After going through withdrawals for TWO WEEKS because of that stupid basketball thing, Joan is back.*
I’m a little confused as to the synopsis. One says Joan looks for her half-uncle, another says Joan takes piano lessons.
Note to Barbara Hall…PLEASE do not have Kevin recover from his accident. Don’t ruin the show by some “miracle.” I think it’s been established on this show that God does not work that way.
*Yes, given a choice between watching basketball or watching paint dry, I’d rather watch paint dry.
I don’t think a healing for Kevin would be so bad, particularly if it were by Joan’s faith or her mother’s. Even when Jesus healed, He never took credit for it. “By your faith, you are healed,” He would often say. For me, the lesson of Joan is that God is among us, that we ourselves are He, and that we can make a difference in each other’s lives.
That’s my point. God is having Joan do “odd jobs” that have repercussions. I can’t think of an errand Joan can run that would heal Kevin. (Please don’t get me started on the red Christmas shoes either…)
My sister-in-law is in a wheelchair, and probably will be for the rest of her life. She has a very strong faith in God. But God is probably not going to heal her. I think seeing Kevin live with his disability, and coming to terms with it, would be much more interesting than seeing him healed.
One more vote against having Kevin be miraculously healed of his disability. I’ve heard too many people ask, “If God can use a miracle to heal X, why can’t he use one to heal Y?” I also do not like the implication that the reason someone hasn’t been healed because his or her faith isn’t strong enough, and that implication is all too easy to hear when hearing of someone else’s miraculous recovery. To me, grace is working with what you have, the good and the bad, and making something better of it rather than relying on God to do so. God give us tools, including the ones we’re born with. By the way, when my cousin was the same age I was when my life fell apart and my life was saved by what I call a miracle, her (my cousin’s) heart stopped for several minutes, leading to what looks like permanent brain damage. It’s been several years, and she’s still not walking. Unlike me, she didn’t get a miracle. I won’t justify the difference by faith.
Excuse me. I suspect I’m hijacking the thread. It’s about time this show was back!
Very good episode, but I thought it was a BIT too overcrowded. Too many irons in the fire…could have done without the whole Richard side-story. But I loved the ending.
Joe Montegna is just awesome. That scene at the dinner table was fantastic, as were all the scenes with Joan and Adam. Especially when they were listening to the record together…such lovely tension. This was one of the better episodes.
I really felt for the piano teacher. On a much smaller scale, I can relate to her – when I was a 12, I performed in a piano recital and had not completely memorized my pieces beforehand. I butchered all three of them, broke down and cried behind stage, and stopped taking lessons after that. Humiliation on stage is hard to get over.
I’m still irked that Joan is made out to be such a loser. Is the poor girl good at nothing?? How could she be in, what, 11th grade and not know the Pythagorean theorem? She’s not learning disabled (or is she?), so why are the writers continuing to make her into such a goof?
I read (posted somewhere) that this episode, “Do the Math” was one of Amber’s favorite so far (and wasn’t it great to see Russ again?! Yay Russ!). Well, I can say that the last five minutes was worth it!
I too felt there was a bit too much going on, and that it didn’t really all link up as coherently (for me) as it usually does. I could definitely relate with Joan on the geometry, though–I had more problems with algebra. I kept seeing Louise Fletcher as Kai Winn, though (and getting very bad vibes, naturally!)–for those non-Star Trek types, Louise played the Bajoran Kai Winn on Deep Space Nine; she ended up being a -very- bad person…er, Bajoran, I guess that would be! Although that was because the evil Pagh Wraiths controlled her, but I digress. At any rate, I didn’t much like the piano teacher, although Joan was able to get through to her.
My daughter felt that Richard might be the doctor that Kevin was going to end up getting a consult from–I kind of got that feeling as well, but looks like no. Good to see Bear again, though and hear him give Kevin a good pep talk.
But truly, Amber Tamblin and Chris Marquette were the core of the show; they have an almost explosive chemistry between them–I say almost, because it is also sweet and quiet. And mesmerizing! I’ll probably re-watch their scenes several times over the weekend. I should be ashamed to admit that, especially given my … ahem advanced age, but I love watching their scenes together! So glad that I do have my tape of JoA shows now, since we won’t get a new episode until probably the end of April. Ah well…
Apparently this is slated to be addressed sometime soon: Joan will see everyone else being good at something while she doesn’t seem to have a talent. By the end of the episode I expect she will find out what she is good at.
