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Cupid (2009) :: Pilot (01x01)
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Episode Information |
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| Title: | Pilot |
| Episode #: | 01x01 |
| Production Number: | 101 |
| Original Airdate: | Tuesday March 31st, 2009 |
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Click here to Start a conversation about this episode. (5 Posts) |
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Episode Summary |
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It's New Year's Eve in Times Square. The ball has just lowered and lit up the sky with "Happy New Year," but our hero has helped changed it to read "Holly I'm Here" for a lovelorn street musician who hopes his message will reach his intended. Despite his good intentions, our hero, who claims he is Cupid, the Roman god of love, not unsurprisingly is placed in a mental institution. There he is placed under the care of Dr. Claire McCrae, an author of a book on love and relationships. After three months, claiming his real name is Trevor Pierce, he is released but placed directly under Dr. McCrae's care and responsibility. She requires him to attend her singles group therapy sessions on a regular basis so that she can monitor his progress. Trevor, who strongly believes in passion and chemistry, finds himself at direct odds with Claire's rather cold and clinical attitude towards love and relationships. Trevor meanwhile works towards attaining his first match.
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Guest Stars |
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Main Cast |
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Episode Notes |
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This incarnation of the show shifts the location to Manhattan from the original setting of Chicago
| With this incarnation, the objective is to re-unite 200 people (100 couples), as opposed to 100 people (50 couples) in the original.
| Cupid's given name in this incarnation is changed from Trevor Hale to Trevor Pierce, though it is derived from much the same kind of inspiration.
| With this incarnation, the character of Felix and his sister Lita Arroyo take the place of Albert "Champ" Terrace in the original.
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Episode Quotes |
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Claire: So, this... punishment. Did you do something wrong?
Cupid: Well, at my... expulsion, they yammered on about re-learning my craft, and the screwed up state of love and romance... frankly I had trouble taking the whole thing seriously.
Claire: Why is that?
Cupid: A hundred couples? I used to knock that out before lunch!
Claire: How'd you pull that off?
Cupid: My bow. My arrows.
(Claire looks at him quizzically)
Cupid: (whispers rather expectantly) They're maaaagic.
Claire: Do you have those with you now?
Cupid: You mean (looking around) at this moment?
Claire: You could shoot me and then I'd more fully understand this... magic.
Cupid: (with an "are you nuts?" attitude) Do you see a bow?
| Claire: How long do you think this quest would take you... bowless?
Cupid: Two weeks, max...
Claire: Two weeks...
Cupid: Make it ten days.
Claire: Final answer?
Cupid: Six days.
| Claire: You were telling me about Olympus?
Cupid: Non-stop, clothing optional party. Amazing place. You have no idea.
Claire: Vague idea, you just described the Playboy Mansion.
| Trevor: Buenos Dias, Lita, quiero bañar en tu sodor...
Lita: (disgusted) Iccchhh...
Felix: Hey, hey, hey, that's my sister!
Trevor: (confused) The guys at Ariba-Riba said that's a common Spanish greeting...
Felix: "I wanna bathe in your sweat"??
| Claire: I'm sorry, that may be romantic, but it's not love.
Trevor: Didn't you hear him, 'palpable, transcendant connection' !
Claire: Perhaps we can agree to call it 'infatuation'.
Trevor: We could agree to disagree... What are you preaching in here? 'Just... don't do it'? 'Reach for the... copper ring'?
Claire: I tell people to be smart.
Trevor: Love isn't smart. Love is stupid. You want to wrestle that minotaur, be bold!
Claire: Love at first sight is a myth. Love is built on a sturdier foundation, Trevor. Shared interests, mutual respect. Things you can't possibly establish in a couple days, let alone 20 minutes.
Trevor: Love is passion. Love is heat. Chemistry. Sex.
Claire: No, love, is what's left after the heat and the passion die.
(room goes silent)
Claire: ...or fades. away... kind of... slowly.
Trevor: Wow. Who ripped your heart out?
| Claire: Trevor... stay!
(room clears out)
Claire: Fifteen years of training has prepared me to help these people.
Trevor: Unnn, and being the Roman god of love since the dawn of time has prepared me for what? Celebrity judge on 'Blind Date'?
| Trevor: Hey, boss!
Felix: Hey, margueritas at half-price, uh?
Trevor: It's Manhattan. They're still six bucks.
| Claire: It is one thing to proclaim you are Cupid, the god of love but something else entirely when you insert yourself into strangers's lives.
Felix: Yeah, then it's called 'divine intervention'. Besides, what's the big deal, anyway? It's not like I'm telling my followers to send me their Social Security check.
Claire: Trevor, you do not have 'followers'...
Trevor: Oh. Really? Then how come there's a Temple of Eros in Chelsea?
Claire: They sell trashy lingerie!
Trevor: Of course they do. It's one of the sacraments.
| Felix: My sister, ah, said she heard you arguing with some woman last night after close. She said the woman called you Trevor.
Trevor: Yeah. That was my shrink.
Felix: She says that you, ah, believe that you're Cupid.
Trevor: Yeah. It's a little bone of contention between us.
Felix: You told me your name was Ed Ross.
Trevor: I told you my name was 'Eaaa-Rossss'. It's what the Greeks called me. The Italians say 'Cupid'. Take your pick.
Felix: I'll just go with Trevor.
Trevor: Whatever makes you comfortable.
| (referring to an image on her computer's screen saver)
Dave: Hey! Did I just see a picture of you, (with) Daryl Hall and John Oates go by?
Madelyn: That's right. You got a problem with that, sport?
Dave: Why?
Madelyn: Because they are awesome? That's why. They invited the webmasters of the top ten fan sites (points to herself as one of the webmasters) in the country to hang out backstage.
