S01.E07: Giant

[dubbel zout]

When she asked Joe if he would get tired of her I really wanted him to say "probably".

 

He probably would have answered that had he not just found out Simon was sick.

 

And I really still have no idea what Donna ever saw in Gordon. I guess part of it was his genius, but I doubt he would have been the only computer genius at Berkeley.

 

I have a feeling Gordon was one of the few computer geniuses at Berkeley who appreciated her genius.

Edited July 16, 2014 by dubbel zout

[magdalene]

magdalene, I'd really like to see a second season but the ratings are abysmal. "Giant" got a 0.26 in the demo, which is *below* Rubicon and Low Winter Sun territory. But AMC is still promoting it, so we'll see.

Ouch. That demo is awful. Grasping at straws - maybe the DVR ratings are better? On FX THE AMERICANS has gotten renewed for a third season despite horrible same day ratings because most of the audience of that show watches later.

[hincandenza]

The one horrible miscasting and really not well thought out character for me is Joe. I do

see the acting, it's kind of one note. Now I don't know a dang thing about acting, I'm just

saying how it strikes me.

 

AS for the anvils dropping like someone upthread mentioned, I confess I NEVER see those

anyway. Where's an "embarrassed" emoticon when you need one? That's what so great about

this place. I can read from you guys what I missed! (Speaking of which: This place is so freaking

great! It's like leaving the worst, most crowded, obnoxious parts of NYC, Nanny-gated by 

truly insane moderators (TWOP, do not RIP) and finding yourself in an underpopulated, undermoderated

small city. Lots of space to stretch your legs.)

I don't think Lee Pace (Joe) is acting the part badly, but I think the other part of your statement as very true in terms of him not being fleshed out in the writers room- although he had more humanity in that one moment of hearing his old friend was sick than he'd shown in the previous 6 episodes combined.  In the same vein, the first few episodes of Cameron were awful, and I don't think it was the actress: a character can only be so compelling when you literally lock them away from everyone else so they have no one to react to, and she's been more interesting since she started interacting with not only Joe but the other employees.  Yuggapukka mentioned earlier that Scoot McNairy was doing a great job as Gordon, and I agree; I have no problem with him as an actor, but the *character* and his motivations/plotline are so infuriating and hard to connect with.

 

Oh and I agree with your second part; sorry that this is a little off topic, but yeah, I for one was not actually sad to see TWOP go.  It'd be nice to have the old forums still available as read-only, because sometimes when I watch older TV shows on Netflix, it'd be nice to go read other people's thoughts and reactions as they happened in real time.  The TWOP moderators were the worst, at least some of them were (Miss Alli was pretty great in the old Survivor threads); way too quick to push their own agendas since they were unaccountable and never held in check.  This place has a nice, casual feel like you describe- and as a result, I haven't seen much bickering or "boards of boards" whining in the threads I'm part of.

[LJonEarth]

Re: The Americans v HACF ratings

But didn't The Americans get good reviews? The best I've seen about this show is "it's getting better." I saw 50/50 reviews of this episode of either, "this was a low point" (I'm in this camp) and "they've had three good episodes in a row, now."

[kieyra]

It'd be nice to have the old forums still available as read-only, because sometimes when I watch older TV shows on Netflix, it'd be nice to go read other people's thoughts and reactions as they happened in real time.

 

 

It's available through March 2014 or so on archive.org. 

 

(What I really miss is long, funny, analytical recaps, rather than collections of pictures and a few sentences...unfortunately even Jacob succumbed to that trend over at gawker, so I have to go to TVClub to get thoughtful recaps that explain the stuff I missed to me.)

Edited July 17, 2014 by kieyra

[dubbel zout]

I don't think it matters what the ratings are for The Americans, as it's on FX. This is AMC. It probably has different expectations for its shows.

[Aprilshowers]

This show has problems and the ratings seem to reflect that. I want to like it but they need to tone these characters down a tad. Drama is fine but "Giant" was ridiculously over the top.

[ganesh]

Contrail is actually a pretty interesting name, suggesting speed, leaving competitors in its wake, leaving its mark on the field.

 

I thought it was a good name. At that point Gordon was going to object regardless. 

 

These past couple of episodes were good. Not great, but that's fine. I like watching good shows. I don't need to analyze over why Cameron's jacket is red and What It Means. Speaking of, she looked good at the art gallery.

 

Not for nothing, Joe's ex, you're all in a snit because of Cameron? You were with Joe ten years ago for one month. 

 

I know it's awful, but I laughed when the other asshole designer got punched for calling Joe a queer. Like nowadays, most people would be like, 'so?' Some guys just aren't automatically into boobs anyway.

 

In the same vein, the first few episodes of Cameron were awful, and I don't think it was the actress: a character can only be so compelling when you literally lock them away from everyone else so they have no one to react to, and she's been more interesting since she started interacting with not only Joe but the other employees.

 

I said the same thing. I think with miniseries, since you don't have a lot of time to 'find the character,' the writers need to do a better job pre show establishing these characters so the actors have something meaningful to work with right off the bat. Not every actor can just walk in and take a page of not so great material and pull something out of it. 

 

I really don't have sympathy for Gordon. If your spouse is talking to you, you don't go walking around completely occupied about something else no matter what it is. He's not genius enough to get away with that kind of behavior. I thought it was interesting that Donna was able to immediately offer ideas on how to have the machine fit the design while Gordon didn't even consider it.

