Laura during the moment when Amanda asked her to be Ted’s mistress. Credit: ABC
I’m just getting around to this now, not out of any sentimentality, though. I’ll be glad for a break from the show, whether it will be temporary or permanent.
The big thing to note is that the airport is now named JFK International as a result of the assassination of Kennedy. There are big monumental things that happen in this episode, but all of it culminates into something I hate, which is the exit of Prince Omar. WHY!? HE WAS PERFECT! DON’T GO BACK TO STUPID DEAN, COLETTE! FOR MY SAKE, DON’T GO BACK TO THAT CAD!
UGH. I’ll get to the summary and stuff later, but I do want to stress how much better the show has become since Steven Maeda took over the reins of showrunner. The hair is better, the costumes are better, and, most importantly, the scripts seem tighter and more controlled. Storylines like the Haiti situation are now resolved (even though Broyles saves Dean’s neck for some inexplicable reason–maybe Maggie made him do it?), and for that I am glad. I don’t know if it was going to be resolved anytime soon before Maeda took over, but I’m glad the script seemed to be produced under his direction.
Kate gets what I’d like to call a real mission this time around. She has to go toe-to-toe with Anderson, who is a double agent. It is at this moment, though, that I wished we were introduced to other agents, so it could be a huge mystery that could span out over a couple of episodes. With just Anderson showing up–the only other agent we know of aside from Bridget– a lot of the suspense is taken out. However, we do get to see an actually nicely done action sequence, showing how clever and quick Kate is and just how tailor-made she is for the job, even though you wouldn’t think so on paper. We also get to see something happening between Richard and Kate. I figured this would happen sooner or later.
Richard and Kate. Credit: ABC
Amanda is a weird, crazy psycho. I think that while the show is better than it has been throughout the entire season, they aren’t even exploring the depths of being a gay person in the 1960s with a lot of maturity. There’s something that could be done to give Amanda some sort of characterization aside from being a psycho. Now that she’s going to have a baby, that keeps her in the picture, which is irritating.
Even more irritating is the Ted/Laura angle. What in the f#$@$%& world happened JOE!? What was that makeout scene, then? What was the entire thing about the ornament about? Did any of that have any type of consequence? If there is another season, I WANT JOE BACK TO CAUSE A RIFT BETWEEN TED AND LAURA. This has to be done.
More irritation comes in the form of something I was already writing about–Colette going back to Dean. Listen, I understand the storyline is set up so that Dean gets a second chance, but I DON’T WANT HIM TO GET A SECOND CHANCE. I know that’s not a very religious or human-like thing to say, but Colette’s way too awesome for him. She’s too much sophistication and womanly-ness for him to handle. If I was Dean, and I had a woman like her interested in me, I’d do everything I could to keep her! If I had a love before Colette and she happened to come back into my life–much like how Bridget, whose dropped off the face of the earth again, came back to Dean–I’d way my situation and realize that Bridget leaving was the best thing that ever happened to me and then I’d choose Colette forever. Colette deserves a prince, and a prince is what she got! Now, she’s going to give that up? Even after she gave Dean one of the best brushoffs she’s ever given him? UGH.
However, we do learn that Colette’s parents weren’t members of the French resistance; they were killed in a concentration camp because they were Jewish. We also learn that Colette has a long lost brother. I’m glad she’s found out about her past, but how does this nullify the courtship? Her not knowing her true last name wasn’t something she could control. If anyone knows exactly why the courtship was cancelled, tell me. I think it was just so the storyline could allow Dean to have Colette again, no matter how awful it is for Colette, who needs to know what true love is like. Personally, I don’t think she can know what that is with Dean, but whatever. I’m not a writer for the show.
Maggie is someone I’m actually slightly disappointed in, but I’m also slightly glad she’s gotten something major to do. I thought she had turned down Broyles about the black market offer, but here we see her, taking on criminals and getting the loot without Broyles. We also see them have sex (presumably–we can assume it anyway), cementing the fact that Maggie will sleep with anyone.
Maggie and Broyles. Credit: ABC
In fact, this whole episode’s name should have been the title of the Joe Jackson song, “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” because seriously, these women are going out with these guys? Even when you’ve got…
SANJEEV!
