Episode 5: His Visit Day FourJohn goes with Cass, Tina shows up in town, Cissy gets crazy and gets a gun, Bill and Zippy share a moment in which Zip tells Bill he needs to be a bud to John, Bill hates being bossed around by a parrot, Shaun is up to what most teenage boys would do with a Diet Coke.
What did you think about John and Cass? What about he told her to do? Did you get it? Did she ? What about the street fair? Was there significance to that?
Does Cissy have the ground to stand on about her feelings for Tina or is she just projecting because of Butchie?
Link and Tina? Was that to mirror Kai and Butchie in some way?
What do you think of Kai and Butchie? And did that come from John? Is Links problem in the hotel from Cass or from John and a fit a concious? Is Tina as a tough as everyone thinks she is? Did she actually help Cissy when she let Shaun on the doorstep? What do you think Shaun thinks all about the women that are so involved in his life?
Did you miss Dickstein and company from the episode? Think the Mexican wrestlers made up for them?
Again the theme that Milch is expressing - Don't listen to the words, watch the actions. Any thoughts about that?
Favorite scenes? Moments? Quotes? What about John's new duds? And what's the deal with the turtle?
Did I watch a different episode? Some of this sounds like what I saw but a lot does not.
ReplyDeleteThe episode I viewed has one of my favorite scenes from the whole series: the one where John shows up in front of Cissy's window. But it has dickstein, no scenes of john with cass.
You're one ahead of us Dest.
ReplyDeleteSigh, i was afraid of that. I will try and watch the right one when I get home tonight.
ReplyDeletethe one where John shows up in front of Cissy's window.*
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite scenes from the series. I know, we'll get there!
I just liked the whole episode. I
ReplyDeleteadmit sometimes I have a hard time
understanding them. I think the
actresses who played Tina and Sissy
did a great job-actually the whole
cast!! I do wish that they had
given the series another year!! I
hope everyone has a great weekend.
I also think that Shaun was much
ReplyDeletebetter off living with his grandparents. I do think that his
mother loved him and she did what
she thought was best for him!
Hi Kacie,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see that someone is up and around at this un-Godly hour.
Well, I wasn't going to comment until I watched the whole episode and here it is after 2am here in my neck of the woods. Laundry done, lunch made for work tomorrow, episode watched and comments fermenting in my weak mind. Ha.
Scuse me, while I take a piss. If you have an objection, I’m sure you can convey it silently - once I get my stream going … and thereby shut that down too! Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ! I really love Bill's interactions with Zippy! He really makes it so believable.
What I think I'm seeing in this episode is John's influence on all these troubled mortals, in his way he's elevating them. I say this because Joe makes his confessional to Ernie lamenting the he couldn't help back in Vietnam and seeking some sort of forgiveness or understanding. John helped Joe realize that he has helped, and Joe later catching a fish while pondering his experiences could be considered biblical (if you really stretch your point at 2am).
As shrill and hateful as Sissy is, you can see her despair watching Mitch leave, walking down the driveway and craning her neck to watch as the throws his bag in his car.
Kai is ever the realist when advising Butchie that the "less you say now the less you have to take back later" when Sissy comes beating at the trailer like it's a war drum. Shaun listens to Kai, and later on in the day say's he's going to stick around as she had suggested earlier and fact matters.
When Tina visits Butchie he stays distant but when she shows her hurt and emotion he responds and softens, and again later when he listens to her tale of leaving Shaun with Sissy actually takes Tina to visit Shaun and shows a great deal of tenderness. His comment to Tina in the car that "it wasn't a burden you put on her; getting Shaun to hold was a gift" showed a great degree of concern and the revelation of a real truth.
Kai, ever the life-saver arrives in time to be hurt by the sight of Butch and Tina in the car, but secures Sissy's gun and tries to fade into the background and not look at Butchie as she opens the door for he and Tina.
Freddy's salvation my be handing his business over to Mwana but he's worried that he may have started a war in the process. Palaka rambles on and while avoiding any physical harm still bristles Freddy.
