"The
Invitation"
A review by Jenni:
So I rather liked watching "Legacy" late at night on my puter
whilst sipping tea last week. There was something
delightfully collegiate about it. And S7 is making me kinda
nostalgic not for college itself but my college era. So I'm
going with it. Although it seems a lil odd to watch this
Halloween episode on the eve of what I hope will be an epic
Christmas shopping day to end said shopping for the
season... Oh well. And yay for cranberry tea.
Festive.
What I love about this episode:
It's cute how proud Annie is of her jack-o'-lantern. And how
complimentary Rick is. Really, they're just an adorable
couple. I wish we coulda seen more of them and less of
Damien.
Wow... recording the rent check. Old school! This
takes me back to when I used my check book for more than just the
monthly student loan bill.
I'm set in my ways with my hairstyle and the idea of a manicure
creeps me out. But I like seeing how the beauty parlor can
be such a social, uplifting thing for some people. It's cool
to see the relationships between the three main women.
Again, woulda liked to have seen more of that.
Ha. I'm sorry but I get a kick outta Clara's near-miss with
a "Lyon's Cargo" truck. If you're going to pick a bad animal
to represent evil (see below)... might as well have fun with it!
I like Annie's costume. It's cute. I kinda wanted to
be a gypsy this year but thought maybe it was un-PC.
I like that Monica helps Annie with the Halloween party and is in
really good spirits about it. Cause Halloween can be a
really positive, fun, community-building thing and mopey angels
all the time on Halloween is bad.
Okay... so I think the writing in this episode takes a few wrong
turns. But I'd just like to say that I'm grateful that it
did NOT take one particular wrong turn that other shows may
have. After the scene of Andrew and Monica on the stairs, it
would have been really cliche to have Satan turn out to have taken
on Andrew's form. But I can so imagine 
other shows doing that. I mean, c'mon,
he's talking about how Satan can counterfeit anything. It's
ironic! And if they'd done that... that may have just driven
me over the edge and sent me searching for a new Sunday evening
show. So some applause to the show for not making Andrew
evil. Yay!!! Cause I woulda been really ticked if all
these gorgeous shots of him turned out to not really be him.
I like Andrew's pep talk to Rick about not lying to his wife,
doing right by his child, etc. Andrew would be a good
marriage counselor. It might be a lil weird. But I bet
he'd be good at it. And pretty unbiased.
I like the smile and chuckle and "No ma'am!" Andrew answers Millie
with when she talks about Monica and then asks if he's
married. It's a chuckle that says "Haha, that'd so never
happen."
Annie recycles. Yay!
"God sends me to earth to tell His children that He is real and
that He loves you." Monica basically sums up the 9 seasons
in that quote to Annie. It's a nice moment in a scene that I
otherwise don't find credible.
"All babies matter to God." Another nice one from
Monica. She goes onto say "Every child is a precious gift
from God, born with a purpose and the potential to make a
difference in the world." We'll just pretend it didn't in
anyway refer to Damien...
"When one voice stops, God will always raise up other voices to
take up the song." I really love that Monica quote.
So, once you read the section below, it'll be no secret that I
strongly dislike this episode. But... I do get goosebumps
when Monica says the quote above and the singing gang nears the
apartment then enters. If I could erase Damien from the
scene, I would love it. (And totally no offense to the poor
kid playing Damien. He did a good job but, gosh, I think
that character sucks.)
I feel like this episode would make for a good drinking
game. It could be fun!
I don't care what this episode wants me to think. When they
close up on the lion's eye, I just think of the Stone Table.
And really that's the best way to end this episode IMO... even if
unintentional. I'd rather focus on God than some cliched
depiction of Satan.
What I didn't love about
this episode:
Here's a tip: when cats are known to be targeted by cruel mischief
makers on Halloween... do us all a favor and not make your
Halloween episode villain be a cat. At least they didn't go
with a black cat but still...
Augh... I just don't like the Satan-as-lion thing.
It's weird that a show that was obviously familiar with C.S. Lewis
would choose a lion to represent evil. I mean technically
there's nothing wrong with doing that. Clearly I don't
believe all lions are Aslan or the Lion of Judah. But I'm
gonna guess a lot of TBAA viewers have those associations.
