S01.E10: Coney Island Cyclone

[formerlyfreedom]

When the God Account sends Miles the name of one of Arthur’s parishioners, a single father who recently lost his wife, the similarities to their own loss reopens old wounds. Also, Rakesh and Cara hunt down a new lead on the reclusive hacker they think may be behind the God Account.

 

Airing Sunday, December 9, 2018.

[FormerMod-a1]

I don't know why I like this show so much, but I do. 

I kind of don't want them find Falcon, or if they do I don't want him to be behind the God account.  

[Boofish]

39 minutes ago, aquarian1 said:

I don't know why I like this show so much, but I do. 

I kind of don't want them find Falcon, or if they do I don't want him to be behind the God account.  

I love it as well. There is a part of me that think his dad is doing it

[mommalib]

1 hour ago, aquarian1 said:

I don't know why I like this show so much, but I do. 

I kind of don't want them find Falcon, or if they do I don't want him to be behind the God account.  

I love this show because it just simply makes me feel good. It's the first show in a while where I like every single character. As for this episode I love the complications between Miles and his father and how they manage to work through them seemingly every week. And i'm glad Cara finally got rid of Eli because I can tell she wasn't really feeling him. I'm now wondering how Cara and Miles will find they're way to each other.

[Yeah No]

I have a few unrelated thoughts on this episode.

The encounter with the daughter in the health and beauty store was completely random and I doubt any mathematical equation alone could predict or be responsible for that, no matter how sophisticated.

Again I was brought to tears by this show because I lost my own mother 17 years ago and my father and I weren't able to really connect over that until a decade later.  I was an adult when it happened so I was better able to handle it without my Dad's help, but I have since realized that it's too much to ask of a grieving father to "be there" emotionally for his child right after losing his own wife.  People need time to come to terms with it in their own way and time, which is often not immediate.  So I would go easy on any father, including Miles' dad, for not being able to help his own son in that situation.  But thank you, show, for making me realize that.

Given how far away Coney Island is from Harlem, unless they're using a helicopter it would probably take at least 45 minutes to an hour to get there by subway and would include changing trains in midtown.

Would any library still have print copies of newspapers from 12 years ago?

[Boofish]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

I have a few unrelated thoughts on this episode.

The encounter with the daughter in the health and beauty store was completely random and I doubt any mathematical equation alone could predict or be responsible for that, no matter how sophisticated.

Again I was brought to tears by this show because I lost my own mother 17 years ago and my father and I weren't able to really connect over that until a decade later.  I was an adult when it happened so I was better able to handle it without my Dad's help, but I have since realized that it's too much to ask of a grieving father to "be there" emotionally for his child right after losing his own wife.  People need time to come to terms with it in their own way and time, which is often not immediate.  So I would go easy on any father, including Miles' dad, for not being able to help his own son in that situation.  But thank you, show, for making me realize that.

Given how far away Coney Island is from Harlem, unless they're using a helicopter it would probably take at least 45 minutes to an hour to get there by subway and would include changing trains in midtown.

Would any library still have print copies of newspapers from 12 years ago?

I'm sorry for your loss. I lost my mom 20 years ago and my dad had died when I was a child. The grieving process is a monster and there are no right or wrong ways and no answers. Nothing anyone says or does helps but I always appreciate people trying. I think that's all Miles ever wanted so I'm glad he was able to get thru to Hannah's dad so she don't grow up with all that pent up frustration and anger Miles has for his dad.

I just adore Cara and I don't know why; the character is so genuinely sweet without it being over done or annoying.

[Yeah No]

Just now, Boofish said:

I'm sorry for your loss. I lost my mom 20 years ago and my dad had died when I was a child. The grieving process is a monster and there are no right or wrong ways and no answers. Nothing anyone says or does helps but I always appreciate people trying. I think that's all Miles ever wanted so I'm glad he was able to get thru to Hannah's dad so she don't grow up with all that pent up frustration and anger Miles has for his dad.

I just adore Cara and I don't know why; the character is so genuinely sweet without it being over done or annoying.

