Saturday, May 5, 2012

Review: Out With Dad 2.10: The Museum Outing

You know when you watch a show and as soon as it’s over you’re eager for more?  That’s the experience I had watching “TheMuseum Outing”, the latest episode of the award-winning webseries Out With Dad!
The museum outing begins with Rose (Kate Conway) and Kenny (Corey Lof) approaching the Scarborough Museum in Toronto.  Kenny has realized Rose has tricked him into going somewhere “educational” and he’s not too happy about it.  I was very surprised by this the inclusion of this scene, it really wasn’t how I expected the episode would begin.  However, it’s a perfect way to begin things!  This shows how well writer/director Jason Leaver knows his characters and how well he presents them to the viewer.  Kenny’s reaction is funny and spot on with what we know about the character!  Excellent!  (This is a good time top mention that Kenny is my favorite character on the show!  Somewhere in my brain I have an essay on why that I’ll write someday…) Anyway, Rose does not give in to Kenny protests, and they enter the museum.  Rose’s reason for going to the museum is to see her new friend Claire (Caitlynne Medrek).  Right away they see Claire.  And Rose panics!  Again, a perfect character moment done perfectly!  And Kenny’s reaction is great.  No wonder she wanted him along, she needs him to speak for her.  When Claire sees Rose and Kenny, she doesn’t just say hi.  Rather, she volunteers to personally escort them around the museum.  This is Claire’s personality of not holding back her ideas and feelings.  She just jumps at the chance to spend some time with Rose!

The activities the trio partake in remind me very much of what they have at similar locations near where I live.  Which means pioneers in America and Canada were just about the same.  That shouldn’t be a shock, huh?  Rose and Claire grow a little closer during the tour, including some tentative physical contact, and Kenny seems to be having a good time—though I’d say he’s more interested in watching Rose’s actions than the historical reenactments!

And then we go to Nathan's (Will Conlon) and Angela’s (Kelly-Marie Murtha) second date.  Yes!  I don’t remember Jason indicating we would get back to this relationship this episode, so this was a pleasant surprise!  Nathan may believe he’s a jackass, but he does a great job making sure his relationship with Angela will continue.  Because these two have the common experience of being very close to someone who is gay, and trying to figure out the proper way to handle things, it gives them a real bonding opportunity.  Also, I like the conversation about the experience of having a gay parent.  That’s a perspective that hadn’t been addressed yet.  Oh, and I still think it’s time for Nathan to tell Rose he’s dating!!  I hope we see such a scene soon.

The ending was nicely done, and there was another little surprise that I really liked.  The campfire smell.  Not the fact that Rose likes campfire smell, but the CGI graphic.  That was totally unexpected and perfectly executed!  Bravo again, Jason!

But it makes me want more!!

Now allow me to end this review a little off-topic.  The historical nature of this episode and the American/Canadian observation above brings to mind that I recently read an article about how, 200 years ago, the United States and Canada were at war!  It’s hard to imagine such a things was ever possible considering our friendly relationship now.  The great thing is that we’ve been at peace ever since, and both nations are certainly better because of this.  (And by the way, we totally kicked your butts last time, so don’t even thin about it!)

No comments:

Post a Comment