It would be like having a dove be evil. My gut reaction is
just "Aww, Aslan! And He's walking into the night
alone! No!" It's just that there are plenty of animals
that aren't integral to major world religions... why not pick one
of those? I spose maybe they're trying to say something
about how evil can be beautiful and come disguised as something we
love but... nothing in this episode comes right out and says
that. So... long live Aslan, son of the Emperor Beyond the
Sea! :-)
Really, I just feel sorry for the lion. It some scenes it
doesn't even look like his growls are coming from him. Just
added later. I start to anthropomorphize the lion and it
says things like "Wait... I'm supposed to be evil here? But
I thought this was a show about
God? B-but... people use me to symbolize the
Creator!!! To quote one of my literary brethren, courtesy of
C.S. Lewis., 'Did you hear what he said? Us lions. That means him
and me. Us lions. That's what I like about Aslan. No side, no
stand- offishness. Us lions.' I'm akin to Aslan!!! So
why do I have to pretend to be evil!?! Oh, screw it!
I'm walking down this alley. Maybe someone will let me
pretend to be Mufasa for a while..." It's like the poor lion
has too much pride (ha) to feed into this so phones in his
performance.
I love dogs but I even woulda accepted a
snarling dog of indeterminate breed. The lion, loaded image
that he is, is just distracting.
And faux Damien just seems lame. And it just makes me feel
awful that poor Annie was concerned for and cared for a
demon. This episode just makes me sad, really.
Although I just laugh a lot after Damien reveals his
evilness. It's so cheesy. And, yeah, I know his name
isn't Damien but I'm sticking with it.
And the Tarot cards again... Of all the things in the world
to be bothered about... Tarot doesn't rate with me. At least
Monica just seems disappointedly amused and not outright gripey
about them in this episode. (Andrew and Tess later irritate
me... that's a switch!) Also why does it seem like TBAA
turns every hippie into an occultist? I dress like a hippie
often (bells on skirts and everything) and I'm not an
occultist. Never touched a Tarot deck. But I know
people who have and they didn't screw up their whole lives nor did
they start behaving like the cards were omniscient. Frankly,
it's just disrespectful to insinuate that all people who use Tarot
cards are communing with Satan. Even the Bible can be used
for evil. It's all in the intent. The intent is what
makes Tarot evil or not. To say otherwise implies they *do*
have power which this episode is trying to say they don't.
The reasoning contradicts itself in my mind.
Along the same lines... if you're going to jump all over psychic
stuff then why not target the truly damaging type? I'm
talking about the con artists who make money off of grieving,
desperate people. Realistically, some bored beautician with
a flair for the Other Side is not gonna do as much damage as those
cretins.
Oh... nobody tells Andrew to shut up! Stupid Cal.
So Tess tells the gang at the bar that Satan is using distractions
to keep focus away from the evil he's working with Annie.
But that's exactly what I feel like this episode and "The
Occupant" are doing! In a world that has rape, murder,
abuse, adultery... we're seriously going to sit and listen to
angels talk about the evil of Tarot cards? Really?!?
They did *one* episode that truly dealt with post-rape trauma and
*two* about Tarot? I love this show but that's all kinds of
asinine. I feel like a good metaphor for this episode would
be someone going into the ER. They have a hangnail... and
also several gaping stab wounds. And then the doctor decides
to give priority to treating the hangnail... twice.
Even within the episode, it seems to miss the forest for the
trees. Rather than getting all over-excited about Tarot...
why not make these people examine why they've made the mistakes
they have? Why is Clara so fearful? Why does Rick
place that bet when he has to know it's foolish? Why is
Annie so quick to believe in a bunch of cards? Why is Millie
so quick to jump to suicide? Tarot or not, that was a huge
and troubling mental leap. Why are these people idly
handling control of their lives over? That's a bad thing to
do whether you hand it over to Tarot, a loan shark, or, yes, even
the Bible. When you don't apply your God-given reason and
love to any of those... the end result will be bad.
Why the bleep would Tess tell Rick not to call
the police?!? I don't care about the freaking demon.
There's a pregnant, injured woman. Authorities need to be
called! Preferably EMT but cops are better than
nothing! I mean it's great that when they arrive at the
apartment Andrew has the doctor called but still... woulda been
better to have someone en route already.
