Young Indiana Jones -- Episode 20: Mystery of the Blues

To Watch: Click Here

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

While an archaeology student at the University of Chicago, Indiana Jones is getting his real education at night in the city's jazz clubs. With practice and tutelage from some jazz experts, he turns himself into a respectable "sax man." He also attempts to solve a mobster's murder with the help of Ernest Hemingway and Eliot Ness. 

Memorable Quote:
You can play happy birthday in jazz, or you can play St. Louis Rag so straight it won't be jazz no more.  ~Sidney

Highlight:
There are half a dozen scenes that would be the highlight in most of the other episodes, but the biggest highlight in this one can only be one thing: the presence of the man himself.  What a brilliant call to bring Harrison Ford in to bookend the episode, and of course he's awesome in his brief time on screen. It's just great to see him and hear the Indy theme.

Lowlight:

Indy comes off as too innocent and in awe of his musician friends. That characterization might have worked in a pre-war episode, but given all the drama that he experienced in Europe, it's hard to imagine him being so wide-eyed and sheepish about playing the sax.

Brushes with historical figures:

• Eliot Ness
• Sidney Bechet
• Louis Armstrong
• Ernest Hemingway (second appearance)
• Al Capone

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

• Jeffrey Wright delivers what's arguably the guest star performance of the series with his energetic and charismatic portrayal of Sidney Bechet. 
• It's doubtful that Eliot Ness was 1/24th as goofy and inept as he's portrayed, but his character acts as a good foil for Indy, and it's fun to see young Ness and young Capone cross paths. 
• The music is another highlight in this episode, with one amazing jazz number after another. In particular, I dig the variations on Turkey in the Straw.   
• Those old-school jazz clubs are the coolest. Between those jazz clubs and the blues club in my favorite Quantum Leap episode, Chicago must have been the place to be back in the day. Now I think of it as a place with crazy drivers and too much traffic. 
• 45:55 - some great acting from Wright and Flanery when Sidney surprises Indy by calling him up on stage to perform. 
• Jane Krakowski appears as Colosimo's wife. I saw her name in the opening credits and at first thought she was the one who stopped Indy at the frat party to tell him that she liked his music. 
• It's a little sad at the end to see old Indy, the same guy who successfully took on hundreds of Nazis and Thuggees, get pushed around by a couple of two-bit crooks, but I like how he cleverly uses the saxophone to get the upper hand. As Dr. Jones Sr. says in the Last Crusade, sometimes when you just sit down, the solution presents itself. 

Final Analysis:

From start to finish, this is the #1 episode. So many highlights in this one: I already mentioned Jeffrey Wright and the jazz music, but there's also the Godfather-style Italian mafia plot, the dinner debate over the role of African-Americans in an unjust society, the frat party barbershop quartet scene, and the action sequence in the warehouse. And the presence of the great Harrison Ford is the icing on the cake.  

Young Indiana Jones -- Episode 19: Winds of Change

To Watch: Click Here

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

Indiana Jones's has a front row seat at the Treaty of Versailles as a translator. Then he returns home to an icy reception from his father. 

Memorable Quote:
Change is painful. People will do anything to prevent pain.  ~Indy

Highlight:
Much like Spring Break Adventure, I like the vibe of 1920s Americana that they create in his hometown of Princeton. 

Lowlight:

Jones Sr. is a flat-out jerk in this episode. His character has always been stuffy and too interested in his own work, but his behavior in this episode is unforgivable.

Brushes with historical figures:

• Lawrence of Arabia (third time for Lawrence)
• Arnold Toynbee
• Gertrude Bell 
• Woodrow Wilson
• Prince Faisal
• Ho Chi Minh
• Robert Goddard 
• Paul Robeson

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

• The guy playing Woodrow Wilson doesn't look anything like Woodrow Wilson, not that people who look like Woodrow Wilson grow on trees. Turns out that the actor is the crooked cop from Witness. And other guest star with a Harrison Ford connection is the German negotiator who played Dr. Nichols in The Fugitive. Great scene at the end where Dr. Kimball interrupts Nichols during his speech -- ok, I'm off track. 
• 9:00 mark - Wilson says that he's prepared to succeed where Jesus Christ failed. In basketball, they call that a heat check. 
• 12:40 - "The answer to this problem therefore is simple. We go and consult the people themselves...we ask them what it is they want."  Wilson is on fire right now. 
• Fun fact: I've been to the Woodrow Wilson presidential library and birthplace in Staunton, Virginia. My wife and I were passing through town on our way to West Virginia. We had no plans to see the historic site and didn't even know it was there until we made a wrong turn and saw it right in front of us. So we decided to stop and check it out -- we got a nice guided tour and saw some old cars, and I got a souvenir glass. 
• 15:13 - the normally soft-spoken Lawrence of Arabia surprisingly blows a gasket and tells Indy to go to Hell. 
• I was recently was watching the first episode of Ken Burns's Vietnam documentary, which relayed the story about how Ho Chi Minh was hoping to meet Wilson in Paris after WW1 but never got the chance. 
• The actress who played Amy was the cheerleader and Keanu Reeves's love interest in The Replacements.
• I didn't know anything about Robert Goddard other than knowing of Goddard Space Center in Maryland. I did know Paul Robeson (although didn't know he was a football player). Great voice. 

