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Season 01: Episode 09 - His Visit: Day Eight
By admin | August 6, 2007
But, a new and more pressing mystery has developed in Mitch’s absence. Despite a house surrounded by Freddy, Palaka and Bill, Shaun has disappeared in the night. Cissy begins to wail the moment she finds his empty room. Outside, Bill notices that Zippy, whose cage had been sitting in the car all night, has vanished as well. Cissy calls Tina, thinking Linc has lured Shaun off somewhere, but when Tina finds the promoter jogging on the beach, he’s as miffed as everyone else. Cissy barges into Butchie’s hotel room, telling him Shaun’s gone and, “I want to know where your ‘friend’ is who said he would be.” Butchie heads off to Cass’s hotel to find John, while Cissy drives to the café where Dwayne has received a second puzzling message on his computer, this time a black banner with two stick figures instead of one. As Cissy bumps past Dickstein in the café doorway, she announces Shaun’s departure, and Dwayne replies, “We know.” Showing everyone the picture, Dwayne explains that the contact should give them assurance that Shaun is safe, but Cissy’s not buying it. She leaves to canvas I.B. for her grandson, and Dickstein begins to draft a response to the message.
At the Snug Harbor, Palaka remembers he’d brought a Teddy bear as a gift for Freddy when the boss arrived from Hawaii. What with the broken wrist and the miracles, he’d forgotten to present it to him. Worried that the bad luck an un-given gift draws may have caused all these calamities, Palaka hands him the Teddy. At first Freddy throws the bear into the parking lot, but when Palaka begs him to take it – to help Shaun if nothing else – the criminal stalks across the parking lot with the stuffed animal and bestows it on Barry, who’s more than happy to accept.
Butchie knocks at Cass’s hotel-room door, announcing himself meekly, but when she opens up, he forces his way in and holds her against the wall with his hand on her chest. “Your roommate grabbed my kid,” he says. Cass tries to help by showing Butchie the footage she’s shot with John, explaining that he seems to be on “autopilot,” delivering pre-programmed responses in situations he’s trained to recognize. Frustrated that Cass – who’s spent more time with John than anyone – can’t shed any light on his missing son or his father’s levitation, Butchie scribbles down some phone numbers for her and leaves to meet Kai.
Cissy scavenges I.B. for anyone who’s seen or heard from Shaun, and while she doesn’t turn up anything substantial, she recruits some aid for the cause. Vietnam Joe, who she finds fishing on the pier, puts the word out to his buddies at the V.F.W., and Bill – approaching his cop friend Anderson – secures some under-the-radar police work. Butchie catches up with Kai at the surf shop, assuring her that John wouldn’t hurt Shaun because “his automatic pilot wouldn’t be an asshole.” Backing this statement with some nonsense logic about John not taking dumps, Butchie collects Kai in his arms. Tina walks in on the moment, and the two follow her outside, where Linc is recruiting Jake’s help to find the kid. Promising Linc he’ll hire a private investigator and ply some political connections to enlist help from the F.B.I., Jake takes a step back when Butchie approaches his former promoter. “Every f**king promise I ever made, I broke,” Butchie says to Linc, before dropping him with a punch to the face.
Dr. Smith, after perusing some rundown commercial space for a clinic he plans to open, visits the Snug Harbor and finds Barry outside the lounge, obviously distressed. Barry explains that he’s been receiving visions of Shaun and Gilbert Rollins in the bar, and Dr. Smith shares his own fears about opening the clinic. Together, they step inside the lounge to face Barry’s demons. After taking a look around, they exit to the parking lot, where Ramon appears with an Avon catalog he’s received from Rosa. He implores Barry to flip to the middle of the pamphlet, where a group of stick figures have appeared in the pages’ margins. Dr. Smith runs to grab his own catalog and confirms that the symbols have appeared there as well. “This is huge,” the doctor says. Later, the three of them meet with Dickstein and Dwayne in the lounge, where Dwayne shows the reply he received to Dickstein’s message: More stick figures. On the bar’s wall, a row of the symbols appear out of thin air.
Mitch and Erlemeyer arrive at the house, oblivious to Shaun’s disappearance. But Cissy – after smacking Mitch viciously in the face – fills him in. The Chemist steps outside and begins to clean up Mitch’s desecrated clubhouse, while Mitch slowly dials down Cissy’s anger inside the house. After she explains the events of the past few days, he says, “Someone has to walk point … Talk to the cops, the press, the whole deal. I’m here, let me take it.” Before long, Mitch is standing in the driveway, giving an uncomfortable and disorganized press conference. Cissy and Erlemeyer watch from inside, while Linc looks on with a weeping Tina from her Mustang across the street. He suggests she step in front of the cameras as the worried mother, but she declines, telling Linc, “I’ll fall apart. I’ll f**k it up.”
