107 Camikazi Kid

Camikazi Kid

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Al's Place Bartender - Brian Greene
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Jul 10, 2002
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Camikazi Kid
June 6, 1961

San Gabriel Valley, California


As a geeky teenager, Sam must prevent his sister from marrying an abusive alcoholic. We learn that Sam's own sister also became victim to the same fate.

Also, he is forced into a drag race to defend his sister's honor and Al offers some inside tips on winning the race.


Written by: Paul Brown
Directed by: Alan J. Levi


Rate and comment on this episode!
 
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When Sam sees the bruises and knows how they were caused and then grabs Bob's neck to show him. Sam's intensity because this time he can protect his "sister" when he couldn't help Katie.

Love the interaction with Al, both during the race at the nitro burst and "Hey, Sammy and singing Let It Be Me together at the end.
 
I just re-watched this epi today and love it for the same reasons as above. It seems like one of episodes where you truly first see Al and Sam's real friendship. I love the Sammy Boy part too. So good :D
 
The only thing that bugs me about this episode is the scene at the rehearsal dinner when Sam is going to make his toast and Bob's idiot friends yell, "The Mom mobile's gonna make a speech!" (and then lob pudding at his face a bit later) I did not think that was realistic. Most teenagers would not be that obnoxious right in front of their target's Mom. Had I been Cam's Mom, they would have been outta there (with a big ol' high heel print in their butts)!!!
 
I would have say it was a great episode if there weren't a few scenes that bother me - first the Sam- Michael Jackson interaction which,in my opinion were unnecessary. secondly - the all scene Al's telling Sam how to win the race against Bob with the mom mobile and then he say's "Of course if you'll press it too long you blow up..." i think they should try to work on it 'cos it seems too artificial.
the last thing is the ending of the episode - Sam kissing the girl which in my opinion wasn't necessary.
 
I think this is one of my fav episodes. I love the idea of Sam helping Katie in a sense through helping Cheryl. I loved how he was so sweet because he knows what its like to have a sister who is making a wrong choice. And the charactor of Jill was cute. In response to Isz his kissing her was necessary as Cam had a crush on her but was too shy to go near her so Sam had to help that along.
 
Who said Cam had a crash on Jill but he was too shy to do something about it?!
beside - from what i understood - Jill had a crash on cam too,so... why "Sam Kissing the girl" had to happend? I think if he would Just go there and met her could be enough - the rest was up to Cam.
Not mentioning what they did to Jill in the end with that ugly hair design ,clothes and make-up - It's just wasn't her!
 
Cam's sister says that Cam really likes Jill, when they're having their heart to heart in her room. It's possible that Cam would not have kissed her. I agree that Jill's hair was awful - but that is how girls wore their hair then. They were really playing up the grease monkey-to-girly girl makeover. I thought she looked nicer with her regular clothes.
 
:dreaming The Best Part: When Sam knocked that nozzle fiance of his sisters on his backside. I can't handle watching some sorry a** hitting and beating on a woman. Such a coward! :blackeye = :realmad

:lol The Funniest Part: This was a totally sweet episode. I thought the crush Jill had on Cam/Sam was terrific and the way Sam shyed away because of her age was adorable as was their ending kiss. Oh to be that young and in love again.

:realmad The Worst Part: Michael Jackson :shoot

This episode: TOTALLY EXCELLENT! :hurray:
 
HologramIAm said:
This episode: TOTALLY EXCELLENT! :hurray:
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Oh I totally agree with you, it was brilliant. But the best part was when sam's quizzing al about hanging around for the lingerie party, and al's sort of standing there quite sheepish admitting he really didn't have any reasong to be there. Loved it!!! I just love Al :dreaming (I know I have said it before)
 
isz said:
the last thing is the ending of the episode - Sam kissing the girl which in my opinion wasn't necessary.
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Oh good grief - how can sam kissing the girl not be necessary!!!! You do realise you'd be doing all us middle age (almost) women out of the highlight of our nights!!!
 
HologramIAm said:
:realmad The Worst Part: Michael Jackson :shoot
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I have to agree with you there. It makes me cringe.

But other than that, this is a delightful, charming episode. I thought Scott did an especially fine job.

I don't think Al really looked all that sheepish... ;)
 
isz said:
Who said Cam had a crash on Jill but he was too shy to do something about it?!
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Cheryl did actually during the bro/sis heart to heart in her room.