Final Analysis:

Decent episode with no big highlights or lowlights. Ranking it 7 out of 19. 

Young Indiana Jones -- Episode 18: Treasure of the Peacock's Eye

To Watch: Click Here

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

As World War One comes to an end, Indiana Jones and Remy travel to Egypt and Indonesia in search of a legendary diamond that once belonged to Alexander the Great. Along the way, they meet up with other diamond hunters, pirates, and pacific islanders. 

Memorable Quote:
There are all kinds of ways of life in this world. One is not right, one is not wrong. Understanding others, we can accept them, and through acceptance comes a peaceful world.  ~Malinowski

Highlight:
The scene where the pirates board the ship is fun.

Lowlight:

Too much Remy in this episode. In general his character is kind of annoying and doesn't bring much to the table, and at times it's hard to understand him with his thick accent.  Hopefully this will be his last episode.

Brushes with historical figures:

• Howard Carter.  He also appeared in My First Adventure and is played by the same actor. 
• Bronislaw Malinowski. I'd never heard of him, but apparently he was a famous anthropologist.

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

• Why is everyone fighting even though the armistice is about to be official within the hour? Did that really happen?  Let me check the internet....yes, looks like it did. 
• Finally, the war is over and there can be some episodes about something other than WWI. 
• It sounds like Remy says that he's been married to his wife for three years and has only seen her for ten days. But then at the train station it seems like he has a bunch of kids. 
• 8:28 mark - Shouldn't Indy know Greek instead of Remy needing a scholar to translate?
• Hard to believe that Indy and Remy are so quick to leave home and travel halfway around the world immediately after returning from a long and grueling war. Even more surprising is that Remy's wife not only tells them to go but gives them some of grandma's jewelry to finance their trip. "Even though you've been gone for three years and home for only an hour, why don't you leave right away on a wild goose chase and leave me to manage the home and the children!"  Maybe she finds Remy annoying, too. 
• 13:12 - It's the Indiana Jones traveling-on-the-map picture! I don't recall seeing this in any of the earlier episodes -- too bad, because it's cool and evocative of the movies. 
• 22:05 - Some sloppy editing when they're supposed to be looking at a newspaper that is clearly blank. 
• Nice ending where Malinowski helps Indy to prioritize archaeology over diamonds and fortune. Unfortunately, Indy forgets this lesson at the beginning of Temple of Doom. 

Final Analysis:

After a litany of war episodes, it's nice to see Indy going back to some good old-fashioned treasure hunting. Ranking it 4th out of 18. 

Young Indiana Jones -- Episode 17: Masks of Evil

To Watch: Click Here

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

In Istanbul, Indiana Jones is undercover as a Swedish journalist whose mission is to communicate French peace terms to a Turkish general. Next, he goes to Transylvania to investigate a mysterious Romanian general who has kidnapped some allied POWs. 

Memorable Quote:
Naturally, the loss of an innocent life is to be regretted, but the operation has been a wonderful success.  ~French intelligence officer

Highlight:
Here's a fun fact: the name of the Romanian vampire is Mattias Targo. The name of the Hungarian tough guy in Die Hard 3 is Mathias Targo. Both were written by the same person, Jonathan Hensleigh.

Lowlight:

I didn't think anything could be worse than the second half of Espionage Escapades, but the last 25 minutes of this episode is my new series lowlight. One thing I've appreciated about the series thus far is that it didn't delve into the magical elements that the movies did (and which were my least favorite parts of the movies). In the Transylvanian castle, however, things get wacky with lightning balls, frozen floors, and of course blood-sucking vampires. Not my cup of tea.

Brushes with historical figures:

• Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

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

• Indy pulls off a pretty good Swedish accent. I recently watched Boondock Saints where he does a good Boston Irish accent. 
• It's bad enough that Indy is stringing Molly along as part of his cover, but then he makes it worse by asking her to marry him and accompany him to Sweden. Clearly he likes her a little bit but not enough to tell her the truth. 
• It's easy to see who the mole is going to be when Stefan pushes the guy who was willing to talk off the roof. 
• Molly's not the most dynamic personality, but it's a sad moment when she dies.
• Getting back to the Memorable Quote, how was the operation a wonderful success?  At least in the part that we see, the Turkish general says he's not interested in the French terms. 
• Some great shots of Venice in the middle of the episode, and interesting that they made the effort to get the shots even though the location has no bearing on the plot. 
• The American colonel seems too high ranking to go on a two-person mission. Little does he know that he's about to be dismembered by a vampire. 

Final Analysis:

I'm not a fan of this one. The first half was just ok, and the second half was irredeemable. Ranking it second to last. 

MacGyver Trivia: Question 2 Added 11/27

The comments in this post will be updated periodically with some MacGyver trivia questions that I'll try to stump you with (original series only).  Check them out and see how well you know the show! 

