Joan of Arcadia Season 2 thread (merged) (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

I guess I'll start the Joan of Arcadia thread as its season getes underway tonight.

Last we left the Gerardi clan, Joan was diagnosed with Lyme disease, which partially explains the visions of God in her head. Now Joan, being treated for the disease, might have less "interaction" with God this season, but perhaps the other family members might take up the slack in that department...

 

[John_Lee]

Why do you keep repeating everything I say?

Sorry, reruns of the West Wing.

 

[Patrick Sun]

So, God keeps showing up to Joan, and she's not into it. Joan's attempted breakup with God was metaphorically played out like a girl giving a guy the "it's not you, it's me" speech.

Adam tries to let Joan know that she's not alone in seeing God, and his research into the subject drives Joan a little crazy, ironically.

Joan struggles to find normalcy after a summer at Gentle Acres, a mental health facility.

Luke is finding it difficult to adhere to the contract he signed for Grace in terms of keeping their relationship on the down low.

Kevin gives into Will's request that he give golfing a try.

Helen looks to go back to the catholic church. She finds it to be a daunting endeavor.

Will finds out that the family of Kevin's best friend who walked away from the accident that put Kevin in wheelchair is suing the Gerardi's for emotional damage from the accident. Will does what he can to keep it from Helen, but eventually he tells her.

The last 10-15 minutes were pretty heartfelt and convincing.

 

[Duane R]

The opener was definitely on the dark side, however that's not necessarily a bad thing. It'll be interesting to see how things play out...

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Ok, who stole the real 'Joan of Arcadia' show?

I don't know what is worse: Joan spent her summer in a nut house or god (and I use that term loosly) let her go there?
Man would my faith go bye-bye!

I don't believe Luke's contract. What is going to happen to him if he violates it? She dumps him? Where is that going to get Grace? Alone?

If they broke up and Grace approached me I'd ask Luke what happened. Luke ought to announce their relationship in the school cafeteria, or something like that. She coud break it off, but she'd be screwed! Funny, no?

I'm so glad this is coming out on DVD. It will be great to rerun this whole mess over and over.

Glenn

 

[Dan Rudolph]

That's essentially what Kevin told him. Grace, despite what she would claim is incredibly vain as has worked very hard at building up an outsider/rebel image. Now she's afraid/embarrassed to have normal feelings. Eventually, she'll have to suck it up or be miserable.

What's with Helen's hair this season? Can she see out of her right eye?

zThe lawsuit has no chance of ever winning, but it could be costly to defend anyway. I think countersuing would be the way to go here.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It was nice to see it open strong, after last season's dark and surreal season finale.Life is suffering. It is only by knowing pain that you can know true joy. God in this show doesn't wave a magic wand and make things all better; indeed, that's what makes that element believable, since the real God - if there is one - certainly doesn't wave a magic wand and fix world hunger and war.

From the way the show presents it, He created the setting and gave us the props; it's our show. The only way he manipulates things behind the scenes is through the gentle nudging of human instruments with their own free will. There is obviously a cost to being a human instrument; Joan's certainly suffered for carrying out God's requests. But there's an obvious, major perk: the comforting certainty that there is a loving God that will support you through the highs and lows.

The shot of teen God standing vigil over her hospital bed in the first season finale was one of the most moving, evocative yet simple shots I've ever seen.

I thought the premiere was top notch. In a season where every other show I watch has felt a need to put the pacing on fast-forward (Everwood, Smallville, etc.), it's nice to see that Joan is still willing to take it's time with things. Will's grief, Joan's blandness and lack of quirk, Kevin's selflessness, Luke's frustration, Grace's confusion, Adam's disappointment, Helen's surrendering to what she feels is God's punishment. None of these storylines felt rushed or under-changed. Hall and Co. are masters at crafting stories and pacing that perfectly fits the increasingly smaller hour programming window.

It was also nice to see the bookstore and her quirky boss again. Her job there was referred to but not seen for most of the second half of last year. He's a great character, and they play off each other well; almost anticipating each other's quirks and feeling off-put when the other fails to mean the proper standards.

And it was absolute genius last season getting Arthur from The Tick as the Catholic priest. His sense of humor is great; the West Wing line John quoted was fantastic.

 

[John_Lee]

I could find it right off, and the rest of the lyrics escape me, but what was the song in this episode that said something about 'the bluebird?' Sounded like a Wilco track.

 

[Ken Chan]

I also liked the "I'm going to count to ten", "Good luck with that" bit, and a few other really laugh-out-loud lines.

