Review:  Pan Am – “Unscheduled Departure” – An Emergency Landing and Political Unrest in Haiti Bring Increased Drama

Air date: Sunday, November 13 at 10/9c on ABC

Rating: ★★★★★

The combination of Hurricane Ginny pounding the Caribbean and a passenger’s illness bring unexpected complications for a New York to Caracas flight, but it also renders us Pan Am’s most intense episode of the season.

Ted Vanderway (Michael Mosley) teases Captain Dean Lowrey (Mike Vogel) about the ironic coincidence of the hurricane sharing the same name as Dean’s most recent paramour, Ginny Saddler (Erin Cummings). The foreshadowing is clear and we’re certain more than bad weather is coming Dean’s way. A passenger, Henry Belson (uncredited actor), suffers a heart attack mid-flight and Dean decides to undertake an emergency landing in Haiti to procure him medical attention. The crew seems unaware of the severe state of turmoil in Port-au-Prince but after seeing the runway when they land and realizing the airport lights are off, they know something is wrong.

“Unscheduled Departure” starts with a dose of the enjoyable jet age travel glamour we’ve come to expect from Pan Am.

Millionaire playboy Miguel Ortiz (Aaron Diaz) is given a lesson in humility by Maggie Ryan (Christina Ricci).

First-class passenger and millionaire playboy Miguel Ortiz (Aaron Diaz) is the darling of the stewardesses but especially to Maggie (Christina Ricci).

Kate (Kelli Garner) helps Belson conquer his flying anxiety and he shares some intimate details of his life and his deceased wife Blanca. As Kate’s charm soothes Belson, he suffers the heart attack that triggers the episode’s main events.

Incorporating serious real-life traveling scenarios pays off for Pan Am. This is the first episode I’ve seen where the suspense is sustained throughout the whole show.  The episode’s pace and editing do a good job of capturing the volatility of the political situation. It’s also refreshing to see the Pan Am pilots preoccupied with matters beyond ‘skirts’ as their 707 jet is stranded on a runway 500 feet short and waiting for medical help is not an option. Dean’s abilities as a captain are questioned due to his youth but he proves to be worthy of his title.  He shows the same determination that led him to confront Juan Jerry Trippe (he’s the actual founder of Pan Am/not shown in episode) about the pilot seniority system when he tries to figure out a solution that would allow the aircraft to leave Haiti. Mosley continues to make the most of his lines and I enjoy the sarcasm he injects in the dialogue.

The writing in “Unscheduled Departure” shows significant improvement compared to past episodes. My favorite moment is Kate’s endearing conversation with the ailing Belson about broken hearts and what country has been her favorite one to visit. Kate’s choice of Croatia and the explanation of why she loves this destination is really a metaphor to describe her feelings for Diplomat-turned-CIA agent Niko Lonza (Goran Visnjic).

Kate Cameron (Kelli Garner) shows her tender side when she takes on an ailing passenger.

Things get complicated when Colette (Karine Vanasse) insists on bringing a 17-year-old girl, whose entire family has been murdered, to the US as a refugee. Ultimately, the situation escalates to a confrontation between Colette and Dean as he tries to uphold Pan Am’s rules while facing his own guilt for putting the passengers and crew in jeopardy, and Colette is desperate to help out the girl whose orphan status she relates to. The scene showcases the great chemistry between Vanasse and Vogel but also shows how the closeness of their personal relationship gets in the way of this professional situation.

I really enjoy this show but there are several details I had to ignore to buy into the storyline. With the crew being aware of Haiti’s Papa Doc regime and given the control tower’s language and protocol irregularities, shouldn’t the pilots abort the landing? Would a real life Captain allow an unarmed stewardess and co-pilot—in this case, Colette and Vanderway—to wander in night time Port-au-Prince to search for a doctor given the obvious unsafe conditions?  In my personal experience, political unrest would also pose a much more immediate and severe danger to the passengers and crew than portrayed.

Dean (Mike Vogel) and Maggie (Christina Ricci) survey the damage inflicted on the runway by a previous hurricane.

Another aspect I continue to struggle with is how conflicts are resolved and this is where I think Pan Am has an identity crisis. Pan Am needs to decide if it’s going to be an escapist show or a serious drama if it’s going to succeed. If Pan Am decides to be an escapist-fantasy show, it needs to stay in the vein of Love Boat and the likes, keeping things light. If it chooses to be more of a straight drama, the treatment of issues needs to stop being resolved within the hour timeframe of the show as it diminishes the credibility of the storyline.

Regardless of the direction the show takes, I have a couple of suggestions to increase viewership. The storylines should be spread out more evenly among characters as they feel fairly segmented and individualized. The retro look is a big draw for Pan Am and they should exploit it more as viewers are really attracted to the show’s visuals. The décor can play a greater part of the action by incorporating it more via the use of wide shots and editing. Fashion can easily play a bigger role in the show. For example, passengers’ attire could be showcased more. Speaking of passengers, it would be nice if some of them were celebrities of the era. The incorporation of that era’s popular magazines or having the characters attend more off-duty events could also provide great opportunities for visuals.

As a mid-season finale, “Unscheduled Departure” ends with a great cliffhanger between Colette and Dean but the show’s fans are going to have to wait until December 4 for the next installment. (Coincidentally that date also marks the real life 20-year anniversary of Pan Am ceasing its operations.) I hope the Pan Am producing and writing crew uses this hiatus to make adjustments on this show which is so full of promise but somehow doesn’t seem to fully take off the ground.

Tune in to Pan Am Sundays at 10/9c on ABC. For more on the show, visit http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/pan-am.

On Facebook, visit the show’s page at http://www.facebook.com/PanAmABC.

You can also follow @PanAmABC on Twitter.

All photos © 2011 ABC. All Rights Reserved.