WEST COAST isn't driving me crazy... yet...

[sidney]

Hannibal said he was stationed in Pleiku, 5th special forces group. Said he was a lieutenant colonel. For your guys that like the exact details for your fan fiction.

I've only just begun WEST COAST. The dad is a good actor. I like him. The daughter's shorts are pretty awesome. I wonder if I could pull off wearing a pair of those.

[sidney]

WEST COAST has never been one of my faves from season One. In fact, I've always rated it my least fave of the season. But it's full of some nice moments.

Hannibal and Face dressed like cops - very handsome.
Face saying 'we're hijackers'. I thought that was funny.
Hannibal's disguise as the orderly was actually well done. One of his best.

[sidney]

Okay, I have a problem with WEST COAST.
It's the editing.
There's too many beats of silence in between key lines or scenes.
Murdock coming out with Billy when they reach the farm has too much silence before he speaks.
And just now, as BA is saying Hannibal's dangerous on the jazz, there's too much silence before and after.

[sidney]

Murdock's driving, yet he's holding the box of nails with one arm and tossing nails out with the other hand. He must drive with his knees?

[sidney]

Great Amy line: HAnnibal's plans never work right. They just work.
I didn't like how Amy rolled her eyes when the girl fretted that she knew the plan wouldn't work. That seemed mean.

[sidney]

Great Hannibal line when they tow Amy's car in:
With all the excitement in the escape... I don't remember it looking like that.

[amyk]

While this episode is not likely to ever be in my top ten, I do really like a lot about it. Amy's LeCar thing is funny. And I do like the clients in this one. I agree that Amy's line about Hannibal's plans not working right but just working is a great line. I also love it how the daughter (don't know her name) says "no" when Face asks her if she thinks he is a natural at that watermelon market stuff or whatever he asks her. Of course, she adds something about "but I like you anyway" I think. Still, if she was one of those female characters who just was going to fawn all over Face, she probably would have flattered him, so I like it that she told him what she thought.

[Pico Bob]

Does anyone know why it's called West Coast Turnaround? I googled it and was surprised to find that the term refers to a type of pill used to keep drivers awake for longer! Surely that cant explain the title. No idea if the term was used for said pills back in the 1980s

The ep should have been called "Operation Watermelon" a term used by Hannibal at one point.

[amyk]

I don't know that I've ever really thought much about the title. What is the "turnaround?" Maybe that they turned around a bad situation for the client?

[Pico Bob]

I guess so, Amyk. On that basis, though, more than half of the eps could have had that title! Maybe that thats the point, though. A generic title was chosen because "Operation Watermelon" was too childish and nothing else sprang to mind.

I initially wondered whether the title was chosen as a means to sneak in a drug reference over the heads of the TV execs. But I cant see that being the case. Its not Cannell or Lupos's style.

[HoudiniDerek]

Maybe it's the way they make the "jazz" sound like some sort of stimulant. So it could refer to drugs, but more on how Hannibal is on the jazz and helping.

[Pico Bob]

Feb 13, 2022 12:34:58 GMT -5 HoudiniDerek said:

Maybe it's the way they make the "jazz" sound like some sort of stimulant. So it could refer to drugs, but more on how Hannibal is on the jazz and helping.

Thats a fantastic theory. Its plausible because Cannell is bright enough to come up with something clever like that, as long as the drug reference wasnt too edgy for a family friendly show. I've googled a bit more and the phrase was definitely in use by the early 1980s. It may have been relatively well know too given the prominence that CB radio lingo had in popular culture at the time, thanks to films like Smokey and the Bandit and also the Dukes of Hazzard.