At the end of the Red Band Society pilot I had that feeling, it was similar to the feeling I had a the end of the Glee pilot - - the warm fuzzies. While it was a tad too blatant with the heartstring pulling and the soaring Coldplay song at the end, it was good and I will definitely watch it again. You can already see where some of the plots are going: the cheerleader Kara will have interesting character development where she will get a "heart" but also make some really bad judgments and decisions along the way while she learns to be less of a mean girl and more of a genuine one; Leo will be the "soul" of the show with his sage advice and "band of brother"esque quotes, Emma and Jordi will become the Hazel and Gus of the tv world and then there is Dash who already holds a special place for me. Dash has cystic fibrosis which is such a hard, angle-planed condition - - meaning it is a disease that has so many rough edges with no easy landings. I lost a cousin to CF and am a carrier of the gene myself. My cousin was a stubborn but fun-loving person whose lungs robbed him of the life he should have led. Every time I am with my Ohio family especially around the holidays I think of him and the fact that he is not with us there in the flesh although I know that his spirit lives on. So, I'll be keeping a close eye on Dash and there will be lots of water in my eyes as we watch him struggle.
While I really enjoyed the pilot, I know it will be too pat and maudlin for those looking for deeper meaning, not edgy enough for the hipsters, and maybe too sad to be a family show. But, those thinking it will be too sad might want to reconsider because I think it will also be full of life-affirming, remember to live in the present lessons. I wasn't going to watch it as I had a recent depressing brush with a Children's Hospital when I went to one here in Portland to visit friends and their baby who was having seizures. I had a ginormous lump in my throat walking down the hall past some of the rooms and didn't really relish reliving that moment through a tv show week in and week out. You could tell by how decorated and lived-in those rooms were in the real hospital, that these kids called it home and that made me sad. But. if you approach it the way RBS wants you to, you could think instead that these kids are just so strong and they probably appreciate the little things in life that those of who are healthy just don't even realize or see. And hopefully, RBS, will show the positive side of those hospitals while not addressing the elephant in the room i.e. how the hell can Jordi afford to have his leg removed, does he have healthcare? And, is there a crazy tea party congressman on his tail ready to drag him back to the border? Come to think of it do they all have healthcare? Are their parents going bankrupt to keep their kids alive?....These thoughts also crossed my mind in the real hospital (except the crazy congresman one because you know I could care less what country a sick child is from BECAUSE THEY ARE A SICK CHILD AND IT DOESN'T MATTER, THEY NEED CARE,THEY SHOULD GET IT). But some of these real world concerns - at least for now were glossed over in the Hollywood version.
Either way, I am going to keep watching because heartwarming y'all! And Octavia Spencer (aka "crazy bitch" which also begs the question - - what nickname would a Starbucks barista give you? Hopefully "mos deaf" for me if they have any sense of humor)! Don't forget, Dave wow-he-has-grown-up-since-Brothers-and-Sisters-and-doesn't-he-look-sexy-with-silver-hair Annable! I hope Fox gives it a shot....
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