| Aug. 20th, 2005 @ 08:42 pm Cupid Episode 10 and 11 |
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I've really failed you Rat Slaves over the past few weeks. Sorry! Part of it is that Iwas busy earlier int he month, and part of it is that I really have a hard time analyzing a text if I don't have a transcript or script to help.
So I went to Google Groups to help. So excuse me if any of my thoughts are lifted from posts in rec.arts.tv or alt.tv.cupid.
Hung Jury - was written by Michael Green and Michael Conathan, but Hart Hanson and Rob Thomas worked on the story.
Trevor and Claire are ordered to be part of a jury ruling on some sort of computer fraud case. 11 out of the 12 jurors vote the defendant guilty, but Trevor votes not guilty. Claire thinks Trevor voted not guilty just because he doesn't want to be alone and because he sees another match he can make. In the end, the jurors acquit the defendant, who may be guilty.
But who cares?
I've seen this episode compared to Twelve Angry Men, but there's a little It Happened One Night in it. But I find this episode frsutrating and contrived, personally. There are great moments, and the way the artist character (played by Kim Fields) and the foreman of the jury end up together is cute. I also like the musical interludes (a street musician was also commandeered for the jury). But the story with Champ was so contrived. It was like, hey, everything has to be nice for Christmas. Let's just say I liked the ending of "An Echolls Family Christmas" better.
HJ/AEFC connection: When Champ takes a job as a Xmas Santa for the money. Trevor says Champ is the guy who puts the ho into ho ho ho. Logan makes a similar reference to Veronica in AEFC.
Episode 11 - A Great Personality
Written by Rob Thomas
This is a one-concept episode with a few variations, including the ever popular "inversion" version. Do people seeking relationships privilege outer appearance over the inner person? Yvonne (a beautiful woman now married to Ben Stiller), wants men who value the inner her, not her outer beauty. She has devised a series of tests to test the men who date her. With Trevor's help, she puts in a personal ad to find someone who might value the real her. She meets Ken, a guy who is not great looking but who makes her laugh and to whom she can really talk. They're falling in love... but then her old boyfriend comes back into her life and she reunites with him. Claire is also trying to figure out Trevor's real identity, the guys from the single group start going to a bar that mostly serves models and other beautiful people, and Champ is having second thoughts about his relationship with Chris.
We have another line that RT plagiarized from himself. Trevor asks Yvonne if "cartoon birds help [her] get dressed," a line almost repeated in Like a Virgin.
The ending is sad. You're expecting Yvonne to realize that Ken is the guy for her, but as far as we see, she doesn't. She's made the choice of beaty over personality, and she's worse off for it, but not changing herself.
I was also sad for Mike (one of the singles group guys), who chose personality over beauty (he found himself drawn to the waitress rather than the beautiful patrons of the hip bar)--only to find that someone smarter got there first. Annette already had a boyfriend.
Please--any feedback or additional thoughts would be most welcome. |
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