Joshua in Medium is the Message
28.3.2003
The first episode I saw Joshua in was Medium Is The Message. I'd read and heard quite a bit about him before this so he wasn't an entirely new acquaintance to me at that stage, but it was my first contact with how Kevin actually did it. First impressions: very helpful big puppy-dog-eyes-guy with little idea bout practicality, which makes him very endearing in a childlike way? The problem is you're more or less laughing at him, not with him. It's not malicious laughter but Joshua is definitely comic relief in much of MITM.
If you want to read a transcript for the episode, check out DarkAngelFan's ep-transcripts.
I have a real soft spot for the scene where he finds the chocolate mousse oil paint, thinks it's candy and decides to eat it, and think that was what clinched the deal for me. It makes you laugh and flinch and gag at the same time and KD really gets the whole thing across brilliantly. Definitely one of my favourite scenes even after seeing everything else around. The way he moves from the "Candy..." grin to gagging to the "Pretty whack" and the sudden fascination when the paint spreads on the canvas is a joy to watch. Equally pleasant are his expressions when Max comes in. He's been so drawn in by painting and totally forgot to look for that pencil, and the way he tries to keep Max from seeing the painting until she says it's really good, and then we get an immensely proud Joshua instead, a real treasure. I used those particular scenes to turn a few of my friends into fans of the show, so the appreciation for it is universal I'd say.
If I sound too schitzo jumping between my personal fascination and delight for the acting, technicalities or whatever, and my love for Joshua as a character, I apologize in advance. I move between the two relatively seamlessly myself so hope it's not too confusing. I probably wouldn't like Joshua as much as I do if Kevin wasn't so brilliant at portraying him, as it's mostly the facial expressions that do the trick, make you empathize or live with the character. He happens to be extra enjoyable in this episode and I love the next time we see Josh, too, the first scene with Alec, where the tiny little misunderstanding about the frames and the painting brings out more of the enthusiastic and proud Joshua again.
Second blast to shake up any existing ideas about him came with the creation of Joshua #2. If you can get through that without at least smiling you need a sense-of-humour transplant. Traitorously enough I actually think Jensen Ackles' Alec is slightly funnier in the scene, but it takes Joshua's wild whirling about while he's flinging the paint on the canvas to make it work as well as it does. Alec couldn't care less about what Joshua does there as long as there's a painting to make money on and Joshua is getting really into it. The two work incredibly well together and the guy really lets rip there, dancing and howling about. Like I said elsewhere before, I more or less thought that A) This guy is totally nuts and B) very good at what he does. It looked as if they'd had major fun filming that, too.
JOSHUA: Joshua...
ALEC: What’s the matter, Josh?
JOSHUA: ...has a new face!
ALEC: Oh yeah?
JOSHUA: My work is my face, Alec!
ALEC: Yess...
That final "Yes..." from Alec is priceless, you really have to see it.
I won't spoil more of the episode for you but if you only get a chance to see a couple of Dark Angels and want to know more about Joshua, I recommend looking for at least Two, Love in Vein and this one. He's adorable in this, really cute toward the end. If you still see only the outside and think he looks freakish, that's your shortcoming. Admittedly, I'm a science fiction fan and thus possibly more used to "freaks", but still, you forget what he looks like in no time and then it's just the soul and essence of the character you're dealing with and Joshua is special, they're right about that. It's great that he also got some light relief during the series, gets kicked in the head way too much all through it, not to mention his life before at Manticore. He deserves a lot more.
RITA: "You’re too good for us, Joshua. Paint for yourself. Create, because that’s what your soul must do to survive. But don’t do it for us; we don’t deserve it. You’re special."
All pictures borrowed from DarkAngelFan's galleries. Big thanks as usual.
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