Pan Am’s friendly skies are not all that they seem

One episode in, and I am officially hooked. Everything that The Playboy Club is not, Pan Am manages to be. Not that TPC was all that bad, but the airline drama is a considerably more complete show. The two new historical fiction dramas will always be linked together, like it not, and the comparisons are inevitable … though my bet is only one of them will still be around come May. I’ve seen the Pan Am pilot a couple of three times now, including the original version with Jonah Lotan in the role of Dean (recast to Mike Vogel in the episode that aired). Instead of a full review, let me just share a couple of observations, and next week we will jump in with both feet.

I expected that Christina Ricci would be more of the focus than she was in the first hour. When we first met her, I thought that Maggie would be world-wise yet bossy and senior to her co-workers. She, however, was a lot … well … nicer; she’s not the mother hen that I expected her to be. Also, the story seemed to be happening around her, instead of her playing an active role. Considering Ricci is probably the most well known actor involved, I hope this is something that changes as the story develops.

The “disappearance” of Bridget is one of the more intriguing parts of the pilot. I guess the espionage portion of Pan Am came a surprise to a lot of people, but it was one of the things that drew me to the project early on. As Maggie says, a Pan Am stewardess is a perfect cover. Bridget’s relationship with Dean is a thread that I hope will be continued, despite Annabelle Wallis not being a member of the main cast.

Kate taking up the life of a spy simultaneous with her sister joining Pan Am has to complicate things. She seems to be jealous of Laura, in one of those non-logical twists that siblings are often prone to. Kate has led the life to be jealous of, and Laura joining her as a stewardess should be proof positive. I hope that it won’t turn out that Kate decided to take “Richard’s” offer because her sister was now in training to be a stewardess.

I did not take to Colette, however. I do think she got the raw end of the deal with the wife … personally, I’d have gone off, explaining exactly what type of guy she was married to. In fact, that might actually be part of why I didn’t like her. She acted like a victim when she had no real reason to be one.

Not unlike Mad Men, I appreciate how Pan Am will be able to paint a specific history of life in the 1960’s. Not just a personal one, also how Pan Am was connected to historical moments. The evacuation of Bay of Pigs veterans is an example of how the espionage stories can be based in history (or, more accurately historical fiction).

I suspect there will be a lot of talk this week about much better service and flying was back then. A couple of things to keep in mind; first, it was considerably more expensive. Also, the ticket prices were regulated … it cost the same amount to fly from New York to Chicago on all of the carriers, so the only way they could compete was in quality of service. So we can complain about the comparison all we want, but remember how much we enjoy our cheaper tickets.

Notes & Quotes

• “Maggie, you dropped your silly blue hat.” — Sam
  “I get to see the world, Sam. When was the last time you left the Village?” — Maggie
  “I don’t need to see the world to change it!” — Sam
  “Well … I do!” — Maggie
• So, Pan Am would trust their newest plane
• Did you catch Grey’s Anatomy’s Nurse Olivia as the newlywed on the flight?
• LOVE the use of ‘Mack the Knife’ to play out over the end of the episode

Clacked by Ivey West
on Sep 26, 2011 @ 03:01 EST5EDT