Young Indiana Jones -- Episode 3: The Perils of Cupid

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Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

In Vienna, Indy develops a crush on Princess Sophie, daughter of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Then, in Florence, Mrs. Jones falls for the operatic composer Puccini.

Memorable Quote:
Anyone can see by his operas that signore Puccini is a passionate man. But let us remember, passion burns bright when it's new.  ~Miss Seymour

Highlight:
My favorite scene so far from the series: Indy on the loose in the castle trying to elude everyone on his way to see Princess Sophie. In general I enjoy when the protagonist is being chased and/or performing evasive maneuvers, which is what this series should have had more of when Indy was nine and too young to fight.

Lowlight:

It's too bad Puccini didn't get more comeuppance for how overly aggressive he was toward Mrs. Jones, like if Indy would have tripped him and caused him to fall into a lake or something.

Brushes with historical figures:

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Princess Sophie
• Sigmund Freud
• Carl Jung
• Giacomo Puccini

Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:

• 2:07 mark -- Indy's way too short to be able to reach Sophie's hat on the ground while staying on his horse.
• 2:30 -- I like the "Herr Jones" reference from the ringmaster -- makes me think of the good old days when grown-up Indy is whooping up on the Nazis. 
• I googled the Archduke (whose assassination set off World War One) and Sophie to see what they looked like, and they actually looked reasonably like their characters here.
• While I admire Indy's powers of evasion, there's no chance that one of the 15 musicians (facing in his direction) wouldn't have noticed him moving a chair, standing on the chair, and turning the lock on the door.  
• Indy, next time don't throw irons off the Leaning Tower of Pisa -- you could kill somebody!

Final Analysis:

I like this episode best so far on the strength of the Vienna portion. It's a great setting (you don't often see shows or movies in Vienna), and it's cool to think of Indy crossing paths with the Archduke, someone that casual students of history are aware of but might not know much about. I also like the dialogue in the scene around the dinner table with Freud and Jung.

The Florence part is also well written with the discussion of physics mimicking Mrs. Jones's feelings and also the conversation between her and Miss Seymour at the end (some sage advice there from Miss S). The ending is a little abrupt (and Indy and his mom could probably use some therapy after that emotional roller coaster), but it's nice to see Mrs. Jones's character having her moment in the Tuscan sun.