Thank you.  I forgot to mention that I found myself buying my mother's scented soaps, which are hard to find, only a few years ago, because they brought back her memory.  So the perfume in this episode really hit me in the feels.

[Empress1]

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Given how far away Coney Island is from Harlem, unless they're using a helicopter it would probably take at least 45 minutes to an hour to get there by subway and would include changing trains in midtown.

Ha - when Miles was like "You never took me back to Coney Island!" I was thinking "Because it's a pain in the ass to get to from uptown!"

Lawrence Gilliard, AKA D'Angelo Barksdale, is looking good and did a good job in the role. When he said he had the best reminder of his late wife and his daughter asked "What?" and he looked at her like "Girl, come on" and said "You!" and she broke into a huge grin, I started crying, I won't even lie. Not hard, but a few tears streaming. And when Miles and Arthur rode the Cyclone and they looked SO HAPPY, I swear like the Grinch, my heart grew three sizes.

[Yeah No]

21 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

Ha - when Miles was like "You never took me back to Coney Island!" I was thinking "Because it's a pain in the ass to get to from uptown!"

LOL, yeah!  Another minor nitpick:  $125 perfume is never just sitting on a shelf where anyone can just take it, especially in NY.  It's always either behind a counter or locked away in a glass case.

[12catcrazy]

I think that I like this show because in a sea of negativity on tv (between the news and all the "dark" tv shows), this show presents the innate goodness of people.  Nobody is evil, nobody is trying to make somebody else's life miserable.  It's people's misunderstandings and lack of good communication that is causing so many of the problems Miles and Team are helping to fix.   It harkens back to shows like Highway to Heaven and Touched By An Angel.   And I think the God Account is really God's doing ('cause it's THAT kind of TV show) and not Falcon or whatever the name of the guy is they're looking for.  

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, 12catcrazy said:

I think that I like this show because in a sea of negativity on tv (between the news and all the "dark" tv shows), this show presents the innate goodness of people.  Nobody is evil, nobody is trying to make somebody else's life miserable. 

There are no villains! Not one! It really does make you feel good.

There are so many nice small moments on the show. When Miles went to visit D'Angelo Barksdale (I forget his character's name) and Miles said he came by because he wanted to see how he could help, D'Angelo said "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," meaning that clearly Arthur had raised nice kids. In the one with the interfaith couple, Miles went to see Arthur and Arthur said of Islam, "It's a beautiful faith." And Brandon Michael Hall and Joe Morton have huge smiles. It's just a nice show. Like, when the worst plot point on the show is "We can't find the person 'God' says we're supposed to help!" you know it's a show about nice people.

You even know if we DO get a Miles/Nia/Cara triangle, it'll be resolved without plotting or meanness.

[MissLucas]

Hmm, kudos to whoever brought up "Person of Interest" after the pilot. Falcon sounds a lot like Finch (geez, down to the avian moniker - why did not notice before). And I'll just add that he might have played a part in the accident that killed Miles' mother. But actually it really doesn't matter - what POI did right and made it stand out from all the other high concept shows that tanked was that it focused on the characters, on human connections and the big mystery (almost) never overtook the show - you could watch the first seasons without ever wondering where Finch got his data from and it was still great story-telling. Same here. 

My heart goes out to all of you who lost a parent at an early age. From what I read in this threade the show managed to capture the sense of pain and loss perfectly. And it finally gave us that confrontation between father and son about what caused their rift. You could see how the realization that the thing that kept him going was the thing that kept him from his son (and is the reason for Miles' atheism) really hit Arthur.

I'm also impressed by how they handled Cara and Eli - carefully side-stepping all the trope-traps. 

I love this show and it pains me a bit that it's not getting much of a buzz or more praise.

[tennisgurl]

This show is so adorable, it warms my heart every week. Its just nice to have a show that has some mysteries, but isnt some kind of dark conspiracy, and has some conflict, but its usually based around differing view points, or people just needing to overcome some issue that they're having. And I really love all the actors, both the regulars, and the one offs. They all have this ability to project real warmth onto the screen. 