Cheryl: I know who's got a crush on you
Sam: Who?
Cheryl: Jill!
Sam: Jill?....*remembers the girl with the purse that Bob's friends were playing monkey in the middle with* Jill!
Cheryl: Come on Cam, one minute you're getting up the guts to ask her out and now you don't even know her?

(NOTE: Some of the lines may not be exact, I can't remember exactly how it went)
 
Sam Beckett Fan said:
Cheryl did actually during the bro/sis heart to heart in her room.

Cheryl: I know who's got a crush on you
Sam: Who?
Cheryl: Jill!
Sam: Jill?....*remembers the girl with the purse that Bob's friends were playing monkey in the middle with* Jill!
Cheryl: Come on Cam, one minute you're getting up the guts to ask her out and now you don't even know her?

(NOTE: Some of the lines may not be exact, I can't remember exactly how it went)
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Even though...i think It's no reason for a scene of "Sam kissing the girl",in this episode.I'm sure Cam would do just fine,if Sam leapt the minute he saw Jill "new look".
 
isz said:
Even though...i think It's no reason for a scene of "Sam kissing the girl",in this episode.I'm sure Cam would do just fine,if Sam leapt the minute he saw Jill "new look".
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Blah!!!! :p You killjoy you!!! (if interpretation is required, it mean someone who ruins other peoples fun)
 
isz said:
Even though...i think It's no reason for a scene of "Sam kissing the girl",in this episode.I'm sure Cam would do just fine,if Sam leapt the minute he saw Jill "new look".
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How do you know Cam would do just fine? Since Sam didn't leap out until after the kiss had been initiated one can then infer that GFTW felt that it was necessary for him to do so.

Who knows...maybe through Sam's institution of the kiss, Jill and Cam became highschool sweethearts who married and had a child who went on to do something important. It could be that if Sam hadn't initiated the kiss, Cam might not have had the courage to do so and those events might not have happened. Of course, that's purely speculation but since Sam didn't leap out until after initiating the kiss, I think it's safe to assume that GFTW felt that it was necessary.
 
jmoniz said:
How do you know Cam would do just fine? Since Sam didn't leap out until after the kiss had been initiated one can then infer that GFTW felt that it was necessary for him to do so.
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You mean Paul Brown thought so...

BTW,did i wrote "would"?! I'm sorry - i ment "could".

The bottom line - No matter what, i think the all "Sam kissing the Girl" in this episode never should have happend,and was an unnecessery scene in this episode(Something Paul Brown,just enjoyed doing in most of the episode he wrote for the show). But, that only me(so it seems).
 
jmoniz said:
How do you know Cam would do just fine? Since Sam didn't leap out until after the kiss had been initiated one can then infer that GFTW felt that it was necessary for him to do so.

Who knows...maybe through Sam's institution of the kiss, Jill and Cam became highschool sweethearts who married and had a child who went on to do something important. It could be that if Sam hadn't initiated the kiss, Cam might not have had the courage to do so and those events might not have happened. Of course, that's purely speculation but since Sam didn't leap out until after initiating the kiss, I think it's safe to assume that GFTW felt that it was necessary.
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I agree her with Julia. as I stated in my last post Cheryl stated that Cam was struggling to get the guts to ask her out let alone kiss her. He seems like the very shy-away type, so without Sam's help he may have never asked her out and thus if there was a future for them with marriage and children as Julia suggested all that would have been terminated. So leaping back in in middle of sharing a kiss with her due to Sam's giving him a boost by starting it; is probably the drive he needed to ask her out and ensure a possible important future for them.

In addition, I personally thought it was cute. I love Sam showing his sweet side :)
 
jmoniz said:
No, I meant exactly what I wrote. If I meant the writer of the episode, I would have said so. Then again, I don't really pay attention to who wrote one episode nor do I analyze their writing style.
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Well...I do. After all without the writers there would be no show...
Anyway - You want to believe,that without Sam's help,Cam would have never take the first step(or any step) with Jill.I believe he would.
So all we left to do is - To agree to disagree.;)
 
This is one of my favorite 1st season episodes.
I love the leaps that take place in the 50's and early 60's.
I think many of us can relate to trying to save someone from making a mistake or being taken advantage of by some sort of insincere jerk "nozzle" only to be ignored...well as they say "love" is blind".
This episode also had a lot of funny moments too,like the laughing gas leak scene,Al acting as observer during the lingere party,and of course Al singing "let it be me" with Sam joining in,I liked that scene because it was light hearted and highlights Al & Sams friendship.
Cant believe they wrecked that '60 Chevy in the drag scene at the end..that was a nice car!
 
