Camera One

This episode wasn't much fun watching 2 of the 3 Joes and 2 of the 3 Jennys (one in the present and one in flashback) making frustratingly wrong life choices. Ray seemed like such a nice guy but he was making himself indispensable to Cop Jenny. I still don't accept her lame excuse of not being able to reach Cop Joe, and I don't buy why he ghosted her for so long. I did feel really bad for him though when he slipped out of the hospital room of awkwardness. Rock Star Joe was so out of control that it was painful to watch. Hopefully he didn't hurt the people in the car he might have driven into. If we had gotten Season 2, would it have been Prison Joe instead? The Nurse Joe and Jenny temptation with adultery show was equally painful to endure.

This show is kind of like seeing the same awkward situation play out multiple different times/ways. Cop Joe was so okay with being lied to about his son that it felt unrealistic. Rocker Joe was very pushy with wanting to connect with his son, while Cop Joe seemed the exact opposite. I keep thinking about whether Joe's personality is actually consistent in the three timelines, or had they diverged significantly due to his life circumstances. It's hard to tell if these three Joes are even the same person if not played by the same actor. I suppose Cop Joe's passiveness did change by the end of the episode when he went over with the baseball cap, though his motivation felt more innocent, whereas Rocker Joe inviting his son on tour was clearly over the line and inconsiderate to his adoptive parents (it seemed more of a way of showing that Rocker Joe was spiraling out, combined with his drinking and anger). I'm not sure why Jenny and her husband invited Cop Joe over, if the husband felt so threatened by Joe. It might have been nice to show Nurse Joe and Jenny experience some success without the tension of the potential adultery waiting in the wings. I wish they didn't introduce the caregiver or the overly chummy co-worker. Why does there always need to be so much drama. I can't say this is the type of show I would rewatch, though at times, I still think the concept is interesting, like seeing where that baseball cap ended up in the three timelines. Overall, I thought this episode was better than some. I don't think this format could have stayed fresh for more than one season. There are only two episodes left, and I hope there is some payoff at the end, though I'm not sure what that would be. And I'm not hopeful for all the shows I've watched that had been cancelled after a season, and ended with a cliffhanger or just a lack of resolution.

I'm glad the secrets are coming out more quickly, since people keeping secrets had been a common occurrence so far and it has been frustrating to watch. Speaking of frustrating, I'm not liking the set-ups for potential cheating with the Nurse Joe storylines, what with the caregiver accidentally seeing Joe coming out of the shower or Nurse Jenny going drinking with her co-worker. Shouldn't she be calling her family, since she complains she never gets a chance to do that? Or watch the celebration for her mother-in-law online? Having the Rocker universe's kid suddenly ask to meet his birthparent and that falling on the same time as Cop universe's kid needing a donor was stretching it. It was nice to see Nurse Joe singing for once, though. I wonder why the mom only sang in the Rocker timeline. Cop Joe had zero anger towards Jenny for not telling him about the baby and adjusted amazingly well. If she tried calling months afterwards, why didn't she just find him in person? The premise still makes no sense. I guess in none of the universes did Joe truly want to go to music school despite his mom's hope.

This episode wasn't as enjoyable, since it was introducing predictable boring drama. Of course Rocker Amy is pregnant with Bobby's baby. I thought Rocker Joe was more annoying not taking any responsibility for the affair, what with his lying and creepy stalking of his son. Why have a campaign event on Thanksgiving, when most people would be with their families? Celeste was almost unrecognizable in this timeline. Cop Joe was pretty dumb to run into a burning building. Leave it to the experts and wait for the firemen. It was sort of interesting Celeste bringing up that their family never saying anything negative about their father. Joe should have made plans for Amy to be elsewhere if Angry Uncle showed up. I was liking the Nurse Joe storyline but I hate the potential prospect of cheating. The "student nurse" was rude at the hospital but of course she "minored" in astronomy. Jenny STILL didn't put her phone on silent and had it out in plain view. I don't buy that she couldn't have taken a washroom break to have a quick chat with her family.

