Yes...., it's a "wall of text", so, go watch the episode FIRST! Silly Rabbit!
Sometime ago, Comic Strip ("Steve Roper", "Mary Worth", "Kerry Drake") writer Allen Saunders coined the phrase, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans". Over the ensuing years since that quote first appeared in the January 1957 issue of Readers Digest Magazine, it has been oft "borrowed" and mistakenly attributed to many other writers, most notably to John Lennon, who composed a song containing this saying, and released it in 1980. The song was called “Beautiful Boy” or “Darling Boy” and it was part of the album “Double Fantasy”. Lennon wrote the lyrics about his experiences with his son Sean whose mother is Yoko Ono.
We rejoin our intrepid trio as they pedal furiously after the limousine transporting the reliable narrator (except for the one undisclosed lie), and Fredwynn, who has ensconced himself in the limo's trunk, in order to infiltrate the Jejune Institute. They arrive at the Institutes Shareholders meeting, and, while searching for Fredwynn, are confronted by Octavio himself, who cordially invites them to attend the meeting, which seems creepily akin to a Scientology production, in this case to introduce some amazing new mind altering technology. Octavio rails at the democratization of voice, at those who, with no real life experience, yet they choose to rail at those who have actually built the society they are living in. Sound familiar?
This episodes elucidation, however, concerns Janice, and, once again by extension us, the viewer, if, although often described as happy, cheerful, energetic, or even spunky, by others, but inside feel more like a prisoner trapped on the hamster wheel of a life that has somehow passed us by, and left us behind, wondering who the hell we actually are.
Ah, the vagaries of life. Were we able to fulfill the dreams and plans of our youth, the promises we made to ourselves or others when we were perhaps naive to the reality of time and unforeseen circumstances that befall us all? It is the rebellious energy of the inexperienced that declares, "Live fast, die, young, and leave a good looking corpse", and, "It's better to burn out, than to fade away", until you come to the realization that indeed "Life is a marathon, not a sprint", and that sometimes, compromises are made due to changes in circumstance, then slowly, the promises and memories of youth, like a copy, of a copy, of a copy, begin to fade and degrade, until we can no longer recognize or recall the original. We have "settled down", and accepted our fate, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, till death brings an end.
This is not by default a necessarily melancholy outcome, just as Janice comes to realize while virtually confronting her younger self on the happiest day of her life. Young Janice is disappointed that Old Janice didn't keep the promises she had made to herself., and had simply "settled" for whatever life had tossed her way. It is an uncomfortable moment for both Janice, and we the viewer, if, in a moment of introspection, we realize that we too may have made similar choices. Heavy stuff indeed.
The three of them exit the meeting, only to be met by Fredwynn, who is suddenly ably to predict each next occurrence in "The Game", and, wants to explain everything to them. Janice however, insists she has to go "totter on home", and when she arrives, we suddenly have a better understanding of her situation, and, why she decided to play "The Game".
I've watched a lot of deep stuff in movie and television in my time, but that was the most meta-existentialist thing I have ever seen in my life. It actually brought a tear to my eye.
Review by Paladin5150BlockedParent2020-03-10T06:43:02Z
Yes...., it's a "wall of text", so, go watch the episode FIRST! Silly Rabbit!
Sometime ago, Comic Strip ("Steve Roper", "Mary Worth", "Kerry Drake") writer Allen Saunders coined the phrase, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans". Over the ensuing years since that quote first appeared in the January 1957 issue of Readers Digest Magazine, it has been oft "borrowed" and mistakenly attributed to many other writers, most notably to John Lennon, who composed a song containing this saying, and released it in 1980. The song was called “Beautiful Boy” or “Darling Boy” and it was part of the album “Double Fantasy”. Lennon wrote the lyrics about his experiences with his son Sean whose mother is Yoko Ono.
We rejoin our intrepid trio as they pedal furiously after the limousine transporting the reliable narrator (except for the one undisclosed lie), and Fredwynn, who has ensconced himself in the limo's trunk, in order to infiltrate the Jejune Institute. They arrive at the Institutes Shareholders meeting, and, while searching for Fredwynn, are confronted by Octavio himself, who cordially invites them to attend the meeting, which seems creepily akin to a Scientology production, in this case to introduce some amazing new mind altering technology. Octavio rails at the democratization of voice, at those who, with no real life experience, yet they choose to rail at those who have actually built the society they are living in. Sound familiar?
This episodes elucidation, however, concerns Janice, and, once again by extension us, the viewer, if, although often described as happy, cheerful, energetic, or even spunky, by others, but inside feel more like a prisoner trapped on the hamster wheel of a life that has somehow passed us by, and left us behind, wondering who the hell we actually are.
Ah, the vagaries of life. Were we able to fulfill the dreams and plans of our youth, the promises we made to ourselves or others when we were perhaps naive to the reality of time and unforeseen circumstances that befall us all? It is the rebellious energy of the inexperienced that declares, "Live fast, die, young, and leave a good looking corpse", and, "It's better to burn out, than to fade away", until you come to the realization that indeed "Life is a marathon, not a sprint", and that sometimes, compromises are made due to changes in circumstance, then slowly, the promises and memories of youth, like a copy, of a copy, of a copy, begin to fade and degrade, until we can no longer recognize or recall the original. We have "settled down", and accepted our fate, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, till death brings an end.
This is not by default a necessarily melancholy outcome, just as Janice comes to realize while virtually confronting her younger self on the happiest day of her life. Young Janice is disappointed that Old Janice didn't keep the promises she had made to herself., and had simply "settled" for whatever life had tossed her way. It is an uncomfortable moment for both Janice, and we the viewer, if, in a moment of introspection, we realize that we too may have made similar choices. Heavy stuff indeed.
The three of them exit the meeting, only to be met by Fredwynn, who is suddenly ably to predict each next occurrence in "The Game", and, wants to explain everything to them. Janice however, insists she has to go "totter on home", and when she arrives, we suddenly have a better understanding of her situation, and, why she decided to play "The Game".
All in all a brilliant episode!
Next up....., Fredwynn!