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Original Air Date: September 23, 1984 Review completed October 29, 2005 "Punky Finds a Home, Part 2" Henry gets up the next morning to breakfast with Punky and a talk with a social worker, Randi Mitchell. Henry is alarmed to find out that Punky will have to spend time at an emergency shelter despite his promises, but Randi won't budge. Punky decides to go quietly to keep Henry out of trouble, and goes to Fenster Hall. She manages to fit her way in (quite forcefully), but it isn't going to stop her from getting to Henry. The guard might, though. After a few times, Punky outsmarts him, and in her words: "Punky Brewster's going home!" But let's start with the good. One big story element that comes into play here is one that the rest of the series largely ignores, and that's Punky's vunerability. One big problem I have with more than a few later stories is that Punky starts looking more like an adult or even a superhero with how she acts or does. (Try, say, "The Gift" on for size after watching the initial 3-parter to test that theory out.) Here, though, despite her unusual energy and charisma, she's still a little girl. She can be hurt, she misses her parents, and she has a few problems making the adjustment to the idea of Fenster Hall. In short, she's still human, and you can't help but identify with her troubles. In a series where the whole idea is looking through the main character's perspective, that's a big deal. Another big plus here is the build that Fenster Hall gets. It isn't something that I've thought of much before, but then again, I wasn't reviewing the episode before. Yet there's actually a lot that the episode does to make Fenster seem like a scary place. When it's first brought up, it's made to be disheartening mostly because it represents isolation and seperation. When we actually see it for the first time, it looks normal enough, but then we get a shot from Punky's point-of-view, which looks crowded and a lot bigger. No, that is not a short joke, just the old feeling like the building might as well be Mars; y'know, like walking into a new school for the first time. Yet, looking at the place objectively, it's pretty normal, maybe even a little nice. It isn't to Punky, though, and the story gives that impression very well. Acting should get props in the pluses side as well, at least in the case of George Gaynes and Soleil Moon Frye. Both get some heavy material to work with that requires at least the illusion of chemistry between the two, and they do it. You believe that Punky and Henry want to stick with each other, and it has a lot to do with the fact that the actors get right into it. Soleil also gets an extra nod for the scene where she flips out on a roommate; it isn't easy to pull off angry convincingly when you're eight years old and 3-foot-something. One other thing of note, though not as much as the other two; I have a liking for the scene where Henry has a little conversation with Brandon (yes, Punky's puppy) about the rules of the house. First of all, I like dry humour, and Henry gets a few good lines of that. Second, it keeps Henry in the story after Punky is gone; given that we all know how this is going to end up, it's a good thing. Third, it lets Henry express some emotion without going into the melodramatic, and it comes across well. But I've mentioned flaws, and I guess I'll have to get to them. First thing; while I like most of the Punky/Henry scenes, and I can appreciate the chemistry, even a big ol' softie like myself thought that it got a bit much sometimes. In particular, the GIANT music swell underneath when Punky tears back into the apartment for one last hug was almost jarring. It's a shame that when the actors work so well together that the writers and sound directors still feel the need to punch things up. Another one is a really odd minor thing, and that's Punky's little speech problem. I don't think it's too much to expect an eight-year-old to be able to have some grasp of English pronounciation, but Punky seems to have more than a few stutters here. At one point, they have a bit of an extended period where Punky continually burbles the word 'orphange'. I can't quite spell how it comes out, but it's kind of bad. It's a bit of a hard word, yeah, but where's the dialouge coach? For that matter, why can't the writers re-write the scene without the word? Unless it's a scripted moment, but Soleil sounds an awful lot like she's trying to grasp the word rather than try to mangle it. Nothing major...it just sounds weird. Okay, the last two have been piddly, but here's the big third strike: The supporting characters downright SUCK. Talia Balsam tries her best as Miranda 'Randi' Mitchell, but the character is a gaping personality hole. My diagnosis; the writers tried to have it both ways in making her a bumbling greenhorn and a tough character. Not buying it, sorry. It doesn't work if she's juggling wallets one scene and threatening police escort the next. It DOES work when she's trying her best to comfort Punky while doing her job later, but there's not enough put into that in this episode to balance it all out. At least, though, her problem is fixed in the next episode. The worse problem? Eddie. Eddie is intended to be the walk-on comedy relief, and man is he annoying. Eddie Deezen has the uneviable task of trying to make Eddie's bad one-liners and bumbling work, but then we just hate him for going along with the part. Wow, he's a handyman hired by neopotism and completely unqualified! And completely oblivious! My sides! By the way, ye writers, it's pretty classless and more than a little desperate for your CHARACTERS to be verbally putting the guy over. "I like him, Henry, He's funny," says Punky, and you sort of wonder why she isn't laughing when Allan does stupid things later on. Oh, yeah, because it isn't actually funny and Punky's being written to 'endear' us to the character. My mistake. All in all, though, the annoyances are mostly minor and can be blocked out with a little effort, leaving the good chemistry between our leads and a simple, kid-friendly tail that has the decency to not have to explain absolutely everything. And, hey, trivia fans will love the part where we learn that Punky's real name is "Penelope". Granted, we'll only hear it here and the next episode...and why couldn't Eddie have done that? Er, sorry. Thumbs up to this one; Jimmy likes it. - Jimmy Vibes Do the click |