As the day ends with no clue to Shaun’s whereabouts, Freddy offers an angry prayer to a power he can’t name. Dwayne waits at the café – trusted with the key after Jerri closes up – for more contact via the internet. Butchie, board in hand, wades into the surf while Kai watches from the beach. Above them on the pier, Cass films.
August 6th, 2007 at 11:38 am
I think Shawn is and has been dead since his accident and the “miracle” recovery was just John’s way (he may be a messenger to take people to the other side) of giving the family a little more time with him and that time enables them to transform into more compansionate individuals and let’s face it, shawn appears to be a ghost in the bar room scene. This reminds me of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in a way.
The way the world is today, everyone is in need of spirituality and this is what this show provides with different viewers taking different things and interpretations from it. The word “deep” comes up a lot in postings and I think that’s the key.
August 6th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Did anyone else notice that “the Chemist” is none other than “Dr. Jonny Fever” from “WKRP in Cinncinnatti”? After the “Sopranos” finale, could it be that HBO is taking the piss once again?
August 6th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
that’s a great insight, i never thought of shawn being dead. I have been a big fan of this show from the jump but i got to admit that the last episode really provided no substance. madison, do you have any input on the significance of the stick figures? i’m trying to figure out what they symbolize.
August 7th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
It seems to me, after watching all 9 episodes that I have wasted a lot of time. Is there a plan or is the script being written week by week. It is getting consistant in it’s randomness.
August 7th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Anyone that knows David Milch and knows how he writes would understand how these plots evolve. Anybody see Deadwood ?
August 7th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
I notice that Barry seems to be the only one connecting with the “dead guy in the room”, and he also is the only one that sees Shawn at the bar, so I concur, perhaps Shawnie has been dead all along. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Madison.
I think in relation to the stick figures we might be thinking too hard. I feel it simply signifies Shawn being with John, which JFC is intials for that popular slang, Jesus Fuckin’ Christ.
Shawn will soon be gone, so everyone get your act together since you are already in the moment.
Just my thoughts.
August 7th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
So it appears that John is not the only one from Cincinnati to make it to the left coast. Been wondering what old Hess has been doing since leaving radio
August 7th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I wish I did. I’m stumped there.
August 7th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
I am addicted to this show, and I am not giving up on it although it has left me very confused every week.
My theory is that John is not of this Earth…maybe he couldn’t speak English at all and that is why he repeats things. I also think he is somehow connected to Zippy the parrot. Like Butchie was explaining…John is in autopilot like a programmed robot until someone or something send a command to him. I think that must be his “father”. I also think that some hypnotism went on at the hotel a few episodes back when everyone was there but couldn’t remember “the words”. It was like they were on autopilot too, or in a trance. There is some crazy stuff going on and I can’t wait until the next episode !
August 8th, 2007 at 9:26 am
I think the chemist is Gerald Mcraney, the guy who played Hearst on Deadwood. Who played Dr Jonny Fever?
August 8th, 2007 at 9:30 am
The chemist is played by Howard Hesseman, the same person who played Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati.
August 8th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
dude,sharktooth–Gerald Mcraney? Isn’t he from Simon & Simon? GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS SHARKTOOTH!!!!
August 8th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
I think that they all have special powers, like heroes. I don’t know what he powers are or what the hell is going on but that’s my guess.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
It’s interesting that there are still people really upset that they can’t figure out the shows premise yet. One would think that not figuring it out is what the show is about to this point (and will remain so at season end if another season is forthcoming, if we’re lucky). It’s not “I love Lucy” and it is intended to be ambiguous and perplexing. Try to remember HS literature and have some fun realizing the symbology, intended or not. The only thing that one should be really upset about is if there is a clear meaning given and it turns out to be overly simplistic (Bobby wakes up from his dream in Dallas) or completely off the path provided so far. If the writer is doing his job, enough of the ends will be tied up at season conclusion to keep up watching. We anticipate watching this show weekly - it’s far above anything else on the boobtube.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
I like the zen of the show and the attempts at spirituality and if they do do that over simplistic stuff or deus ex machina or something then it would really suck. Of course we want the loose ends tied up, it’s entertainment. But how do you tie up the loose end of Shawn coming back from the dead in the first place? Or that damn bird for that matter. That’s mythological and where we suspend our disbelief, I guess. It is definitely far and above anything else on. It makes people think! Hey, isn’t that the opposite of what TV is about?
