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« Roush Dispatch
John from Nowhere: Good Riddance
Ausitn Nichols courtesy HBO
Made sense that in the last moments of HBO's misbegotten John from Cincinnati, Ed O’Neill was finally reunited with his AWOL avian friend Zippy. If ever there was a show that was for the birds, it was this birdbrained mishmash of half-baked, foulmouthed, anti-dramatic allegorical nonsense.
Over the last week, I attempted to catch up with last month’s episodes, hoping against hope that I’d at last see what I was supposed to be seeing in this smugly opaque world of cryptic utterances from annoyingly mannered characters. (And I thought, maybe like other HBO series, in particular the superior Wire, this could be one of those shows that plays better if you watch several hours back-to-back.) The result: torture. I made it maybe halfway through each hour before zoning out in a state of utter boredom and contempt. Forget confusion — that part of the equation left the station long ago. I was merely hoping to be entertained a little. In vain, as it turned out.
At least the penultimate episode, involving Shaun’s disappearance with John, had a bit of a dramatic arc. The finale, on the other hand? Just more head-in-the-clouds tomfoolery. I expect there are some critical voices out there convinced this show was touched by genius. To me, it’s a case of The Emperor’s New Surfboard. The emperor being David Milch, I suppose, a great talent indulged here in what can only be seen as a tremendous folly.
Speaking of surfing: couldn’t we at least have been treated to a little more of the sport itself? In those moments, and in the title credits, John from Cincinnati promised some actual euphoria. Sadly, even with Bruce Greenwood as Mitch levitating from start to end, this show was stubbornly grounded by its endless pretentions.
Even bringing on more members from Deadwood's repertory company (Keone Young in the finale, Paula Malcomson in recent weeks) only served to pour salt in the gaping wound that is Deadwood's absence from HBO's schedule. This was one sorry substitute.
Did I like anything about John from Cincinnati besides the occasional glimpse of an actual surfing subculture? Brian Van Holt’s performance as Butchie always rang true. Rebecca De Mornay could have taken a cue from the way his rages always felt organic to his self-destructive character. Her shrill performance as Cissy was the biggest turnoff in a series full of them: the misfits hanging around the Snug Harbor motel, the incredibly inexpressive nonperformance by the non-actor playing Shaun, Ed O’Neill’s monologues to Zippy, anything that came out of John’s mouth, whether repeating others or quoting his “father.”
When John began talking about how “You’re all going to be toast” because “We’re coming, 9/11/14,” I was only mildly offended by the cheap reference to our shared apocalyptic nightmare. Then later, after the unveiling of the shuffleboard grid at the motel, I saw the top numbers were “9,” “11” and “14.” Ooh, a sign? Nah, just another example of the mind games John from Cincinnati so shallowly played with its gullible audience.
Surely HBO isn’t considering anything beyond putting John out to sea. Renewing it would be as inexplicably silly as FX’s surprise renewal of the abhorrent Dirt. Maybe there’s some new slogan afoot: In cable, no one can hear you yawn.
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Aug 13, 2007 11:15 AM
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I watched all episodes of JFC and have to say: "huh?" I never "got it" and truly believe there was nothing "to get." I've read opinion pieces on the show, claiming it was the most brilliant show ever aired. I never saw it, and honestly, I even tried to find it. It was not brilliant; it was irrelevant. Being weird because you can be weird is childish, and I guess I think that's what the show was - irrelevant and childish. Better luck next time HBO.
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Aug 13, 2007 11:37 AM
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I couldn't agree with you more Matt. My husband and I deemed this the worst series since My Mother the Car. (And if John's father was a car, it might have been more interesting.) I, too, loved the surfing scenes and couldn't imagine why a series set in southern California wouldn't boast beautiful scenery and gorgeous locations. Instead, we were constantly subjected to scenes in a dismal, rotting motel, or the Yost's trailer-like home. (The city of Deadwood was more scenic.) I am incredibly dismayed & disappointed, and have no idea how such a sophomoric series ever made it to HBO. As Tony Soprano would say, David Milch is dead to me.
