Re: Burning Man Thoughts
Comments on the ep in general:
Going to Burning Man: The toilet paper routine was hilarious. The RV ride over was also reminicent of the early eps. Hmmm...I think I had something else to say, but it's not coming to me now.
Hal Plot: Very funny...my favourite plot in this ep. It was weird to see the usually convention defying character be the uptight "suburban dad". I'm think/hope Dewey will have a good analysis for this, so I won't say anything else about this just yet.
Lois Plot: I really enjoyed this plot until the topless scene at the end. Until then, the writers had managed to maintain Lois' character while still having her fit in with the burning man community. I thought they were heading in that direction when she was stitching hemp shirts (not 'discovering hemp' like the description said - that makes it sound like she was actually smoking it) and when she thought of having a Sears portrait taken. They had sort of maintained this duality of Lois' 'mom' character (stitching and dressing up her child) with the feeling of Burning Man (hemp, tatoos - fake one in this case). But they threw that away in the last scene and made it into the usual 'kids are shocked as the parents go wild' story.
Francis Plot: MISSING!! That was a disappointment.
Although, I suppose reintroducing him as a regular character would have required a long explanation as to what he has been doing and more time than was available in this ep.
Reese Plot: Bit too much like Day Care and the season 6 eps. When he was first talking to Max (I think that was his name) about how Burning Man was about creating but that involved destroying, I thought that's what the ep would be about. Reese hears destroying is ok and goes on a rampage but then either stops having fun with it or turns it into some kind of business. But, it was the same old season-six-Reese's-spiritual-side plot. That said, it was still well done.
Malcolm Plot: Nice to see a plot that wasn't 'completely' depressing for Malcolm. And nice to see him doing fine at the end. It was very simmilar yet very different from the Traffic Jam plot. It was sort of like an older, see-how-Malcolm's-changed version of Traffic Jam. Like in Traffic Jam, Malcolm was, for once, enjoying himself until his usual pessimistic-skeptic self kicked in. And, like in Traffic Jam, in they end, even though they weren't together, Malcolm got something out of it. In Traffic Jam, Malcolm realized that thinking of the future isn't always the best thing and you have to enjoy what you have; in Burning Man, he learned to be open to weird sounding ideas.
Dewey Plot: Didn't quite get this one. I understood why he had to help Hal initially-he was the only one that was left behind. But, he could easily have ditched him while he was out throwing the waste or washing the rugs. And I was especially confused about why he had to help Hal at the end - with the extra work his boss had given him.
Jamie Plot: I liked that he didn't have a full plot, but was used as a prop in other plots. I was afraid he'd become too important in this season. Of course, it's too early to say.
I tried answering this earlier, but it's hard to compare an ep to seasons. It wasn't season 1 & 2 quality: I doubt they can ever go back to that standard. But, it was significantly better than the average eps from seasons 5 & 6. Yet, it was not like some of the exceptional eps, like Stilts or Ida's Boyfriend or the Army eps. See what I mean - hard to compare.admin said:
Comments on the ep in general:
Going to Burning Man: The toilet paper routine was hilarious. The RV ride over was also reminicent of the early eps. Hmmm...I think I had something else to say, but it's not coming to me now.
Hal Plot: Very funny...my favourite plot in this ep. It was weird to see the usually convention defying character be the uptight "suburban dad". I'm think/hope Dewey will have a good analysis for this, so I won't say anything else about this just yet.
Lois Plot: I really enjoyed this plot until the topless scene at the end. Until then, the writers had managed to maintain Lois' character while still having her fit in with the burning man community. I thought they were heading in that direction when she was stitching hemp shirts (not 'discovering hemp' like the description said - that makes it sound like she was actually smoking it) and when she thought of having a Sears portrait taken. They had sort of maintained this duality of Lois' 'mom' character (stitching and dressing up her child) with the feeling of Burning Man (hemp, tatoos - fake one in this case). But they threw that away in the last scene and made it into the usual 'kids are shocked as the parents go wild' story.
Francis Plot: MISSING!! That was a disappointment.
Although, I suppose reintroducing him as a regular character would have required a long explanation as to what he has been doing and more time than was available in this ep.Reese Plot: Bit too much like Day Care and the season 6 eps. When he was first talking to Max (I think that was his name) about how Burning Man was about creating but that involved destroying, I thought that's what the ep would be about. Reese hears destroying is ok and goes on a rampage but then either stops having fun with it or turns it into some kind of business. But, it was the same old season-six-Reese's-spiritual-side plot. That said, it was still well done.
Malcolm Plot: Nice to see a plot that wasn't 'completely' depressing for Malcolm. And nice to see him doing fine at the end. It was very simmilar yet very different from the Traffic Jam plot. It was sort of like an older, see-how-Malcolm's-changed version of Traffic Jam. Like in Traffic Jam, Malcolm was, for once, enjoying himself until his usual pessimistic-skeptic self kicked in. And, like in Traffic Jam, in they end, even though they weren't together, Malcolm got something out of it. In Traffic Jam, Malcolm realized that thinking of the future isn't always the best thing and you have to enjoy what you have; in Burning Man, he learned to be open to weird sounding ideas.
Dewey Plot: Didn't quite get this one. I understood why he had to help Hal initially-he was the only one that was left behind. But, he could easily have ditched him while he was out throwing the waste or washing the rugs. And I was especially confused about why he had to help Hal at the end - with the extra work his boss had given him.
Jamie Plot: I liked that he didn't have a full plot, but was used as a prop in other plots. I was afraid he'd become too important in this season. Of course, it's too early to say.
