Some TMI rambling about JFSP S9 in honor of the fifth anniversary of the finale airing
I haven't listened to JFSP S9 in over a year, despite the fact that before that I listened to it multiple times a year (I've listened to it in total at least ten times if not more, including on my birthday at the top of a mountain while eating a chocolate cheese muffin very slowly- twice).
I just found, after not having been on Twitter for quite a while, the thread that I made after S9E3 aired. I don't recall exactly but I THINK that I listened to the first three episodes in one go, and that pretty much immediately afterward I wrote the thread, not something that is or was usual for me. I focused on an analysis of E3, and rereading it is quite interesting because it makes clearer than I'd remembered that what we would now think of as the obvious plot didn't really become evident til at EARLIEST E4 lol.
I'm not the only person who felt that S9 really jumpstarted at E3, but to this day it's still my favorite episode and it's because of Jerry. I'm sure he reminded lots of people of their grandfather, and all I can say is that I am one of them. When the show came out he was not only still alive but very active- he'd been through a lot of medical issues but had been astonishingly resilient throughout, and even as his health declined as he hit his 90s, he never lost his sense of humor, his creativity, his wit, his curiosity or the vast stores of love he had for all of his kids and grandkids. He also is to this day the example I have in my head for true love for a spouse, as he spent over 30 years caring for my disabled grandmother (whose personality, actually, had a lot of similarities with Hilla's- sharp and practical but with an appreciation for the silly that made everything better) and never truly got over her loss.
I'd listen to Jerry in S9 and think "wow, I'm lucky to have that." But now I don't, and haven't for over a year. And I haven't been able to decide whether I think that listening again will feel good or not.
Maybe another day I'll write more about the actual show, but for today I guess I'll just say that I stand by my feeling in the thread that the structure of building the characters out backward and structuring life through context felt pivotal to me. I gave the example of it being like learning about the lives of your grandparents before you met them, and in retrospect, as I have learned more about my grandfather's past life before I knew him as we go through all the photo albums and video recordings in his house, I'm reminded even more of the feeling of having gotten to know Jerry. I feel like I'm understanding my grandfather's story and what made him not only the man I knew, but the SPECIFIC man he was, as I go back in time.
I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet JF a year or two ago and thank him for both Cabin Pressure and Cabin Fever, which each at various points literally kept me going when I wasn't sure what else would. I don't recall if I thanked him for JFSP S9, but I do now.
