COMMENTARY: Rate the Plane Crash

Last Friday's show had me on the edge of my seat. I loved the letter Erica received from Palmer and the beautiful flashbacks we were treated too. I love that AMC is still finding ways to honor James Mitchell.

But when Erica had to rush home and disregarded the pilot's order to have the plane inspected, I as a little annoyed. Then that plane started to shake and Erica's panic set in and so did mine! Even though I knew she was going to live, I found myself getting a little teary eyed as she tried to call Bianca, and then yelled out for Jack after the pilot told her to brace for impact.

And that is where my interest in the story died.

What happened after that has been an exercise in the ridiculous. Mountain man Caleb came into the wreckage and pulled the pilot to safety. All the while Erica is asking him questions and trying to get information to no avail. The man is utterly silent. When he comes back for her, he carries her out of the wreckage and then starts to sift through the debris. He finally let's her know that he had borrowed an ATV and took the pilot to a nearby hospital. But what we don't know is why did not do the same for Erica and he's not telling us.

And then, ridiculousness piles on even higher as he seems to blame her for the plane crash. Just how is the plane crashing Erica's fault? OK, we can say that her rush to get home and not have the plane inspected could make her somewhat at fault, but douchey mountain man doesn't know that! For that matter, we could blame the pilot for listening to her and we could blame David for paying to have the plane tampered with! All that is besides the point. Caleb doesn't know any of it.

Here is a woman who has just survived a plane crash, could be in shock or could be hurt and Caleb treats her like a absolute crap. He won't help her, he will hardly talk to her, he's just a grouchy old coot (which makes me even more suspicious that he may be a long lost Cortlandt!). And then he tosses her luggage over a cliff ala Jack Colton. But this is no Romancing the Stone!

I'm all for the thin line between love and hate start to a romance. I've loved it when AMC has done it with Erica before. And I have no problem with the attempt to make that kind of magic again (remember how much Erica hated Dimitri when they first met?). But Caleb is doing nothing to endear himself. Erica should hate this man for the way he's treating her. And I don't mean just because he doesn't know who she is and expects her to chop wood or whatever else.


It's early on and my opinion of this is certainly subject to change. But if that's to happen we better find out a damn good reason why Caleb saved the pilot and not Erica. Why he blamed her for the loss of his cabin and his dog (um, yeah.. named Dog?). And why he is a better match for Erica than Jack!

What do you think?

Rate the plane crash

• Great
• Good
• It's OK
• Has potential
• Needs more time
• Sucks, I hate it!

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