"Call Of The WIld"...DARN...I MISSED It! - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

pilotguy · 06-10-2003, 08:22 AM

Last night I was all set to tape the "Call Of The Wild" episode, but our Cable TV had problems and I fell asleep, so I didn't get a tape of the show.

I've never seen this one before, but the episode guide makes it sound like this was the end of the line for the Brian-Alex relationship....Was it? Was Brian really unable to worm his way out of this one?

Krista2882 · 06-10-2003, 10:34 AM

yeah, Alex was getting upset that Brian kept going out with Joe and Brian's friend Danny every night for 5 nights in a row, and not coming home until 8 AM and stuff without calling her and telling her he would be home late...
so basically when she confronted him about it, he screwed up and said some stuff that ticked her off, and she told him to get his stuff and get out of her house because she said he was the one who didn't want to be in their relationship...
and then he ended up going back to her place that night, and she had changed the locks, and he tried to apologise to her and asked if they could get back together, and she said no and closed the door in his face.
It was sad! I felt bad for Brian!

HaskellGirl · 06-10-2003, 04:16 PM

I thought Alex was completely over-reacting, but maybe that just shows how unstable their relationship really was.

Adamantium · 06-10-2003, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by HaskellGirl
I thought Alex was completely over-reacting, but maybe that just shows how unstable their relationship really was.

I know what you're saying, but maybe they had her over-react because the actress was leaving the show and they had to rush a plot together and get her out of there.

HaskellGirl · 06-10-2003, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TVAdam
I know what you're saying, but maybe they had her over-react because the actress was leaving the show and they had to rush a plot together and get her out of there.

Now that you mention it, it DOES seem like they threw that together to write her off the show. I guess it does make sense in that respect.

Ice Cream Man · 06-10-2003, 06:33 PM

I agree that this episode reeked of one that had a specific purpose - to explain why Alex will leave the island. I'm wondering if she'll make an appearance in tonight's episode. It's supposed to be the last one where she's listed as a regular cast member.

Oddly enough, it's not the last time she makes an appearance! I guess one of the writers or the producer had a soft spot for her because she appears in a later episode as a guest on a talk show.

pilotguy · 06-10-2003, 07:00 PM

I think that it was a good move to make Alex's departure a direct result of Brian screwing up the relationship.

So many times a series will write off a character and have that character leave for no apparent reason, or through no fault of any of the remaining characters.

However, the end of the Brian-Alex relationship is so TYPICALLY Brian! He may succeed at something temporarily, but eventually he WILL mess it up....Everything that he touches DOES turn to garbage sooner or later.

While Brian is supposed to be a wild, carefree jokester, at times he comes across as quite a sad (and even tragic) character....basically a loser who ruins every good opportunity that comes his way.

Sorry if this bothers the "Brian" fans here....I like the character too, but sometimes he DOES remind me of "Uncle Sid" in Eugene O'Neill's play "Ah, Wilderness!".

Krista2882 · 06-10-2003, 07:38 PM

I noticed the same thing- that it seemed like she was completely overreacting, and it seemed like they only wrote it that way as a way to write the Alex character out of the show.

HaskellGirl · 06-10-2003, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pilotguy
I think that it was a good move to make Alex's departure a direct result of Brian screwing up the relationship.

So many times a series will write off a character and have that character leave for no apparent reason, or through no fault of any of the remaining characters.

However, the end of the Brian-Alex relationship is so TYPICALLY Brian! He may succeed at something temporarily, but eventually he WILL mess it up....Everything that he touches DOES turn to garbage sooner or later.

While Brian is supposed to be a wild, carefree jokester, at times he comes across as quite a sad (and even tragic) character....basically a loser who ruins every good opportunity that comes his way.

Sorry if this bothers the "Brian" fans here....I like the character too, but sometimes he DOES remind me of "Uncle Sid" in Eugene O'Neill's play "Ah, Wilderness!".

But that's just the thing...I know you missed this episode, but if you had seen it, I wonder if you would have felt the same way. On the surfance, yes, Alex gets angry at something Brian did, and so decided to call it quits. However, watching the show, Brian didn't do anything that couldn't be worked out. He didn't cheat on her or anything like that. He just went out a few times with Joe and his old buddy. Alex doesn't even really try to talk to him, she just becomes seriously angry and doesn't give him a chance. She just tells him to pack up his stuff, he's moving out and they are over. The way it all played together, I felt really bad for Brian. The break-up really came out of nowhere, but like I said, it does make sense only in that the writers were writing Farrah Forke out of the show.

