107 Camikazi Kid

[Lightning McQueenie]

It's always good to see when a leap actually hits home for Sam (or Al).

[Al_Calavicci]

This is one of my favorite 1st season episodes.
I love the leaps that take place in the 50's and early 60's.
I think many of us can relate to trying to save someone from making a mistake or being taken advantage of by some sort of insincere jerk "nozzle" only to be ignored...well as they say "love" is blind".
This episode also had a lot of funny moments too,like the laughing gas leak scene,Al acting as observer during the lingere party,and of course Al singing "let it be me" with Sam joining in,I liked that scene because it was light hearted and highlights Al & Sams friendship.
Cant believe they wrecked that '60 Chevy in the drag scene at the end..that was a nice car!

[Donofrio_QLTD]

Hmmm, OK. As much as I liked this episode, I never really felt so engaged with the characters in this story. I don't doubt that people were almost this two-dimensional and shallow in the 60's, but... I didn't really like anyone. Not even Cheryl or the girl who had a crush on Cam, and Cameron's mom really annoyed me most of the time. The bad guy, don't remember his name right now, and his dad were somewhat cartoonish to me, except for the bad guy's mom. I actually liked her, but she was caught in the middle. The Michael Jackson kiss... well, meh.

Even with all that, it still has something that keeps it going and you actually never want to stop watching it. That's what I see that happened to Paul Brown with his stories most of the time. He definitely had the talent to create great setups, the ability to give you interesting story developments, but his characters were always a bit too self-centered, cliched, entitled, one-sided and high-toned. There's where he failed, in my opinion, and also at the fact to try to give the story a morality with almost always a one-sided POV. His episodes, not my cup of coffee, except maybe for one or two, though I admit they're very entertaining and sometimes, when he's up to it, quite suspenseful.

My rating: Average.

[Al_Calavicci]

Originally Posted by Donofrio_QLTD

I don't doubt that people were almost this two-dimensional and shallow in the 60's, but... I didn't really like anyone.

That's a ridiculous statement,especially given the state of todays society.First,its a work of fiction playing up television clichés of the time period. Second,Look at the present day world around you.listen to the rap "music" filled profanity and look at the reality shows on tv and the other dreck that pass as "entertainment",look at how people dress and act today,listen to the level of discourse and contrast that with the same from the 50's and 60's.

[Donofrio_QLTD]

Deleted. Post keeps repeating whenever I try to edit.

[Donofrio_QLTD]

Hehe!! Calm down, dude!! I never said I didn't like cliches. QL was filled with them, after all, because, as you say, it was a fictional TV show, no more. I accept that and that's part of the fun. My point is with the writing of the characters in this particular episode. Most of the time I loved Paul Brown's characters, being them from the 60's or whatever, but there were other times where it seemed that he didn't have a clue and chose to overdo them a lot, like on this episode or like on "Private Dancer" or that other one, "Temptation Eyes". I feel that the characters in this episode are all pretty straightforward and have no real substance. They come off as empty and I can't simpatize with them or feel bad/good for their decisions. Even on the episodes where he manages to have very interesting characters, there are parts where he slips it a bit and I can't help but notice that he seemed to have a pretty one-sided view of life, at least during the time he collaborated with QL. That's one of the reasons I consider him one of the weakest writers of the series. At least he managed to be consistent and, like I said, I liked him most of the time either way. I can't say the same thing about Robin Jill Bernheim, for example, or many other season 5 writers like Richard C. Okie, who helped to kill the show, in my opinion. Experiencing the body of work from those fellows, let me tell you that Paul Brown was missed a great deal on the last season. The fact that you mentioned nowadays life doesn't have anything to do with what I tried to say, sorry.

[Donofrio_QLTD]

Post kept repeating. Deleted.

[MO]

This one gets a "Good" rating from me. The teenaged boys were over-the-top immature, more so than any teenaged boys I've ever met. I know they were supposed to be annoying, but I think the writers blew past the mark and kept on going. I found the Michael Jackson scene completely unnecessary, and I assume it was put in for time filler. I liked the scenes with the cars, especially the part where Sam didn't know how to get to the crankshaft (?), so he made Jill show him that she remembered. Of course, the race at the end was the best, even if they did wreck that awesome car.

[Al_Calavicci]

Sorry,I think you misunderstood what I was saying. And I was calm and didn't need to "calm down" lol. I wasn't shouting (typing in all caps),I was merely stating how I felt.

