JFC Watch: Avon Calling
HBO photo: John P. Johnson
I have no inside intelligence on whether we'll ever see a second season of John from Cincinnati, but if we don't, I do hope David Milch casts Ed O'Neill in whatever he does next. However baffling or maddening JFC can be, O'Neill (who starred in Milch's sadly short-lived Big Apple) grounds the show every time he's on screen, and that's saying a lot for a man whose scenes consisted, this episode, of monologues about an absent parrot. O'Neill, more than any other actor on this show, has internalized its language and seems to understand Bill to his core--his blustering protectiveness and the feelings of helplessness and failure that underlie it. "I put him against a whole different weight class, they wiped him from the face of the earth," he says, cradling Zippy's empty cage. Somehow--and this is what this show needs to be doing--he makes it the most natural thing in the world to be mourning a parrot who may have just been Raptured.
So Sean is gone, and John is gone, and Zippy has flown the coop. And it's nice to see--after eight days and all the resurrection and levitation and mind-reading and technically impossible video messages--someone finally asking who the hell John is. "He hears something and then his program tells him what to say back," Cass postulates to Butchie, who reasonably asks: "Then what's the connection to my father going up in the air and all that other f___ing sh_t?" Exactly. [Incidentally, how many letters do you have to remove from an expletive before it's not longer dirty? And what are the odds that impressionable children are reading a blog post about an inscrutable HBO drama about metaphysics?]
As before, some of the characters' reactions to John (and if there's been an overall problem with this show, it's that most of the action is reaction) are more believable than others. It doesn't seem plausible that Cissy should honestly believe that John is some sort of terrorist--a pervert or psycho maybe, but a terrorist?--except that the reaction seems to be necessary for whatever post-9/11 parallels Milch is trying to draw.
On the other hand, I somehow liked the tangential action at the motel this week, as Barry, Ramon and Doc discovered John's symbol in a spread inside an Avon catalog. This is the sort of touch that makes me still want JFC to work, even when it doesn't: the notion that if there were a God trying to reach us, He would do so in the margins and the periphery. It's enough to get me through one more week, anyway, as the penultimate episode closed, appropriately, with Sam and Dave's Hold On I'm Coming. As the previews of the finale showed, John will indeed be back. But who will he bring with him?
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1
Yes, "All Will Be Revealed" according to the HBO promo... unless, that is, HBO's planning on a second season.
As an atheist, I can appreciate the idea of God working to reveal him/herself in the smallest of ways, ways that would appeal to the average Joes and Butchies of the world, but it seems to me that if God wants to really get His point across, couldn't He just create some giant floating speaking flowers in the sky and address the people of the planet thusly? Where's Cecil B DeMille when you need him?
Actually, I kinda like the idea of John visiting a completely different group of people every season. That's probably too high-concept to work, plus there's a risk of the show turning into Touched by an Angel if you know there's a "message" to be delivered each season.
As for Cissy... I'd say that 50% of the stuff that comes out of her mouth can be passed off as crazy-lady-tourettes-speak. At least that's how the other characters seem to take her.
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2
Speaking of which, who out there actually uses "ball-buster" in everyday conversation?
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3
I like this show more than most people (apparently) but no way can there be a second season. Either the finale comes to a brilliant conclusion, answering all the questions, leaving everyone happy and satisfied and enlightened (unlikely), or it will be ambiguous and no help at all and leave everyone who has invested in this show feeling burnt. Neither scenario sets up a second season particularly well.
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4
Sadly, Ed O"Neill's talent is totally underrated.
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5
After four episodes, I finally gave up and joined the "Who gives a damn?" contingent. I kept waiting for this stupid show to make me care, but it never did. Bad acting, bad writing, bad mojo. Hard to believe it's the same guy who did "Deadwood". Now, there was a show! This, not so much. Just pure crap. A second season? Why, why, why?
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6
Jako says it all for me. Except he lasted longer than I did. I quite after 3. Deleted the season pass and moved on.
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7
Once again, no characters to identify with, no situations to relate to equals no interest. The f___ing show doesn't f___ing work. Sad but true. I had high hopes but one final episode isn't going to make it for me no matter how it tries to pull it together or what kind of a cliff hanger it pulls out of the hat.
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8
"Once again, no characters to identify with, no situations to relate to equals no interest." Amen, brother. Remember that movie "Star Wars"? It was all ray guys and aliens and spaceships and what not. I could not relate to that AT ALL. I wonder if anyone else remembers that movie.
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9
Well, Sammie my friend, I have long believed all these years that I was the only one on the planet who didn't like Star Wars! But I take it you jest?
- poniewozik Loved the season. Mrs Tuned In wd have put u on the main list RT @boredtodeath Thank u for incl us in Time's Top 10. We'll take hon mention. - 4 hours ago
- poniewozik @carr2n Virgin is the best, LAX-JFK - 5 hours ago
- poniewozik Did NPR interview abt multiscreen multitasking. After, automatically reached for iPhone in pocket. Like don draper wd have for cigarettes. - 6 hours ago
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