I'm liking seeing a little bit of a backstory on the various characters, so it was nice seeing a bit of Amy's. It was interesting how her backstory was mostly affecting her storyline in the Cop Joe timeline, but we got to see her parents in the Rock Star Joe timeline. I'm glad Amy came clean to Joe about the affair. Bobby's wife was probably used to affairs, so I'm surprised she didn't suspect Amy before this. It was presumptuous of Amy to place it in the coffin instead of giving it to her family, though. I always felt badly for Bobby's wife in the other timelines, but she acted particularly nastily in this one, though justified. Funnily enough, Amy ended up the happiest in the timeline where she married Eric. And Eric seems to be in a good place in all three timelines. Nurse Joe was very admirable for helping his uncle, and I'm glad he stood up to him about going to rehab. I can see why the professor was annoyed about the cell phone and there's no excuse for why Jenny didn't put it on silent or why it was on her desk. Still, the prof was clearly on some sort of power trip. Talking back to the person marking your work about "a special place in hell" isn't very smart, Jenny.

That makes so much more sense. I am unfamiliar with the geography of the area... I actually don't think I have ever heard of Syracuse University. It seemed strange that Joe would miss his own party or that Jenny wouldn't be spending the rest of the day with hers. Was the "beach" where Jenny was closer to the university?

I thought it was a nice change of pace to have a flashback to graduation day. It was an interesting concept to see how a single day could possibly unfold. Still, this backstory didn't fully clarify or justify some of the subplots. For the cop storyline, it wasn't very clear why he didn't re-consider music again. Amy calling because she was "in the city that day" was confusing. Where else would she have been? We didn't even find out what his mom's friend from the music academy thought of his piano performance, though Joe didn't really seem that into it, for some unexplained reason (maybe because he only wanted to be Billy Joel the Second?). I agree the dad's letter was rather generic, though it wasn't too surprising. Joe was a jerk for not answering any of Jenny's calls, and it still wasn't very clear why by the end. The closest to an explanation was Nurse Joe telling Jenny that he tried not to love her in Senior Year. What did that even mean? They did sleep together recently enough. As others said, Jenny inviting him to a party to give him the news made no sense. So I'm guessing he basically became a rock star because Amy encouraged him to busk out in public, which increased his exposure. He could have done that while studying at the music academy if he truly did love music. The sister looked a lot older than him. It will be interesting to see why became of her in the three different timelines, where she has been MIA so far. Jenny's father trying to buy Joe off was real nice.

I'm glad Rock Star Joe finally spilled the secret about his son to Jenny. That scene was reasonably well done. I agree with everyone that Amy will probably end up pregnant with Bobby's baby. Joe lied to Jenny for quite a while, so that would have been the best time to confess what she did. Next best timing will be in the hospital since she just had a near-death experience. But of course, she will drag this out and we might get an uncomfortable triangle after Jenny's family situation implodes as well. Rock Star Joe stalking Zeke on social media was extremely creepy. But I did like their duet, though. It was kinda funny/meta how Nurse Joe offered his son a red shirt or a blue shirt as options when he said he didn't like his green shirt. The hamster plotline was dumb and made no sense, but it did add some much needed humor into the show. Seeing the Uncle coming in to the Nurse apartment was interesting. Hopefully, the Cop Joe version of the Uncle will face the music and come out of it better. I'm assuming the Rock Star Joe version of the uncle was working security for him because he lost his job in the police force. Binge-watching the show and knowing there are only 13 episodes is making it more palatable. It's still not great, but it interests me enough for me to continue.

Enough with the soap opera predictability in the Rocker Joe storyline. I don't buy that Amy wouldn't have confronted Joe about going upstate when she got home. The whole thing made no sense. She knew that Joe was lying, and Joe was looking serious saying he had something to tell her. Instead of just letting him talk, she discusses the miscarriage, which of course makes him clam up. She doesn't seem mad or itching to find out why he lied or anything. I also don't buy that she would then just sleep with Bobby. Is he not married with children in this timeline? Even though the Nurse Joe storyline is a bit depressing, I liked the story with his son wanting to stay. In the Cop Joe plot, I'm glad Joe told Amy about the investigation, but why didn't he say anything about Bobby's job offer and his insinuation that Amy was still romantically linked to him? That was even creepier than sleeping with and paying off his previous intern. I'm liking Joe and Amy together a bit more in this subplot now that she's helping his investigation. If this show hadn't been cancelled, I think they probably would shoe-horn stuff like that every season, because that's basically the "gimmick" of the show. The only aspect that separates it from a humdrum character drama are the three timelines, and the only way to create coherent episodes with that type of premise would be to find a thread that ties all three together. I definitely agree that it could get old fast, though.

