Joan of Arcadia 1/14/05
01-15-05, 08:42 AM
#1
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Joan of Arcadia 1/14/05
I thought this was a terrific episode.
We finally get closure, more or less, on Andy's lawsuit against the Girardi's. Andy drops the lawsuit, gets booted out of the house by his parents (nice!), and has been staying at the YMCA for the time being. When Andy tells Kevin that he's dropping the lawsuit, Kevin doesn't believe it, and wheels on by him. Later, Will confirms it, but Kevin is still a bit suspicious, and Will doesn't want Kevin to have anything else to do with Andy. But, Kevin finds Andy at the YMCA shooting baskets, and they find a way to re-connect.
Grace is feeling like a dimwit while Luke and Glynis discuss high-falutin' theories on science in their lab study group. Grace's insecurities in the smarts area manifest themselves towards Glynis, and Glynis stands up for herself, not taking Grace's crap, and Grace is impressed with the new Glynis, especially since it's Glynis has to deal with Luke being with Grace and not her.
Joan continues to worry about finding a college where both her and Adam can go and both be happy with the offerings.
Joan is told to boost up her extracurricular activities in the form of joining up in the school play. The play's director, nicknamed Johnny Broadway by Joan, has the attention span of a gnat and the play is a chaotic mess for most of its rehearsal, even the name and plot of the play, revolving around zombies and the undead, gets changed multiple times, as do the songs and dance numbers, much to the aggravation of Carl, the song writer and piano player.
During one rehearsal, Johnny Broadway sees a sketch done by Adam, who is sitting in the back of the auditorium, just checking out the play for Joan's sake, and quickly Adam becomes the set designer for the play, with lots of manpower and a $300 budget.
Grace also interjects her own political views into the play, while attending a rehearsal, from an elicited response by Johnny Broadway, and he then uses Grace's idea and runs with it and changes the story once more. The entire crew is flummoxed, but they carry on. And then Joan is made the central lead of the play, replacing the now-former lead actress, and Joan is freaked out by the responsibility of performing the part. God, as the maintenance lady, gives Joan the "out of chaos, people still manage to form relationships, you can't control it, you just have to go with it." talk.
On play night, everything that could go wrong does go wrong, but it manages to create a lot of humor for the audience, and God reveals himself to be Johnny Bravo to Joan, and he got Joan good in this instance. Joan's solo number is a show-stopper. Will is impressed to tears. Luke has the entire disaster recorded on his vid-camera. Even as most of the play was a chaotic disaster, God impresses upon Joan that things still ended up okay, and it's fine to let go of control to get the unexpected twists and turns from life. Joan turns to Adam, and tells him that it'll be okay if they can't be together at the same college if staying together in college is not as optimal if both go to the same college. That's the lesson of letting go that Joan learns from this experience.
Later, at the Girardi's kitchen, the family is still laughing about the evening, and Will expresses how proud and touched he was by Joan's performance. Kevin rolls in, having missed the play, Will deduces that he was with Andy, and Kevin confirms it, and Will has a change of heart, and tells Kevin to invite Andy to stay with them until he gets back on his feet. Kevin is speechless by this turn, but accepts his father's offer. Luke then recaps the insanity of the play for Kevin.
We finally get closure, more or less, on Andy's lawsuit against the Girardi's. Andy drops the lawsuit, gets booted out of the house by his parents (nice!), and has been staying at the YMCA for the time being. When Andy tells Kevin that he's dropping the lawsuit, Kevin doesn't believe it, and wheels on by him. Later, Will confirms it, but Kevin is still a bit suspicious, and Will doesn't want Kevin to have anything else to do with Andy. But, Kevin finds Andy at the YMCA shooting baskets, and they find a way to re-connect.
Grace is feeling like a dimwit while Luke and Glynis discuss high-falutin' theories on science in their lab study group. Grace's insecurities in the smarts area manifest themselves towards Glynis, and Glynis stands up for herself, not taking Grace's crap, and Grace is impressed with the new Glynis, especially since it's Glynis has to deal with Luke being with Grace and not her.
Joan continues to worry about finding a college where both her and Adam can go and both be happy with the offerings.
Joan is told to boost up her extracurricular activities in the form of joining up in the school play. The play's director, nicknamed Johnny Broadway by Joan, has the attention span of a gnat and the play is a chaotic mess for most of its rehearsal, even the name and plot of the play, revolving around zombies and the undead, gets changed multiple times, as do the songs and dance numbers, much to the aggravation of Carl, the song writer and piano player.
During one rehearsal, Johnny Broadway sees a sketch done by Adam, who is sitting in the back of the auditorium, just checking out the play for Joan's sake, and quickly Adam becomes the set designer for the play, with lots of manpower and a $300 budget.
Grace also interjects her own political views into the play, while attending a rehearsal, from an elicited response by Johnny Broadway, and he then uses Grace's idea and runs with it and changes the story once more. The entire crew is flummoxed, but they carry on. And then Joan is made the central lead of the play, replacing the now-former lead actress, and Joan is freaked out by the responsibility of performing the part. God, as the maintenance lady, gives Joan the "out of chaos, people still manage to form relationships, you can't control it, you just have to go with it." talk.
On play night, everything that could go wrong does go wrong, but it manages to create a lot of humor for the audience, and God reveals himself to be Johnny Bravo to Joan, and he got Joan good in this instance. Joan's solo number is a show-stopper. Will is impressed to tears. Luke has the entire disaster recorded on his vid-camera. Even as most of the play was a chaotic disaster, God impresses upon Joan that things still ended up okay, and it's fine to let go of control to get the unexpected twists and turns from life. Joan turns to Adam, and tells him that it'll be okay if they can't be together at the same college if staying together in college is not as optimal if both go to the same college. That's the lesson of letting go that Joan learns from this experience.
Later, at the Girardi's kitchen, the family is still laughing about the evening, and Will expresses how proud and touched he was by Joan's performance. Kevin rolls in, having missed the play, Will deduces that he was with Andy, and Kevin confirms it, and Will has a change of heart, and tells Kevin to invite Andy to stay with them until he gets back on his feet. Kevin is speechless by this turn, but accepts his father's offer. Luke then recaps the insanity of the play for Kevin.
01-15-05, 07:17 PM
#2
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Easily the Best Episode of the season. Or dare I say the whole series. Just the right blend of God, humor and schmaltz all in one episode. Loved the director's approach to The Creative Process and how the posters of the show kept getting changed.
Still can't believe they were able to cover so much in one episode.
Still can't believe they were able to cover so much in one episode.
01-15-05, 11:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Patman
Joan turns to Adam, and tells him that it'll be okay if they can't be together at the same college if staying together in college is not as optimal if both go to the same college. That's the lesson of letting go that Joan learns from this experience.
01-16-05, 02:51 AM
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I really didn't like the 'resolve' to the lawsuit. They didn't mention it for the last two episodes, which means the last time was before the hiatus, and even though I do watch the show avidly, I'd completely forgotten about it. Then they bring it up and "Oh BTW, I'm dropping the lawsuit". Pretty random to me.
Amber Tamblyn has a really good voice, although I suppose it's not much of a surprise.
Amber Tamblyn has a really good voice, although I suppose it's not much of a surprise.
01-16-05, 10:53 AM
#6
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I thought her voice got a little sharp there towards the end of the song, but overall, okay voice, nothing to really write home about, though. At least she could sing on key and in tune.
