Editorial: The Cliffhanger
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There was a staggering indifference I had for this episode. I told my husband within the first few seconds that this would either be really good or really bad. About half way through my husband replied, “It’s teetering on going either way. And as I saw it, it teetered for the rest of the episode. It hanged in a balance never going all the way to dreadful and never reaching the other end of the spectrum by actually being genuinely good. It was all a bit under-whelming and far more anti-climatic than I ever thought this episode could be.
There were moments I enjoyed or at the very least appreciated. One of which was the angst between Ryan and Marissa. But it was never powerful enough. The key point in Ryan’s distrust and hushed anger wasn’t Johnny; it was how Marissa had been treating him this whole time. It was always clear to me she never loved Johnny. It never should have been in question. But that’s not to say she never put Johnny before Ryan. She did numerous times. That’s why I loved to hear Ryan stand his ground. It’s a shame it had to be on the persuading of Kaitlin. Ryan should have been trusting his own instincts before and he never did. He played doting boyfriend who never boldly quested Marissa’s actions. Sure, the trust was there to some degree. But her actions left me wondering just how much she loved Ryan. These issues that came out of Johnny should have been firmly addressed a long time ago. In other words, this whole discord was little too late.
I can’’t ignore there is a palpable chemistry between Ryan and Marissa when they finally ignore the overpowering problems in their relationship and start making out in the pool house (along with the tiki hut). But this isn’t enough to sustain me. And it was rather disheartening to see when just a few minutes before Ryan asks Marissa, “What do you want from me?” and all Marissa can muster to say is the stereotypical romantic one liner, “You.” She was void of genuine emotion and worse yet I don’t think she could comprehend beyond that. I have a feeling that if he took it one step further and asked her to explain she would have been left speechless.
Of course with the finale of this episode I have to assume the whole relationship will be turned around on Marissa yet again. It’ll be another event in Marissa’’s life to make her deeply depressed and detached from the world around her, including Ryan. Johnny fell of the cliff because of her. That’s enough for her to spiral downward for four or five episodes at least. Do note that I say that last line with a hint of sarcasm fully intact.
Almost every suppose to be significant moment was over powered by the music. I loved the soundtrack to this episode, but was sadden to see the quality of the show couldn’t live up to the quality of the music. There was one notable exception, the frighteningly perfect punk song playing against Seth token up in his bedroom yet again. Black Flag’s ’Wasted” was the premiere slacker-stoner song that fit the mood of the moment. Seth wasn’t being defiant or trying to support a movement or belief. He had no concrete reason to be smoking up. Yes, he was depressed about his future and his position along side Summer. But at this point these were mere excuses. It was clear Summer was willing to listen and yet he still stalled to tell her the whole truth. Where was the meaning or reasoning in Seth getting high again? It was somewhere near his weakness, if there at all. He’s so indifferent to life now that there is little meaning in smoking pot, being a geek-skater boy or even being Summer’s boyfriend. So what better background noise than the degeneration punk rocker who sings, with a great disconnect, of random [and in my opinion, meaningless] characteristics of being (a surfer, a dropout, a hippie) juxtaposed with being wasted?
It was rather interesting that Seth would make mention to Ryan of his current situation tottering on turning into an after school special. The thing is, Seth hasn’t yet equated his pot smoking with being wrong. It’s just something Summer will find juvenile, as if he confessed to liking Beanie Babies, so he says. It’’s treated more as a character flaw at this point. It is another thing Summer can’t attract herself too and he believes she finds is too beneath her. Now the divide between them that Seth so fears will happen in college is coming ahead now. It’s interesting to me how Seth can be so affected by what’’s to come in the future that he’s willing to ruin his present. And it’s interesting that Seth is easily willing to discredit Summer from being able to understand what he’s been doing and why he first started doing it.
I once again find myself missing Taylor, but have come to realize she can’t be present every week. There would have been little purpose for her. But it would have been funny to see how she would of reacted to a high Seth. Chili was back, but underused. I still feel he needs to be given more material and greater material. If Johnny has reached his demise I hope we see some stellar writing for his best friend.
Give it to a classic season one Newpsie to highlight the entire show with one line. The whole exchange between her and a scarf hidden Julie spying on Dr. Roberts’ date was hilarious simply because of the Taliban line. It’s the sporadic placement of sardonic wit that enhanced the show in season one. I wish we could see more of it and, of course, more of the Newpsies.
I was oddly drawn into to the building romance of Julie and Dr. Roberts. This wasn’t the case in the past few episodes, but something changed. I can tell you that when Dr. Roberts showed up at Julie’s trailer and confessed he couldn’’t stop thinking about her my heart skipped a beat. I’m actually excited to see how their relationship turns out. I have to give credit to Michael Nouri because, now that I think about, it was his charming performance that helped bring the story alive.
The episode’s trailer had stated all will be revealed in the last few minutes and you won’t be disappointed. But the truth of the matter is I couldn’’t be disappointed or gratified. We never reached a final resolve. You can say we saw Johnny plummet away before being able to take grasp of Ryan’s hand. But I can’t say whether he’s alive or dead. It’s not a resolve at all. It’s what makes the title come alive. “The Cliffhanger” It’s not a progressive flow of storyline but rather a deliberate tactic to manipulate a viewer to tune in next week. When a show isn’t going on hiatus or breaking for the summer I hate cliffhangers as direct and bold as this one was. Now I have to deal with time lapses, the possibility of flashbacks, or wondering if we will actually come back to where we were at the end. The first two never worked well for the aftermath of Trey’s shooting in this season’s premiere. I can’t imagine the writers could get it right this time, but I won’t know for sure until we come to next week’s episode. I’ll just have to wait until then. Maybe by this time they can actually progress it forward without seeming as bland and mediocre as this episode did with the Johnny-Marissa-Ryan storyline.
*** ½ out of *****