I actually didn't find this episode that bad. It seemed like each of the stories is reaching a point where something potentially interesting can actually happen. Then again, for the first time, I was sort of doing something else while watching this episode, so maybe that helped. Since the Congressman was shot in two timelines, then he mistreated the shooter's sister in both. So I'm assuming the angry guy is going to come after him again in the Nurse Joe timeline. In the Rocker Joe timeline, is the shooter still out there somewhere? Though the Congressman seemed to be more of a devoted father in that one. People just really hate going to a therapist, eh? That's always how it's written on TV shows, it seems. Especially cops. Did Joe have a falling out with his uncle in the Nurse timeline? I think Eric listed him as one of the reasons for his "abandonment issues".

What do you call the type of camerawork where half the picture if warped and out of focus? They used a lot of that in this episode, and I've noticed it on other shows recently too, like "Kung Fu". It's a bit strange, and in this episode, some of the characters in the scene were blurry. The show is nicely produced, but I still don't really like any of the characters. The gimmick of building the weekly episodes around a singular common event (in this one, Jenny's birthday), is also sort of intriguing, but also not enough to make me care about any of the stories. I agree with the above poster that it was a big mistake to rely on a premise where Jenny-hides-baby-from-Joe because-he-doesn't-hang-out-with-her-on-grad-night. You can't set up a love triangle where one of the options does something so indefensible. I personally does feel any chemistry between Joe and Amy in any of the universes, either.

That's disappointing. I didn't notice the dad was different until someone mentioned it, since it has been awhile since I've watched and the original actor had a generic "normal guy" look.

Ratings for Episode 4 were down 12% from last week (but still higher than Episode 2), though the demo gains from last week were completely wiped out. It is so unpredictable.

It was nice to have a lighter episode, though some of the lines were a little hokey, either as written or as delivered. I'm not sure I bought the whole Althea/husband heart-to-heart at the end. The start-up in the living room without even a table or two to work on was just awkward. Poor Clementine. I was on pins and needles that she might suddenly explode and it actually happened. I too was cheering when Nicky was about to fight the security guards. It was frustrating how she somehow managed to let that guy get away to jump into the car, though. It was well acted, but the actor went a bit too intense, to the point where it felt like Henry transformed into some other character who was much angrier. We know nothing about Henry's father, so I can't even imagine what "mission" he is involved in. There's no way Evan would think he could just delete the footage and get away with it. I also wonder what they would do with his character without his "in" at the DA office. Though there seems to be a little too much of people making a few "calls" and getting insta-answers (Ryan somehow getting hospital records from a Canadian hospital, for example).

No, it was never re-visited. The awkward thing is the main person who was sure Regina killed Graham was Henry. Which should have made it HARDER for him to forgive and warm to Regina, and which made his behavior in 2B incomprehensible. I'm guessing this is where A&E personally wanted to go with it, but there were tight reins on them in Season 1. With the show's unexpected success, they got the freedom to actually go there with Regina and that's how Henry, Snow and Emma became kowtowing minions desperate for her approval and friendship.

This episode had some moving moments, though it's hard not to feel sad when it's addressing such a tragic event as 9/11. The soap opera-ish elements of this show are definitely not engaging enough for me to pay full attention, but you sort of have to, because keeping track of the 3 Joes, 3 Amys, 3 Jennys, 2 random Jenny husbands, 2 best friend love interests, etc. start giving you a headache after a while. Sometimes, the colour over-saturation is really obvious (red for Rock Star, blue for Cop and green for Nurse, which is sorta clever), but I still got confused a few times. Forever alone Cop Joe is surprisingly the most well-adjusted of the three. The Rock Star Joe has too many lies and the Nurse Joe is too repressed. Though I think I like Amy and Jenny even less. In the "Previously" segment, they call Jenny his "best friend", which makes no sense. Best friends don't dump you and never contact you again because you have dinner with your parents instead of meeting you at the beach. I sort of feel obliged to watch more since there are only 13 episodes and I like completing things, but it's almost like work, LOL.

