Review of Celestial Navigation


Written by Toniann

  • "Hey Galileo, get off at the next exit and turn around." I really love the title of this episode, and the idea of the staff "navigating" their way through a political/PR maze by the stars.

  • You know, these guys would be in big trouble without their cell phones. They put Mulder & Scully to shame.

  • While CJ and Sam are going over notes for the briefing (which never happens), CJ states that one of the bullet points involves forgiving student loans for teachers that work in rural schools, or something like that. Doesn't Charlie suggest this in season two in "The Portland Trip" as a new idea? Toby talks then about how they haven't been able to come up with a revolutionary plan for education, and yet here in season one the president is signing the bill.

  • I have to confess something to you: I, too, am nuts for dental hygiene. Seriously, I must say this once a week at work to someone questioning my obsessive flossing. No one's caught the quote yet.

  • So help me, CJ, if you say "Pwesident" or "bwiefing" again... I've rewatched this episode often and those scenes stays funny every time. Though I still don't get why Josh earlier tells CJ she has a great body. He's making a joke, I get that, but I'm missing the finer point, I think.

  • Boy, could Josh have stepped into that press briefing fiasco more? I mean, he pretty much baited Danny, not to mention told a reporter that he was stupid two minutes later. No wonder they don't let Josh brief.

  • Convenient plot point: the picture of Toby with the president conveniently gracing the cover of the paper at Barney Fife's desk. I mean, the chances of that are pretty slim, it was just an easy way to get the police officers to believe Sam and Toby were who they said they were. Though I suppose the governor's phone call a few moments later would have done it as well.

  • Toby's jail cell conversation with Mendoza remains one of my favorite in the series. The writing, of course, and the way Toby was able to have compassion for this man who's driving him crazy, to put himself in Mendoza's shoes so effectively, and then say the one thing he needed to hear a(bout his son). Also, I love the lighting and the shadows. Nice job.

  • A terrific scene with Charlie and the president, short and sweet and priceless. "I need you to dig in now. It wasn't a nightmare; you really are the president."

  • Last but not least, as Toby said, there really is something freakish about Sam. I loved how he kept going back to directions, roadways, and highway signs. Celestial navigation, indeed. Just wait until he hears the news about latitude and longitude.


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