"Godspeed"

A review by Jenni:

What I love about this episode:
I really love the description of Josie's mother.  She sounds lovely.  Makes me wish we coulda actually met the character.

Diana kinda seems to be a parallel to Tanya and Josie to Max in "Dear God."  I spose I could find that to be redundant but I kinda like it. 

I like how TBAA was compassionate about atheism.  They didn't fly off the handle or immediately jump to conversion mode.  Some theists could really learn from this show...  That being said, I wish Tess would have said something to Josie about acting so superior to her mother.  Theists or atheists, people who think they're better than someone else and denigrate what's important to others are just plain insensitive and I don't find them very pleasant to be around.

I'm not the biggest history buff.  I wish I had more of a mind for it but I just grasp more onto specific personalities than chronology.  But I do believe history can be a strong guide and comfort and warning.  So using Lindbergh's story to encourage Josie is cool.

Yay for TBAA highlighting the need for sleep.  If only I thought that would actually convince me to get more...  TBAA also got me hooked on caffeine so...

"He wants you to know He loves you whether or not you believe in Him."  I like that quote from Monica to Lindbergh.

It's cool that Monica got to show Lindbergh Ireland.

I know diddly squat about the space program but the Houston control room sure looks impressive.

Awesome super nova right before Monica appears.

I like that Monica tells Josie her mom is watching and praying for her and has the best seat to watch her from.  I especially like the last part.  Being Catholic, I know some people don't understand talking to the saints or spirits.  But I think it's totally okay to ask someone to pray for you, even if they've already gone Home.

I love that Josie, an assignment, gets to deliver a "God loves you" line.

"Heaven begins in the place where you meet Him."  From Monica to Josie.  Love it.

"Faith is the lifeline that connects you to the Almighty and to each other.  It's where true courage comes from.  It's a tether that will never break.  And when the journey seems too long and too frightening, it's the silver cord that will pull you home."  Another quote from Monica.  Generally speaking, I don't feel emotionally connected to this episode.  But the revelation does have some very stirring lines.

What I didn't love about this episode:
Monica interrupting Tess is pretty annoying.  Finishing a friend's sentences is cute if it's mutual.  If the other person looks annoyed, it's just... annoying. 

I could say something about Monica's sexist assumption that her assignment was male but, to be honest, I think a lot of people would assume an astronaut was male until told otherwise.

Hayden Panettiere is making me feel really old.  Or maybe just making me feel weird since she, while younger than me, was born in the same decade.  So it's just a bit creepy seeing Andrew hold her.  I like to pretend he always looked a mere ten years my senior.  In fact, it was more like 20.

Some of the acting just didn't seem at all natural.

Seeing Josie just float away freaks the heck outta me.  I used to have nightmares wherein I was just falling and falling and falling and never knew when it would end.  That seems a lot like the same thing...

I dunno.  I just have a vague sense of parts seeming not quite emotionally what they could be.  Maybe it's just me.

Lingering questions:
Would NASA really let a husband and wife work so closely together?  Just seems like that could be needlessly complicated.

I should look into this.  Did Charles Lindbergh actually speak to an angel or have more of a Third Man experience?  I'm not saying that the Third Man isn't an angel.  But generally those are less... obvious.

Where are Diana's parents?  Wouldn't they be with her instead of just Andrew?

Umm...  Why is Monica operating like an AOD in this?  Why was she with Josie's mother and why will she be with Diana?  It's not like there isn't an AOD in this episode.  And she seems so clueless about Josie's mother at parts that it's a lil hard to believe she spent much time with her.

Isn't there some story about a ballplayer who had a HUGE game and his dad died right before?  And everyone felt sorry for him cause his dad couldn't see how well he played but he told them it was actually quite the opposite.  His dad had been blind for a long time and, given he was then in Heaven, it was the first game he'd been able to see in a long time.  I wonder if that's a true story or just a nice made-up one?  In any case, this episode reminds me of it.

Parts that made me feel swoony:
Andrew looks like a football player with that long coat over a suit jacket.  I like it.  And, of course, I love how gently he breaks the news to Josie about her mother and how unfrazzled he is by her embittered response.

I don't know that this is necessarily swooning material but this is a great episode to watch if you've ever wondered what Andrew would look like if he stuck a fork in a socket.  Crazy hair!

Andrew holding a kid...  Always swoon-inducing... even when it makes me feel a lil bit creepy.

He's super cute when he lifts Diana up and assures her "We are all gonna pray for you."

Sigh...  Not enough Andrew in the episode.  Not enough at all!

Random thoughts:
Music- "Lucky Lindy" being played on the record player at the beginning.  I don't know who's singing.  There's a romantic, classical piece during the cut scene described below.

Scenes Hallmark cut:
-Seemingly the night before Josie leaves, her hubby has a space dinner waiting for them in Mission Control with the moon projected large on the screen.  Romantic in a spacey way.  :-)  They cuddle and Josie talks about Diana and courage and how she doesn't know where her own comes from.  She tells her husband that her mom was why she wanted to go into space and now she doesn't know why she is.
-Right before the astronauts board the shuttle and are walking to it, Josie pauses at where she'd tell her mom good bye.  To Tess, she recalls how her mom always then said she'd be praying for her and that this drove her crazy.  Tess offers to drive her crazy.  Josie smiles but says thanks but no thanks.

Further on down the road:
So last week I was feeling a bit maudlin upon realizing this episode marks the end of my initial viewing of the Season 5 DVD set which left only one set...  But then earlier this week we learned that Season 7 is coming to DVD on April 23.  Yay!!!  Now I can start Season 6 feeling less angsty.  :-)

I'm a lil torn on Tess' comment that a woman like Josie's mother, with so much faith, is always at peace.  Maybe.  I guess it depends on how you define peace.  If peace is something at the depth of your spirit that knows, no matter how you currently feel, that all will eventually be well then I get it.  But if she means a person of deep faith always *feels* at peace... no.  There's a carpenter in a garden that has a pretty powerful refutation to offer.  I only make a point of it cause too many people tend to get all high and mighty saying a person must not have much faith if they get upset.  That's a hundred types of ridiculous.

Josie's just not very likeable...  It doesn't bother me that she's an atheist.  It bothers me that she's a snippy, snobbish atheist who sees faith as some sort of intellectual deficiency.  And trashing Diana's letter was just mean.

I can't imagine staying awake for forty hours...  I think the most I've ever gone was...  Oh.  Actually, I think I did stay awake that long once.  It was not fun.  Caffeine was my friend.  And, yes, I believe God gave me the energy to keep going.  But I can't imagine flying a plane in that state.  So, yep, gotta believe it was a God thing that Lindbergh got across.

I can't even imagine how terrifying it would be to just be floating around in space, cut off...  And I also don't know what exactly is supposed to happen in a case like this.  Was Josie supposed to be able to fly back to the ship with her jetpack?  Or was it meant to keep her still until the ship could yank her back?  I really don't know much about space travel.

I do still really love that Monica tells Josie that her mother still prays for her in Heaven.  I believe very much in asking our loved ones in Heaven to pray for us.

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