 

Buy, hey, you don't want the lasagna, don't throw away food. Eat it tomorrow. 

 

I was actually surprised they had Donna make the first move and the boss was like, 'uh, no.' I thought he was pretty polite about it.

 

He might just be playing at bisexual to get what he wants in any given situation, his own version of "gay for pay".

 

He traveled around Europe for a month with a male lover. What's the "for pay" part? On the off chance a decade later that the guy would design a PC? Maybe it's just once and a while Joe likes fucking a guy. Though with the scene earlier in the show that was obviously calculated and manipulative. 

 

 

I can see how Donna could misread the signals, but I also can see how Hunt might not realize he was putting them out there.

Come on though, you don't clasp hands with woman over the dinner table. When you're both married. That's not being just friendly because we've been friends so long.

[DangerousMinds]

I was in my teens into twenties in the eighties and the way I remember things was that attitudes were often accepting of the existance of Gay/bi sexuality. Also if you look back, andrgenous sexuality was kind of a thing in superficial areas like make-up, fashion and music. I don't think someone like Cameron would be bothered, beyond it possibly tickling some jealousy.

I was 15 in 1983 and grew up in a conservative, sheltered Midwestern suburb. BUT I was obsessed with MTV (back then it was 100% videos) and thus exposed to lots of androgyny and decadent music and videos, etc. So I also totally buy that Cameron was nonplussed about the possibility of Joe being bisexual. It just wasn't shocking in my experience (as a completely UNExperienced kid).

 

Oh and I agree with your second part; sorry that this is a little off topic, but yeah, I for one was not actually sad to see TWOP go.  It'd be nice to have the old forums still available as read-only, because sometimes when I watch older TV shows on Netflix, it'd be nice to go read other people's thoughts and reactions as they happened in real time.  The TWOP moderators were the worst, at least some of them were (Miss Alli was pretty great in the old Survivor threads); way too quick to push their own agendas since they were unaccountable and never held in check.  This place has a nice, casual feel like you describe- and as a result, I haven't seen much bickering or "boards of boards" whining in the threads I'm part of.

Sorry this is off-topic, but you CAN read the old TWOP forums via the Wayback Machine. That said, I also prefer it here!

Edited July 18, 2014 by DangerousMinds

[annlaw78]

I loved how Gordon was going to be a "pioneer" and "make from scratch" his great-grandmother's stew, all on his own -- thanks to the fridge that was fully stocked by Donna.  Dude has it so good!

[Dowel Jones]

What happens if Gordon does discover a giant?

[ABay]

If it was the skeleton of a shark, I wouldn't be surprised if he jumped it.

[ganesh]

 

Is that why he tore the house apart? Just because he was wasted?

Based on the episode, it seems like he's mentally ill and that resurfaced again due to the stress at work; i.e., Joe. It also seems like he self-medicates (badly) by drinking. In the first scene with Gordon in the show, Donna picks him up at the police station and he looks like he's been in a fight. This looks like a chronic problem. His behavior over this episode is quite erratic. 

[Hanahope]

I didn't get to this show till late in the week, the poorly written characters are starting to drain my interest in the show.

 

I have to admit, that when Gordon was yelling at Joe about the name for the computer and spouted out Cardiff Giant, it sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it.  Then Joe later yelled back at Gordon about "fine, we'll call it the Giant."  Later, when Gordon told the story of the Cardiff Giant and PT Barnum, I remembered where I had heard it the phrase before.  I don't think Joe had any clue what Gordon meant by saying (now obviously sarcastically) "call it the Cardiff Giant."  I see where its completely applicable, at least in Gordon's mind.  He views Joe as PT Barnum, purely a salesman who has no clue what the product really is or what it can and cannot do, and all he wants is to take the glory of it and push away anyone who was actually involved in creating it.  Joe is like many salesmen, that promise the product will do X, and then find out from the engineers that no it can't do X, it can only do Y.   Joe and Gordon need to communicate better.

 

Totally disappointed to see that Cameron has completely drunk the Joe koolaid and has 'fallen madly in love' with Joe.  I liked her much better when all she wanted was casual sex to get her muse to flow. 

 

And obviously Gordon has absolutely no respect for Donna, throwing her good food in the trash (if you don't want to eat it, fine, just keep it in the damn freezer for another day), and then completely trashing the house because he can't stay sober.  He seems to me to be an obvious manic-depressive, which condition is exacerbated by drinking.

 

About the only good thing this episode was taking Donna down a peg (she was getting to be too perfect) and having her offer of an affair rejected.  Yes, I also think her boss flirted with her a bit much, so hopefully he won't hold this action over her head.  He seems like a decent guy.  How does someone with obvious piano talent end up only making $15,000 working at TI?

[88Keys]

How does someone with obvious piano talent end up only making $15,000 working at TI?

 

Piano talent does pay much.  Definietly much less than computer talent.  Plus, Donna is a good pianist, but I don't really think she is concert pianist level or anything.  "Music Box Dancer" is a piece most of us played in junior high.  :)

[Hanahope]

She wasn't playing Music Box Dancer, the other 'hotel pianist' was playing that song.  I don't know exactly what she played, but it sounded definitely more 'concert' or orchestral.