Luke and Grace didn't seem to look particularly comfortable making out, although that's probably what they were going for. (Maybe it "helps" that the actress is actually quite a bit older.) Good use of the lampshade by Grace in Joan's room. At the end of the golf store scene, it looked like there was something stitched into the back of Luke's collar; anyone with HD make that out?

Excellent premiere.

 

[Henry Gale]

Joan: "You stole that book!"

God "Well, technically, everything is mine."

 

[Natalie F]

It's actually 'Guess I'm Doing Fine' by Beck.

 

[DianaM]

A little promotion here-- there is a very recent interview withe JOA creator Barbara Hall where she offers some insight on what's in store, including release of 1st season dvds.

Go to moonlighting21.com and you will see the link on the homepage.

Diana

 

[John_Lee]

I'd like the info on the DVDs without knowing whats in store. Can I find out one without the other? Or, can someone just post the release date?

 

[DianaM]

No spoilers in the interview. Barbara told us that they are in discussions about releasing the 1st season with cast commentary but no official release date has been established. It will obviously be in 2005.

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

I'd never watched this show but decided to give the first episode of this season a chance. Well done and more complex than I'd expected. Looks like I'll track it for a few more weeks and see what I think.

 

[Patrick Sun]

10/1/04

Joan is still in her denial of God mode, pretty much giving God the "talk to the hand" treatment.

Joan is rewarded by having one of her friends from Gentle Acres enrolled in her school (the friend is played by Sprague Grayden, on Six Feet Under as Anita this past season). Adam is confused by Joan, not Jane. Adam knows Jane. The new girl throws a party at her house while her parents are gone for the weekend.

Kevin drives 4 hours to find and talk to his former friend (who was driving when Kevin was paralyzed from their accident while the friend was drunk while driving that night, now his family is suing the Gerardi family for mental suffering). The friend is now a window washer and is locked inside his own mental prison for being the one responsible for the accident, but he somehow keeps blaming Kevin for not taking the keys from him that fateful night, damning him to a life of anguish and regret, so he is basically blaming Kevin for him being messed up psychologically and for his nightmares. Kevin offers to trade places with him. That pretty much ends any useful conversation between them. Kevin heads back home.

Luke and Grace try to find their song, and it winds up being "Celebration". While at the party, Luke isn't deterred by Grace's non-interaction at parties clause in their contract, even plays "Celebration" to get Grace in the mood. The song manages to melt down some of Grace's walls.

Adam is having problems with carefree Joan and turns away from her and leaves the party. Joan is confused, goes looking for Adam around the premises. Joan's friend gets wasted and paramedics arrive after Grace discovers the girl passed out from drinking a fifth of hard booze. This freaked out Joan because she thought the paramedics were for Adam. Later in the hospital, Joan is looking in on her friend, and then runs into Adam, and they talk, Joan sees that she needs to keep her eyes open and take responsibility when someone needs it. This is another lesson Joan learns the hard way while God shows up and tells her that the choices are always there for her to make, she just needs to make better choices.

Will manages to convince an aunt to turn in her nephew and friend for a drive-by shooting of a young boy. Will's determination is rewarded by a fire set on the aunt's house, and she perished in the fire. Will is absolutely torn up about his actions leading to the murder of the aunt.

Helen continues to look into her renewal of her faith in the catholic church. She goes to Joan's bookstore, and finds her reading a book about getting over co-dependency. Helen offers to help Joan if she really wants it.

What's the moral of this episode? No good deed goes unpunished? Keep your eyes open to things developing in front of your eyes and act before they escalate into a bad situation? Joan will probably not be able to ditch God in any meaningful manner, it would seem.

 

[Rick Guynn]

I think you left out a very important literal and symbolic part at the end - Joan embraces God again. And God comforts her without a 'see I told you so' or anyother condescending air.

RG

 

[John_Lee]

That had to be one of the most cathartic moments I've seen on TV in a while.
Who wouldn't love to stand face to face with God and say "I don't want to mess up anymore" and get that hug?

 

[Doug Otte]

I first started watching the show last season because my 10-year-old daughter liked it. I liked it too, but missed the last few episodes of the first season and kind of forgot about it over the summer.

Season two seems a bit darker and even more dense. It took a bit to get into it, but afterward I thought: "How many TV shows mention Unified Field Theory and E. M. Forster in the same episode?" I think it's a bold show for continuing to do different things.

I also realized: a lot of the characters are not very likeable, and many are downright selfish and annoying. How many TV shows dare to do that?

Doug

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Grace is one of the worst girlfriends in the history of TV. And WIll never does seem to leearn his lesson about keeping stuff from his wife.