Joan of Arcadia (TV Series)

Jump (2004)

Amber Tamblyn: Joan Girardi

Quotes 

• Helen Girardi : [reading Adam's mom's suicide note]  "Dearest boy, my Adam. I dreamed a dream, you and I facing each other in a tiny yellow boat on green water under a blue sky. Me and my son and a yellow boat. And we laugh, and the boat rocks and the ripples spread from the boat to pond to sea to sky and nothing can stop them, and nothing ever will. When you think of me, Adam, know that in a world of pain, you were, and always will be my joy. Love, Mom."

  Adam Rove : Thank you.

  Joan Girardi : The ripples were good!

• Will Girardi : So, uh, what did you dream about?

  Joan Girardi : Boys in mirrors.

  Will Girardi : Well, maybe this is one of those dreams you shouldn't tell your father.

  Joan Girardi : Like Orlando Bloom in a Speedo?

  Will Girardi : Now I'm going to have a nightmare.

• Will Girardi : What are you doing up?

  Joan Girardi : I had kind of a weird dream.

  Will Girardi : Koala bears?

  Joan Girardi : No, dad, I haven't had the koala bear dream since I was five. Evil koala bears in hats. Ick.

• Helen Girardi : What is going on?

  Will Girardi : We've been served a federal search warrant.

  Helen Girardi : Why?

  Will Girardi : My guess is the mayor is making allegations of his own, and these guys are here to check them out.

  FBI Special Agent Shannon Hodgins : I'm not saying you're right, but I'm most definitely not saying you're wrong.

  Joan Girardi : [snickering]  You sound like God.

  Will Girardi : FBI. Same thing.

• Joan Girardi : Hi, I'm-I'm Joan. Um... I-I watched Rocky sometimes for Ms. Tardio when she went to night school. Um... he was pretty much a weirdo. I mean, he knew 10,000 ways you could die in your own home, three just by sitting on the toilet. Did you know that's how Elvis died?

  Sylvia Tardio : He told me.

  Joan Girardi : Yeah. Rocky was so... morbid. I mean, one time, he informed me that statistically, I will die February 5, 2066, by-by which time all of you will already be totally dead.

  [she and Sylvia can't help but laugh] 

  Joan Girardi : Rocky made death funny.

  [crying] 

  Joan Girardi : Until today. Today, it's not so funny... because he isn't here, and that's just...

  [crying and laughing again] 

  Joan Girardi : ...sad.

• Nurse God : You're right to worry about Adam. In his world, suicide is a reality. He's lived with it for three years.

  Joan Girardi : Oh, my God.

  Nurse God : Some suicides are motivated by rage, at another human being, or the universe. Or me. Others come from a deep sadness. Suicide seems the only way of stopping the pain. And then there are those who do not end their mortal lives. But still, they stop living, which is also a kind of suicide.

  Joan Girardi : Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Adam is gonna... kill himself? Why?

  Nurse God : Rocky finished well. The - let's call the ripples - ripples Rocky left behind are sad, but good. Adam's mother's ripples are not good.

  Joan Girardi : Okay. I get that "all that I can handle without falling over" are hints, so maybe uh, a... a better hint of what I should do?

  Nurse God : There's more than one way to talk to people who aren't here anymore. There's definitely more than one way to listen. Especially in Adam's case.

  Joan Girardi : Or I have an idea. You could bring Adam's mother back from the dead and make everything all right.

  Nurse God : Not today.

• Joan Girardi : Okay, God. Why put us in a place where we get to know people and love them, and then they're gone, and we don't know if we ever get to see them again?

  Creepy Guy God : [entering]  Interesting eulogy, Joan. Unorthodox.

  Joan Girardi : This is a mad, creepy look.

• Joan Girardi : [after learning Adam's mother killed herself]  I know about the note.

  Adam Rove : Grace told you, huh?

  Joan Girardi : Yeah, Grace is in on it, and so is my mother, and so am I. It's none of my business, right? Except it is! It is because here we are, and... I am way in this. I am mad absolutely in this. So... why haven't you read her note?

  Adam Rove : I can't.

  Joan Girardi : Why? Is it smudged from tears, or written backwards, or is it...

  Adam Rove : I'm afr... I'm afraid... that it'll say that what she did was my fault.

• Reverend Dougherty : Rocky faced his disease bravely. He never lost heart. Everyone who came into contact with this... remarkable boy came away better for knowing him. If there is anyone who would like to share a brief remembrance of Rocky, then, uh, please step forward.

  Joan Girardi : Uh, I think I have something to say.

  Helen Girardi : Okay, honey, but just remember it's a funeral, so...

  Joan Girardi : Do I have to say "we gather here today"?

  Reverend Dougherty : I already took care of that.

• Joan Girardi : Excuse me, Doctor. Can you tell me how to get change?

  Doctor at Vending Machine : Change comes from within, but first you have to want to change.

  Joan Girardi : [suspecting it's God]  "Death is a dividing line", "Change comes from within." What is with your lame fortune cookie wisdom today?

  Doctor at Vending Machine : It was just a vending machine joke, kid.

• Creepy Guy God : Death is a dividing line.

  Joan Girardi : I don't need God to tell me that death is a dividing line. Everybody knows that. What we don't know is what it divides us from.

  Creepy Guy God : One of the necessary mysteries.

  Joan Girardi : Last night when I dreamt about Rocky and he told me to read the obituaries, that was you, right?

  [he nods] 

  Joan Girardi : And when I saw him at the funeral?

  Creepy Guy God : No. That was between you and Rocky.

  Joan Girardi : He looked happy. Does that mean he's in a better place?

  [seeing his expression] 

  Joan Girardi : Ugh. Yeah, I'll know someday. Be patient. How soon will I know, exactly? February 5, 2066? Wait. Don't tell me. Like you would even tell me.

• Creepy Guy God : There's nothing I could say to make you understand.

  Joan Girardi : Oh, come on! God, try me! Give me a hint!

  Creepy Guy God : I leave hints all over the place. I'm all about hints. Like Adam appearing in your dream.

  Joan Girardi : Well, maybe you could give me a quick look into the big picture. Then maybe I could be good at this.

  Creepy Guy God : As you wish, Joan.

  [hearing a multitude of noises and sounds, Joan faints] 

  Helen Girardi : [a few moments later]  Joan? Honey? Can you hear me?

  Joan Girardi : [groggy]  Who needs the big picture? Not me. Hints are good enough.