S01.E04: Jason Mendoza

[AuntiePam]

Yeah, it was discombobulating, listening to the happy chef who sounded like Stalin ordering another purge.  But it made me think about how we listen and our tone of voice -- how sarcasm can be misinterpreted, for example, and how a speaking voice can make us uncomfortable.  I'll get all sweaty if someone's being 'deadpan' -- how am I expected to react?

Maybe it's another example from the writers, how appearances can be deceiving, that we shouldn't take people at face value, that we should really listen, look deeper. 

[Milburn Stone]

Re the sinkhole...I found it scary! Which makes this show special, because I can't remember a show blending excellent comedy with the truly terrifying before.

[DeLurker]

20 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

What!?  Where is this coming from.  I'm 33 and I know all of the Spice Girls very well.  I have friends 5 years younger who all do as well.   Strange comment.

Awareness of the Spice Girls was never the issue.  It didn't make sense if she was the event coordinator for the Spice Girls because she would have still been too young at the point where they were a thing.  I later figured out it was "Posh and Becks" she said and that makes more sense that she would have been handling events in the timeframe that they became a thing.  At least to me.

15 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

On a shallow note... Tahani is forking gorgeous! 

She really is.  I strongly suspect IRL she is one of those people who look stunning even without makeup on.

[biakbiak]

Nevermind.

Edited October 2, 2016 by biakbiak

[Blakeston]

On 10/1/2016 at 2:36 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I think he idolized Fake deadmau and was hurt about how deadmau treated him and said his music was garbage.  Although, if deadmau did pay him for that gig, it would have been stupid to blow up the boat.  

It sounded like the main reason he blew up the boat was because the DJ was suing him. (Which he should have seen coming, if he wasn't an idiot.)

[MrWhyt]

On 9/30/2016 at 2:58 PM, Big Mother said:

I'm enjoying this show way more than I thought I would!

But this episode puzzled me a little. WHy did they write Jason as being so stupid? He was smart enough to keep his mouth shut the first few days in heaven; he knew his existence there depended on it. He acted quite intelligently the first 3 episodes. Why is he suddenly an idiot?

He was always an idiot, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Edited October 3, 2016 by MrWhyt

[topanga]

55 minutes ago, MrWhyt said:

He was always an idiot, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Or maybe learning about Eleanor has inspired him to be himself. 

[CleoCaesar]

Quote

On a shallow note... Tahani is forking gorgeous!  I'm still wondering if she's faking too.  But so far, I haven't really seen evidence that she isn't the person she's supposed to be.

I thought I heard her accent slip very briefly, but I might be reading too much into nothing. I'm on the lookout for other fakes, like Eleanor and Jason.

[theatremouse]

Slip to the actresses own accent (which is different than the character's) or some other accent? Just wondering because it might've just been the actress slipping in general, rather than an intentional thing.

Edited October 9, 2016 by theatremouse

[John Potts]

I wonder if Tahini's reference to the Spice Girls was a nod to the fact that Jameela Jamil made her name (at least in the UK) as an entertainment reporter - admittedly after the Spice Girls were a thing, but she'd certainly know who they were (and Posh & Becks are still "Clebs", if not to the extent they were a decade ago).

I also liked her minor double take on hearing Michael wanted to wear suspenders, because I'd do the same thing before I mentally translate "suspenders" into "Braces" (and similarly, "Pants" into "trousers") when listening to American shows. I guess their version of the Universal Translator doesn't translate American English into English English (but it's no worse than Star Trek's Universal Translator at not always making logical sense)?

[aradia22]

Jason is very attractive. Outside of this being a TV show where I accept that "normal" people are unusually attractive, why did no one in universe question a monk with those cheekbones and arm muscles? Weirdly I think he's a better actor as Jianyu. He's a bit flat as Jason.

The set decoration is one of the more impressive parts of the show. It feels like a fully lived in world. All the furniture. All the props. Everyone's favorite meal for the restaurant scene. Well done. It's an impressive level of detail.

Ted Danson is increasingly delightful.

There's an odd balance between Eleanor learning to be a good person in a very understandable way and this wild magic that gets activated when she behaves badly. I'm intrigued about the way they're going with the magic. She can't keep destroying the world.

[PhilMarlowe2]

Yeah, I think the actor who plays Jason is really bad - very attractive, but almost shockingly bad. I kept wondering how he got cast, he has almost no comic timing.

Here is my issue with the show so far: what is stopping Ted Danson from simply asking Jane what keeps causing the disasters in his neighborhood? Surely she would know. It may be a quibble, and I am enjoying this show for the most part, but this gap in logic is definitely bothering me.

[bros402]

5 hours ago, PhilMarlowe2 said:

Yeah, I think the actor who plays Jason is really bad - very attractive, but almost shockingly bad. I kept wondering how he got cast, he has almost no comic timing.

Here is my issue with the show so far: what is stopping Ted Danson from simply asking Jane what keeps causing the disasters in his neighborhood? Surely she would know. It may be a quibble, and I am enjoying this show for the most part, but this gap in logic is definitely bothering me.

Janet can't share conversations with residents - and she might not know what is causing it, just that it is happening

[possibilities]

5 hours ago, PhilMarlowe2 said:

Here is my issue with the show so far: what is stopping Ted Danson from simply asking Jane what keeps causing the disasters in his neighborhood?

This and many other questions are answered eventually. The show is very carefully plotted and some things that seem weird at first eventually pay off and turn out to be hints.

I think if we can accept that the system goofed and Eleanor got sent to the wrong place by accident, we have to assume there are other things at play, here, and a lot of other things about the world we're shown are not what they appear to be.

Most TV is just full of continuity errors and sloppy writing. This show might look like more of the same, but it really does have a plan.

[ByTor]

On 8/24/2019 at 9:43 PM, PhilMarlowe2 said:

Here is my issue with the show so far: what is stopping Ted Danson from simply asking Jane what keeps causing the disasters in his neighborhood? Surely she would know.

My question is, if she really knows everything in the universe 

Spoiler

how could she not know that they are really in the Bed Place?

[Kiddvideo]

Ahh, man. Nick Foles just got traded to Chicago. Jason would be so bummed.

[Virtual]

The beginning of the great team that was Eleanor and Jason. And by great, I mean hilarious! Them taking Chidi’s class could make a sub-show of sorts.