THE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY. AUGUST 13, 2007
ENTERTAINMENT
9C
TELEVISION
HBO's 'John' prepares for nearing end
BY FRAZIER MOORE
Associated Press
NEW YORK—"The end is near," says John from Cincinnati.
That's what he's been saying since the HBO drama "John From Cincinnati" began, though with scant supporting evidence. John isn't big on details.
Even so, he's been proved right.
At least, one way, "John From
Cincinnati" will conclude its 10-episode run Sunday at 9 p.m. The end for sure is near.
What will the end bring? Maybe some answers about the Vost surfing family and other eccentricities in imperial Beach, Calif., during a very peculiar few days.
Maybe there will be an explanation for why, these days, long-ago surfing great Mitch Yost sometimes rises several inches off the ground.
And maybe an accounting for how Mitch's teenage grandson, Shaun, seemed to breathe life back
into a dead pet bird — and how, with Shaun left paralyzed and brain-dead from a surfing accident, the bird was able to restore him to life and full health.
Maybe the end will, at last, shed light on the mysterious stranger known up to now as John — just who he really is and where he's from — and don't bet on Cincinnati.
John seems to be the cause of all the miraculous, befuddling goingson. He sees divinely touched, the sort of guy whose savagely inflicted stab wounds healed right away. He also seems to be mentally challenged, or an idiot savant, with his choirboy wholesomeness.
"You'll know to say something but you won't know what it means," an exasperated local presses him. "You want to do something and you'll do it — but you won't understand what you did."
Why should he? As John says with his rote delivery, "Some things I know and some things I don't."
Ditto for viewers, who should know better than to count on a tidy resolution when the season, or the series, meets its imminent end.
Co-created by David Milch, "John From Cincinnati" echoes his earlier HBO series, "Deadwood," a 19th-century Western teeming with elliptical, thorny storytelling and f-word-studded lyricism.
As on "Deadwood," whose scramble for wealth was framed as a model of America's, "John" also addresses the profit motive, though in contemporary terms. It asks: Should the pristine passion of surfing — as personified by young Shaun — be corrupted by corporate sponsorships and other moneymaking deals?
"That's flipping your fins for an audience," seethes Mitch, who doesn't want his grandson selling out.
OK. Money is the root of all evil.
Fair enough.
But if that's true, why is the divinely inspired John packing a platinum
credit card with no upper limit? "Deadwood" preached the civilizing impact of the free-enterprise system, even on a wild-and-woolly mining town. Why, on "John," must a similar entrepreneurial spirit be at war with spiritualism?
What's up with all that mystic mumbo-jumbo? How come Mitch goes up in the air?
Some things I know and some things I don't. One thing I know: "John From Cincinnati" has been a confounding exercise for me as a viewer. It's a series too murky and withholding for its own good — or that of many would-be fans.
And yet ... 1, for one, have kept
returning. However confusing "John" may be — until now, anyway, before the revelation that may or may not come — it compels me to stop scratching my head long enough for a round of applause.
Applause for its originality. For its brass. For the music of its raunchy dialogue — sorry, nothing quotable here.
And, most of all, for its collection of characters. No, they aren't the equal of those who populated "Deadwood" — not as novel, rich or outrageous. But the people of "John From Cincinnati" share with one another a trait whose pervasiveness has me maddeningly fixated: They,
with almost no exception, are quite mad.
"I wanna go back to normal." Shaun told his father in a recent episode.
"The hand that you were dealt ain't going anywhere," Butchie scoffed. "Or mine ... your gram's ... gramps' ... your mom's. Or anybody else's."
Sure, they may be blessed with redemption in the final episode — though, God, I hope not. Or, instead, Butchie might be right: They ain't going anywhere, least of all within shouting distance of normal.
Some things I know and some things I don't. I don't know what "John From Cincinnati" is about.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Actors Greyson Fletcher, Brian Van Holt and Austin Nichols appear in a scene from the mystical surfing drama "John From Cincinnati!" The show's first season finale will air on Airbnb. 12, 2007.
We have it.
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