Monday, October 31, 2011

Pan Am: Maggie, Maggie, Maggie...

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

While I have been anxious to find out more about Maggie, I didn't think it would be like this. I'm pretty disappointed... she basically cheated her way into the position, and I think she deserves to be ousted. I'm also not a fan of how she has no scruples and will sell out anyone to get what she wants. That character aside, this episode didn't really intrigue me much. I mean, Kate had a separate story going, which was kinda cool. But, at the same time, her finding out information about Niko just to turn him seems a bit strange and uncomfortable. What did you think?

Pan Am "The Genuine Article" (S01E06): [We know it's now August. Let's start with Kate's updates...] While the other girls are preparing to fly to Rio, Kate is pulled for allegedly not having her smallpox vaccination on file with HR. Between that an a "burst pipe" in her building, things look a little suspicious. And, of course, they are. In reality, Kate was pulled because she hasn't been giving any more information to her connections. [see, this is why it's not good to get into business with sly folks... they can do all kinds of horrible things to your life.] Flat out: Niko is doing political stuff and the government wants details. So, Kate takes Niko to an amusement park, and she finds out that he's going to Yugoslavia for a week. But, he finds out that his cousin is being put on trial... and will be forced to sign a statement. So now he's going to head to Belgrade to do what he can. [neither of these trips sound that interesting to me, but whatever.] Kate passes on this information, and reiterates that Niko isn't a communist. Clearly they believe her, as she's told to try to get Niko to be a spy for them! [I was almost as shocked as Kate to hear this...]

[Now, Laura, who doesn't have much this week and could almost be left out completely...] Life magazine is doing a follow-up on the April piece about Laura. So, on the flight to Rio, Laura does first class while Collette covers economy and Maggie picks up both. The photographer tells Laura not to pose, but she's struggling, as she's not a fan of being followed around constantly.
ABC.com
After they land, she does manage to lose the photographer at the beach. [...okay. whatever. I blame Maggie for telling the photographer to see what the girls do after-hours.] Laura and Maggie go shopping, but end up downtown at the police station. Using a translation book, Laura tries to talk to the officers, but Ted once again comes to save the day, with a bribe. [I'm kinda sick of Ted, guys. What about you?] Laura later apologizes to the photographer. [of course she does. Because she's a good girl. ::eye roll::]

[Maggie's story is quite complicated this week, as we learn a lot about her past. So, let's look at that first...] Maggie used to be a waitress in a diner, but she quit the day a guy said that he left a three-cent tip because he didn't want to encourage her... she could be something more. [interesting and sad all at the same time...] So, she got a job at the college admissions office at the University of California - Berkeley. [so she went from Washington to Berkeley? Or was she already in California and then went to Tacoma later?] When a girl comes in to drop a world literature class, Maggie asks why. The girl is a Pan Am stewardess and the class conflicted with her schedule. So, Maggie takes the class herself, as if she were that girl. [she does make it painfully obvious when roll was called, though...] She does the same with other courses as well. Maggie was found out at the end of the semester in her lit class, and it is assumed that the other courses realized the same thing. So, Maggie gives up and goes to a Pan Am interview. But, she's late and has to lie to cover up where she was. She makes up a story and hands them her transcript, which lists Spanish as a foreign language. Well, when she's told that they don't need Spanish-speakers, she busts out a few words of Portuguese she picked up when her boss yelled at her at the diner. The Pan Am interviewers need someone who can speak Portuguese, and she's hired on the spot. [what are Maggie's other, possibly faked, languages?]

Because of her conduct, Maggie's file is being sent to a base manager for review, which was supposed to ground her before the Rio flight. But, Maggie points out that nobody else speaks Portuguese, and is allowed to go. [possibly a smart tactic, but also a fairly bad idea. Additionally, why didn't they bring in a fourth girl at the last minute, the way they brought in Maggie in the first episode?] While on the flight, she asks the photographer for a favor (after all, she's less likely to be fired if she's in a positive light in the media), but that doesn't work. When she and Laura are at the Brazilian police station, she is forced to tell Laura that she doesn't actually speak more than a few words of Portuguese. [why wasn't Laura more outraged? Though maybe she just had bigger things on her mind at that moment...] By this point, Maggie is really afraid that she'll be found out, and even pleads with Henson on the flight. He tells her he won't get involved, but she offers him some private information... which apparently works. She even goes to use a Pan Am learning station to work on her Portuguese. [I thought that was an interesting scene... both because she might be able to cover her Portuguese lie if she can learn some of the language quick enough, and because it was neat to see what a language lab might have looked like in the 1960s.] It's clear that she feels bad for selling out Dean, though. [and, well, she should!]

What?!? She sold out Dean!?? Yep. He's been with Ginny quite a few times now. She even visits him in the cockpit on the flight to Rio. Then, while in Brazil, Henson tells Dean that Ginny isn't really his secretary but something more. Ginny goes to Dean, but he won't answer the door, presumably because she lied to him and because she's a higher-up's mistress. Eventually, she does talk to Dean and tells him that she is in love with him. But, now that Henson presumably knows about their encounters, who knows what will happen next!
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