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Aug 13, 2007 12:28 PM
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I strangely enjoyed the show even though after watching the entire season I still don't know what happened or even what the show is about. I liked Ed O'Neill's wacked out performance but I hated the kid who played Sean, the worst actor I've ever seen. I was really disapointed with the finale though, they said in the previews "all will be revealed"...what was revealed? That something is coming in 9/11/14? Is it God or an alien race? The last scene seemed to be saying that Kai will be having a baby, I guess its supposed to be the second coming of Jesus or something, who knows. I really don't care if they renew it or not at this point...but I had no idea Dirt was renewed, that made my day, I loved that show.
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Aug 13, 2007 12:38 PM
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Shame on you, Matt Roush. I guess I can understand your confusion. I was confused a lot by the show too. I didn't completely get it. But instead of being threatened by the show why not acknowlege how unique and experimental and balls-to-the-wall brave it was to produce such a piece of mainstream entertainment that is so unabashedly elliptical and abstract...and absolutely different than any other televison program EVER created. You may not have been moved as I was but you have to recognize, like the citizens of Imperial Beach, that something totally extraordinary was going on...You have lost credibility with me, Matt. To not give props at least? To actually deride? How can you call yourself a real critic. Your colleague Ausiello, sure. He's basically a gossip columnist. But surely you have to at least have understood what Milch was trying to get at. I'm so disappointed in you. I'm sure you could care less.
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Aug 13, 2007 12:39 PM
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Agree completely with Matt. What a pretentious, self indulgent mess. Frankly, I am not surprised. While I liked Deadwood (especially in the first two seasons), I often felt that Milch sacrificed character and story just to here himself wax eloquent. I think the series terminated abruptly because Milch had absolutely nothing to say and camouflaging that fact with arcane language was only going to work for so long. He obviously is in love with his own voice and the rest of us be damned. Okay, David, we get it – you are brilliant and the rest of us are morons. As far as the performances: Rebecca De Mornay should sue whoever talked her into this role. Talk about a one note performance (or I should say screech). I actually started to mute her it was so bad. If this is a true demonstration of her talents she should stick to riding the subway with Tom Cruise. And Ed O’Neill? Who would have thought that his performance in Married With Children would appear to be nuanced and sophisticated compared to JFC. Frankly, I didn’t understand Zippy’s motivation for returning. If I had escaped that pompous boor, I certainly would not have come back. Between he and De Mornay the term “chewing the scenery” seems inadequate to describe the spectacle. Then there was the character Palaka whose dialogue was probably lifted verbatim from some unused Deadwood script. The gang of weirdos at the motel where just that, a gang of weirdos, and nothing more. In fact, all the characters seemed recruited to add confusion and nonsense, with no discernable human characteristics. As far as the actor(?) playing Shaun, I understand he is a good surfer.
So John is the son of the son of god and Cass’ ones and zeros are what? Somebody please stop David Milch before he strikes again. HBO only has so much money and time for series development. They should stick to Big Love, Entourage and The Wire.
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Aug 13, 2007 1:08 PM
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i loved this and i wonder why you would care if hbo renewed th series or not if you like it watch it if you dont dont it cant hurt to have a show on hbo that you dont like they have pleanty of programming time its not cutting out a show you might like i hope and pray thet hbo renews this show for season 2
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Aug 13, 2007 1:47 PM
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I couldn't agree with you more Matt. Especially on the surfing front. I mean they hired two real life surfers to act on this show and yet we barely saw them surf. But I think the biggest problem with this show is that David Milch used the Deadwood format of having every episode take place in one day. But there weren't that many compelling characters like there was in Deadwood. And it just wasn't an interesting community.
