ast season, Joan's bout with Lyme disease led her to believe that she imagined her conversations with God. Back from a summer of recuperation at "crazy camp," Joan Girardi (Tamblyn) is ready for her life to get back to normal.
When she sees Adam (Christopher Marquette), she's ready to move forward. He's been working full-time during the summer at the hotel, but he's also come to believe that maybe God did talk to Joan. However, after six weeks of making lamps in craft class, pouring her heart out to strangers and getting grilled by Dr. Dan (the shrink), she doesn't want to go there.
While she's ready for normal, her brother Kevin (Ritter) is more than happy to needle her about her "crazy" status. Their father, Will (Mantegna), wants Kevin to take up golf so they can have a shared activity. However, Kevin's worried that golf will make him look even dorkier than his wheelchair already does.
As for Luke, he's had a busy summer. He and Grace have gotten close, but she's laid down the law about keeping their relationship a secret. He even had to sign a confidentiality agreement. During one of their clandestine meetings, he spots his mother, Helen (Steenburgen), outside a coffee shop. She looks as if she's waiting for someone.
Helen is indeed waiting for someone. She's meeting with a very unconventional ex-nun about the possibility of becoming confirmed in the Catholic Church. She had dreams when Joan was stricken with her illness that led her want to explore becoming active in the church again. But she's not quite ready to tell her family.
As for Will, he gets the shock of his life. The friend who drove Kevin home drunk one fateful day and crashed the car into a tree is suing them. Devastated, he can't bring himself to tell Helen, let alone anyone else in the family.
And there's one other person in Joan's life with issues. God can't seem to get her attention. Of course, Joan's working hard at ignoring him at every turn.
Character is everything
Joan of Arcadia had a tremendous first year as it got showered with terrific ratings and critical acclaim that led to Emmy nominations for the show, Amber Tamblyn, and guest star Louis Fletcher. In the crushing season finale, Joan came to question everything she believed during the year.
As season two takes off, it appears that things aren't going to get any easier for the Girardi family, and that's good news for us. This finely crafted family drama works on many levels and is filled with characters that feel real. In the season-two premiere, "Only Connect," every character has a secret they want to protect, and despite the love and faith shared by the members of their family, they can't seem to tell one another how they feel inside.
When the secret is something personal, like Helen's desire to get confirmed in the church or Luke's secret romance, it's touching, humorous and dramatic. And when Will gets the news about the lawsuit, he's devastated at the thought of the pain it will unleash on his family. He hides every ounce of emotion inside himself until he's ready to explode. And then there's Joan in the middle of it all, with her own, much bigger secret. Judging by this episode, she's not long for normal.
Once again, the actors do a tremendous job, bringing to their characters everything from a range of broad comedy to the most subtle dramatic moments. While that's to be expected of acclaimed actors Mantegna and Steenburgen, the rest of the young cast rise up to their level and meet the challenges the writers create for them. While some may believe Tamblyn is too young to get a Best Actress Emmy nomination, she certainly deserves it. Few actors hold up a show and drive the action the way her character Joan does.
The only real criticism that can be leveled at "Only Connect" is that after the wrenching and powerful moments in the season-one finale, it would have been nice to give the family a break for an episode or two instead of nailing them immediately with the lawsuit. Every once in a while it's okay to let your characters take a breath and remember why they get up every day to fight the good fight. But that's a minor issue for this finely crafted episode.