I knew that the episode would end with Miles and his dad on the Coney Island Cyclone, but I still loved it. Such a cute final scene. It was a good episode for Miles and Arthur, they clearly needed to air out some grievances, as its clear their issues go beyond just their faith, or lack thereof. Its great to see them both open to mending fences. 

Nice seeing D'Angelo here, looking great, and taking care of his cute daughter! Liked how their story went, it was pretty straight forward without a lot of twists like in some episodes, but it was so much fun. His expression when he told his daughter that she would always remind him of her mom just warmed my heart,

Also nice to see Cara and Rakesh having a plot together, and that Cara has ended it with her new boyfriend. Even if she isnt into Miles, she clearly wasn't all that into that guy, and its better for her to just end things now. Glad that they just got to it now, instead of dragging it out with a bunch of drama. Really, its one of the things I love about the show. There isnt contrived drama, there arent any "villains", its just decent people trying to live good lives.

[cleo]

Enjoyed the ep, but really dislike the Cara character and actress. Either she is too young or I am too old, but she seems too young to be this amazing journalist getting senior roles, and walking around dispensing life advice or something.

I like the father and find the family relationships most interesting. 

Still like the Mayor more!

[jhlipton]

5 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Really, its one of the things I love about the show. There isnt contrived drama, there arent any "villains", its just decent people trying to live good lives.

That's something we can all agree on.

[halopub]

I found it a little weird that the show would use Parminder Nagra for a one-off, throwaway cameo.

[j5cochran]

40 minutes ago, halopub said:

I found it a little weird that the show would use Parminder Nagra for a one-off, throwaway cameo.

Which makes me wonder if her character will come back, later in the season?

[halopub]

That'd make sense to me. The writers tried to make Pria as forgettable as possible but given that she's played by Parminder, it would be logical that the character will actually end up heavily involved in the Chase/Falken story line.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Neela!  Bend It Like God?  Or Fibonacci?

Smell is a super powerful callback to significance in our lives, as several of y'all have noted.  Why didn't Miles go get that bottle he paid for and give it to the girl?

The break-up scene with Eli was so very empty.  Cara was certain there was a specific reason Eli came back to her life.  She never shared anything remotely suggestive as to what that reason was.  How can she opt out until she figures that out?  Every episode is about the gang figuring out the holistic solutions of the God Account catalyst.  Cara is consumed with the deeper meaning in the clues.  Yet, she cuts the cord clean with Eli now?  What thing of any importance since she met Miles was about her?  It's fine that we got a, "It's not you, it's me." break-up.  Except that on this show, it's always about "God," not "me."

In diametric contrast to this, the sharing of the old wounds by Miles and his dad at Coney Island was rich in deep and difficult truths.  It was among the most organic/natural moments so far, imo.  The mention that it was around that moment when Miles became an unbeliever was absolutely awesome!  His dad had been knocking himself out for all those years trying to get at Miles' animus for God and BINGO, out it came.  What a gift.  I don't know whether to shout applause to TPTB for the severe underplaying of that awareness coming out, or whether to be disgusted that its significance was pooh-poohed.  As far as I am concerned, this was THE moment of the season.  

Back to the not-so-great...The flat dismissal of God running the God Account by the Reverend early on in this ep was ridiculous.  It's anything BUT God?  From a man who has devoted his life to an unprovable faith built upon, among other things, inexplicably miraculous and ongoing works?  Goodness, how they've diminished him.

I'm grateful, overall, that this ep worked really well on different levels.  It's probably about as good as the show can be.  I'm also grateful to the smart posters (as in everyone) who contributed to this thread.

[jhlipton]

2 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

What thing of any importance since she met Miles was about her? 

She got to connect with her mom, and to develop a lot more understanding about her mom and her dad. But the show isn't so much about her, any more than it's about Rajesh (and we've learned even less about him..) as much as it is about Miles, and the value of altruism.

