Mark Watches ‘Wonderfalls’: Episode 10 – Lying Pig

In the tenth episode of Wonderfalls, Jaye is frustrated when various animals appear to want her to get Eric and Heidi back together. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Wonderfalls.

I REALLY DON’T LIKE THE ANIMALS RIGHT NOW.

  • This is the first episode that gives the appearance that the creatures who talk to Jaye will get her to do things to help other people, but at the expense of her own happiness. Previously, she grew along the way. I guess that it’s possible that this is all part of some long-term growth for Jaye, but IT HURTS SO MUCH.
  • Plus, I’ve never seen the messages change so many times in one episode! HOW DESPERATE ARE THESE ANIMALS TO BREAK JAYE’S HEART?
  • Yet I can’t deny what a well-organized feat “Lying Pig” is. By the end of this episode, Jaye’s actions have set into motion a complicated catalyst that allows nearly everyone else to realize what their own relationships mean.
  • Let’s start with the Tylers! They return from Darrin’s medical convention, and Karen feels like her husband has been ignoring her. And he has! It’s not like she’s imagining that her husband is taking her for granted just a bit, you know? So she accepts a date with a fellow doctor of Darrin’s, much to the disdain of Sharon, who drags her father into her own anxiety attacks over this development. The one aspect of this that’s a bit bizarre is that the text never seems to assign Karen any blame for purposely arranging a date while married. Granted, Dr. Chambers is the one who gets the punch in the face at the end, but I felt like that aspect of Karen’s story was a little strange. Still, Karen loves that her husband fought for her honor, and it’s a direct parallel to Eric’s own desires for Jaye. He even says so!
  • There’s just as much trepidation between Mahandra and Aaron, though it’s for an entirely different reason. These two have known one another for years, and until the previous episode, they’d never expressed a single sexual desire for each other. ever. Mahandra’s own fear and reluctance is built on her perception of how others will react to her being attracted to Aaron. It’s undeniable that she’s drawn to him, so that’s not the issue. She’s worried that Jaye will freak out and possibly end her friendship with Mahandra because of this! In this sense, they both act similarly. They’re afraid of possibility. Both don’t know the future for certain because that’s impossible, yet they both act as if the future is already written. While Mahandra doesn’t really admit the truth by the end of “Lying Pig,” I think she might be ready to. She has an epiphany regarding Aaron after she finds out that both Jaye and Eric love one another: Maybe you’re supposed to be with the very person you’re not supposed to be with.
  • Written out like that, it looks worse than it sounds. I TOTALLY UNDERSTOOD YOU, MAHANDRA.
  • And then we’ve got Eric and Jaye. As Jaye’s actions over the course of “Lying Pig” give us that gloriously chaotic scene in The Barrel, I wondered if that was the point of this all. What if the animals wanted to put Eric through this whole thing so that Jaye would have a chance to fight for him? What if they just wanted to inspire her and provide the motivation for her to finally step out of her shell? So you can tell, then, that I was shocked that the bass on the wall insisted that she stop talking. Why? WHY? What good is this doing? Oh god, I mean… I guess it’s true that she is helping Eric in some way, isn’t she? If this all occurred to help Eric come to terms with what his wife did, then whose to say that this is bad? What if his existential crisis was all based on the fact that he ran away from his problems instead of facing them head on?
  • That’s the difficulty in this episode, and despite that I desperately want Jaye and Eric to be together, I can’t fault the writers here. Just because this is uncomfortable and makes me want to curl up with a pint of ice cream doesn’t mean it’s bad.
  • Which just makes me want to watch more of this. I want to see where this is going! How are the writers going to deal with the fact that the main source of emotional tension in the show is apparently gone? If Jaye no longer has Eric to pine over in her own complicated way, what is she going to do? How will she treat further messages after these ones just led the man she loves to another woman?
  • I DON’T KNOW, Y’ALL. But we’ll probably see more of Jewel Staite, which I will never complain about. She is so good as Heidi!
  • All right, back to mourning my poor heart. LORD. Y’all must get together and come up with shows that will crush me on purpose. I’M ON TO YOU.

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Mark Links Stuff

The Mark Does Stuff Summer Tour is happening soon! Check out the posted dates, suggest new ones, help bring me to YOUR TOWN.
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About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
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