Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Television Review: 11.22.63 Episode 5 (Hulu)


During the week that this episode aired I was sick and so I ended up not watching it until after Episode 6 was out as well, but I stayed away from spoilers and decided to put some time between the two episodes so that they didn't blend together into one.    Though after watching this episode, I kind of wish I had watched Episode 6 after it so I'd at least have something to type about other than the ramblings of a television viewer who feels as if they are owed something.

While Episode 4 was not my favorite or the best, I expected it to at least be the calm before the storm and as such this episode- as we are on the homestretch- should have been that fast-paced adrenaline rush the series needs rather than what it felt like which was merely filler.   I can sum up this episode in a few lines, a paragraph at most, but the events are not as much important as the why of them is what matters.

First off, let's talk about Bill.   Not only did Bill get caught talking to Lee Harvey Oswald's wife (which he was told not to do) he also saw what he thought was his sister and missed what was supposed to be Oswald's first attempt at an assassination.     Now, it would be easy to get mad and blame Bill for this but you also have to consider that Bill came along through a series of circumstances which might not otherwise happened and so Jake should really be handling this himself and in that sense he holds all of the responsibility to me.

So what was Jake doing?   Well, since Jake got caught with Sadie's wife and then he tried to explain his lies to her, she ended up captured by her husband who then called Jake over.    He held them both hostage until they were eventually able to escape in quite the scene- you have to hand it to George from "Grey's Anatomy"; he was a tough cookie to put down- and then they spent a lot of time in the hospital hoping Sadie survived before Jake eventually told her his secret.  

Even though it should be this high stakes hostage situation that leaves you on the edge of your seat and in a word- DRAMA- I just really couldn't find myself buying into it.   Why is Jake putting so much time and effort into these characters, to the point where it is obviously interfering with his mission?  If Jake could handle both things then it'd be all right, but obviously he can't and now- as a viewer- I'm just left wondering why Jake is so stupid.   He went back in time and spent all this time and effort already (You know, like the time and effort I've put into watching this) and now he's going to blow it all for a woman?

Jake needed to go back in the past and do the bidding of his dead friend by staying in the shadows, by staying in the background.   Jake knows this too because it's what he keeps telling Bill, but Jake just can't seem to take his own advice.    This episode was like a horror movie where you're supposed to care about the idiot teenagers but just want to see Jason Vorhees kill 'em all.   If Sadie died in this episode it might have actually been a good thing because then Jake could have gone about his mission with more focus.  (Though Jake also could have just gone back to the future-present, then back to the past and such hit the reset button and Sadie would have been alive again, but let's forget that for a minute)

What I think needs to be said here is that if Jake dies in the past, umm...  Well, he would technically die in 1963.   But then he would be born in 1978.   So where does that leave his future-self?   I'm pretty sure this is it for him.    If he died in 1963 he would just become a missing person in the future-present.   He wouldn't be able to somehow come back.   So I'm kind of wondering how this all ends and if that's one of the scenarios because I've heard this Stephen King is a dark fella.

I realize that most all stories are love stories.   I was just hoping that this might be a little bit more about history (or thought of history) and a little less of a love story.   This episode was really nothing more than a soap opera and both of the two main characters messed up so badly I don't even really look forward to Episode 6 unless it means Lee Harvey Oswald is going to kill them.  No, imagine Lee somehow saw Bill before Bill went running after who he thought was his sister.   Lee could certainly kill his downstairs neighbors and right now it's about one of the best possible outcomes I'd say.

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