[redpencil]

Quote

I kind of don't want them find Falcon, or if they do I don't want him to be behind the God account.  

I don't either. Plus, it wouldn't make sense for it to be revealed this early in the season/series. I had a thought about how Falcon will tie in. I'm thinking the the Fibonacci sequence they found will indeed end up leading to Falcon/Henry Chase. I think they'll find that it is his code, but he's not behind the account. God/whoever is just using his code. And maybe the whole trail leading to finding Falcon will end up being one long "friend suggestion" where they then have to help him in some way.

Edited December 13, 2018 by redpencil

[Yeah No]

9 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

The break-up scene with Eli was so very empty.  Cara was certain there was a specific reason Eli came back to her life.  She never shared anything remotely suggestive as to what that reason was.  How can she opt out until she figures that out?  Every episode is about the gang figuring out the holistic solutions of the God Account catalyst.  Cara is consumed with the deeper meaning in the clues.  Yet, she cuts the cord clean with Eli now?  What thing of any importance since she met Miles was about her?  It's fine that we got a, "It's not you, it's me." break-up.  Except that on this show, it's always about "God," not "me."

I think Eli coming back into Cara's life made her realize that she was really over him and that Miles was more significant to her than Eli was.  Being forced to compare them brought that realization to her earlier than it might have happened on its own.  She didn't say what the reason was because either she didn't know it yet or she didn't want to admit that it might be so she could come to closure on Eli in one direction or the other.  I think she only just realized that in this episode, but I don't think she's ready to share it with anyone yet, and unless we get to see her thought bubble we won't hear her admit that to anyone until she's ready.

9 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

Back to the not-so-great...The flat dismissal of God running the God Account by the Reverend early on in this ep was ridiculous.  It's anything BUT God?  From a man who has devoted his life to an unprovable faith built upon, among other things, inexplicably miraculous and ongoing works?  Goodness, how they've diminished him.

I thought the same thing, especially after he got a taste of how improbable the coincidences would be if any mere mortal were behind them.  A person of faith would be more inclined to see those things and believe a higher power was behind them.

Speaking of how the show is diminishing God, I think the Fibonacci spiral plotting out all the locations of previous God account friend suggestions might have been brought in to show that everything can be predicted via science or scientific theories in one way or another, which to me also seems to be headed in the direction of showing that all the seeming coincidences on this show can be explained by science, not God.  Not loving that, and as I said above, I doubt any scientific principle can explain things that occur by random chance (unless it's Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which still makes it random), unless you want to believe in a completely predictable or deterministic universe.  Then again I personally believe that God works through what we see as science (and even randomness) so the cause is really one and the same thing.

Edited December 12, 2018 by Yeah No

[shapeshifter]

18 hours ago, j5cochran said:

19 hours ago, halopub said:

I found it a little weird that the show would use Parminder Nagra for a one-off, throwaway cameo.

Which makes me wonder if her character will come back, later in the season?

Or she just likes the show (for all the reasons mentioned upthread) and was happy to have a guest spot.

[shapeshifter]

On 12/10/2018 at 8:30 PM, cleo said:

Either she is too young or I am too old, but she seems too young to be this amazing journalist getting senior roles

True, but look at her. If you were hired to cast actors who could command viewer eyeballs for the advertisers, how could you not give her the biggest role available to her?
I bet within a year she'll be making beaucoup bucks doing spots for cosmetic campaigns.
And, hopefully, by the time she's more mature, all this acting experience will have given her the chops to continue.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

13 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Speaking of how the show is diminishing God, I think the Fibonacci spiral plotting out all the locations of previous God account friend suggestions might have been brought in to show that everything can be predicted via science or scientific theories in one way or another, which to me also seems to be headed in the direction of showing that all the seeming coincidences on this show can be explained by science, not God.  Not loving that, and as I said above, I doubt any scientific principle can explain things that occur by random chance (unless it's Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which still makes it random), unless you want to believe in a completely predictable or deterministic universe.  Then again I personally believe that God works through what we see as science (and even randomness) so the cause is really one and the same thing.

