Joan of Arcadia (TV)
Review by Garrett Mok
Film Review Archive

Cast (in credits order):
Joe Mantegna .... Will Girardi
Mary Steenburgen .... Helen Girardi
Amber Tamblyn .... Joan Girardi
Jason Ritter .... Kevin Girardi
Michael Welch .... Luke Girardi

‘Intelligent television’ has been a proven oxymoron outside PBS and select cable programming for such a long time that when Joan of Arcadia, or, as the aficionados would call it, JoA, turned up last season on CBS, it was met with pre-emptive skepticism -- at least by me. Given that the show was supposedly about a teenage girl in a small town who spoke to God, or rather spoken to by God, I had visions of a wholesome and slightly right-wing cheese fest a la Seventh Heaven. Only that her name is Joan and lives in Arcadia, as in another teenager in a medieval French village who also happened to be spoken to by God, is symbolic, and clever in the very least, merited an investigation. I was also curious about Amber Tamblyn, who plays the titular character and looks like an actual teenager, unlike the twenty-something waif-thin Noxzema models of most network TV shows who play her age.

The gimmick, or M.O., is that God speaks to her as regular people. Joan Osbourne’s opening title song makes it abundantly clear – “What if God was one of us?” A cute boy, a dog walker, a nurse, a little girl, an elderly cafeteria worker, a goth kid, you name it. God is a democrat. And God gives Joan Girardi assignments that seem initially to be improbable and outlandish but turn out to be life savers, more often than not literally. This is one neo-magical-realist shot in the arm in a show that can otherwise be a straight-forward teenage angst cum gritty cop drama (Joan’s father is Arcadia’s police chief). Something like Dawson’s Creek meets Hill Street Blues meets X-Files. But when God does appear, the scenes are seamless. Ms. Tamblyn’s expressive face does more to clue the viewer in on the quizzicality, dilemma and awe of these encounters than a beam of white light shining through a church window amid flutter of dove wings. Speaking of X-Files, the famed Agent Mulder speaks of “a force or territorial or spiritual entity drawn to the turmoil of adolescence” in an episode called “Rush.” Joan is a force of nature, and there is a method to her seeming madness and chaos, playing out against an emotional battlescape called high school.

In many ways, Joan is a very typical teenager and a lucky one, who has the greatest gift of all, a loving family, the springboard from which she can reach out to help others, and in doing so, truing her own family’s overburdened wheels and propelling herself forward, who may grow up to be a savior of not only a town but something much greater. In a later episode, Joan searches for her “thing.” Her beloved Adam is a talented artist, his girl-at-the-moment is a photographer, her brother Luke is a budding scientist, her rebellious and fellow “sub-defective” friend Grace is a closet poet. She wants her “thing,” something she is good at and can call her own. She tries photography and fails miserably. Only later she realizes that her gift, her “thing,” is her endless compassion and saintly empathy for others.

Despite the heady premises of faith and redemption, the show never verges on religious dogma. It is rather about spiritual awakening and reconciliation. It is tender, nuanced, and hard-hitting when it needs to be. Kleenex factor can be high at times, given the myriad tragedies surrounding the Girardi family, the pivotal one being the car accident that leaves Joan’s older brother Kevin – a star athlete – a paraplegic. But the ongoing message seems to be that each and every one in the family strengthens despite the hardship, that, in Mrs. Girardi’s words, “from the ashes the phoenix rises.” That she be fearless in the face of possible failure. And go on. And keep trying.

The acting is nearly flawless, from the seasoned veterans Mary Steenburgen and Joe Mantegna, who play art teacher mom and police chief dad, to role players Chris Marquette (the sensitive artist and Joan’s potential love interest), Jason Ritter (the wheelchair-bound older brother), and Michael Welch (the science-whiz younger brother). But the show hinges on Ms. Tamblyn’s breakout performance as St. Joan -- the title of one early episode -- and she gives freely and with gusto, with faith and devotion.

Note: Joan of Arcadia is on Fridays 8pm EST on CBS. There are 23 episodes in its first season.

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