show, I wouldn't be watching. Joan of Arcadia has been a show about god that hasn't been religious or preachy. In fact it wasn't the god part I found preachy. The way the show deals with god has never bothered me, even though I am not a believer.



I love the way the show portrays people, especially the teens. It's hard to portray teenagers without making them stereotypes, either much too grown up or much too shallow. Joan doesn't do either and I love the show for it. I am not going to love every single episode though that's a given.

- - - - - - - - - - -
"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[lilkkgirl4u]

i totally agree w/ u xita..

and i also think grace's character is getting better and better. there putting depth into her which is nice..

she seems alot less cynnical

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i'm wearing the shoe, till it fits, then i'm calling it quits. (aimee mann)

[tyche]

Well, I haven't watched this week's ep yet (have it on tape), but as my husband said, it's very rare for a mainstreamd drama show to do an inner city/poverty episode well. (That is, without coming off as being really preachy and didactic.) So I am not expecting much of this week's ep, to be honest.

[Cicca]

Picking up on Joan's comments about "a boyfriend". It seems to me that wanting a boyfriend is Joan's way of saying that she wants to be "normal". This talking to god stuff must be getting to her more than they show. Because really, she seems to have handled it fairly well. Or I have amnesia.

And I do like god's comments about Joan and Adam having a connection and that doesn't change because Iris is around and it doesn't change through time or distance. Cool!

Is there a hyphen in anal-retentive?

[TaraBaby77]

I do agree with Cicca...



Now that her brothers have girlfriends (Kevin is still up for discussion, heehee), Grace being...well... Grace, and Adam with Iris... Joan is looking for something that will not just make her feel normal but a little bit to show the rest of them that she is. I just got finished watching the last 6 episodes and I must say that I really am liking this show. Anyhoo, that was my two cents.... I will stop talking now. =)

Aaron

'TaraBaby77'

[Gatito Grande]

Oh, I agree w/ y'all: "a boyfriend" supplies Joan an element of normality---of which she's feeling more and more deprived. (And about that which makes her life "paranormal": when the heck is anyone close to Joan gonna pick up and run w/ one of her "I don't want to, I have to's"???)



No, my anti "a boyfriend" tirade isn't just me being an embittered dyke (honest! ). It's just me ranting against that "female relationship-dependency" thang, which seems to hit girls in puberty: turning them from independent actors, to "Does this make me look fat?" whiners. Yeah, it results in girls putting up w/ a lot of abusive boyfriends (not to mention unplanned pregnancies), but it'd be no less destructive if it was manifested in teen-age girls w/ abusive girlfriends either.



GG Do any of you remember that Kate and Allie ep, where Allie overhears a couple of 18 year-old girls talking? Says one "Well, I got accepted into Cornell, but my boyfriend is going to Wyoming, so . . ." Allie, considering the direction her own life took, marches up to the girl and says "Go to Cornell"! Out

[tyche]

From tvtome.com:

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17. No Bad Guy

gs: Becky Wahlstrom (Grace Polk) Christopher Marquette (Adam Rove) April Grace (Sergeant Toni Williams) Sydney Tamiia Poitier (Rebecca Askew) Elaine Hendrix (Ms. Lischak) Aaron Himelstein (Friedman) Misti Traya (Iris)



After Joan stands up for one of her classmates being bullied, an embarrassing picture of Joan, taken with a picture phone, is rapidly spread around school. God instructs Joan to join the band. Will must deal with an elderly driver who accidentally killed several people.





b: 27-Feb-2004 pc: 114 w: Sibyl Gardner d: James Hayman

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[NeitherHereNorThere]

This week's episode looks good. I love this show. I'll be rollerskating when it's on though, I hope someone will be home to tape it...





Friday's episode was very good. Amber Tamblyn did a really good job with the jumping rope, especially considering she was sick at the time....Kevin bugged me for the first time in a LONG time...but my favorite part was near the end, with Luke and Will. That was nice.

"Come into my parlor," Said the spider to the fly...

[Gatito Grande]

This is slightly off-topic, but have you noticed that "Special Guest Star" Christopher Marquette is in a new movie (starring I-hope-she's-not-as-ditzy-as-her-24-TV-character-but-I'm-really-afraid-she-is Elisha Cuthbert) called The Girl Next-Door.



GG I doubt this will impact CM's availability for JoA, but he's probably gonna get a fatter contract. Out



My new mantra: "Promote Becky! Promote Becky! Promote Becky! Promote Becky!"

[The Rose24]

Sweet scene between Joan and Adam tonight. *Sigh*

Tara: My heart doesn't stutter.


Tara: Willow, I got so lost.

Willow: I found you. I will always find you.

