Pan Am

Pan Am

Episode 12: New Frontiers

By: Carlos Uribe

Pan Am is a show about airline stewardesses of the Pan Am Airline.

Spoilers Ahoy!

Kate spends this entire episode trying to pick into people's pockets. She didn't become a thief all of a sudden. She needs to pick the pocket of some guy to help the Americans in the Space Race, but before she can she needs to practice to do it properly. This meant not only practicing in the park with her CIA handler and some old CIA guy, but trying to practice her with friends. These were largely played for comic effect. She gets to the party and she does manage to successfully get what she wants, but not before she fails a couple of times. It was an effective story, but it didn't feel like it had the weight that these stories usually have. The show established that there's a chance she could get caught but it never felt like she would get caught. Just like her sister, Kate had to step outside her comfort zone in order to accomplish this mission. Unlike her sister, this storyline at least wasn't ridiculous or cheesy. It managed to work.

The Laura story is simple. In one of the earlier episodes, though I'm not sure which one, she had taken naked pictures for some photographer. I've completely forgotten about those pictures by this point. The pictures have been put up on a gallery and she's shocked and ashamed. She tries to buy them back, before some other guy can, but then she hears remarks that she's empowering. This somehow gives her the confidence and the mentality to be okay with these photos. The other guy who is trying to buy the photos turns out to be Andy Worhol and he wants to meet her. He's even interested in making her his new “it” girl. This is not only utterly ridiculous, but Laura' attitude change towards the photo would only happen on television. Laura may not be completely modest, but she should remain modest enough despite those remarks. It simply didn't work. The only good thing that she did in this episode is go to Ted for the money, so that Ted can see her hug Amanda. Why is this important? It leads him straight to the truth.

Which turns out not to be that straight. In last week's episode, Amanda kissed Maggie in what was a ratings move. At least, that's how it felt. When Ted hears from Maggie that Amanda kissed her, right after she had promised Amanda not to tell him, he doesn't exactly believe Maggie. As the episode goes on he starts to realize that maybe she's right. When Ted sees Amanda hugging Laura, he sees a woman who is happier being with another woman than she's ever been with Ted. Amanda tries to avoid telling him the truth by first making out with him then by sleeping with him. It turns out that if you don't go for guys, the guys can tell. Amanda is finally forced by Ted to reveal the truth. She offers him an open marriage. He can be her beard, and he can be with any other woman that he choses. Like that nice girl Laura. While a ridiculous proposition, it's not exactly unheard of. It's unknown if he will take the deal but I doubt it. At least he knows the truth, thanks to Maggie.

Now that her congressman romance is over, Maggie needed something to do with this episode. She does two things. The first is she sets up for the episode's ending by talking about how great JFK is. The second is that George Broyles tries to recruit her into his smuggling business. She doesn't like the idea but for some odd reason she actually thinks about it before denying the deal. He even tries to blackmail her. The blackmail is using the info that he somehow acquired that she kept her job by telling on Dean about his forgettable relationship with that secretary. It's probably a good thing for Maggie that when George tries to tell Dean, Dean punches him. That's because Dean has managed to figure out he's the smuggler. How did he do this? Well Dean was alerted by the authorities that there's a smuggler. They suspect him at first but realize he's innocent with their magical ability to be convenient for the plot. Or something. Of course, before Dean arrived to the truth he happened to point the finger to the wrong person.

Which brings us to the other utterly ridiculous storyline of the episode. Dean and Collete are now over but he tries to win her back. The problem is she doesn't want him back and it seems like she's interested in someone new. This someone, Omar, is one of their passengers who just happens to fit the description of a smuggler. The passenger is obviously not a smuggler, but rather a famous prince that isn't happy with his life. That's right: Collete's now going to start dating a random prince. When Dean accuses Omar of being the smuggler, he merely comes off across as the jealous boyfriend. He realizes that Collete is moving on and he decides to try and do so. He will more than likely fail since he's obviously really in love with her.

This episode wasn't that interesting. Even the usually good Kate story didn't have the tension that keeps most episodes at least worth watching. It was good, but when it's played for so much comic effect and nothing takes it's place the episode can get dull. The episode had a decent ending when everyone in the show finds out that JFK got shot. Just like everyone at the time, they have a false hope that he might survive. The cliff-hanger is effective to the audience because they know he's not going to make it. The question is how they will deal with his death. There's also a question of how each of the stories are going to be closed out, but it's not like most people probably care.