Joan of Arcadia - The Uncertainty Principle
The Uncertainty Principle.
Goth Kid God: "Evil" is not a word to use lightly. It's only the darkest end of a broad spectrum.
Joan: You mean like... light?
Goth Kid God: Exactly like light. Nobody's born in total darkness. Most of you live on the gray end of the spectrum... a lie here, and there. Jealousy. Wrath. But you only get to absolute evil by doing one thing after another until eventually you're transformed.
There are many great threads going on in this episode. The light hearted Luke/Grace working together and going to the dance together (along with their first kiss!) makes this a great episode for me as a devoted L/G shipper, but Joan’s storyline takes the top marks for making this one of the best episodes of the series, in my opinion.
I like how Ramsey was presented as a character who I think much of the audience was rooting for by the end, at least I know that I was. Like God told Joan, monsters are very rare and Ramsey and certainty not a lost case, he just needs to have some light let into his life and that how a simple thing can make so much of a difference. Joan going to the dance with him gave him enough light to, I hope, eventually heal enough. As much as I hate the injustice of Ramsey very likely getting a jail term (I don’t know how long it would be, any legal nuts here want to hazard a guess on what threatening the police chef would get you?), I mean when you put it in context...but then the law is the law and it would be unrealistic for him to get away with it.
The episode is also a great testament to how Joan of Arcadia handles drama. The would be school shooting as described by Old Lady God at the close of the episode is enough for maximum impact without being overly dramatic.
I didn’t care much for the cop storyline, there are only a few that I don’t fastforward upon rewatch. I wish they’d have let it go, isn’t Will in it enough when he goes after Joan without having to waste scenes on some city government busting storyline (couldn’t they have at least postponed it for an episode or two or three so we could focus on the stellar Joan storyline in this episode?).
Also, God’s definitions of evil prove to be useful in retrospect of the whole series. If Ryan is evil, a monster like God described then he has been transformed into evil after doing many acts, and if so then what must he have done in the past? Surely it’s greater than burning churches and therefore what evil would have been unleashed on Arcadia in the nonexistent third season?
.
Goth Kid God: "Evil" is not a word to use lightly. It's only the darkest end of a broad spectrum.
Joan: You mean like... light?
Goth Kid God: Exactly like light. Nobody's born in total darkness. Most of you live on the gray end of the spectrum... a lie here, and there. Jealousy. Wrath. But you only get to absolute evil by doing one thing after another until eventually you're transformed.
There are many great threads going on in this episode. The light hearted Luke/Grace working together and going to the dance together (along with their first kiss!) makes this a great episode for me as a devoted L/G shipper, but Joan’s storyline takes the top marks for making this one of the best episodes of the series, in my opinion.
I like how Ramsey was presented as a character who I think much of the audience was rooting for by the end, at least I know that I was. Like God told Joan, monsters are very rare and Ramsey and certainty not a lost case, he just needs to have some light let into his life and that how a simple thing can make so much of a difference. Joan going to the dance with him gave him enough light to, I hope, eventually heal enough. As much as I hate the injustice of Ramsey very likely getting a jail term (I don’t know how long it would be, any legal nuts here want to hazard a guess on what threatening the police chef would get you?), I mean when you put it in context...but then the law is the law and it would be unrealistic for him to get away with it.
The episode is also a great testament to how Joan of Arcadia handles drama. The would be school shooting as described by Old Lady God at the close of the episode is enough for maximum impact without being overly dramatic.
I didn’t care much for the cop storyline, there are only a few that I don’t fastforward upon rewatch. I wish they’d have let it go, isn’t Will in it enough when he goes after Joan without having to waste scenes on some city government busting storyline (couldn’t they have at least postponed it for an episode or two or three so we could focus on the stellar Joan storyline in this episode?).
Also, God’s definitions of evil prove to be useful in retrospect of the whole series. If Ryan is evil, a monster like God described then he has been transformed into evil after doing many acts, and if so then what must he have done in the past? Surely it’s greater than burning churches and therefore what evil would have been unleashed on Arcadia in the nonexistent third season?
.