[SySnootles]

That scene had me tearing up... I'll admit it.



Um, I'm unmentionable-y impaired and I need some explanation... What was wrong with Joan's underwear? They looked perfectly fine to me. Was it the color? Fit? I suddenly feel horribly inadequate in the bloomer department.



Oh... one more thing... my father called during the cafeteria scene with Angela... what happened to her mother? The last thing I heard was the diary entry saying that she's obsessed with her breasts... the next thing I remember is Joan all teary eyed with a very pained look on her face. Breast cancer?



Editted because I can't spell this evening.

Catie



When I'm 130 years old, I want a pill that makes me so happy and so unself-conscious and so randy I'm willing to make love to my fuzzy bed slippers on my front lawn and yodel at the same time. -- Scott Adams from Dilbert and the way of the Weasel

Edited by: SySnootles at: 2/27/04 8:05 pm

[Gatito Grande]

. . .



GG I was out, and my freakin' VCR f*cked up!!! Out



DammitDammitDammitDammitDammitDammitDammitDammitDammitDammitDammit!

[The Rose24]

Quote:

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Oh... one more thing... my father called during the cafeteria scene with Angela... what happened to her mother? The last thing I heard was the diary entry saying that she's obsessed with her breasts... the next thing I remember is Joan all teary eyed with a very pained look on her face. Breast cancer?

---

Yes, Angela's mother finds out she has breast cancer.

Tara: My heart doesn't stutter.


Tara: Willow, I got so lost.

Willow: I found you. I will always find you.

[yana]

This episode was most amusing. Joan and Luke and the washing machine - priceless. Grace giving Adam a look when he mentions the "panty shot." Someone on the show finally bringing up how incredibly irritating Iris's (is that her name?) voice is.



Also, did anyone notice that when Grace, Joan, and Adam were sitting on the stairs, this girl walked between them down the stairs and it really looked like Grace rather unabashedly checked out her ass?

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity. And I am not sure about the former."

--Albert Einstein

[Hemiola]

I particularly enjoyed this bit of dialogue--



God: "Vengeance is mine" saith Me.

Joan: You've never been to high school.

God: You were never at the Crusades.





As for me, I think Amber T looked really great in her underwear

[theatremouse]

i saw grace look, but it looked to me more like the sort of gaze that's like"yeah i know we're totally blocking the stairs and you just want to walk, but i'm plotting now and in a bad mood so dont even pretend to look at us like we're in the way." sort of glare that is SO prevalent in high school corridors...



coulda been checkin her out though. i guess it wouldve read more clearly if more of the walking-by person were more i nthe shot, to see if maybe she gave them a look, not that that wouldve been pertinent to the framing of the scene. i'm just saying it couldve been more acting going on that makes sense to the actors, but reads differently because of how it was framed.



the washer thing was funny but looked SO painful i couldnt shake it out of my head for a few minutes. but maybe i just have a thing about ankles and not being able to move...



meanwhile sorry to backtrack but i'm just watching the week before last's episode on video.



and i got really confused because when i first tuned in and the chicks in the park were chanting "casper casper" etc, it took me like 7 minutes to realize that the chick's name was actually casper, and thought they were just being really harsh to joan, the only white person there. so that threw me all off.



some of the most awkward moments i've ever seen in this show were in this episode. like joan egging casper on in the gym class.



i am shallow: Grace smiling and applauding, and with her hair back after joan and casper jumped, was my favourite moment.



i didnt understand the utility bill thing. but it's probable i'm being very stupid.



price is exactly like every school administrator i've ever met.

Edited by: theatremouse at: 2/28/04 1:25 pm

[foreverpiper]

ok, my few cents...i was kinda sketchy about this episode, not because it wasnt great, but i got rather confused. the part with joan in the washer! priceless!!



i hate that critic!! but then, that's a given.



the thing that confused me was the band part. what was the point of god sending her to join band? usually i see the conection, like last time witht the homeless friend, but i didnt see any connection with the band. maybe im missing something but could someone help me out! (maybe i was just a bit too tired)

Galahad: What a strange person. French Dude: I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries. Galahad: Is there someone else up their we could talk to? French Dude: No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time. - Monty Python

[Puff]

Loved last nights episode. Quaker as in oatmeal? LMAO And Joan hanging from the washing machine as well. Although it sure was a serious topic on vengence and our need for it. The cop portion of the show was handled very well this week as well. The Jane Adam scene at the end was very sweet and leaves a lot up in the air. I really like how this show is developing a large amount of characters, it's good to see that someone is interested in writing and developing them.



Btw I thought Grace totally checked out that girl as well, but then I see subtext almost as much as that boy from Sixth sense see's dead people.

