MagneticMediaFed

Picture via HBO.com

First of all, this was a great episode. Maybe not great in the same way that His Visit: Day Five was great, what with that speech at the end and all the mind-buggery, but this episode is certainly in the top two… at least for me. If anything, this was THE quotable episode of the season, chalk full of gems from everyone from Bill to John to Freddy and Palaka. Perhaps what made this episode so much fun was that even if you find the series overly dense (and really, who doesn’t) when the characters are given some room to really express themselves there’s an undeniable pleasure in just seeing their interactions with one another. More after the break…

Here are a few great lines from the episode that I happened to write down on my notepad:

• ”Go Barry! Get your vision! Get your number!” – Ramon cheering on Barry.
• ”If this is an intervention, I’m clean” – Butchie
• ”My domain has been hacked” – Duane
• ”Where the fuck did he come from?” “Cincinnati.” Ramon answering Bill.
• ”I don’t use those.” “I can turn it on.” “Outdoors?” Bill and Duane discussing Duane’s laptop computer.

Bill and Freddy were in prime form.

Now to the more… um… nontraditional elements of the show. For starters, I’m working on two separate, completely unrelated theories for the “meaning” of everything (which might be the most existential thing I’ve ever typed). The first I call my “Cass’s Camera” theory. The basic idea is that John is the embodiment of “editing” and as Cass slowly pieces together her documentary we’re literally seeing her thought process. This would explain John’s speech, as his pull-the-string mimicking more or less reproduces the process of going over footage again and again looking for the combination that makes the most sense on screen. John From Cincinnati after all, feels like an exploration in storytelling above all else. Would it really be so strange to think of the show as a deconstruction of the narrative? I don’t think so.

Theory two: this one is significantly underdeveloped, but struck me while I was watching the episode this week. What if the whole thing was some sort of comment on illegal immigration? John, at his most basic, is a man from another land. He also happens to be completely necessary for these characters’ lives – despite what they may think. That’s about as far as I’ve gotten with that one, making it less of a “theory” and more of a “thought.” Still, the border plays a major role in this show. It was, after all, on the border where John was murdered for the first time and he certainly stands by the border a lot looking godly. Hmmm. Maybe I need to flesh this one out a bit.

Elsewhere in the episode did anyone else immediately think of Deadwood when Barry decided to turn the lounge into a theater? I mean, the second he said that my mind flipped to Brian Cox’s character from last season and thought, “My god, could Milch actually be continuing his other story in a completely different form?” This probably isn’t the case, but what if it was? Really, John From Cincinnati has established itself as being whatever you want it to be, and for that it deserves some significant credit.
One last thing: I loved when Duane was explaining the ins and outs of being a webmaster. It was also sadly familiar. The halo effect, people. The halo effect.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 1:26 pm and is filed under HBO, John From Cincinnati. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.