August 8th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Take another Bong hit and think that this is a deep show. It’s crap. Rumor is that this is the final season. Really, google it. Unless HBO comes up with something of quality (Sopranos), subscribers are going bye-bye.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
I like the show, but was confused on the meaning of it. I don’t understand why i was so transfixed by the show, but I really do enjoy watching it.
August 9th, 2007 at 3:15 am
Watch the intro. every surfer whiping out,appleseed (our children) if you want the honey, we’re killing all the bees (bees,children, make honey, they are our future) Old testemant reference to the land of milk and honey. Shawn died in the hospital. His death makes a group of disfunctional assholes come together, even though they don’t know it.John is here to either move him on, or all of them. either way, he makes them all better people. Jhons father is our father. just a guess
August 9th, 2007 at 9:06 am
If the figures represent people, why no arms? I think they mean something else. Also, the last message showed several of them, so they can’t represent specific people like hair lip thought after the second message.
August 9th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
This show has taken my cold scientific perception of existance and injected a child-like excitement about lifes possibilities.I do not need to know exactly where the plot is going. The scenery and mystery make it an in the moment zennish show to watch.Fuck the critics they dont get that there may be nothing toget at all and thats where happiness lies which is part of what the writers are getting at.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
John seems to be a John the Baptist figure. Shaun is the Christ figure. There are approximately twelve in the community outside of the family. Apostles? Barry parallels Paul pretty closely–seeing visions, “thorn in his side”. Tina seems to be a cross between the virgin mother and Mary Magdalene.
The stick figures communicate different things to different people, but they suggest “everyone is the same”. How many appeared? Did anyone count?
The fake PSAs suggest ocean=church. Butchie looking out over the ocean at the end while that song played suggested that would be where “someone” appears. Jesus disappeared during his teen years and was (supposedly) taught by the Essenes. Will Shaun return several years older as the Christ? That would be my guess. John may reappear first and, being held accountable, Sissy may “ask for his head”.
That’s what I’m thinking…
August 10th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
I am completely on Keith’s wavelength–saw the episode for the 1st time last night and have been mulling it over all day.
A few quibbles–all the women have elements of Magdelene: Cass, Tina, even Kai (by virtue of her intense loyalty). I’d peg the doctor or even Freddy as more “Paul-like” than Barry. Still, we’re on the same page. Worth pointing out, regarding Butchie staring out at the sea, that the West represents the land of the dead.
I wonder if Christian theologians and preachers will start picking up on this show soon. They should. It is more powerful than all the “touched by angel” crap ever made.
I think it is also worth considering whether or how much “John” borrows from sci-fi aliens like those in Solaris. They read your hearts and minds, but don’t understand any of it; but in the process, force humans to come to terms with their past, their pain (driving some mad in the process).
I was looking for critical analysis of this series today and shook my head in disbelief at the stupid comments of professional tv reviewers. The show is all about “madness.” Come again? The show is all about the possibility–the necessity, even–of redemption. Sometimes you see one or two characters “redeemed” in a movie or tv show (it usually rings false) but never a dozen or more people, convincingly transformed for the better. Maybe it doesn’t qualify as a miracle, but it’s pretty f-ing close.
August 10th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
At the end of the last episode, everyone was at the beach or on the pier looking out to sea. The epidosde ends to the sound of “Hold on I’m coming.”
To paraphrase John, “The end is clear”
The trinity of John, Shawn and Zippy( all have previously come back from the dead and are currently missing) will return at the beginning to the next episode surfing in from the middle of the pacific and the stick man logo will be on their wetsuits. (I am not sure how zippy will surf and wear a wet suit so he may be flying with them sans logo.
Cass will film it, Butchie will surf with them and John will be revealed as the son of God.
The last song will be “John, John, John” by the hippie couple that were temporary members of the greatful dead.
August 10th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Good points, Clio, and since your psychic, you must be right!
Since Paul was a tax-collector, it’s possible the lawyer represents him, too. A lot of these characters seem to represent aspects of the Biblical characters. I’m not the fount of Biblical wisdom I used to be, but I imagine it’s a very rich mine…
I think redemption is the key, too. These people are all deeply flawed, or, if not, they think that they are. I was particularly struck by the knowledge of what happened when Sissy caught Shaun masturbating. Barry’s vision of his molestor with Shaun could suggest Shaun as Barry’s true self–a highly evolved spiritual view of consciousness that Milch probably is tapped into…
I can’t wait for Sunday’s episode. I think I’ll have a John marathon on Sunday and watch all the episodes on HBOonDemand (and save them to DVD). The idea that this series may not reappear next year is frightening. John Q. Public doesn’t seem to be evolved enough to get it.