I found it interesting that in the Tan household, the siblings call each other "Brother" or "Sister", which makes them sound aloof, overly formal and cold. But this is traditionally how Asian siblings address each other. I wonder how common this is in Chinese who have immigrated to Western countries with the generation that grew up/were born in the West. I'm not sure if it was intentional but since the Shen family siblings refer to each other by name, it made them seem more "normal". Even though the show still does stress that the Shens do follow some traditions.

Because Sebastian is so much older than Ryan, Sebastian's looks seem very judgemental and dismissive to me (because he looks amused). I think that's partly why this coupling is leaving me cold despite its lack of subtlety. Sebastian definitely is perceptive, sensing that Ryan wasn't completely happy with his UCSF placement, but they're also not even close acquaintances at this point. One thing I found strange was how Sebastian was eating and "hanging out" with the other guys from the kitchen, but those other guys don't acknowledge Ryan at all or vice versa. Considering Ryan goes to the restaurant every day and volunteers there, that seems unlikely. I know we can't be introduced to every supporting character, but it sort of affects the "world" they are presenting. I don't want to quibble too much since the writing has already improved immensely. But another world-building situation is related to your comment about Tony's effects on the neighborhood and now the subplot with the arts collective. Yet the lunar new year celebrations in the previous episode were still very elaborate and seemed to imply the community was still strong and vibrant. The situation just needs a bit more fleshing out if they plan to explore it. I was confused about this too, whether there was some sort of time jump. But Althea referenced the viral video being shared and getting job offers which suggests this is simply the following week. I suppose the siblings are so close that Nicky "distancing herself" was simply not replying to texts or meeting up for 2-3 days. Except Nicky works at the restaurant and trains at the cultural center so you'd figure they would see each other there.

It looks like the show is finally hitting its stride. After the unevenness of last season, this episode felt cohesive and well crafted. I hope they keep it up! I wasn't sure where the Nicky/Kerwin team-up was going, but it was kinda fun to see them working together. Involving Ryan made it even more fun. I agree it was nice to give the protagonists a "win". Though I wonder if there will be an upcoming episode called "The New Bell" and we'll do this all over again. Zhilan definitely hasn't lost her violent streak. Sorry, Kerwin. Trying to ruin your dad's plans with Mia isn't exactly going to hurt him more than just killing him. Zhilan could do both... shoot him non-fatally AND ruin his plans. Sebastian seems a bit too old for Ryan. I did like his and Althea's realizations about career in this episode. I'm glad they are putting some thought into how to keep the show character-based in the side plots, at least. The dad/old roommate plot would have worked better if they had introduced the new character and the art collective in the first episode, then have him find out he was delivering food, and then have this episode. The actors made this plot work even though it was totally disconnected from the A plot.

Yes, thanks for doing that!

Should some of these hints/previews be in the Speculation and Spoilers thread? I personally try to watch the episodes "blind" but I love clicking on these teasers afterwards. Ratings went up for Episode 3, for some reason, up 37% from last week and slightly higher than the Season 2 premiere. Thank goodness! I hope the streaming over the week has been high, so people are "catching up". https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/kung-fu-season-two-ratings/

So I found out about the show because it got cancelled, so I decided to watch it. I guess I like punishing myself, LOL. I guess the main risk is that I would be heartbroken that the show would abruptly end and leave me wishing for more. At least that seems unlikely after watching this first one. The concept sounded really interesting to me... the idea that a decision could change your life, though this decision was basically Joe choosing one girl or the other or neither, which didn't interest me as much. I loved "Awake" and sci-fi, but this series looks like it's more of a straight-up typical relationship drama. The acting/directing/writing was decent, and I didn't mind Joe, but I also wasn't totally engaged. After 20 minutes, I thought an hour had past. The various subplots were pretty generic stuff done a dozen times before, and the thought of watching multiple love triangles with those two was exhausting. While it's reality that no life is perfect, all three paths were downers. It wasn't very fun to watch and there wasn't anything to look forward to in any of the scenarios. I'm not sure where the show could go with this concept, except create a whirlpool of mishmash plot points. I guess the series could just end with him waking up from a dream since he tripped and fell at graduation and hit his head really hard. I did like some of the transitions from one reality to another, especially with the linked event (political rally and the hail) at the start. Maybe I'll try a few more episodes. It would be interesting to read everyone's thoughts here, anyhow. This was a really good point, and thinking about this, I'm not sure I could buy that Rock Star Joe and Nurse Joe and Cop Joe had the same basic personality from this episode.

