God Friended Me Episode 4
This episode was enjoyable—Wait a minute. I watched it again to make sure I was paying attention the first time.
Has a miracle happened?
I don’t get you man.
God Friended Me was a mixed bag for me since the pilot. I found it too sappy, too sugary, too many empty calories. At first glance, the show has all the feel-good vibes to romance the powers to be into giving it a full season order.
But when you turn to its nutritional label (always a mistake), you realize the list of ingredients weren’t adequately combined and left a taste in your mouth.
This fourth episode, however, I caught myself smiling at the end (and hating myself for it).
What’s changed?
Error code 1.61
Rakesh (Suraj Sharma) ran the God account code using their workplace IdentitySeal’s servers. And while his new found, self-proclaimed expertise in love was eye-roll worthy, the fact we know where he now stood in the show made him less of a disruption. He’s still the comic sidekick foil (but enough with the self-doubt, insecurity fits already) to Miles’s straight man persona, but he’s also an active participant in investigating the God account rather than just tagging along.
Meddling with God (account), though, screwed up the servers. It created a weird error code that relates back to the Fibonacci ratio, aka God’s Fingerprint. Miles (Brandon Micheal Hall) and Rakesh found themselves free to check on the next suggestion: the Hayden Planetarium.
It’s not for a person, it’s for a place.
There’s a nice bit of reminiscing about the planetarium when the Scooby gang (plus Jaya) rendezvoused. Rakesh didn’t want to be “some third wheel” so he invited Jaya, unintentionally creating a double date.
Oh, but remember: Miles and Cara (Violette Beane) are “just friends.”
To Miles’s credit, he gave a legitimate reason as to why he’s afraid to ask Cara out; if she says no, what will this do to their friendship?
As usual, our characters angsted over their issues, but this time, it was during the quest inside the planetarium.
Rakesh was worried (again) about their relationship; Jaya didn’t want to put a name to what they have.
Miles was still trying to figure out the God account’s motives, but at least he stopped complaining how the account was ruining his life and embodied the quote “doth protest too much.”
And Cara? Well, this episode conveniently failed to mention her writing career. She seemed pretty content to play Nancy Drew this week.
I thought you could use some help, but maybe I was wrong.
Cara and Miles met Fliss, a quirky out-of-towner from Nebraska who flew to New York on an impulse to “meet her destiny.” Cara struck up a conversation with Fliss; she believed this was the person the God account sent them to help.
Rakesh and Jaya encountered Beaker, a docent guiding a tour that related to the Fibonacci ratio, God’s Fingerprint. Rakesh, who’d been foiled many times before in tracking down the account, was convinced Beaker was involved somehow.
Labels kind of ruin things.
The story splits off at this point; each pair following an odd parallel to their own lives. Cara and Miles themselves debated whether destiny or love at first sight exists. And here was Fliss, searching for a long-lost love with a twenty-year-old list Joe Smith about New York sites and hope that finding Joe Smith is her destiny.
While they investigate (stalk) Beaker, Rakesh and Jaya discussed what they want with each other, their lives. Rakesh felt concerned Jaya wasn’t invested in the relationship given her discomfort of being referred to as his girlfriend.
As usual, Rakesh waffled between displaying indifference and worry.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Beaker was determined to find his “star” despite having lost it for no discernible reason. Jaya was impressed with Beaker’s tenacity which made Rakesh channel his own insecurities into proving Beaker was behind the God account.
Meanwhile, Miles appeared willing to help Fliss until he was called back to work. He wasn’t ready to buy in on destiny and Cara’s belief in fate, but he stopped resisting helping as he did in previous episodes.
Wanna take a leap of faith?
The episode changed its format subtlety. They kept in the characters’ side stories, but not all of them.
Everyone was on the same goal in this episode. Before, they were lost in their personal world of drama and the God account simply tugged them along for the ride.
This week, however, it felt like everyone was on the same track. And the single-mindedness of the episode held everything together.
We still jumped from one character to another, but it wasn’t jarring. The scene dealt with whatever drama that’s going on, but it’s while they worked on the case/good deed/stranger meddling in other people’s lives thing.
It’s scary simple.
With only half of the characters clamoring for their two-minute scene, the episode felt less chaotic and more accessible. My irritation stemmed from the sudden leaps to other characters with little reason other than it was their turn to talk.
Here, we get a smooth flow even as we switch from one POV to another. The episode felt cohesive.
The story about Fliss and Beaker was uncomplicated. The fact it turned out Beaker was the elusive Joe Smith was predictable. What happened after they finally met was not.
And that’s what I liked about this episode.
Yes, everything appeared to be predictable; how Fliss and Beaker reunited inside Hayden’s starry projections was not a shocker. You could guess what might happen when Fliss declared “we’re here, together, under the stars, it’s like we were meant to be.” When Beaker clutched Fliss’s hand and—oh no—you think they’re actually going to go that way and—
Beaker is gay.
I did not see that coming.
Miles and his shock was meta because who would have thought? I bet, like me, you were expecting Beaker to make some declaration of love especially after most of the episode, including Arthur’s story, dealt with love and destiny.
Rather than giving Fliss the sort of clichéd happily-ever-after ending she thought she was looking for, Fliss ended up finding herself instead.
After rekindling her friendship with Beaker, Fliss decided to move to New York and start something new. And Beaker found his star and regained a friend who reminded him what’s more out there. Best friends reunited after so many years apart. It’s a different sort of payoff that was just as satisfying if not more so.
Rakesh learned he didn’t need a name for what he and Jaya already saw each other as.
As for Miles, you saw it coming that the experience gave him the confidence to jump over the “just friends” fence and ask Cara out.
What was also predictable was that Cara’s ex, Eli, came out of nowhere just as Miles was about to ask and Miles lost his nerve and hastily backtracked.
Even though I don’t believe in destiny, I do believe in second chances.
Essentially, God Friended Me stayed the same: our characters waddled through life and love while some friend suggestion shanghaied Miles into interfering with someone else’s life and love.
However, like the melodrama that is Rakesh and Jaya, our characters were woven in with the Beaker and Fliss storyline. There were no scene cuts to the pair and back to the focal point of the week. No need; Rakesh and Jaya were part of the story. The whole episode, in fact, felt like one story, one voice rather than a gaggle of voices trying to get your attention.
The episode still rewarded you with warm fuzzies in the end. And things among the Finer family appeared to have settled to a sort of cordial truce. Even the storyline with Arthur and his dented sax wasn’t obtrusive to the whole. It didn’t detract from the main plot. It bookended the episode; Miles and Ali paid for the sax repairs and finally shared memories about their mother.
It helped that the episode narrowed its spotlight only on four characters. Rakesh and Miles still had their own dramas, but nothing that tore us away from Beaker and Fliss.
The episode was noticeably scaled down: plot-wise, thread wise, but it worked. There was too much going on in the previous episodes. Simplified, we’re allowed the chance to appreciate the feel-good emotions the storyline tried to invoke.
So, yes, I smiled in the end. I too believe in second chances. I’ll be back for the next episode with my fingers crossed. If the show sticks with this pared-down version, they have a lot going for them in the long run.
Stay connected with So Many Shows:
More From So Many Shows:
Steve Grad from Pawn Stars (Interview)
Twitter Reacts: TWD – Farewell, Rick Grimes!