Comments on The House Next Door: John From Cincinnati Mondays: Season 1, Eps. 7 & 8...

Great show, great actors, great writing and a grea...

2007-08-05T15:17:00.000-04:00

Great show, great actors, great writing and a great mystery:

John's identity can only be defined by identifying his father and we are undertaking our quest to define John without that crucial knowledge.

In that great mystery lies the primary attraction of the show. In every episode we are sorting and sifting dialogue, actions, scenes and storylines for just a little bit more information from John or about John that will allow us to identify his father, and thus let us know precisely who and what John is and what his objective is. When we don't get enough information to allow us to solve the mysterious identity of John's father and/or when we get contradictory/ambivalent evidence that does not advance our quest, we are driven to the heights of manic frustration. I know just how Cass feels!

But isn't that precisley the frustration that humankind has had through the ages? Although always searching for clues,information and facts that would help us mortals know and define a supreme being (along with identifying and clarifying the supreme being's grand plan) the information presented to us is never concrete enough for many to find the answer and to be at peace with it. Some need only the Bible and it's teachings as the evidence to define the supreme being and his plan, some are satisfied with other holy books, teachings and creeds, mathematics, science, etc. Acceptance of these forms of evidence relies solely on the believer's faith in the evidence.

Many others, the "doubting Thomases", aren't satisfied by faith in these types of evidence alone and require more tangible evidence. These are the folks who are still on the quest. These are the folks who daily experience the frustration of knowing there may be some higher power but are stifled in their search because if that higher power exists, it is not doing anything to directly make that fact known.

Then, while the quest is ongoing, one person appears bearing a strange message; a different way of thinking, like nothing that any of the searchers are used to. It makes no sense. And in the end, the searchers ignore the message because the speaker is odd and because of their inability to grasp the simplicity of what appears to be nonsensical. This is the second aspect of the show that has us all hooked. And, because we can't define who or what John is, and becasue he is bringing his father's message in a strange fashion ("parrot talk"), he is being ignored, despised, persecuted and held in suspicion.

Now, I have to ask Vietnam Joe how that herb is treating him.

The mysteries and magic of this show are thoroughly discussed at the following fansite, which is the best I've seen. If you haven't been there yet, check it out:

http://www.thesnugharbormotel.com/index.php

Im sure I'm remembering this correctly, but isn't ...

2007-07-31T14:35:00.000-04:00

Im sure I'm remembering this correctly, but isn't the car (vintage Porsce)that Cass drives the same model and color of that which Dylan McKay drove (Luke Perry)on 90210?
Sure there is no meaning, just odd?

I'd also like to add praise for Matt Winston...I'm...

2007-07-31T12:45:00.000-04:00

I'd also like to add praise for Matt Winston...I'm not sure how he is able to pull off the talking to a teddy bear, (among the numerous tics Milch has visited upon him) but the depth of his commitment to his role is very impressive.

I was also a little confused about Linc's signing Shaun...it can't be for Stinkweed, since he agreed to be bought out. (I don't remember the buyout being contingent on Linc getting him to Stinkweed first.)

And I thought Linc had a big 'come to Jesus' moment when he realized that signing Shaun was the worst thing possible for Shaun, considering what Linc did do Butchie's career.

Maybe he's going to keep Shaun away from Stinkweed, but it seems that the contract would/wouldn't feature Stinkweed's name, and if it wasn't there, wouldn't Shaunie or Cissie have noticed?

Didn't Luke get take the buyout offer for Stinkwee...

2007-07-31T11:58:00.000-04:00

Didn't Luke get take the buyout offer for Stinkweed . . . . and if so: why and to whom is he signing Shaun?

Yes, that Milch logic quote is a great one. I lik...

2007-07-31T01:39:00.000-04:00

Yes, that Milch logic quote is a great one. I like this one too: (If I've already posted this here, my apologies. But it can't hurt to read it again.)

