# Joan of Arcadia 11/7, Or This Episode Made Me Cry, Dammit (spoilers inside) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022 "2003-11-08T02:23:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Silvio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Silvio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvio)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/21 "2003-11-08T23:27:18Z")
Great show, great episode, and the first time that the police chief subplot really worked for me. One question…I missed the opening credits. Was the little boy who played the little boy Joan was babysitting David Dorfman, the creepy kid from THE RING? It looked and sounded just like him, but I couldn’t be sure. If lots of RING alumni start showing up, it could get weird. Don’t watch the video, Joan, even if God tell you to. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/22 "2003-11-09T01:44:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Aesiron \* > \*\*[non-Joan highjack] That really sucks about Jake. With its ratings so low, you know it’ll only be a matter of time before one of the execs axe it. Does this mean I’ll get to be one of those cool geeks that liked a show that was got cancelled real early, like the Firefly people? If so, yay! > > Also, on the tape, you can feel free to tape over it with something else if you like. I sometimes am able to catch it (and Friends) before I get your tape and on those weeks, usually only skim through them before getting to Enterprise and Jake. > > Do you watch Miss Matched on NBC? If so, can you tape that for me as well? If not, that’s cool. And just in case I haven’t mentioned it enough, you rock for doing this for me. 🙂 [/n-jh] > > [Joan-related-comment] Amber Tamblyn is yummy [j-rc] > > 😃 \*\* I can tape over Joan; yes, I can tape Miss Match although I don’t watch it; I will try to confirm that Jake 2.0 has been renewed (hope, hope, hope, hope); I sent a tape two days ago by priority mail with ENT’s “Twilight” on it; did you get that one yet, and did you get the previous one? You can email me. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/23 "2003-11-09T02:29:02Z")
I kinda liked it when Joan tried to reassure Rocky that God _did_ exist. After all, if you see him all the time, wouldn’t you want to comfort a dying kid like that? I called the Andy thing right away. When God told her to listen, and that some people needed help but woudn’t ask, I thought – she needs to talk to him and find out why he doesn’t like November. Then he said it again on the bus, but she went over to the crying woman. I really thought the crying woman was going to turn her away – like, Joan was looking too hard to find someone else to help when she needed to be there for the person next to her. I was glad she came around to him at the end. If he’s so “all about” her (and he obviously is), how long is it going to take to learn that her name is not ‘Jane’? ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/24 "2003-11-09T06:54:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skammer \* > \*\*I called the Andy thing right away. When God told her to listen, and that some people needed help but woudn’t ask, I thought – she needs to talk to him and find out why he doesn’t like November. Then he said it again on the bus, but she went over to the crying woman. I really thought the crying woman was going to turn her away – like, Joan was looking too hard to find someone else to help when she needed to be there for the person next to her. I was glad she came around to him at the end. > > If he’s so “all about” her (and he obviously is), how long is it going to take to learn that her name is not ‘Jane’? \*\* When you learn that it’s Adam, not Andy, perhaps? Give the nerdy brother more subplots. And Sidney Portier’s daughter is very easy on the eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Ripley2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@Ripley2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ripley2004)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/25 "2003-11-09T07:16:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skammer \* > \*\* > If he’s so “all about” her (and he obviously is), how long is it going to take to learn that her name is not ‘Jane’? \*\* I think _Jane_ is a kind of nickname he uses for her. If he called her by her real name, he might have to acknowledge his feelings for her, and that’s a bit too scary for him right now. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/26 "2003-11-09T14:29:38Z")
I really like Kevin. He was an accomplished athelete, awarded for his physical abilities. He was struck down, stripped of his physical abilities. Things people take for granted. He does not wallow in self pity or grasp false hope like psychics sell. He is working with the here and now going day by day and making the most of what he has. Then he goes home at the end of the day to a home with readily available guns. He’ll check facts again tommorrow and he’ll do it well and one day he’ll do something more even in his wheelchair. He is my hero. The real world is not that pretty. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/27 "2003-11-09T19:00:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Silvio \* > **One question…I missed the opening credits. Was the little boy who played the little boy Joan was babysitting David Dorfman, the creepy kid from THE RING?** [Yes.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0233562/) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/28 "2003-11-09T19:02:28Z")
Oops. Looks like Master Dorfman’s IMDB résumé doesn’t yet include his _Joan of Arcadia_ gig. But trust me. It was him. ---
**Author:** ![Ripley2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@Ripley2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ripley2004)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/29 "2003-11-09T23:20:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HeyHomie \* > \*\*Oops. Looks like Master Dorfman’s IMDB résumé doesn’t yet include his _Joan of Arcadia_ gig. > But trust me. It was him. > \*\* I trust you ;). [Here’s a good link](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-17466/epid-275331/) to the cast by episode, as well as other JoA info. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/30 "2003-11-10T14:08:49Z")
Love this show. Although I did think they telegraphed the Adam story a bit much. I picked up on it almost immediatly. I also liked how God offered little comfort at the end. That was an increadibly strong emotional ending. Although I wonder at next weeks previews. It looks like God is going to ask her to do something very iffy, and I wonder how they’ll resolve the anger and hurt she feels towards him this week, with her going onlong with something she really doesn’t agree with next week. I don’t just want them to gloss over that. I’d like to see some sort of reconcilliation, or reasoning for her to keep doing the errands he gives. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/31 "2003-11-10T16:36:23Z")
Watched it for the first time the weekend. I’ve always been a little soft for weepy TV shows, at least, the well-done ones. And after having kids, sick kids really do me in. I teared up on the sick kid, and the boy’s dead mom. Ugh, I’m such a pushover. I think it’s rather well done and not all preachy. And a note on trivia: I don’t remember the boy from _The Ring_, but Joan ([Amber Tamblyn](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0848554/)) was one of the girls who die in the very beginning of that film. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/32 "2003-11-10T16:57:18Z")
We first caught an episode of this show several weeks ago by accident and we have been hooked. I really enjoy the real-world look of it. There is nothing really original or wild about what’s going on in these people’s lives, but the characters are so good they feel like real people we should care about. That and God is so very cool. He’s a smart-ass, he shows up at the most oddball times, and what he says is so cryptic it really makes you think (sorry, but I say “he” for lack of a better pronoun). ---
**Author:** ![burntsand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@burntsand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burntsand)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022/33 "2003-11-13T06:29:03Z")
Just popping in to say that I love this show, and have been hooked since the first episode I saw (the third one aired, I think). I love the characters, and the balance they find between God’s requests, Joan’s high school angst, the Kevin subplots, and the police stories. For me, one of the real revelations of this show has been how wonderful Mary Steenburgen is. Prior to Joan, I knew her mainly as Ted Danson’s onetime (current?) paramour, although I expect I’ve seen her in supporting roles in some movies. But on Joan, she’s so real, so beautiful, and so moving. I love her interactions with the parking lot priest, and she and Joe Mantegna are developing some real chemistry. Unlike a previous poster, I loved the scene in the yard sale episode where he asked her to talk to Joan about being raped in college - his pleading “I need you to do this for me” felt real, and her obvious anguish at revisiting that chapter in her life was deeply moving throughout the episode. On a lighter note, I have great hopes for more Grace and Luke developments. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-of-arcadia-11-7-or-this-episode-made-me-cry-dammit-spoilers-inside/212022.md?page=1)