I'm a little worried. Why are TV viewers so fickle. Maybe some people don't realize the show is back? But it's down from last week.

This season seems to be shaping up to be slightly better, at least dialogue-wise and plotwise (somewhat). I mean, not putting your phone on silent during a super secret mission was laughable, but at least it had zero consequences. Last season was a bit frustrating with Zhilan pretty much getting what she wanted for most of the season. Althea's boss was uber annoying, though I'm not sure if she was supposed to be funny or what. If they were going to create that setting, I'd prefer to stick with it for a bit longer (Althea working at a company that was bought out by Russell Tan would have given her a connection). I can't believe none of her co-workers backed her up. At least they would be working on passion projects or something. Althea working in the sleep pod was amusing, though. So Zhilan just needed her sister to give her a pep talk to gain a will to live. Ooookay. Mia was ungrateful and annoying. She didn't need their help. Except with all the intel and the research, of course. Well, at least Henry knows enough to have a few leads about where she might have gone. I wouldn't mind it if she's the sacrifice this season demands. Better her than any of the originals. I forgot... where are the Tans located? I'm assuming near San Francisco since they got the artifact so quickly. Ludi's sister sounds like she could be an interesting character. Ryan deserves better than cutting his hand while cutting cabbage or lettuce or whatever. Though I always enjoy seeing more "everyday" normal scenes like at the restaurant. Their dad seeing a friend delivering food could have been explored a bit more. I also enjoyed all the Chinese New Year decorations. Henry took awhile to realize the baby lions weren't there, LOL.

The time issue is a really good point, since Graham was literally never mentioned again. I mean, we could imagine there was an offscreen moment/deleted scene. Let's see... DELETED SCENE VERSION 1 - Season 4A REGINA: Remember when you tried to steal my boyfriend? EMMA: Graham and I were NOT an item. REGINA: I can admit it. I was a pretty bad girlfriend to him. What I did was... SNOW: Let me stop you there. Now I think I win the bad girlfriend award by drinking a memory potion to forget David and then sleeping with Dr. Whale. EVERYONE laughs heartily. EMMA: And Regina, you're not that person anymore. You've changed. DELETED SCENE VERSION 2 - Season 5 - Underworld REGINA: There is something I have been meaning to tell you, Emma. Graham... EMMA: Is he here? I feel horrible for not believing him. REGINA: Emma, he died because I crushed his heart. EMMA is distracted by innocent school children running and screaming at the crosswalk. She goes over to comfort them. CHILDREN: The wolves are attacking us!!!! EMMA: You are safe. There are no wolves here. [FLASHBACK. We see GRAHAM/THE HUNTSMAN leading a pack of WOLVES to murder a village full of children] Later that Episode: Mount Doom GRAHAM: Emma, I am responsible for the death of all those children. EMMA: You???!!!!! I thought it was the red herring of The Big Bad Wolf! The 3 Little Pigs were lying and they're the evil ones! GRAHAM approaches the fire pit, ready to take a step into the flaming fires of hell. REGINA comes running in with the CHILDREN. CHILDREN: STOP! Regina made us realize the truth. WE FORGIVE YOU, GRAHAM! A bridge of light appears as GRAHAM and the CHILDREN walk across into the LIGHT. GRAHAM turns back. GRAHAM: I hope you can forgive me, Emma. Goodbye. EMMA looks at REGINA, her eyes beaming with pride at what she did for Graham. REGINA: Don't you dare say anything, Emma, or I'll push you into the fires of hell myself! EMMA laughs as the two FRIENDS walk into the sunlight. VIEWERS: Awwwwwwwwwwwwww, how heartwarming! I totally forgot about what happened in Season 1. THE END.