The smart money is that this show is about a stupid subject. The wave of commerce is that what goes up must go down. Deadwood was a success [albeit one whose abrupt end left Mr. Milch] with a bitter taste in the cup. So now the smart money is saying that HBO and I are on the way down. But there is a saying at the racetrack: the smart money tends to miss its bus in the morning.
-David Milch

James O.-Glad to meet another proponent of "JFC". ...

2007-07-30T21:48:48.480-04:00

James O.-

Glad to meet another proponent of "JFC". Welcome.

I've spent some time surfing the 1's and 0's, checking out the reaction to the show. It's been very disheartening, though not necessarily because any majority of the reviews are negative (and in the grand scheme of things, I think such search for definitive mass opinion is a fruitless quest). What I see, from my perspective, are numerous reactions based on a misguided sense of anticipation (the medium breeds it and the human race perpetuates it -- ultimately, we have no one to blame but ourselves). There's a bloodlust for certainty and answers underlying even a good many positive reviews of the series, and I just don't think this is in "JFC"'s makeup.

I really prefer not to speculate on why the show clicks for some and not for others. That's out of my hands, and I believe it should stay that way. (My words, married to the Work, have to be enough.) Yet I won't deny that reading some of the comments on, say, Tim Goodman's blog, or revisiting, like a masochistic flagellant, Nancy Franklin's and Tom Shales' respective "first three episodes" reviews gets me riled and livid. I'm defensive about the things I love, but I have to be careful about where, how, and if I even state those feelings. I typically prefer to remain silent on that front. To instead take the show itself as the true text and to offer my own opinions on it, outside of critical in-fighting, with as much intelligence, insight, and passion as I can muster in a given moment. That, ultimately, is enough of a balance to all the bickering and naysaying that feels like it scars my soul.

It's not all bad, of course. There's some great discussion over at the HBO Boards, and a quick Google search each Monday has brought up some terrific discourse on the series. The Web can be a reductive beast, but there's room on here for all opinions. I firmly believe that. That an offhand comment by an Internet troll tends to cut deeper in the moment is only natural. Per human nature, the bad always makes an immediately deeper impression than the good. When that happens, I do my best to search for a corrective. Just now it happens to be a Milch quote from the HBO website, relayed by staff writer Steve Hawk. I close with that:

"The important point that I'm trying to make is that storytelling has nothing, whatsoever, to do with logic. Logic is a limping stepchild of the true processes of the spirit. It's an illusion. It's a defective little parlor trick. Associations are the way that we perceive. Electrical connections caused by the juxtapositions of experience. That's the way we are really built, and storytelling takes into account that truth."

Keith--I love this show. Not quite inducting it i...

2007-07-30T17:59:00.000-04:00

Keith--

I love this show. Not quite inducting it into the HBO HOF yet, but I'm hooked. Do you have a sense of what the critical buzz is on JFC at this point? I find most national & major media print TV criticism to be frustrating in that they write an early season review (essentially reviewing the first 3 or 4 eps that were made available before the season premiere) and that often stands as the final word on that show until the next season. The lack of mid and end of season revisiting is a drag. It's reviewing TV the way movies are reviewed, which doesn't serve a serialized drama very well. Given this sad state, I was quite heartened to see a positive JFC in Entertainment Weekly's little buzz list or whatever it's called this past week. That's the only recent praise I've seen for the show that wasn't on a blog.

You're welcome, Nomi. Thanks for reading.

2007-07-30T17:17:59.090-04:00

You're welcome, Nomi. Thanks for reading.

Keith, really nice summation. Thank you.

2007-07-30T16:30:00.000-04:00

Keith, really nice summation. Thank you.

Right you are anonymous. Patti Page singing "Tenne...

2007-07-30T14:50:04.164-04:00

Right you are anonymous. Patti Page singing "Tennessee Waltz". Great scene!

Right on about Luis Guzman, Ry. "Alert! Alert! Div...

2007-07-30T14:48:21.824-04:00

Right on about Luis Guzman, Ry. "Alert! Alert! Diving in! Latino verging on luck!"

Updated music listing through Episode 8:1) "Johnny...

