Season 3, 23 Episodes - [stuff happens in Cicely]

[SoMuchTV]

If someone has a better description, post & I'll edit it.

 

[SoMuchTV]

 

S3.E13 or 14∙ Burning Down the House - I've been able to go along with a lot of stuff that might be problematic now, but this is the first episode that got my blood boiling.  So many characters could have chosen kindness but didn't.  I know of course it all worked out in the end, but -

- Chris (and most of the rest of the folks) really had no problem with the plan to  fling a live animal through the air?  It would be okay that it suffered horribly and broke most of its bones on impact, since we were just going to eat it anyway? (But it's okay because he only flung a piano in the end?)

- Joel learns the identity of the chimney sweep, and rather than respecting his privacy, he has to out him to any and all? (But it's okay because something something putting green?)

- Maggie can be mad about her mother & father divorcing, since it's all about her.  (But it's okay because ... whatever.)

Really, I've been enjoying rewatching this show, but this is the first one so far that I've really had some issues with as I watched it.

Edit#2. IMDb says it’s E13, Prime says 14. Does this happen every season? Or maybe just because the evil twin episode aired out of order (in a different season)? I guess if we want to talk about an episode we need to note the title. 

Edited January 29 by SoMuchTV
Oops, fixed the episode#. Edit 2 - I give up.

[BlackberryJam]

I love the fling itself, but yes, the lead up was enraging.

I was really bothered by Joel outing and then trying to “fix” the chimney sweep. He deserved better. Joel is frequently kind, in his own way, to people, but yeah, that fell flat.

A smashed cow would be cruel. 

Maggie lacks empathy often. 
 

[arachne]

The other night I watched the Season 3 episode "Only You" that reminded me how much things have changed. Chris's pheromones made him irresistible to women -- all except one, Irene the optometrist. She didn't feel it at all. Chris was baffled, and that only turned him onto her more. Irene wasn't married, didn't have a boyfriend, and wasn't gay. I'm sure if that show had aired nowadays, the idea of "asexuality" would have come up. But thirty years ago, that was practically unheard of.

[SoMuchTV]

I’m currently watching The Final Frontier (episode 19-ish), and 

I’m almost positive I had the same turtleneck Ruth-Anne was wearing in the town meeting (LLBean? Lands’ End?), and 

For crying out loud, Maurice. I thought you came to terms with the “deviants” several episodes ago. This is the 1990s, not the pink scare era. 

[lovett1979]

I'm enjoying my re-watch (thank you Prime!!!) and am almost through Season 3. When you binge, you notice continuity errors more than during normal weekly watching I think. This show is usually good about that but a few things have bothered me.

First is a production/airing obvious flip. At the end of "Democracy in America," Chris walks into the polling place in a suit, and having cut his hair short and slicked it back. The next episode to air (according to IMDB, Wiki, and on Prime) was "Three Amigos" and Chris appeared in that episode (mostly reading from The Call of the Wild) and his hair was back long. I was a little surprised at first and even went back to Democracy... to see if I had missed a ponytail or something the first time. But the following episode (Lost and Found) shows Chris with short (but not nearly as slicked) hair again. So, for whatever reason, Three Amigos was filmed before (at least the end of) Democracy... None of this is important, but it's still curious.

Second is the change to how Adam is known/viewed by the town. In season 1, he is presented as an almost mythical sasquatch-like creature. When Joel tells people he met him, they don't even believe him because they don't really believe he exists. In the season 3 episode "Roots," Adam shows up in the bar and starts cooking. No one seems to know that he is THE Adam, but they do see that he and Joel kind of know each other? By "Dateline: Cicely" Adam seems to be fully integrated into the town as "someone who comes and goes and cooks great food and is kind of crazy." No more mythical beast in the woods.

Finally, Maggie's house burns down. Her mom is then somehow staying with Maurice, while Maggie has to sleep on a pool table at the bar??? Why couldn't Maggie also stay at Maurice's? He clearly has room for at least 3 guests (as seen is Seoul Mates) and probably more. And once this episode is over, it's like it never happened. There's no mention of where Maggie is staying, or that she has to re-build her house, or anything. It's a weird thing to drop, and re-building it (maybe having to stay with Joel, since she owns that cabin anyway) could have made for some interesting plotlines.

I'm also realizing how much Rob Morrow on this show (along with the animated Aladdin) shaped what I found attractive during my teen years. Loved me a floppy-dark haired boy.

Edited March 7 by lovett1979

[possibilities]

I was especially amazed that they didn't use the loss of Maggie's house to drive any plots. It just magically got rebuilt overnight, apparently! The show does magical realism but they didn't even go that direction, it was just... forgotten. I really thought they were burning it down BECAUSE they wanted to make story out of where she went while it was being rebuilt.

I wondered if they did a time jump? Was it one of those show hiatus things where the next episode is months or years later? 

Or did she buy another house somewhere else? She did seem to be intermittently a real estate agent. But they didn't talk about it. They talked more about Marilyn's house hunt than Maggie's!

I handwaved it, but I agree it was strange.

[Orcinus orca]

Season three has my all around favorite episode - Get Real.  I thought the whole thing was just charming and I loved the ability of Marilyn to effortlessly communicate with the Flying Man despite no dialog. It was brilliant and featured one of my favorite characters, Marilyn.

Adam is back, the body of Pierre stirs up the town, and Ed arranging a birthday party for Ruth-Anne were golden.  

Only half through the season so more thoughts are forthcoming.  I am doling out the views so as to savor them!