Joan of Arcadia 1x22-1x23
Tue, Oct. 5th, 2004 09:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterJoA 1x22 The Gift
Too much Buffy. Saw the title and kept thinking "death is your gift." But, hey, Joan didn't do that! Although I really wanted to grab her arm and pull her back when she entered the hotel room with the determination to go through with having sex. It was very, very strange thinking of Joan and Adam in a sexual light. I love this show a lot, but for some reason, I've had zero desire to hunt for fic about it (aside from Yahtzee's "Goodnight Moon," *sniff* which I reread and cried buckets over even though I said I wasn't because![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
vonnielake was mentioning it). Mostly I just want to read episode summaries and share in the squee. I don't really want to play in the shipper sandbox or do the assorted pairings thing. I feel strangely protective of these teenagers who try so hard.
I, er, might have gone extremely gooshy when Luke pulled out the geode for Grace. And I love the bewilderment on his face when he did that (and his conversation with Helen, which was great). And the conversation with Grace when he gave it to her was absolutely priceless.
Also, the three-way talk with Will and Helen and Joan was also priceless, including Helen's "sex talk" and Joan's snarky comment about tears and music.
JoA 1x23 Silence
Ooo, good episode. Although the MaybeGodTwins freaked the hell out of me, as did the clowns in Helen's dreams. I really like that the show is getting deeper into the issues of faith, because that is a lot of what interests me about religion (despite, or because of, being non-religious). I like how the show has taken away one of the metaphysical problems I've had with it -- if God is here, but if Joan can see him and talk with her and see the results all the time, then it does take away that issue of faith, which I think (I may be making this up because I have no real experience) is one of the really hard parts about being religious. Because while Joan does doubt what God wants her to do, she's only once really doubted if she should do it. So now she's sort of having to go through a bit of an exaggerated version of what many people probably do, and what probably happened to Helen and Will years ago. She's not sure any more if it is God.
Of course, what makes this work for me is that I don't think God "sent down" the rash or whatnot... it seems sort of like a parallel to Helen's dream. I wonder how much effect Kevin's accident had on her faith. But they both are strange and random things that just happened, Kevin's obviously being much more shattering, but like God keeps trying to tell Joan, he didn't make them happen. Instead, they happened, and it's up to Joan or Helen to choose how to respond, how to go through the dark night of the soul when they think the universe is empty.
Other bits... the scene between Adam and Joan, when Joan finally confesses what she's been seeing, was played so perfectly. I may be projecting, but it looked like Adam was almost hurt when Joan mentioned that her gift had technically been God's idea, not her own, but it just melted away when he realized that she really did believe it.
Also, my god, Grace is so my old college roommate it's scary! I loved loved loved Luke and his "courtship." And especially the moment when he just stopped Grace and said what did she care what other people thought, because he sure didn't. Though the kiss was kind of weird in the middle of it.
Yay, done with season one!
Also, in other news, Connie Brockway's new book is out!
Too much Buffy. Saw the title and kept thinking "death is your gift." But, hey, Joan didn't do that! Although I really wanted to grab her arm and pull her back when she entered the hotel room with the determination to go through with having sex. It was very, very strange thinking of Joan and Adam in a sexual light. I love this show a lot, but for some reason, I've had zero desire to hunt for fic about it (aside from Yahtzee's "Goodnight Moon," *sniff* which I reread and cried buckets over even though I said I wasn't because
vonnielake was mentioning it). Mostly I just want to read episode summaries and share in the squee. I don't really want to play in the shipper sandbox or do the assorted pairings thing. I feel strangely protective of these teenagers who try so hard.I, er, might have gone extremely gooshy when Luke pulled out the geode for Grace. And I love the bewilderment on his face when he did that (and his conversation with Helen, which was great). And the conversation with Grace when he gave it to her was absolutely priceless.
Also, the three-way talk with Will and Helen and Joan was also priceless, including Helen's "sex talk" and Joan's snarky comment about tears and music.
JoA 1x23 Silence
Ooo, good episode. Although the MaybeGodTwins freaked the hell out of me, as did the clowns in Helen's dreams. I really like that the show is getting deeper into the issues of faith, because that is a lot of what interests me about religion (despite, or because of, being non-religious). I like how the show has taken away one of the metaphysical problems I've had with it -- if God is here, but if Joan can see him and talk with her and see the results all the time, then it does take away that issue of faith, which I think (I may be making this up because I have no real experience) is one of the really hard parts about being religious. Because while Joan does doubt what God wants her to do, she's only once really doubted if she should do it. So now she's sort of having to go through a bit of an exaggerated version of what many people probably do, and what probably happened to Helen and Will years ago. She's not sure any more if it is God.
Of course, what makes this work for me is that I don't think God "sent down" the rash or whatnot... it seems sort of like a parallel to Helen's dream. I wonder how much effect Kevin's accident had on her faith. But they both are strange and random things that just happened, Kevin's obviously being much more shattering, but like God keeps trying to tell Joan, he didn't make them happen. Instead, they happened, and it's up to Joan or Helen to choose how to respond, how to go through the dark night of the soul when they think the universe is empty.
Other bits... the scene between Adam and Joan, when Joan finally confesses what she's been seeing, was played so perfectly. I may be projecting, but it looked like Adam was almost hurt when Joan mentioned that her gift had technically been God's idea, not her own, but it just melted away when he realized that she really did believe it.
Also, my god, Grace is so my old college roommate it's scary! I loved loved loved Luke and his "courtship." And especially the moment when he just stopped Grace and said what did she care what other people thought, because he sure didn't. Though the kiss was kind of weird in the middle of it.
Yay, done with season one!
Also, in other news, Connie Brockway's new book is out!
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Wed, Oct. 6th, 2004 07:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Oct. 6th, 2004 07:53 am (UTC)I think I may end up picking it up with Gaiman's 1602 (if I can find it!).