Much like episode 1.
I’m going to give it a few more weeks, but this show carries the death of “Deadwood” on its shoulders, so its got some climbing to do…
I find surfing so uninteresting that after about 5 minutes I turned it off.
I might pick it up later though. Hell I think Deadwood is the greatest show ever but I’ll be the first to say the pilot is the worst episode.
I watched a few minutes last night right after The Sopranos, but my brain needed to re-set.
Watched the whole episode tonight and liked it. Some nice Milchian dialogue, nothing as convoluted as Al Swearengen’s speech, but close. Liked Willie Garson’s character, and the guy who won the lottery (who is he?), and Shaun and John together.
There will be more Deadwood alumni – Garret Dillahunt, Dayton Callie, and Keone. It’d be cool if Ted Mann found himself a part. There have to be some turtles he can flip on that beach. 
I got bored with Carnivale, too, because the answers weren’t forthcoming. Weird is ok, but it’s gotta go somewhere…
On Demand allowed me to see Episode 2 last night and I watched all the little promo thingies, too. I see a hybrid of Carnivale and Twin Peaks with a dash of cast from Deadwood. I rate surfing as a notch up from watching paint dry, although I imagine I could get into it myself as something to do if they ever run the surf up this far.
Guzman is a favorite and I agree on the DeMornay issues expressed upthread. Greenwood has done some excellent character work elsewhere, so I can see his being able to carry his part.
John is intriguing as are the interpretations already offered. Is there some Rain Man in there, too? And that weird role that Skeet Ulrich had with something about Touch? Almost like a human mirror.
I’ve toyed with cancelling HBO, too. But this and Flight of the Conchords will keep me subscribing for a while longer. They’ll never top The Sopranos and Deadwood but Rome was a good try at it. Maybe this show will sparkle after a little longer.
When does Calamity Jane get her toes wet?
Three different people in this thread have commented on how boring they find surfing.
It’s not a documentary.
It’s still too early to say conclusively, but that strikes me as saying you don’t watch Deadwood because you don’t find gold mining that interesting? Or you don’t watch Six Feet Under because you don’t find the business of running a funeral home interesting.
Already, the show seems to be about this generational interplay. . .the old school guy who neither asked for not got any money or accolades, the upstart who trashed his life through fame, and the next generation who is gifted and determined to do it right, and not make the same mistakes his father made. I don’t know if they’ll have anything larger to say about sports in culture, in general, but it’s already waded into those waters a bit.
Since I’m one of those commenting on the surfing component, I’d just like to say that as long as the surfing footage stays in the same basic proportions to the storyline that goldmining, funeral home operations, setup of circus tents, and the the technicalites of making book and high-interest loans have to other HBO series, I will be content to follow along as it develops characters and plot twists. I’m not against surfing, nor golf, nor gardening, nor making sausage. However, if I were making a series to be aired on pay-as-you-go cable, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have the main reason the cast has for getting together each week be knife collecting or macrame. But that’s just me.
Note that the series is loosely based a real Southern California surfing dynasty and the kid is played by one of the young members of that family, so I suspect that any real surfing performed on the show will be done by his character.
I don’t give a shit how good it is, if I get interested in it and start watching it, fuckin’ HBO will cancel it without warning and leave me hanging again. Screw me once, shame on me, screw me with a foot-long ice-blue jelly dong, shame on HBO.
One of the cast people was chosen specifically for her surfing skills. Keala Kennelly is highlighted in one of the extra featurettes on HBO On Demand. She was first approached as a technical adviser but then bumped to actress after the first interview. Cool gal, not ready for an Emmy yet.
I need to watch this again. As someone else already stated, I watched but my mind was still spinning the end of The Sopranos so I didn’t follow it too closely.
I’ll be honest, it’ll help hold my attention if De Mornay gets nekkers every now and then 
I’m going to hold off hope for that. There’s already been some “sex scenes” with her and Greenwood. Tame as 50’s stuff. The John and Kai scenes may be more explicit, when and if they get screen time, but I’m not looking for Rebecca to drop the sheet.
It would be an understatement to say that this surf family has issues. My guess is that John will be the catalyst that helps the family overcome these issues-- not just the issues between the various members of the family, but the issues they have individually as well.
30 something replies and no one mentioned the
floating 6 inches off the ground
part? The fact that it doesn’t
seem to be a hallucination, since it happened in the police station, witnessed by Butchie and shown in the rising shadow on the glass behind Ed O’Neill
makes this a bit intriguing to me. Also, some of the things John said didn’t seem to be mimicry, and might
foreshadow the future? I heard several, but the only one I can remember now is “Sean will be gone soon”, or something like that. Anyone else remember any others?
J.
The end is near.
Some things I know and some things I don’t know.
Ok, here are some of the things that John said during the show. These are all things he said on his own, not aping anyone else. And before you say it, yes I am nerd.
The end is near.
Mitch Yost should get back in the game.
Room 24 shall give up *its day and *the dead shall be forgiven.
Where Ramon is from, they will build Mitch a shrine.
One good b*j rocked the jubilees of the world.
Shawn will soon be gone.
The parts of these statements that I wasn’t sure of, I’ve put in italics.
All of these seem prophetic in one way or another. Time (and ratings 
)will tell what they really mean.
J.
This one wasn’t an “original”. He was aping the agent type guy from the first scene. Good idea keeping track of the things he said that weren’t mimics of the people around him though.
Even though he said this in the presence of the agent type guy, he actually said it before the agent said anything like that. I re-watched the show last night and wrote down everything John said. Before the agent said anything substantive, John said, “Mitch Yost should get back in the game”. Then when Mitch walked by, he said “You should get back in the game”.
J.