JOHN FROM CINCINNATI is peculiar to say the least. It isn’t the plot, though it does run a bit existential, and it isn’t the fact that if more Jesus Christ references were made you’d think the writers had gone to the Spielberg school of AI (garnering a degree in “shoving it down the throat”. The major problem with the show is that Milch and the other writers seem to have not left the cadence of DEADWOOD behind. The dialogue has an identical timbre and cadence with the added tropes of modern vernacular. It’s truly bazaar. The story itself is definitely weak, but not unbearable. However, if John isn’t an Angel sent to oversee the new Christ, then he must be Christ himself. I don’t necessarily mean literally in the Judeo Christian way, but definitely within the symbolic Mysticism running so rampant through the episode. How else could one explain the youngest Yost child bringing a dead bird back to life and the grandfather of said child floating literally off of the ground. However the most bazaar thing by far is that John seems to empathically communicate on a base emotional level with the youngest Yost prodigy Shaun by some odd dance maneuver that he teaches the young boy which had better pay off the same way Owen Meany’s Hoop Shot did. However, I have to say I didn’t really enjoy it enough to stick around and find out. BTW, in what odd system did Milch and his writers think that John’s “pocket of opportunity/convenience” would not seem both a little odd and truly unbelievable? It was one of the worst story conceits I’ve seen in years. I have no idea why HBO thought to kill Deadwood due to budgetary reasons just to bring this to the screen. Albrecht had better press hitting his girlfriend than this show is going to generate.
Trust me, look at the dialogue and tell me I’m insane. What were they thinking? I’ll watch two more if I can, but it had better evolve into something worth watching or I’ll have to say something nasty about the fact that this beat out DEADWOOD.
BTW, who gives a flying F%$K about surfing in the US but the limited coastal population? I know surfers, but I don’t see anything in this show that would attract them. They’d rather watch surfing documentaries and a fourth season of Deadwood. The again I don't know that many surfers.
How someone like me who loves "reality based fantasy" could not enjoy this show troubles me. It's just not up to snuff, and if it's too weird for me, It's probably too weird for the majority of the population.
Nothing to see here. Back to work.
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