The ‘Jeev! Screencap: Me
The ‘Jeev is back! Too bad this might be the last we’ll ever see of Sanjeev. I’ll have to keep a lookout for Kal Parekh’s future acting jobs. Oh, the plotlines that could have developed with Sanjeev. If I become a big show writer like Aaron Spelling someday, I’m going to create a character based on Sanjeev and get Parekh to play him. He’ll be soaring the skies, getting the stewardesses (probably someone based on Colette) and saving the day. It would be amazing. Here’s hoping I make it big.
So that’s that. Since this might be the end of the show for good, I’ll just say that it’s been a neat ride all in all. The episodes have been irritating, fun, boring, and crazy all at the same time, but while there have been inconsistencies with the level of consistency, it has brought me to a new plateau with my website and I have made some new friends at SQPN. So, all in all, the show has done something bigger than it originally was meant to do, and for that, I am grateful. I’ve also learned a lot about what not to do when writing a script, and that has helped me become a better writer. So there’s a lot of silver linings here. Goodbye Pan Am. Maybe we’ll be flying aboard you next season, but if not, tailwinds.
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The courtship came to a halt because she’s of Jewish origin and that’s a BIG no no.
Yep, it’s a shame the network didn’t care more about the show. Then perhaps they wouldn’t have scheduled it in a bad timeslot (for this type of show) to begin with, and keep airing first-run episodes against epic events on other channels (NFC championship game, the Grammys, etcetera).
I’m going to rebut a couple of your points though. In general, and in all fairness, they thought they were going to get 18 episodes and it got cut down to 14. So there were a lot of loose ends to try to tie up in a couple of episodes. This episode was better than the last few in juggling multiple storylines within 42 minutes. But it’s pretty obvious that storylines in the last three episodes (not counting “Romance Languages”) were meant to be spread out over the second half of the season.
The revelation about Colette’s origins obviously was a plot twist planned from the beginning, so I’m not upset by the development of her relationship with the prince. Obviously in 1964, and possibly still to this day, it would be impossible for an Arabian prince to court a Jewish woman. And it’s been equally clear since the beginning of “We’ll Always Have Paris” that Dean/Colette was designated as the primary couple relationship in the series, regardless of whether it lasted one season or five seasons.
We’ve gone down the Dean/Colette/Bridget road before, so I’m not going to revisit that in detail because we disagree on the degree of culpability of the three characters and we aren’t going to change each other’s minds. But Colette, due to her commitment phobias, kept pushing Dean away in “Secrets and Lies” which culminated in breaking up with him against his protests – which, in turn, sent him to the bar to drown his sorrows and where Bridget finally came clean. Was it a misstep on his part? Absolutely. But did he cheat? Absolutely not. He was dumped. If Colette had instead said that they needed a couple of days apart for him to be certain – a pause in the relationship, rather than a break – then Dean never would have entertained sleeping with Bridget. Colette realized that in between “Lies” and “Diplomatic Relations”, but of course it was too late by then.
It’s also been clear throughout the season that Dean and Colette loved each other before they themselves realized it, and that their feelings for each other never diminished despite what happened with Bridget. Yes, Colette was giving him the ice treatment for a while because she was hurt. But she showed compassion to him when he said he would let her go; she comforted him when the news of the assassination came over the television; she sat with him on the stairs in “1964″ instead of dismissing him; and she went to him at the New Year’s Eve party when he was giving her space. Also note that Colette wasn’t upset about her breakup with the prince. In fact, the only relationship where she reacted to the extreme when it ended was the one with Dean – not with the prince, and not with John Stanton. I think that the Bridget aftermath would have been handled better by the writers had they been given the full amount of episodes they expected. Remember that the five scripts were written, and then ABC didn’t commit. So they shoe-horned the extra storylines into the last three-or-so episodes and pulled “Romance” from the ashes to serve as the one additional episode. I think the writers left Dean/Colette in a good landing point. And if there is a future for “Pan Am”, the storyline of Dean doing much of the legwork over the next six months of finding the brother will go a long way toward rebuilding the trust of Colette – and the audience – to the point where even those who placed full blame on Dean for the Bridget slip-up will accept them getting back together.
Due to the compressed storylines over the second part of the season for reasons stated above, various developments were trimmed back from the original scripts. Broyles defense of Dean was a follow-up to the Maggie/Colette conversation at the end of “Romance”, to make up for throwing Dean under the bus with Everett Hansen. Because Broyles owed Maggie for saving the jewels deal, she asked him to intercede in the hearing.