Young Indiana Jones -- Episode 16: Tales of Innocence

To Watch: Click Here

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

In northern Italy, Indiana Jones gets into a lover's quarrel with Ernest Hemingway over an Italian country girl. Then, he goes to North Africa on a mission to find out who's been supplying guns to anti-French marauders. 

Memorable Quote:
You rat!  ~Indy
Me?  ~Ernie
You dirty, two-timing rat!  ~Indy
Judas!   ~Ernie

Highlight:
Two amusing scenes between 4:30 and 7:30, first where Indy gets frazzled by an Italian soldier that almost hits him with friendly fire (great acting by Flanery here), and then in a jeep where Indy pretends to not speak English.

Lowlight:

The romantic tension between Indy and Edith Wharton was a bit uncomfortable given their age difference, similar to MacGyver and Viktoria in The Enemy Within. As I said in that post, I'm not against older women and younger men hitting it off, but this lady looks like she should be Indy's mom.

Brushes with historical figures:

• Ernest Hemingway
• Edith Wharton
• Lowell Thomas

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

• I like how the episode starts in medias res and how we're not sure what exactly Indy is doing or why he's pretending to be missing an arm. 
• 23:46 mark -- a clever Farewell to Arms reference. 
• A few notes about the co-stars:
• The wikipedia page of Veronica Logan (Giulietta) says: "On the set of Young Indiana Jones, she met the actor Sean Patrick Flanery, with whom she cohabited for a period in Los Angeles."
• The actress who plays Giulietta's mother also played Shmi Skywalker (mother of Anakin) in Star Wars Episode 1, and she was married to Bille August who was the director of this episode. 
• Hemingway is played by Jay Underwood, who I vaguely remember as Chip the robot from the 80's movie Not Quite Human. 
• Originally I assumed that Ernie was the "other guy", but then I figured he wasn't when I saw the photo of the Italian guy in the living room, so I was surprised when it was revealed to be Ernie even though I had predicted it initially. 
• It doesn't take long for Indy to forget about Giulietta, as evidenced by his dalliance with Nurse Sophia. 

Final Analysis:

Overall, a good episode. The first half was well-written and amusing, even if I'd prefer the series to emphasize action over comedy. I wasn't wild about the Edith relationship in the second half, but I liked the subplot involving the French traitor and the swordfight at the end. Ranking it 4th out of 16. 

Young Indiana Jones -- Episode 15: Daredevils of the Desert

To Watch: Click Here

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

Indiana Jones journeys across the desert to the town of Beersheba (in modern day Israel) to protect the wells for the incoming British Army. He travels with Maya, a mysterious agent whose motives are unclear. 

Memorable Quote:
What's it like, the desert?  ~Indy
It's like nowhere else on this earth. It's the most terrible place there is. And the most wonderful. ~Lawrence

Highlight:
Between Catherine Zeta Jones and Daniel Craig, we got some big-time star power in this one! Catherine Zeta featured in The Mask of Zorro, one of my all-time favorites, and I'll talk a lot more about Daniel Craig once I get to my James Bond Project (that's right, it's coming at some point down the line -- at the rate I'm going, maybe by 2036). Both give good performances (Craig has a decent German accent), and it's fun to see them at the beginning of their careers -- per IMDB, it's Catherine Zeta's 7th-ever credit and Craig's 8th.

Lowlight:

The fake fight between Indy and his partner was a stretch insofar as they were able to foresee the opportunity they'd have and how the "dead" partner was able to get away without being spotted. And how did they manage the fake blood?

Brushes with historical figures:

• Lawrence of Arabia

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

• I watched this episode about a month ago on a bus. Fortunately I took notes because I'm having trouble remembering the details. 
• 7:52 mark -- When Indy sits down at the tavern table to get his assignment, it looks like he puts a whip next to his side. I kind of forgot about the whip as a potential tool because he never uses it in this series -- it would have been nice for him to break it out every once in a while. 
• Col. Meinertzhagen, the British intelligence officer, apparently appeared in the Phantom Train of Doom. His appearance there isn't ringing even the slightest of bells with me -- not now, nor when I was on the bus. 
• Lawrence of Arabia is back after appearing in My First Adventure, but this time it's a different actor who has a more boyish appearance. 
• While Indy's Middle Eastern accent actually isn't too bad, it's hard to see how he'd fool anyone into thinking that he's an Arab. 
• Indy makes a reference to flying a plane with Houdini in Australia -- maybe that was an episode that got cut?
• Seems like a bad idea for the defenders of Beersheba to blow up the wells without a clear escape plan, because then they run out of water too. 
• 56:45 -- Abrupt turn from CZJ (that's what her friends call her) as she goes from "prickly" to "kiss me Indy" at the drop of a hat. 
• 1:03:03 -- A goof when Daniel Craig slams the knife down on the desk and the point of the blade sticks in the desk. Later, we see that the knife is not real and that the blade collapses when pressure is applied.
• The fight scene at the end is like a manifestation of Indiana Jones vs. James Bond. This round goes to Indy. 

Final Analysis:

This episode is pretty good -- I like the desert setting, and the storyline with the Australian unit was a nice touch. And getting to see young Daniel Craig and young CZJ was a lot of fun. Ranking it 6 out of 15.