Lingering questions:
Is it really a belief that jack-o'-lanterns scare away
evil? I had no idea they signified anything other than fun.
So was Andrew's suspicion on who "the enemy" was spot on or not?
Parts
that made me feel swoony:
I heart Andrew... I so thought of this episode when, on
Halloween night, my kitchen sink stopped draining. I
generally want Andrew around. But I really, really wanted
him around that night. Instead I just wound up with a cut
finger, shifted sink (did not know I was that strong!), and
stress. But he was a super cute plumber to day dream about.
OMG. I love Andrew in a hoodie. Maybe Satan's mad
because he's just not as handsome. Anyhow, it's nice to see
Andrew on some steps and not crying or looking like he's gonna
cry.
Andrew talking about babies... I love how encouraging he is
to Rick. I also like how he tries to protect him from the
lousy gambler.
There are just so many adorable shots of Andrew in this.
Thank goodness cause otherwise... not a big fan of this one.
But the looks he makes after Rick loses the horse race...
compassionate and adorable.
Gah. He looks so sweet when he's listening to and comforting
Millie in the ladies' restroom. Normally a dude in the
ladies' room would be freaky. But this is okay. More
than okay. And then he touches her cheek... Good
gravy, he's awesome. All these very human, *normal* moments
in this episode are beautiful. I wish they hadn't gotten
dragged into the same episode as Damien and the hijacked lion.
Andrew has gorgeous hands. And the right one looks super
great crumbling a gun. He can crumble metal!!!
Random
thoughts:
Music: Ms. Reese sings "God
Can" in the first scene after the credits. She reprises it
later. There's something far less moving in Annie's beauty
shop. Just some elevator music-like jazz. During the
first bar scene, there's some lady singing something with the
lyrics "It's all right, you'll get by" or similar. Later
another song, kinda countryish, has a woman singing "Don't let her
go" or something like that. Later, in a scene that far
outshines most of the episode, Tess leads Rick, Andrew, Clara, and
Millie in singing "God Can." It's ironic that two episodes I
like the least (this and "The Occupant") are also home to two of
my favorite TBAA musical moments.
I think the following should be banned as fill-ins for Satan:
lions, children, cats, and look-alikes of existing
characters. (I'm thinking of you, Monique.) Also
aye-ayes. Those poor things have enough trouble.
Andrew should get some as pets. Okay, so that would be
illegal but... Aww! Look!
That
is precious. Yep, this episode officially made me go look at
baby animals. That says a lot... Okay: my new vision
of Heaven... we all get baby animals.
Scenes Hallmark cut:
-The segment after Clara is hit starts with the paramedics
putting her into an ambulance. She's weepy and says she
doesn't want to go alone. Millie says she'll go with her but
the paramedic says she'll have to follow in her car. She
tells him not to mess with her and proceeds to get into the back
of the ambulance with Clara. Damien, Monica, and Annie look
on. Damien says that if Annie hadn't warned Clara, she might
have died. Monica counters that if she hadn't been looking
over her shoulder for a lion, she wouldn't have been hit.
Annie, obviously stunned, just says that she saw a lion in the
cards. Annie then asks Damien to run the check to
Rick. Annie tells Monica she can go home but she opts to
stay. Then it goes to Andrew and Rick talking about the baby
which is where THC starts.
-I had a feeling they cut a Tess scene. They actually
started cutting with Annie and Rick in bed. The latter is
tossing and turning and asks Annie if she's sure 3 is his lucky
number. (He's obviously anxious about the bet.) She
tells him it is. He then groans cause Tess is singing.
So he goes to her door, pounds on it, and tells her to stop
because he can't sleep and neither can his pregnant wife.
Tess apologizes and agrees. Then she goes into the hall
where Monica is crouched as before when she met up with
Andrew. Alarmed, Monica asks Tess is she's leaving.
Tess explains that she can't stay where she's not wanted and has
done all she can. She tells Monica "God bless you, baby" and
reminds her not to leave Annie alone then gives her a weak wish of
"Happy Halloween" and leaves.
-Okay so when Andrew tells Rick about not trusting in the cards
cause they made him lie to his wife... it seems like there may be
a cut during that cause on my DVD, Andrew moves in a way that is
not humanly possible. But it could just be a glitch in the
DVD. Yep, it was a glitch. Funny, though. He
went from standing to sitting without any fluidity of movement.
