Tonight's next-to-last episode of John from Cincinnati - of this or who knows how many seasons (hmmm, I said the same thing about the finale tonight of Meadowlands) - showed the injured family gradually healing, coming together - all because Shaun has now indeed vanished, as John has been saying for several days.
Is this all part of John's plan - to do what it is needed to bring Mitch, Cissy, Butch et al at least a little closer together? I think so, and still say that Shaun will be ok in next week's finale.
As to the family, it's working. Mitch is the best he's been all season - stepping up and taking some charge with the media, letting them know Shawn is missing. Cissy is of course still cursing like a trooper, but we manage to get a smile out of her - or, at least, the "Chemist" does, when he tells her he remembers when she was the "hottest piece of ass" on the beach, and he still sees that on her. (This, of course, is why Cissy is so jealous of Tina.) (The drug-guru "Chemist," by the way, is played by Howard Hesseman - a good touch, since Hesseman also played Dr. Johnny Fever of "WKRP in Cincinnati" in the last millennium. A confluence of Cincinnatis.)
And the assorted miscreants at the motel are almost, sort of, human tonight. I'm finally pretty much getting the ex-cop with the bird (which came back after vanishing - another good sign for Shawn), and the two mugs from Hawaii. I'm still not completely getting the motel owner, but that's ok. And I do get the guy at the computer completely - in fact, what he says makes the most amount of sense.
Next week promises to reveal all. If I can believe the song under the closing credits - "Hold On, I'm Coming" (another gem) - maybe it just might...
See also reviews of other episodes ... Some Thoughts on John (from Cincinnati) ... Episode Two ... Episode Three ... Episode Four ... Episode 5 ... Episode 6 ... Episode 7 ... Episode 8 ... Episode 10
See also John from Cincinnati: The Meaning in a Sentence or Two
5 comments:
There's going to be some sort of mystical twist, I would think. I can also see how they can continue the show after revealing everything next week. This week was something of a calm before the storm, with an exception to Cissy of course. I can't wait to see what comes of everything next week. They've certainly kept me intrigued the whole time.
Still enjoying the blog. That letter from Sierra has got me real interested in reading your book. I'm not a huge book reader due to time constraints, but it certainly sounds interesting.
Glad you're still enjoying the blog. You can find more info about The Plot to Save Socrates over here, and if you click on the link there, you can buy a copy for about five bucks...
If do you decide to get a copy and you'd like me autograph it for you (no extra charge), send me an email about Levinson.paul at gmail.com, and I'll give you the details.
I sure hope the show makes it. I remember when my elders used to label my generation as having a short attention span. I think they were right, and it's only getting worse. Milch is setting the table for great things - I can feel it.
i believe the finale will have a surf contest that shaun or butchie wins. personally, i can hardly bear to watch another episode because of the hysterics of cissy, it's a real grinder to sit thru her rants.
another confluence of events: use of Little Richard. In the episode of WKRP when Johnny Fever sells out to disco, he reclaims his integrity by playing "Ready Teddy" by Little Richard. John In Cincannati closes the season with Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally". Not sure if this was coincidence
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