Amanda originally was supposed to appear in four episodes, but they stretched it to five. Should the show get a reprieve, most likely Joe will be back, along with Bridget I would think. Especially if Kate if going to be splitting her time between her two jobs, which is probably how the writers eventually would establish her storyline. Future plans also include exploring more of the backstory of all the characters, which they were doing early in the series, and emphasized again in the finale with the revelation of Colette’s origins.
Overall, I think they did a good job wrapping up the season in a way that can serve as a series finale if that’s how the fates play out, or as a springboard to a second season if they get the shot.
Thanks for the info.
I would actually be excited if they made a second season. Why, I don’t know, but I feel like if we got past this rocky first one, the second one might be a lot smoother. So, while you’re right in that this is episode was a good wrap-up, hopefully they can somehow beat the odds and come back for a second season. I think that’s hopeful wishing on my end, though–a second season is probably a long shot.
It’s a long shot for sure. But it has a better chance than most shows that have been in this situation due to the high DVR numbers and the strong overseas ratings. If ABC does not renew, that might be enough for Sony to peddle the show to another network/outlet and for that network/outlet to take a chance (although I pray that it would not be the hideous NBC). It would really benefit from being moved to an earlier time slot, to try and pull some of those DVR numbers back into the live-viewership column. It also would benefit greatly by moving to non-commercials cable network, but that is a longer shot than getting renewed.
Ironically – CTV, the network that aired the show in the Canadian market, realized the timeslot was an issue and moved the show to 9:00. They also moved certain episodes to the following Tuesday to get them away from football and special programming on other networks. Too bad that “Pan Am” isn’t a Canadian series, as it would have been given a appropriate length of time and support to gel.
The producers also are lobbying ABC for a “relaunch” later this year, which would entail a rerun of the season in a different timeslot. That might happen if ABC decides to delay the decision past May. It might work best for everyone if the series was a mid-season replacement, rather than having a September start date.
But, we’ll find out in May what happens. It’s not impossible – “Chuck” and “Life Unexpected” are two recent examples of returnees that were totally unexpected, so you never know.
For most shows, the first season is one of experimentation to see what works and what doesn’t. It’s just that the broadcast networks over the last 20 years don’t give anything a chance to develop anymore. So many famous classic series of the past – Hill Street Blues, M*A*S*H, All In The Family, Family Ties, Cheers, St Elsewhere, for examples – had slow starts ratings-wise and never would have lasted past a first season in today’s television environment.
I hope “Pan Am” beats the odds also. I think they could have a good five-year run if given the chance, especially if they can find that right mix of personal and historical 1960s drama. They have a couple of breakout stars in Vanasse and Garner, in what is a strong cast overall, that will continue to rise and would pull more eyes to the series as well.
Interesting info about a relaunch. Where’d you find that information? I’d love to see a relaunch of the show.
Maeda spoke of it in an interview with the L.A. Times last week.
“we do learn that Colette’s parents weren’t members of the French resistance; they were killed in a concentration camp because they were Jewish”
This is a point of fact and what was acutally aired as storyline that I would like to set straight.
It was NOT established either way whether Colette’s parents were in the French Resistence. When Colette asked, the Prince answered that they did not know for sure whether Colette’s patents were in the “Resistence”. They only knew the truth about how they died.
Dachau prison is a searchable term and a very interesting one for a series based on historical events. It was the very first Concentration Camp built by the Nazis. Opened 22 March 1933 (51 days after Hitler took power). It was NOT an “extermination” camp. It’s purpose was to house political prisoners.
French patriots were imprisoned here sometime after France was invaded, around 1939. The Resistence fighters were considered to be political prisoners and some Jews are known to have joined the French Resistence. Important to note that the reason prisoners died here was from overwork, disease, medical experiments and malnutrition. They were not sent here to “be killed” but, to keep them seperate from the rest of the population. Colette could learn that her parents were indeed French Resistence and they died while continuing to “fight”.
So, from a writer’s perspective, why are these facts significant? …because of the search for missing family.
They chose Dachau because it presents endless possibilities for Colette. Most important, how does she reconcile her hatred for Germans in general with the real need to extract cooperation from individuals who are responsible for keeping records that may contain clues to what happened and the wearabouts of her brother? The journey for Colette is internal as well as to Germany…
@Chris VW – excellent observations regarding the final fate of Colette’s parents. It does leave the writers an avenue to legitimately bring one or both parents “back from the dead” in future seasons should the series have a long life.