Word of the Episode: Each episode seems to have a word that John - and someone else, Butchie, Kai, whoever - say over and over again. Last week, it was "dump" (also "dump out"). Last night, it was "bone". John wants to "bone" Kai - or tells her he wants to - and she responds by trying make sure that that's what he really wants to do. She finds him attractive, but doesn't want to take advantage of a mentally "slow hot guy". John does make her "see God," but this is pretty much just briefly passing out and seeing some strangeness. As with "dump" the previous week, it's pretty clear that nothing really happens, boning wise. John is just repeating a word that he heard.
Lesson of the Episode: In the first episode, it was Mitch's realization at the end that he wasn't hallucinating due to a brain tumor - he was really levitating. Last night, the doctor makes clear to everyone who might have been dozing off or "seeing God" in the first two episodes that John - or someone - really has magically recuperative powers. Shaunie really was clinically dead. And someone, presumably John, brought him back to full health. This power also brought the ex-cop's bird back from the dead, is allowing Butchie to kick drugs without too much pain, made Kai "see God" (not really a recuperative power, but, unlike the other effects, we do see John making that happen), and who knows what else ...
I'm sure there are other transcending threads in this show, but, once again, I'm finding the thing I'm enjoying most is not seeing the show, but writing about it ...
So I'll be back here next week with some further gems...
See also reviews of other episodes ... Episode One ... Episode Two ... Episode 4 ... Episode 5 ... Episode 6 ... Episode 7 ... Episode 8 ... Episode 9 ... Episode 10
See also John from Cincinnati: The Meaning in a Sentence or Two
23 comments:
Hey Paul, Yes we won saturday 10-3 and the kids had a great time ,mermaid parade,cyclone and nathans what could be better right. I haven't watch this yet because Army wives seem to be on at the same time. I find it to be a powerful show.I'm really hoping Dexter comes back soon
Yay that you won!
Dexter will be back in September.
John from cininnati so far has been great. The show makes you feel and think all at the same time. The music go along with ever second of it. I would to know the name of the song at the end of episode 3
Paul,
I wanted to briefly comment on JFC. I am really digging this show and am disappointed to hear that it may already be on the chopping block. The characters are memorable and "real" while going through some very unreal and as yet unexplainable situations. I've been telling all my friends to check it out and have watched each episode more than once (Episode 3 in particular I've seen 4 times). I was on the floor when John said he was gonna "bone Kai" but he "might have to break her jaw first", referring back to I believe episode 2 when Butchie and Kai got into an argument in the surf shop and Butchie was venting to John about it in the alley. I really hope this show does not get cancelled after the first season. I would be a shame.
For me, the strength of the last episode was the portrayal of the family. There has been so much pain, frustration, and betrayal that not even a miracle can bring them together.
The father (Mitch) and son (Butchie) conversation made while the father was stuck on a nail was particularly interesting.
The show is such a...well, I'm at a loss. I like it. Absolutely. At times I feel though, that the writers are trying to do too much. They keep introducing new quirky characters. Which is actually a lot of fun, but there are a lot of WTF moments.
Which too, is not a bad thing.
I'm having a tough time summing it up, as you can see. : )
But I like it.
Hey, thanks for the good comments, justin, shawne, s-love, and marykay ... you know, the show is hard to describe ... and I'm thinking, even though I'm not entirely thrilled with the show, that I hope it doesn't get cancelled ... I'd like to see it develop ...
My husband got me into this show and I got to admit it is really good. And John is so funny with his repeating words. I hope this does stick around.
Big question, is the cop just a friend?
yeah, I think the cop's a neighbor who looks after Shaun, since Butchie was so often out of commission - at least, I think so ...:)
Hi Paul, just passing through via a Google search.
This series is definitely unique as far as television goes, and I'm hooked! Maybe it's just me, but the 3rd episode had a "Magnolia"-ish vibe. So much that I almost expected a storm of frogs falling from the sky in the end. :)
Justin, the song at the end of #3 is "Feeling Good" by Muse. The music through each episode has thrilled me, especially the surf tent song from #2 (Kava Kava "Tic")
Are we boning yet....?
:) glad you came by, anon - come by and give us your vibes about John from Cinti any time...
Does anybody know the name of the blues song played during "boning" in the 3rd episode? Thank you
The blues song during the John/Kai "boning" scene is Buddy Guy & Junior Wells "Boogie Chillen" from the CD "Alone & Acoustic".
We're boning now right?
-Signed,
the anonymous 'Magnolia vibe' blogger.
{B^|)>
Another great episode tonight, episode #4 "His Visit: Day Three"
It's too late and I'm too tired to post thoughts about it, but I'll list the songs that I was able to identify so far.
Synthesizer song during healing scene- I'm not sure but a few people are saying it's David Byrne. Will update.
Peter Gabriel - "In Your Eyes" (don't laugh!)
Outro/end credits song is The Yardbirds - "Over Under Sideways Down" from an album that I actually bought when it was new!
(yeah, I'm old)
Just out of interest, this LP was noteworthy for being the first recordings with new guitarists Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, having replaced the recently departed Eric Clapton. Eventually the group broke up and evolved into Led Zeppelin.
Shoot, I guess I shoulda put this on the comments for Episode Four. Are they up yet?
--
{B^|)>
No problem - I'm copying this comment over to my post about Episode 4 right now (great episode!) ... and I'll leave it here, too, so you'll be in two places...
magnolia-vibe - thanks for the info!
I wanted to like this show, because I really love Milch's past work. After the 4th ep, I have to move on. Lots of stuff to like, but with two deadly flaws.