I can actually, kind of, understand why HBO was so excited about this project. I was intrigued by the original synopsis and the cast but the delivery never came through. The show jumped the shark as soon as the opening title sequence (which in typical HBO style was amazing) was over.
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Aug 13, 2007 2:03 PM
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Matt wrote: "If ever there was a show that was for the birds, it was this birdbrained mishmash of half-baked, foulmouthed, anti-dramatic allegorical nonsense."
AMEN, brother. Good Lord, could a show about the second coming of Jesus have gone so completely out of it's way to be more obscure and obtuse and yet turned out to be even more transparent in its pretension? John from Cincinatti was John the Baptist returned (The Baptist was beheaded, hence The Cincinattan was befuddled). Yawn. The motel misfits werethe new Disciples. Imperial Beach on the border is the space between heaven & hell, life & death, redemption & damnation. 9/11/14 the date of the Second Coming/Rapture. Yawn.
If it was David Milch's intention to create the series equivalent of a "New New Testament," he failed miserably. Fur is big. Mud is big. The stick is big. The word is big. Fire is huge. The wheel is huge.
The line and circle are big. On the wall, the line and circle are huge. Why did Milch make a show that was so small?
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Aug 13, 2007 2:25 PM
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I love the amazing quirkiness of this show. However, I too, would enjoy more clarification of the overall big picture. I must admit that symbolism is not one of my strong points.
As for the acting...
Sometimes Sissy's outlandish, over-the- top, harsh & shrill diatribes and actions, seriously grate my nerves and stun my senses. However, RD is doing a a fantastic job of portraying visceral (crude/elemental/earthy), unreasoning, & instinctive emotions, of a character that does not suffer with an abundance of intellect, and has serious past & present demons/issues tormenting her.
The Shaun character is a damaged child/teen, with a stereotypical overabundance of teen emotional withdraw, acting out, and escapism. I enjoy this young actors portrayal of a sterotypical jock child/teen/adult, w/a less-than-desired intelligence and maturity, and the infamous blase false bravado of many a child/teen/adult as they transition through their life.
Unfortunately, I do not get paid, nor do I have time, to dissect and support each character/actor in this series. Bottom line - I'll be watching next season. And I'll be hoping alittle tweaking of the shows storyline will tighten up the broader picture, and illuminate the too deep areas, for me.
 Happy viewing,
 "> or not.
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Aug 13, 2007 3:06 PM
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(Re: the original post)
Yes, it's a shame David Milch didn't have Ellen Pompeo narrating the whole thing so that everyone understands it.
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Aug 13, 2007 3:07 PM
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Dark Tyler:
For the record, that godawful "Grey's Anatomy" and it's equally ludicrous yet slightly more enjoyable cousin "Desperate Housewives" are as unecessarily dumbed down and shallow as "John from Cincinatti" is unnecessarily obtuse.
John from Cincinatti is little more than watery instant oatmeal presented as if it were experimental French cuisine.
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Aug 13, 2007 3:13 PM
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For "John" to speak of faith as an intuitive experience while providing clear answers? That would have been pretentious.
By the way, I can understand why someone might not feel like trying to decipher this one of a kind show, but the reason I was ironic is that Roush seems to hate the idea of it even being on the air. Championing simplistic shows like "Heroes" or "Damages" and yet trashing every bit of a daring show like "John"? I expect more from professionals.
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Aug 13, 2007 3:19 PM
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If HBO renews this then they will lose all credibility with me and I will switch over to Showtime. Ed O'Neill was great but I can't believe that I wasted ten hours of my life watching this nonsense.
Championing simplistic shows like "Heroes" or "Damages" and yet trashing every bit of a daring show like "John"?
Damages is simplistic? We must be watching two different shows. To me, JFC wasn't daring, it was just muddled. There is a big difference between complexity and confusion.
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Aug 13, 2007 4:59 PM
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It was brain numbingly bad. I can't believe we lost Deadwood to this utter and complete drivel.
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Aug 13, 2007 5:31 PM
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