-There could have been more but this just may be my least favorite
episode of TBAA. (I now realize that simply being
Andrew-limited like "Venice" doesn't really make an episode worthy
of disdain.) So it was hard to pay attention watching it the
first time, let alone a second time. So I may have missed
stuff. I'm still pretty ticked about that lion.
Further on down the road...
Welcome to the re-review of what is most likely my least
favorite episode of TBAA (it's between this and "The
Occupant." I vacillate on which I think is worse).
Anyhow, I'm back on land now and headed back to work
tomorrow. With 1.5 weeks of work to catch up on, this may
not be a super fun 4 days. So... I decided I'd rather
have "Restoration" to look forward to at the end of it than
this. But first to get it out of my system... "Did you hear what he
said? Us lions. That means him and me. Us lions. That's what I
like about Aslan. No side, no stand-offishness. Us lions."
Thank you, C.S. Lewis. Let me go on record as saying that
I'm perfectly aware that lions don't get a 100% positive review
in the Bible. I've read 1 Peter. But we're talking
about a creature who adorned the Temple and who has been used as
an image for no less than God (Job 10, Hosea) and Jesus
(Revelation). Ezekiel attributes the face of a lion to the
angels he sees. Lions figure into Isaiah's evocative image
of utter peace. A winged lion is the symbol for St. Mark
the Evangelist. True, we have Daniel in the lions' den but
does any sane person fault the lions for that and not Darius and
his ilk? So... I still think making Satan appear as a lion
in this episode was needlessly distracting and upsetting.
We're talking about a creature who figures into artistic
renderings some Christians display in their homes.
Personally, I think animal representations of Satan should have
been left entirely out of the show. But to choose a lion
is especially ridiculous to me. At least they didn't go
with a lamb...
Really, it's just all sorts of nonsensical. In the opening
bit, the focus is on how people don't see Satan coming.
And I believe that. He's insidious and subtle.
Therefore, does it not make sense to depict Satan as an everyman
as TBAA always had before? There is nothing normal and
unsuspecting about a lion roaming the streets! The opening
lines are undermined the moment that beautiful, misused lion
walks into the scene.
And, yes, I still think that poor lion seems like he's super
annoyed. The way he kinda hangs his head when he walks
away makes me feel bad for him. Almost like he's ashamed
to be there.
Again, I feel like this lion usage undermines the
dialogue. Monica's warning that Clara was harmed because
she was looking for a lion when there was real danger in the
form of a speeding vehicle is almost hilarious. "Hey,
everybody, don't be fooled by the faux danger of the lions in
your life when true danger exists in the ordinary! But
please watch us as we warn you against evil by using a... well,
umm... a lion. Okay, I swear it sounded better on paper."
I wish Millie's plotline could have been lifted into another
episode. Fear of a cancer recurrence is a legitimate issue
and seeing more of that may have really spoken to a lot of
people. But then I know that the episode as is may have
spoken to a lot of people. Just not me, by and
large.
"There's more going on in the world than you realize. What
you see is not all there is. There is God. There are
angels. There is good and evil and there is a battle going
on that you all don't even know you're fighting." I really
like that quote from Tess. I think maybe that's why this
episode in many ways bothers me more than "The Occupant."
There are some wonderful quotes and small moments in this
episode but they're buried among all this drivel. And it
does hurt to use words like "drivel" and "asinine" about a show
I do love. But this episode is just a mess IMO.
It may seem weird that I'm more put off by Satan as a lion than
as a child. I really don't like either. But I do
think the actor playing Dennis is old enough to have some
concept of what the role is and then assumedly consented.
The lion is guileless. He's just being a lion and then
some person went and used his lion-ness to make a weird
statement.
It still really, really bothers me that Tess tells Rick not to
call 911. For one, what happened to letting humans use
free will? It was his will to call 911. For another,
there is a wounded pregnant woman! It's just plain
irresponsible. I don't care what Satan's doing, if someone
is harmed... call 911! An angel can't even figure out what
we teach toddlers to do in an emergency?!?! It sends a
really bad message to any children watching. Although,
personally, I hope kids didn't watch this episode. If I
have children, I very much want to share TBAA with them... but
probably not this episode until they're older.
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