1. Bruce Greenwood is beyond wooden as Mitch the patriarch. His performance and emotional range doesn't remotely match the character as described. Terribly mis-cast. He doesn't sell it and doesn't even seem to be trying. And it looks as if he's either wearing a wig or has a really bad dye job. Either way, it's very distracting. Try to imagine what Kris Kristoferson or even jeff bridges (the Dude) could do with a role like that. Even Kurt Russell. This Greenwood guy has zero charisma.
2. Too many amateurs in crucial roles. Fletcher, Kenelly, Both look great, but have no acting chops at all. They're not ready professionally, and it shows on the screen. I know that they are in the show because of their awsome surfing talent. No stunt doubles needed. But Milch doesn't show (hardly) any surfing.
Glad I watched torrent downloads rather than pay HBO for it. The show was definately worth the price, but not the time.
The New Messiah is an Idiot in California
Saddled with stereotypical characters and vapid dialogue, HBO’s “John From Cincinatti” is a stranded ship that will draw viewers in with an interesting hook, then be sunk by their tears of boredom. HBO is the network that does not know how to end a series. So now it is ending them at the beginning.
The new HBO series “John From Cincinatti” is receiving some good reviews but has key flaws.
The series is advertised as being from the same Producers (headed by Ted Mann, who also is a writer) as another HBO series, “Deadwood.” Deadwood was a violent (some say vile and ugly) treatment of the Old West and was mostly historically accurate in its portrayals of human depravity and viciousness. It appears that “John” is intended by these producers as a deliberate counter to that work with a positive message of miracles, hope and redemption in the backdrop of the brutal realities of human existence. Or, in this case, in the backdrop of dumb Californians.
While saintliness was largely non-existent or two-dimensional in “Deadwood,” which is closer to human reality, “John” attempts to give us a genuine saint in the form of an idiot savant who is out to save airheaded, self-absorbed California Caucasians from themselves by making their faults more obvious to them. Anybody with half a brain knows their own shortcomings. Most people do not need or want a saintly idiot-savant to point out their faults with less-than-subtle miracles. And if they encountered one, they just might kick his ass. Especially in Southern California. Unless, of course, they were afraid of being struck by lightning. In that case, John would probably get whacked.
Which he does. What would Jesus do? He’d undoubtedly go to the West Coast and get killed by gang members.
To compare two completely different shows is unfair. But the lack of certain parallels is fair game for criticism. Deadwood had numerous interesting characters and many good artists. It was unfairly cancelled after two seasons but probably could have lasted a few more. “John” has excellent actors, also, including at least two from Deadwood, Steady Lopez and Garrett Dillahunt. But “John” is unlikely to last as long.
And what a waste of talent saddled with empty and badly-written characters! Rebecca De Mornay desperately over-acts as if to say, “This script really sucks!” Her exchanges with Bruce Greenwood are borrowed from daytime soap operas. And they seem to go on forever, like dental surgery. SNOOOORE! Ed O’Neill has really deserved a good role for a long time. And he gets involved in this bomb as a crazy recluse who talks to his birds. Fire your agent, Ed.
The only really interesting character in the new show is the title character, played by Austin Nichols. His lines, with very few exceptions, are simply the repeating of anything said to him. Which would definitely get his ass kicked just about anywhere. The rest, perhaps with the exception of the two characters played by Lopez and Dillahunt, are excruciatingly bland. But even these two must wander through this empty drama like desert nomads thirsty for a character with direction.
The issue of boring California stereotypes continued with the recent episode which showed John being stabbed in the heart by LA Hispanic gang types. Now he can rise from the dead. No need to look for Jesus, HBO has found him. He’s an idiot in California.
The story lines demonstrate that the show has nowhere to go. It will be a show of situational scenes with John causing supernatural occurrences and nobody really understanding why. What can’t they understand? He’s obviously a person with God-given supernatural powers; a genuine holy man. But once they reveal the true nature of John and explain what he is and why, and have the other idiot characters in the show finally understand, the show is kaput. So they probably cannot and will not, even if they could. They could have him crucified, but that ending has already been done.
In “John From Cincinatti,” the hook is the entire deal. Nobody wants a good show to end, but a bad one ends at the beginning. “John” will inevitably be a long tease without a pay-off. Deadwood left their fans hanging, but it wasn’t the producers’ fault. The plug got pulled by the Execs. It’s been joked that they reached the HBO quota for profanity in one series. It makes one wonder if John is the apology to the producers for canceling a good show like Deadwood. Like they give an Artsy film once in a while as a thrown bone to Actors who make money for the studio.
The flaws are as easy to spot in “John” as the incredibly vapid dialogue.
“See God, Kye!,” John says. Slutty Kye goes into a trance and finds God in her nipples and vagina where she has repeatedly alluded to numerous piercings. Give me a break! If Kye felt a burning down there, it was no miracle.
HBO has done much better than this, and should. “John” would have done better to just have good surfing, good music, and nothing else, like another cable channel. By the way, where is all the surfing that was supposed to be in this show?
Ilove the show, some people are being so jugdemental of it, what it comes down to is....is it entertaining is it new and different. Everyone I have told to watch absolutely loves the show and is as addicted to it as I am, and the fact that it was filmed 20 minutes from where I live. I do wish for a second season, does anybody know the skinny on a second season??? Looking so forward to the final episode this weekend. Ciao G
Check out this blog about JFC: John From Cincinnati
I watched this show to the end. I still don't know what I watched. No plot, objectionable characters. I believe it to be a giant waste of time. And speaking of dumping out, HBO has done exactly that. It is no more.
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