“Pan Am” recap: Episode 5: “One Coin in the Fountain”

(l-r)Laura, Colette and Kate. Credit: ABC

Firstly, I have to apologize for getting this up so late. I wanted it up Monday instead of Tuesday, but things happen. You know how it is. So, without further ado, let’s get into it.

The places we visit in this episode are London (I think) and Monte Carlo. Dean meets his “interloper,” the sexy and vivacious Ginny (Erin Cummings). They start an affair (she may or may not be married to the executive of Pan Am, but she certainly is his secretary), and this puts Dean’s non-starting relationship with Colette in a precarious place.

The two subplots are Kate having to play the vixen card to steal her next target, Nico Lonza (Goran Visnjic) from Maggie. The good thing is that we got to see Maggie’s claws in this episode (maybe I should start calling her “Maggie the Cat”–ten points if you know what film that’s from), and we also got to see a new side to Kate. The other subplot involves a nonsensical plot with Laura and Ted trying to get Laura’s engagement ring (that she pawned!) back in order to make things right with her fiance.

Firstly, I thought we’d already gone through the “make things right” thing in the second episode, when he takes a flight she’s working in order to talk to her. That chapter’s closed, so I don’t know why it needed to be reopened, and clumsily at best. Laura can’t be that dumb to think that a pawn shop would keep merchandise when their goal is to make money off the stuff people sell to them. Why in the world would the pawn shop guy keep it when a paying customer finds interest in her pawned ring? Besides, if the fiance let her keep the ring, she could pawn it or do whatever she wanted with it without feeling guilty. If she knew she would feel guilty about pawning it, she shouldn’t have pawned it. Actually, she should have given it back when she was talking to him in Episode Two.

Ted and Laura try to talk out their problems. Credit: ABC

Also, there’s been a lot of hinting about Ted’s political and social views. We know that he’s a womanizer and we can infer that he probably thinks the woman’s place–if not in some sort of subservient role in the workplace–is in the home. In any case, we can infer that he would think a lady executive is laughable. We know that he’s a little too casual about sexual harassment and rape–something that needs to be addressed (and something that Maggie should have reported to someone. At the very least, she should have told her co-workers). We also know that he doesn’t support Kennedy, even though he seemed overjoyed to see him in Germany. In this episode, we learn that he may or may not be prejudiced against black and brown people, since he’s making weird comments about sticking out in Harlem and for Laura not to go there at night, unaccompanied.

Now, it would be very bland for him to be like Dean (who himself might need to be dialed down a bit or racheted up a notch in terms of his idealism), so I’m not knocking this characterization (well, the rape part I am…again, that needs to come out!), but if he’s supposed to be a racist, sexist bastard, CAN HE BE A RACIST, SEXIST BASTARD!? One thing I can tell about this show is that they’re pussy-footing around the dirtiness of the 1960s, which does come in the form of racism and sexism. If Ted is that guy, make him that guy! Make us hate to love him, even! We already know that he’s disappointed in the route his life has taken–he wanted to be a NASA astronaut, but, due to events shown in “Ich Bin Ein Berliner,” he didn’t make it. Don’t make Ted be half the character he’s supposed to be. For instance, when he and Laura are riding the subway to Harlem, he nods at a black passenger. I would think that if he’s scared of being in Harlem and sees himself as the protector and savior of the Fragile White Lady at the hands of The Black Brute, he would either sneer at the black passenger, or make comments about how he doesn’t understand why NYC has integrated subways or something terrible. JUST DO IT! JUMP THE BROOM AND DO IT, WRITERS! The primetime audience is savvy enough to know how to take his character.

Speaking of Harlem, could that black guy that gets the ring be a more stereotypical “jazzy black guy”? What was that guy even talking about?! I know there are “jazzy black guys,” but come on. Just because he’s in Harlem, the guy’s gotta be jazzy? And he’s gotta talk about “tasty puddin’” or whatever? Something that doesn’t even deal with the issue at hand, which isn’t even an issue because SHE PAWNED THE RING AND SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THE CONSEQUENCES!

Basically, this subplot didn’t need to exist.

The other plots, however, were awesome. Colette didn’t get many lines this episode, but her moments of silence said volumes. It was amazing, and Karine Vanasse is becoming one of my favorite actresses. She gives Colette a cool, quiet, and “graceful sorrow”-type of personality, making Colette probably the most well-rounded character of the whole lot. She’s also my favorite stewardess. I think we should have been privy to her thoughts verbally, though, because she was clearly disturbed by Ginny taking Dean’s attention away.

Colette is awesome even when she doesn’t talk. Credit: ABC

Maggie began to show her “stirring the pot” ways this episode, which was highly welcomed. And to talk a bit about the preview for the next episode, it would seem that the next episode is when the show finally takes off due to the unresolved plot lines in this episode. Kate keeps her relationship with Nico, and in the next episode, she’ll have to spy on him. Maggie is about to be fired for constantly ignoring the rules of her job, and she’s faced with saving her job by revealing Dean’s affair with the Pan Am exec’s woman (she could also tell the board about Ted’s indecent behavior when it comes to not defending stewardesses against lecherous pricks).

The one thing I hope for this show is that they STOP THE LAURA/TED PLOT! It’s not helping anyone, certainly not me. And overall, this episode was very well done, despite the terrible Laura/Ted ring thing.

Sanjeev alert:

Screencap: me

Sanjeev got one line in this episode. ONE. I know he’s a tertiary character, but come on! At this point, he’s not just tertiary–he’s not even a character. ANYONE could be in that chair, doing his job. I’m sure Sanjeev is there for a point and not just any other dude. So if Sanjeev is there for a reason–if they need an Indian guy in the cockpit for a reason–then let’s get into it and see what makes The ‘Jeev tick. I have to know this.

Also–if you’re interested, here’s an article about Christina Ricci’s views on the show. She admits that the show is still finding its legs, and I heavily agree. However, I think with the next episode, we will see that the legs are getting stronger.

And, if you want to see what Tom and Lorenzo had to say about this episode, click here.