I agree with you about the writing and the characters to a large degree,most of them were not realistic,but tired clichés,and think that the bullys were completely one dimensional,cartoonish and unbelievable. they were like caricatures from "Animal House".

The point I took umbrage with was not with your assement of the scriptwriting or characters,but was with your statement "I don't doubt that people were almost this two dimensional and shallow in the 60's".
I felt that was very prejudiced and disrespectful to that generation. Have you ever talked to anybody who lived during the 50's or the 60's about what it was really like then? Thats a ridiculously unfair statement with absolutely no basis in fact. there is a great wealth of incredible music,literature,art,movies,products and other cultural artifacts from that time for us to evaluate that you are attempting to dismiss offhandedly for no valid reason. I think that's very unfair.

All you have to do is compare and contrast todays society to the one we had then to realize there were a great many aspects of life back then that were far superior to today.

Originally Posted by Donofrio_QLTD

Hehe!! Calm down, dude!! I never said I didn't like cliches. QL was filled with them, after all, because, as you say, it was a fictional TV show, no more. I accept that and that's part of the fun. My point is with the writing of the characters in this particular episode. Most of the time I loved Paul Brown's characters, being them from the 60's or whatever, but there were other times where it seemed that he didn't have a clue and chose to overdo them a lot, like on this episode or like on "Private Dancer" or that other one, "Temptation Eyes". I feel that the characters in this episode are all pretty straightforward and have no real substance. They come off as empty and I can't simpatize with them or feel bad/good for their decisions. Even on the episodes where he manages to have very interesting characters, there are parts where he slips it a bit and I can't help but notice that he seemed to have a pretty one-sided view of life, at least during the time he collaborated with QL. That's one of the reasons I consider him one of the weakest writers of the series. At least he managed to be consistent and, like I said, I liked him most of the time either way. I can't say the same thing about Robin Jill Bernheim, for example, or many other season 5 writers like Richard C. Okie, who helped to kill the show, in my opinion. Experiencing the body of work from those fellows, let me tell you that Paul Brown was missed a great deal on the last season. The fact that you mentioned nowadays life doesn't have anything to do with what I tried to say, sorry.

[Al_Calavicci]

Originally Posted by MO

This one gets a "Good" rating from me. The teenaged boys were over-the-top immature, more so than any teenaged boys I've ever met. I know they were supposed to be annoying, but I think the writers blew past the mark and kept on going. I found the Michael Jackson scene completely unnecessary, and I assume it was put in for time filler. I liked the scenes with the cars, especially the part where Sam didn't know how to get to the crankshaft (?), so he made Jill show him that she remembered. Of course, the race at the end was the best, even if they did wreck that awesome car.

I agree,the teenage boys behaved like Beavis and Butthead and were ridiculously unbelievable. Parents were much stricter back then and wouldn't have tolerated that degree of idiocy.The Michael Jackson part was just filler,the writers would do that off and on throughout the series,like the "Piggy Sue" scene with Buddy Holly. I didn't mind it too much,some of it was kind of funny.

I have to confess that overall I do like this episode though because I love the 1950's and early 1960's era,and its always cool to see the cars and way the people dressed back then. As someone who owns several late 50's and early 60's cars it made me wince to see them wreck the chevy in the end.

[Al_Calavicci]

I also thought the end scene where Sam and Al sing "Let it be me" was great. And the part where Al wanted the hamburger and fries and Sam teased him with them was funny.

[MO]

It is a life goal of mine to collect old cars and restore them. Maybe once I've retired.

[chris-oates]

Another middle of the road episode, this one. Camikazi Kid is similar to The Right Hand of God in the way that I find it to be more forgettable than the other season 1 eps. This is the first time we get a glance at Sam's troubled history. Cheryl's upcoming, doomed marriage to the sleazy Bob brings up memories of Sam's sister Katie, who also married an abusive man.

The best parts of this episode are those that deal with Cheryl and Bob. I love how protective Sam is towards Cheryl, and the way he stands up to Bob. The car race at the end is also fun, as too is the little scene with a young Michael Jackson. Unfortunately, this episode is not without some annoying drawbacks. Most of the side characters come across as annoying, from Cam and Cheryl's parents to Bob's father (although he is kinda funny at times).

Finally, the ending of this episode with Sam and Al singing together, and then Sam giving Jill a small kiss is one of the sweetest moments in the series.

My rating. Average (my opinion having changed slightly since I rated this one as good 6 years ago). A pretty decent episode all in all.