And in the end Link wants to remain in the game and he may truly be the soul who's intentions are good. Quite a combination, Link and Tina.
John is definately working his magic and Cass is keeping the zero's and one's recorded.
That's it for me. Night and Morning all.
S
Well, looks like I watched the wrong one, too! I saw John in Cissy's window and Kai talking Shaun back to meet with his mother at Cissy's house.
ReplyDeleteWell, I stayed up until the wee hours watching the right episode, but unlike you Seaweed I was too tired to write last night.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I watch an episode again I see new things and realize more than ever how depth there is to the show. It's no wonder it didn't last, I think you really can't appreciate a lot of it with one viewing.
Love Bill and Zippy, and I don't think I realized until this time around that they were supposed to be having a real conversation; I also felt like Bill was probably talking to Zippy the way he used to talk to his wife.
And knowing about the revelation about Cissy in the episode I watched, can't help but think there is some connection between that and the fact that some of her hate for Tina comes from her working in the sex industry.
And John on the floor in that opening scene, one of my favorites. Creepy and funny at the same time. Watching this I'm reminded again how much we're losing out on with Austin doing something as conventional as OTH. But then again, shows like JFC are so rare. Ed O'Neil is going to be in a new show in the fall, but it sounds like a conventional sitcom.
Finally, I was really struck this time by Vietnam Joe's story, and how he'd clearly never told anyone, and how powerful and healing it is to talk and not let things fester inside of you. (Which, as these things tend to do anymore with me, made me think about J&A and the closet).
I think when Cissy see Tina she is reminded of her own sins and her past. She didn't have to confront her past until Tina came back. Cissy has shoved that down while raising Shaun, she might have the anger and hostility but she that was the byproduct of what she was doing.
ReplyDeleteKai seems to be Butchie's kind of rehab angel which I think Milch identifies in his own life, loves him despite of,through it all and out the other side. After after her moment of seeing God with John, you could kind of go with the heavenly influence.
John. Interesting to see how his clothes changed after his healing. Almost a heavenly robe vibe with the white hoodie. He needs Cass to get his message out there. She's a part of the message. I think it is interesting when he goes to the street fair, and Milch left clues all through that crowd seen. Notice the 9/11 signs, and the Jesus signs? And how he brings together all nationalities, peoples, religions to one place and how John moves through all them, he interacts with all.
Bill. Have you ever noticed that Bill and Barry are pretty much the same? Both have conversations with things that can't talk, talk to themselves/God/or ghosts of their past when their bird or bear are not there. And both have stepped out of their comfort to reach out to people.
Seaweed you make a really great point about Link and that his intentions may good.
Destiny I agree with you about Austin playing John both creepy and funny on the floor. I really think JFC was his breakout that let him really find his voice as actor and work without fear. I hope that people remember him for the offbeat unconventional role for other projects.
Good point about the clothes change Special, and Barry and Bill's conversations and reaching out. Finding your voice and reaching out, and finding people care for you despite your perceived faults and sins, is clearly one of the larger points of the show.
ReplyDeleteDestiny,
ReplyDeleteI agree, with every viewing of an episode you see so much more of what is going on. JFC was deep and layered and Milch is incredible in his attention to detail and depth of character, you can see this in the commentaries as he helps the actors create what he has envisioned. It really is an amazing talent.
Special, last night I sort of passed over John and the cues he was giving with his wardrobe changes and just exactly what he was doing. I really will enjoy the next episode because if I remember correctly this is when he puts a lot of things into action and has a much more direct effect on people.
Austin really, really, really, helped create a wonderful character in John. I love him for it as much as I love watching him and listening to him.
Tonight, I get to bed much earlier. Ha. Hope everyone is having a good weekend and drops in to say hello. I was so pleased to see Frenchy drop by the other day.
S
I love him for it as much as I love watching him and listening to him. Well said Seaweed. I couldn't have put my finger on it, but now that you've put it into words, I have to agree that's one of the reasons I love watching Austin in JFC too.
ReplyDelete