Trevor: There are ten Hall and Oates fans?
| Claire: I don't get it. You say you're on a mission to match 100 couples, we find a man and a woman you introduced, hitting it off, kissing, and you drag him away.
Trevor: Have you not been paying any attention? Look, I only get credit for a match if it's True Love. The kind of love you'd cross oceans to find. They were very specific about that point, so, Romeo and Juliet... counts. Romeo and the Coat Check Girl, doesn't.
| (talking to her brother about Trevor)
Lita: You should fire him. What is it with you and strays?
| Madelyn: Haven't you heard, Trevor, people don't fall in love in two days.
Trevor: See, that's where we differ. You take your advice from Dr. McCrae, and I take my advice from Captain Kirk.
Madelyn: I... can't.... I can't put myself out there like that. That's how you get hurt.
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Cultural References |
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Claire: Vague idea, you just described the Playboy Mansion.
The Playboy Mansion, out in Los Angeles, is associated with Playboy magazine and the libidinous lifestyle usually attributed to its founder, Hugh Hefner. It is famous for its parties, often with many people in various bed clothing and lingerie (or less) and an overall presumption of sexual promiscuity and zero-attachment sexual relations at the mansion is a widespread cultural understanding.
| (being shown an artist's sketch of Holly's face made at Dave's instruction)
Trevor: That'd launch a thousand ships.
Legend has it that, when Helen, the beautiful wife of the Greek king Menelaus, was "abducted" by Paris, the representative from Troy, Menelaus launched an army requiring a thousand ships to carry it to get her back, initiating the Trojan War. Christopher Marlowe, an Elizabethan dramatist and compatriot of Shakespeare, was led to describe her beauty as "The Face That Launched A Thousand Ships".
| (as Madelyn sits contemplating the article she's written about Dave)
Madelyn's Boss: It's a human interest piece, it's not Watergate. Ten more minutes.
Watergate was one of the most important single news stories of the 20th century. The story, written by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, was about a break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters located in the Watergate Hotel and Office Complex.Subsquent investigations, spearheaded by the discoveries of Woodward and Bernstein, connected the burglers higher and higher up the political food chain, implicating President Nixon and leading directly to his eventual resignation. The meme left such an impression on the nation as a whole that high-level scandals involving people of note are often provided with the suffix "-gate" to recall the meme.
| (as Madelyn sits contemplating the article she's written about Dave)
Madelyn's Boss: It's a human interest piece, it's not Watergate. Ten more minutes.
Watergate was one of the most important single news stories of the 20th century. The story, written by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, was about a break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters located in the Watergate Hotel and Office Complex.Subsquent investigations, spearheaded by the discoveries of Woodward and Bernstein, connected the burglers higher and higher up the political food chain, implicating President Nixon and leading directly to his eventual resignation. The meme left such an impression on the nation as a whole that high-level scandals involving people of note are often provided with the suffix "-gate" to recall the meme.
| Trevor: They were very specific about that point, so, Romeo and Juliet... counts. Romeo and the Coat Check Girl, doesn't.
Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, second, perhaps, only to Hamlet in its notoriety. The tale of two very young lovers, each the heirs to powerful, rival families, is considered one of the greatest romance stories of all time.
| Trevor: See, that's where we differ. You take your advice from Dr. McCrae, and I take my advice from Captain Kirk.
Captain Kirk is, of course, the captain of the Starship Enterprise, from Star Trek. The opening voiceover contains one of the most well-known split infinitives in history: "To boldly go". With this reference, Trevor is putting the notion of acting boldly into Madelyn's head, so that when he walks away, and she turns around, and sees the "Ireland Beckons" poster and "Boldly Go" travel agency, that she'll take the leap of faith that is required to go after the love of her life. This also ties into his earlier command to people in the singles therapy group, "You want to wrestle that minotaur, be bold!" Trevor is emphasizing that without risk, the rewards of life are generally scant.
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Episode References |
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Claire: Well, if it isn't 'Tremor Pierced'...
Claire is indicating to Cupid/Trevor that she's seen the sign that he was looking at when he revealed his name as "Trevor Pierce" to the sanitarium releasing committee, and saw the subtle-but-obvious connection between the adjacent words "TREMOR" and "PIERCED" and the name he gave to the committee.
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Analysis |
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The setting for the show changes from Chicago in the original to Manhattan in this one. This seems insightful, as Cannavale just has this "New York" look to him, like he just sort of belongs in New York. Even his manner of speaking has that sort of "What are you lookin' at?" undercurrent. Whether the locale shift was done for a convenience of purpose or an insight on the part of the creators about Cannavale will hopefully be revealed by some insightful interview someday. Cannavale is going to be a bit different as Cupid, as is no surprise, but he might be able to pull it off with good writing, just because of that attitude. It's not the kind of charming arrogance Piven carries off so well, but it's a sort of self-confident cockiness that can substitute for the purposes of the character and the show.
| This show, in both its incarnations, offers a unique opportunity to examine the nature of love, in all its forms, from many angles. By intermixing the notions of a primitive "God of Love" against the higher-brained, more clinical concepts of a "Dr. Phil" type psychiatrist, and setting it with the task of bringing couples together, there is an obvious opportunity for every aspect of love -- from raw sex to true love, from filial to parental love, from the heat of a new relationship to a marriage at its 75th anniversary -- to come under a philosophical microscope, while maintaining the ability to still enjoy the show as light entertainment. The show can remain light because it need not actually produce answers... but the light it shines on the questions can lead to thoughtful consideration and discussions, if one is inclined towards such intellectualism. While this show may not succeed, it certainly deserves to have a chance to do so.
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Featured Songs |
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Episode Goofs |
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