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So, the day started and I knew my name and had my pants on. So far, so good. Yay.
Amber Benson

[xita]

I liked last night's show, I wish she'd been good at band though, love bands



Very sweet moment at the end, their timing is just off for now but I imagine one day it will be.



Oh, and word to the voice thing. I hope the writers picked up on that because it is annoying!

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"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[BBOvenGuy]

Another great episode, and another shining example of a favorite Ray Bradbury quote of mine - "The artist learns what to leave out." There are so many moments in this show that depend on things that aren't said, questions that aren't answered and reasons that aren't given.



I thought God told Joan to join the band so she'd be in touch with the hat-girl again. It'll be interesting to see whether Joan stays in the band and gets to know the hat-girl better.



A bit of TV trivia - "Exchange Student God" was played by Anastasia Baranova, star of the NBC/Discovery Kids series, Scout's Safari. She really is Russian - born and raised in Moscow - and has only been in the US for four or five years. This episode was the first time I'd heard her with a Russian accent, though - as Scout, she sounds like an American.

"The stories we tell - that's us explaining how we think the world works. Once we speak it, once we say it aloud, that makes it real for us - and real for everyone else who hears it too. When we tell a story, we invite people to visit our reality. We invite them to move in. Our stories are the reality we live in." - David Gerrold, The Martian Child

[NeitherHereNorThere]

I figured that God told Joan to join the band so that it would give her something to do, and it would help relieve her stress. She was going at the drums really hard at one point. It also might have been because of the Quaker girl.



I don't usually enjoy the police parts a lot, but tonight I did. They did make me cry, though. When the pregnant lady was telling them what happened...



I didn't like the washing machine part as much as everybody else seems to. I don't know why. I did like the part in the cafeteria though. Very good message.



The end was very sweet....I was holding my breath.

"Come into my parlor," Said the spider to the fly...

[Triscuit7]

I have to second that wonderful line: Vengeance is mine, saith me. I am sooo tempted to use it as a sig. And that whole washing machine thing? Darcy says that actually happened to her dad one summer when they were all down the shore. He was the smallest adult present, so they put him in the tub to unjam the machine, which unjammed with a vengeance. Fortunately he didn't break anything, not even the washer.



Ciao, Melissa

******************



Do something totally irrational and let the enemy think himself to death. (Pyanfar Chanur)

[urnofosiris]

I am trying to download the episodes, I have the first 9 and watched them in like three days. I basically agree with what Tyche said in the very first post of this thread. This show is great, none of the praise I have read here is exaggerated. The only character I do not like much is the older brother, his desire to not be treated special or pitied is totally understandable but it might work better if he stopped pitying himself and acting like a prick most of the time. He does not have to be likeable all the time and I do like some of his snark and big brother side.



I usually do not like nerds in movies or TVshows but the youngest brother and Adam (who is partly a nerd too I think) are just a really nice guys. They are not caricatures or over the top annoying. Joan and Grace are great, so are Joan's parents, it is nice to see likeable adults. I have seldom seen a show where I felt that every character was so well rounded and likeable after the very first episode. The humor is great and the stories compelling and cleverly done. It is fun trying to figure out why god asks Joan to do certain things. Looking forward to the rest.

Edited by: DrG at: 2/29/04 8:42 am

[Cicca]

Hat Girl! I love her so! She's cool. I assume she'll be back and she'll be interesting. Ooh, maybe she likes girls. And Grace likes girls. Grace and a Quaker. Excellent!



I have to admit that the scene with the pregnant woman crying didn't really work for me. It didn't ring true for me the way it was written. Or should I say over-written? I guess I'm just being picky, but it just seemed... off.



Joan and Adam....

Is there a hyphen in anal-retentive?

[Kieli]

Did anyone else besides me just die laughing at Joan's attempt to wash the family laundry? I loved the Joan/Adam moment although my nerves are becoming frayed at watching them moon about each other when they're alone. The writing in some places was a little thin and I would've liked to see the apology Joan and Adam would have given to that poor girl who's mother has breast cancer (however, I didn't feel too sorry for her...she deserved a bit of comeuppance for her nasty little attitude and prank on Joan). My heart damn near broke when Mrs. Girardi was slammed by the no-name loser art critic. It was cool that Adam showed he'd forgiven her by prodding the class into supporting her when she was down. Hopefully he'll ditch Iris though. I hate to say it but her voice grates on me like fingernails on a chalkboard. *shudder*

Time flies by when the Devil drives.
It's not the pace of life that concerns me, it's the sudden stop at the end.

[tyche]

This Friday they are repeating 'Death Be Not Whatever', the first ep with Rocky. However, the week after is a new ep, which has one of the strangest titles ever, namely 'Requiem for a Third Grade Ashtray'.