 

This ep served to signal quite a lot, I agree.  I'm fine with us getting a Usual Suspects conclusion, so long as they somehow manage to explain away everything.  Who was Kaiser (Geppetto?)  What was her/his motivation?  The chase of Falken is good fun, for sure.  Yet, if he really is the source, what was the point of tearing out the paper when he left other clues seemingly in hopes of being discovered?  Why is it that it takes a Rakesh and not an ordinary person of goodness?  Given some earlier sloppiness, as I have seen it, I have mega-doubts that TPTB could pull off a complete and fulfilling secular end.  If they do, just hand them the Emmy immediately!

I'm also fine with honest misdirections.  How can the show sustain without them?  Cara denying the connection with Miles is, in my opinion, a must.  Same for the Reverend being slow to accept the goings on as Divine.  The writers just have to not write large checks they can never cash.  Occam's Razor's explanations work much better.  This is especially true when dealing with matters of faith.  Cara can just be confused.  The Reverend can be afraid.  I would be!  For each however, once the feet get wet, there will be no legitimate way for them to go all the way back to complete denial.  Miles has an excellent "distraction" keeping him from seeing Cara.  No reason to mess with that anytime soon, imo.

Edited December 12, 2018 by Lonesome Rhodes

[Yeah No]

9 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

This ep served to signal quite a lot, I agree.  I'm fine with us getting a Usual Suspects conclusion, so long as they somehow manage to explain away everything.  Who was Kaiser (Geppetto?)  What was her/his motivation?  The chase of Falken is good fun, for sure.  Yet, if he really is the source, what was the point of tearing out the paper when he left other clues seemingly in hopes of being discovered?  Why is it that it takes a Rakesh and not an ordinary person of goodness?  Given some earlier sloppiness, as I have seen it, I have mega-doubts that TPTB could pull off a complete and fulfilling secular end.  If they do, just hand them the Emmy immediately!

 

I somehow suspect the ending will be complete from both secular and theistic perspectives, if they're clever enough to pull that off.  It will be such that theists will still be able to see God's hand in the workings of the God Account, while the non-theists will see a completely natural, even if somewhat incomplete explanation.  I myself see no reason not to believe that both could be true at the same time, but that's just me.

Like Falken might admit to setting some sort of program in motion that naturally worked itself out according to Fibonacci principles, but will say that it went beyond anything he could have ever expected it to fulfill just based on that programming alone, leaving a bit of mystery there that makes one wonder if God was working through the program at the same time as the program was working on its own.*

*  Kind of like creation.  Think about it.

Edited December 13, 2018 by Yeah No

[jlc]

On 12/10/2018 at 12:21 AM, Boofish said:

I love it as well. There is a part of me that think his dad is doing it

Oh wow! Wouldn't that be awesome! Or if his sister's girlfriend is behind it.

[jhlipton]

I was thinking (uh oh!!!) and the girl shoplifting that perfume might be easier to anticipate than some of the other Friendings. 

A young girl loses her beloved mother suddenly, and her father acts to "erase" Mom.  Girl seeks some form of identifier of Mom and latches onto perfume (smell being so important).  Girl goes to nearest store with high-end perfumes and "Hey, Miles!!!"

[stonehaven]

I am a person of faith..deep faith but have long given up on Pop Culture(TV or movies) celebrating God as the way I view God. All that said, I still love this show..and if they go the science route as a reason for all this, I won't be surprised or even sad. It's just a show that reminds me of goodness..and we all need that...That end exchange about "when do you stop missing them?"..that actually made me smile and teary...as I'm almost two years out from the loss of a close friend...and it doesn't get easier..just different.

I do hope there is a second season for this show. It is a show that is so needed.

[tribeca]

Miles is so sweet and caring how could cara not fall for him ?

jmho she needs to work on some issues before getting involved in a relationship.   

 Love Miles and his dad on the roller coaster.   They were both so happy.   I would like to believe that Miles mom was looking down watching and smiling.  

   Is this the second time God sent Miles to help someone from his dads church?