Discuss!Jules Kendall's band gets a new manager—Jay Smouse—who has some unusual ideas for musical gigs.
#992: Unmanageable
#992: Unmanageable
I've been uninvested in the "Jules' band" arc. In fact, this is the first episode I've listened to that featured it, although it is alluded to in the Buck two-parter. In full honesty, the reason why I haven't before is because I pictured it as being stories about ungodly people doing ungodly things, and I didn't want to suffer through that. It's difficult enough to bear when you understand that there's a time limit; the fact that it isn't a multi-part episode means that these situations could drag out for a long time.
This episode didn't entirely disappoint my expectations in that aspect - there is certainly wrongdoing - but it gave me a reassurance that there would be good things in the episodes too, and that there would be a demonstration that sin and crime don't pay. It's also encouraging in that Jules, in spite of her character flaws, is at least a somewhat reluctant and sorry witness to the goings-on she's surrounded by.
Jay seems effective in his job here, even though it primarily centers around gigs that they wouldn't have agreed to otherwise. Although this episode shows him in a shadier light, he still comes off well in comparison to the band's major figures. I'm not sure whether he had already decided to dump them by the end scene, or if he made the call on the spot that it wasn't worth the trouble after hearing the argument.
It's fun to hear Pamela's character in a substantial in-person role again. It isn't expressly stated, but I presume the girl is the one resulting from Pamela's biggest episode, which could be useful for establishing AIO chronology. The small-world resolution was slightly implausible, but a great way of illustrating the episode's moral.
Still, it isn't clear that any event in this episode, of itself, would cause Jules to proceed differently. I suppose that is reserved to be shown in future episodes.
On speculation: I haven't heard earlier episodes, so perhaps this has already been touched on and is no longer a possibility, but based just on this episode and the scant information I've read about the previous ones, I wouldn't be surprised if Valerie ends up in the picture somehow, maybe playing some kind of role in Jules' breaking point. It wouldn't make sense for this outstanding rivalry to be unresolved, and however it happens, Jules being in a band full of unsavory youth seems like a great chance for it to come up.
This episode didn't entirely disappoint my expectations in that aspect - there is certainly wrongdoing - but it gave me a reassurance that there would be good things in the episodes too, and that there would be a demonstration that sin and crime don't pay. It's also encouraging in that Jules, in spite of her character flaws, is at least a somewhat reluctant and sorry witness to the goings-on she's surrounded by.
Jay seems effective in his job here, even though it primarily centers around gigs that they wouldn't have agreed to otherwise. Although this episode shows him in a shadier light, he still comes off well in comparison to the band's major figures. I'm not sure whether he had already decided to dump them by the end scene, or if he made the call on the spot that it wasn't worth the trouble after hearing the argument.
It's fun to hear Pamela's character in a substantial in-person role again. It isn't expressly stated, but I presume the girl is the one resulting from Pamela's biggest episode, which could be useful for establishing AIO chronology. The small-world resolution was slightly implausible, but a great way of illustrating the episode's moral.
Still, it isn't clear that any event in this episode, of itself, would cause Jules to proceed differently. I suppose that is reserved to be shown in future episodes.
On speculation: I haven't heard earlier episodes, so perhaps this has already been touched on and is no longer a possibility, but based just on this episode and the scant information I've read about the previous ones, I wouldn't be surprised if Valerie ends up in the picture somehow, maybe playing some kind of role in Jules' breaking point. It wouldn't make sense for this outstanding rivalry to be unresolved, and however it happens, Jules being in a band full of unsavory youth seems like a great chance for it to come up.
A classic never goes out of style.