2007-07-30T14:46:42.748-04:00

Updated music listing through Episode 8:

1) "Johnny Appleseed" by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, from album "Global A Go-Go": JFC Theme Song

2) "The Perfect Ending" by Harriet Street, from album "Cold and Comfortable": JFC Promos

3) "Going Up the Country" by Canned Heat: Ep. 1 - Vietnam Joe's Van

4) "Sun/Rise/Light/Flies" by Kasabian, from album "Empire": Ep. 1 - End Credits

5) "Tic" by Kava Kava, from album "Maui": Ep. 2 - Surf Tent

6) "Staring at the Sun" by TV on the Radio, from album "Young Liars (EP)": Ep. 2 - End Credits

7) "Time to Say Goodbye (Solo Version)" by Sarah Brightman, from album "Classics": Ep. 3 - Hospital Escape

8) "Boogie Chillen" by Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, from album "Alone & Acoustic": Ep. 3 - Kai Sees God

9) "Feeling Good" by Muse, from album "Origin of Symmetry": Ep. 3 - End Credits

10) "Unisono" by Control Machete, from album "Artilleria Pesada - Presenta": Ep. 4 - John Gets into the Van

11) "Un Di Felice, Eterea" by David Byrne, from album "Grown Backwards": Ep. 4 - Cass' Vision

12) "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel, from album "So": Ep. 4 - Butchie & Kai Love Scene

13) "Over, Under, Sideways, Down" by The Yardbirds, from album "Birdland": Ep. 4 - End Credits

14) "Tonight's the Night" by The Shirelles: Ep. 5 - Butchie & Tina in the Diner

15) "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Elvis Costello, from album "King of America": Ep. 5 - End Credits

16) "My Favorite Things" by John Coltrane, from album "My Favorite Things": Ep. 6 - End Credits

17) "Watching the Wheels" by Matisyahu, from album "Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur": Ep. 7 - End Credits

18) "The Tennessee Waltz" by Patti Page, 1950s recording available on album "Patti Page: Golden Hits": Ep. 8 - Barry's Vision

19) "When Love Comes to Town" by U2 & B.B. King, from album "Rattle and Hum": Ep. 8 - End Credits

All series incidental music by Johnny Klimek & Reinhold Heil

The visibility trope is something I noticed in _De...

2007-07-30T14:43:48.885-04:00

The visibility trope is something I noticed in _Deadwood_: sight is knowledge. I'm pretty into it. Palaka is both ingratiating and touching: that moment when he fakes going to the toilet and bites his cast was a little dagger. Something tells me he will continue to fly to the fore, as will Cass' eyeballs. The thing that's worrisome is everybody putting all their eggs in the Shaun basket and he's content to just ride it, placid, juggling all their intentions, waiting for his departure, like us.

Another great moment: the shot from behind Barry with the spotlight shining above his head into the camera. And Luis Guzman was ON POINT in a major way in this episode.

I heard Tennessee Waltz playing in the bar. Is th...

2007-07-30T14:43:00.000-04:00

I heard Tennessee Waltz playing in the bar. Is that the song you were wondering about, Keith?

Glad you said it for me, Edward. I wanted to get m...

2007-07-30T14:17:31.477-04:00

Glad you said it for me, Edward. I wanted to get more explicit praise for Paul into this recap, but couldn't find a place. He's one of my fave character actors, the guy I've always recognized without being able to recall a name. Between Spiros on The Wire and Palaka on JFC, his name's now permanently etched.

Not enough praise has been given to Paul Ben-Victo...

2007-07-30T13:40:44.314-04:00

Not enough praise has been given to Paul Ben-Victor here in a role that is light-years from his Greek drug supplier on The Wire.

Still trying to find the song that plays when Barr...

2007-07-30T13:27:24.851-04:00

Still trying to find the song that plays when Barry is in the bar having his vision. For the moment, here are these episodes' other music selections:

1) "Watching the Wheels" by Matisyahu, from album "Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur" (Ep. 7 - End Credits

2) "When Love Comes to Town" by U2 & B.B. King, from album "Rattle and Hum" (Ep. 8 - End Credits)