Thoughts on TWW 1x05 & 1x06
I just watched 1x06: "Mr. Willis of Ohio" and am so enamored of Josh/Donna right now (don’t tell me if this is a thing that eventually happens, please, I don’t want to be spoiled!!!). I already kind of shipped them, and then the running gag about her wanting her money back from the budget surplus and then KEEPING JOSH’S MONEY was so excellent that I can see no alternative to shipping them.
In other shipping news, 1x05 made me go “hmm” about Zoe/Charlie, and after watching 1x06 I’m thinking, “yes, please, do something with that!” (again, NO SPOILERS, PLEASE).
I could also easily ship Sam/Mallory, if for nothing else than I’m sure Leo’s reaction would be HILARIOUS, but as I know Sam/Ainsley is a Thing, I’m not getting my hopes up.
How excellent is the bar scene and the aftermath?? I adore Charlie, and Sam, and Josh. And hi there, Eric Balfour! Shame you had to play such a jerk. I did not like Bartlett’s victim blaming where he asked if Zoe provoked the boys, but I guess she kind of called him on it. His rant about her being kidnapped and his subsequent apology were nicely handled, though.
Mr. Willis was wonderful. Toby was great as usual. C.J. and Sam were amusing in their census lessons. Everyone in this cast has great chemistry, because at various times I’ve thought both C.J./Toby and C.J./Sam were intriguing, too (they're not ships I want to happen, because I don't think they would actually work romantically at all, and I wouldn't want to see it, but the friendship/colleague chemistry is so great that sometimes I end up temporarily thinking, hmm).
Speaking of the excellent friendships on this show, I really appreciated how Bartlett apologized to Leo.
One thing I did not quite like was the poker scene at the beginning because it was so reminiscent of TNG. I know TWW wasn’t stealing from TNG- it makes sense that the characters would play cards- but I swear, some of the shots (the actual camera angles) were eerily similar. I just kept thinking, I’ve seen this scene already, and I like it better on the Enterprise. Also, I sympathize with Toby; Bartlett was being extremely obnoxious with those questions- also, he was counting cards??
And I wrote down some thoughts a month ago when I watched 1x05 and never posted them, but I’ll summarize now…
-I loved how Leo was such a BAMF about Crackpot Day and how Sam was the only one on his list.
-I really liked Toby and Bartlett’s conversation at the end of the episode where they were candid with each other.
-Josh had a video club card. This show is so dated!! Not to mention the $32 billion surplus in 1x06… *cries*
-Everything about Josh’s inner crisis concerning the card was fantastic. His reactions to finding out that Donna and Sam didn’t get cards were wonderful and made my heart hurt (and Sam’s face was adorable when he was rambling about never seeing Kathy naked and how she was like his sister). His conversation with C.J. was moving, and at the end when he gave the card back I just wanted to hug him. This show is exploring issues I would never have dreamed of, and I love it.