I totally agree about your observations of Brian, though!! He seems to have a self-destructive personality under all that charm and fun. I think this is another way that Joe differs from Brian. His nature is different, he really wants to succeed in all aspects of his life, and he doesn't have that self-destruct mechanism that Brian does. I guess he doesn't have to, he has Brian to mess things up for him!

Ice Cream Man · 06-11-2003, 12:19 AM

I can understand why the writers didn't want to have Brian cheat on Alex as a means to get her to leave. It would have turned a lot of people (mostly women) against Brian's character. This way people feel like Alex over-reacted and they feel sorry for Brian that she bolted. Quite ingenious, if you think about it.

spunkygirl · 06-11-2003, 12:24 AM

I could see where she was coming from at first, but when he tried to make amends she was so cold and wouldn't even give him a second chance.
She must not believe in second chances or something IMO Brian deserved a second chance. It goes to show that their love wasn't that strong.

06-10-2003, 08:22 AM	#1
pilotguy Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 09, 2003 Posts: 1,305	"Call Of The WIld"...DARN...I MISSED It! Last night I was all set to tape the "Call Of The Wild" episode, but our Cable TV had problems and I fell asleep, so I didn't get a tape of the show. I've never seen this one before, but the episode guide makes it sound like this was the end of the line for the Brian-Alex relationship....Was it? Was Brian really unable to worm his way out of this one?

06-10-2003, 06:33 PM	#6
Ice Cream Man DieHard Wing Fan Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 30, 2003 Posts: 107	I agree that this episode reeked of one that had a specific purpose - to explain why Alex will leave the island. I'm wondering if she'll make an appearance in tonight's episode. It's supposed to be the last one where she's listed as a regular cast member. Oddly enough, it's not the last time she makes an appearance! I guess one of the writers or the producer had a soft spot for her because she appears in a later episode as a guest on a talk show.
	__________________ But seriously, let's talk about jocularity.

06-10-2003, 10:34 AM	#2
Krista2882 Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 10, 2003 Location: CT Posts: 1,370	yeah, Alex was getting upset that Brian kept going out with Joe and Brian's friend Danny every night for 5 nights in a row, and not coming home until 8 AM and stuff without calling her and telling her he would be home late... so basically when she confronted him about it, he screwed up and said some stuff that ticked her off, and she told him to get his stuff and get out of her house because she said he was the one who didn't want to be in their relationship... and then he ended up going back to her place that night, and she had changed the locks, and he tried to apologise to her and asked if they could get back together, and she said no and closed the door in his face. It was sad! I felt bad for Brian!

06-10-2003, 04:16 PM	#3
HaskellGirl Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jul 15, 2002 Posts: 590	I thought Alex was completely over-reacting, but maybe that just shows how unstable their relationship really was.

06-10-2003, 07:00 PM	#7
pilotguy Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 09, 2003 Posts: 1,305	I think that it was a good move to make Alex's departure a direct result of Brian screwing up the relationship. So many times a series will write off a character and have that character leave for no apparent reason, or through no fault of any of the remaining characters. However, the end of the Brian-Alex relationship is so TYPICALLY Brian! He may succeed at something temporarily, but eventually he WILL mess it up....Everything that he touches DOES turn to garbage sooner or later. While Brian is supposed to be a wild, carefree jokester, at times he comes across as quite a sad (and even tragic) character....basically a loser who ruins every good opportunity that comes his way. Sorry if this bothers the "Brian" fans here....I like the character too, but sometimes he DOES remind me of "Uncle Sid" in Eugene O'Neill's play "Ah, Wilderness!".

06-10-2003, 07:38 PM	#8
Krista2882 Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 10, 2003 Location: CT Posts: 1,370	I noticed the same thing- that it seemed like she was completely overreacting, and it seemed like they only wrote it that way as a way to write the Alex character out of the show.

06-11-2003, 12:19 AM	#10
Ice Cream Man DieHard Wing Fan Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 30, 2003 Posts: 107	I can understand why the writers didn't want to have Brian cheat on Alex as a means to get her to leave. It would have turned a lot of people (mostly women) against Brian's character. This way people feel like Alex over-reacted and they feel sorry for Brian that she bolted. Quite ingenious, if you think about it.

06-11-2003, 12:24 AM	#11
spunkygirl Member Moderator Forum Celebrity Join Date: Apr 26, 2003 Posts: 21,563	I could see where she was coming from at first, but when he tried to make amends she was so cold and wouldn't even give him a second chance. She must not believe in second chances or something IMO Brian deserved a second chance. It goes to show that their love wasn't that strong.