August 10th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I’m making a prediction, too. I love DEADWOOD, but I’m betting in ten or fifteen years that JFC will be deemed a more important (if less popular) work.
August 10th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
I just watched this episode for the 3rd time and just realized that each of the characters we have met are all emotionally dead to a certain degree. Barry and Sissy being the worst.They all seem to have resigned themselves to missing something in their lives, but no idea what it is.They slowly are awakening to that fact but not simaltainiously.
Butchie having come along the fastest is showing a new lust for life. Sissy is realizing that everybody already knows her secrets,and that the only one she is keeping them from is herself. Mitch has accepted his levetation experiences, without a psychotic episode, more kind of numbly, but still want to understand it. Etc…
The old Shaun is dead, and the new Shaun is emerging in pro active manner that has cut the invisabel umbilical cord that Sissy had on him. The dead guy in Snug Harbor has a relation to more than 1 charracater in JFC.
The xmas lights in the bar at Snug Harbor indicate that it’s demise was around the Holiday season, when many a lonely person finds themselves in such places.
Sorry for the ramblings;
I.B. > I Be
August 11th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
3rd time? You ever watch one of those mysteries, that when they finally reveal the answer to the mystery the viewer had absolutely no chance on figuring it out. You know what I’m talking about, resolve the whole thing in the last 5 minutes with some fact that nobody knew about….Guess whats going to happen tomorrow.
And to all of those looking for the “trinity” or 12 apostles…Keep in mind that David Milch is Jewish.
Read this article “John from Cincinnati: David Milch’s failure” from the national post. We’ve been had.
August 11th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
The beauty of this show is that you do not know or can not guess the outcome. No show that has gone to its finally in a normal manner has not ended in a way that the clues were not given. Remember that in the big scheme of things we are all “1’s & 0’s”. Any other explination was created by U.
August 12th, 2007 at 12:10 am
I’m pretty sure that theres no way to predict the finale.
I’m also pretty sure its meant as a culmination. The entire thing is supposed to lead to ONE episode of revelation.
Milch is no idiot and people have been talking the same critic trash about him for a while now. He’s got to have expected the reaction thus far.
Or maybe it is up shits creek. I hope not.
August 12th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
I agree Clio/whosmav….Despite some truly inane and negative opinions from critics and viewers alike, and also leaving aside that we are unapt to clearly predict the flow, concept and finality of this “series?”, it has done for me, what a myriad of television shows fail to do on a regular basis: keeps me watching AND more IMO, THINKING. Also, although I felt that Deadwood was an engrossing and linguistic treasure of a series {give me my ending Milch..lol!}, JFC has captivated me in a whole different way. I applaud both!
August 13th, 2007 at 5:57 am
ok. So ive read this whole post, and like hearing other peoples insights, so i think i’ll share some of mine.
When shaun and john first meet, they have an instant connection. Drawing the same images which has left me wondering what the hell they were drawing. I think now it was those stick figures. But that spin and arm thing I dunno.
For a couple weeks I started to feel like the motel was a place of higher power like a heaven or even hell or some sort of judgement place. Where else do that many personalitlies get equalized. But it is getting a makeover just as its inhabitants are getting a moral makeover. Again nothing but question marks
there.
Oh how I wish I could have sat in on one of the plot meetings for this show, simply to confirm by biggest fear, that someone says ” this will really screw with them” rather than there being the deeper meaning that I feel too intellectually inadequite to grasp.
grasp.
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Yeah, John & Shaun were drawing the stick figures with their feet in that scene in the first episode.
I love the mystical/spiritual quality of the show. I’ll really miss it if it is truly cancelled.
Has anyone proposed that John was some sort of highly evolved fish dude? In that last episode Shawnie declines to eat Cissy’s Tuna which was obviously his fave up until he disappeared with John. The stick figures had no arms. Like fish. And John & Shawn came off the water in the last episode too. Just my theory but is John Jesus of the Sea??
August 24th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Interesting, JerseyGeorge
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http://www.geocities.com/dominorus/oannes_2.html
September 16th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
i think the show was very interesting and i am sorry to see it go. i am hoping that all of us can bring it it back, its worth a shot…
December 4th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
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April 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am
This is like the scene from “The Big Chill” when William Hurt is asked about the movie he is watching. The dialogue goes a bit and he finally says : “You’re so analytical; sometimes you have to let art flow over you.” Thats what this is for me, you just have to experience it, some people get it, some don’t. But what “it” is I don’t think I can explain yet.
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:52 am
It’s Sooooo good to see this again! My husband watched it for the first time and declared it a “masterpiece.” I, a die-hard fan, immediately agreed.