Post by sandra on Sept 19, 2011 15:33:20 GMT -5
You caught me Sandra - you know you wanna! LOL. There's some fabulous moments in these episodes- just take a big, deep, cleaaaaaansing breath...and jump. Just do it! :-) :-) :-)
Okay Nancy - I did it, it's done... and I loved it!
Although providing us with quite a few very funny moments (mucho needed and appreciated after the gloomy Tale) this one is an emotional rollercoaster too!
I almost can't bear to watch devastated David in the beginning of the episode; you can see that he's in an almost physica pain, sitting there behind his desk, when Bert comes in to spill the news.
Random thought: of course Maddie knew Agnes couldn't keep that secret - especially not from Mr. Addison. And she wanted him to know it because her first thought was that the baby was his, otherwise she wouldn't have called him first. Only, after having reached only his answering machine, her initial courage to speak to him directly had left her, and instinctively she turned to the person who had always been a connecting link between them - Agnes. She had been there to help them out to see clear whenever they were speechless. It was Maddie's way to let David know about her pregnancy without having to confront him directly. JMO of course.
In spite of his angry words to Maddie "How long have you known?" and her rejection "I'm not ready to have this conversation!" the beginning fills you with hope - yes, he's going to Chicago! Only, he's thwarted before he even took off. Great.
Those first scenes in prison are funny, of course; and yes, Nancy, you notice immediately that the prison look becomes him very much (not knowing in the first place that it's still getting better!)
The final scene of part I, there in that hole, are very heartbreaking. When he roleplays a meeting with Maddie in a future a few years away, he mirrors all his thoughts and insecurities, fears about what Maddie could be thinking of him: "Where were you, David?" (when I really needed you) and, most heartbreaking: "You're just a mistake I made a long time ago."
The absolute highlight in part 2 is the song of the chaingang - this is so cute, and the tough guys tell him good what he should have been doing from the beginning - show more action (although I'm afraid beating up Sam at their first meeting at Maddie's door wouldn't exactly have played the trick). The choreography is brilliant, and a shirtless David is always nice to watch, I might add.
Again, Nancy, I agree - the scene with the escape tunnel is so Die Hard and yes, a 4th wall breaker of the kind you mentioned would have been nice! Before that, a casual gem is thrown in when David says "I have learned what is essential. This woman is essential." BANG!
Oh, when he reaches that phone and almost gets to talk to her... heartless writers!
Then, finally, he gets home and we see him packing his suitcase and, again, think - okay, but this is it! Has to be! But we should have known that the blinking answering machine was not a good sign... Maddie's first message, when she asks him not to come to Chicago sounds quite selfish and upsets me every time I hear it. "I really don't want you here... having a hard enough time sorting out all by myself without having to go 15 rounds with you too..." and the worst line is "If you care you don't get on that plane." a very nasty method to force him to play by her rules, very similar to "If you really meant what you said, you'll make that pact."
Of course, she turns it all around with the second message - finally appreciating that he's going to the same ordeal as she is: "Must be pretty confusing for you too - the understatement of the Century." And then we catch a glimpse of the brilliance of the writers again: over the moon and down in the dumps in one short scene: "I love you, David" - and him replaying it, clinging to those words that gave him (and us) hope - and the strength to unpack his suitcase again. And wait. And wait.