Hmmm, OK. As much as I liked this episode, I never really felt so engaged with the characters in this story. I don't doubt that people were almost this two-dimensional and shallow in the 60's, but... I didn't really like anyone. Not even Cheryl or the girl who had a crush on Cam, and Cameron's mom really annoyed me most of the time. The bad guy, don't remember his name right now, and his dad were somewhat cartoonish to me, except for the bad guy's mom. I actually liked her, but she was caught in the middle. The Michael Jackson kiss... well, meh.

Even with all that, it still has something that keeps it going and you actually never want to stop watching it. That's what I see that happened to Paul Brown with his stories most of the time. He definitely had the talent to create great setups, the ability to give you interesting story developments, but his characters were always a bit too self-centered, cliched, entitled, one-sided and high-toned. There's where he failed, in my opinion, and also at the fact to try to give the story a morality with almost always a one-sided POV. His episodes, not my cup of coffee, except maybe for one or two, though I admit they're very entertaining and sometimes, when he's up to it, quite suspenseful.

My rating: Average.
 
Donofrio_QLTD said:
I don't doubt that people were almost this two-dimensional and shallow in the 60's, but... I didn't really like anyone.
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That's a ridiculous statement,especially given the state of todays society.First,its a work of fiction playing up television clichés of the time period. Second,Look at the present day world around you.listen to the rap "music" filled profanity and look at the reality shows on tv and the other dreck that pass as "entertainment",look at how people dress and act today,listen to the level of discourse and contrast that with the same from the 50's and 60's.
 
Hehe!! Calm down, dude!! I never said I didn't like cliches. QL was filled with them, after all, because, as you say, it was a fictional TV show, no more. I accept that and that's part of the fun. My point is with the writing of the characters in this particular episode. Most of the time I loved Paul Brown's characters, being them from the 60's or whatever, but there were other times where it seemed that he didn't have a clue and chose to overdo them a lot, like on this episode or like on "Private Dancer" or that other one, "Temptation Eyes". I feel that the characters in this episode are all pretty straightforward and have no real substance. They come off as empty and I can't simpatize with them or feel bad/good for their decisions. Even on the episodes where he manages to have very interesting characters, there are parts where he slips it a bit and I can't help but notice that he seemed to have a pretty one-sided view of life, at least during the time he collaborated with QL. That's one of the reasons I consider him one of the weakest writers of the series. At least he managed to be consistent and, like I said, I liked him most of the time either way. I can't say the same thing about Robin Jill Bernheim, for example, or many other season 5 writers like Richard C. Okie, who helped to kill the show, in my opinion. Experiencing the body of work from those fellows, let me tell you that Paul Brown was missed a great deal on the last season. The fact that you mentioned nowadays life doesn't have anything to do with what I tried to say, sorry.
 
This one gets a "Good" rating from me. The teenaged boys were over-the-top immature, more so than any teenaged boys I've ever met. I know they were supposed to be annoying, but I think the writers blew past the mark and kept on going. I found the Michael Jackson scene completely unnecessary, and I assume it was put in for time filler. I liked the scenes with the cars, especially the part where Sam didn't know how to get to the crankshaft (?), so he made Jill show him that she remembered. Of course, the race at the end was the best, even if they did wreck that awesome car.
 
Sorry,I think you misunderstood what I was saying. And I was calm and didn't need to "calm down" lol. I wasn't shouting (typing in all caps),I was merely stating how I felt.

I agree with you about the writing and the characters to a large degree,most of them were not realistic,but tired clichés,and think that the bullys were completely one dimensional,cartoonish and unbelievable. they were like caricatures from "Animal House".

The point I took umbrage with was not with your assement of the scriptwriting or characters,but was with your statement "I don't doubt that people were almost this two dimensional and shallow in the 60's".
I felt that was very prejudiced and disrespectful to that generation. Have you ever talked to anybody who lived during the 50's or the 60's about what it was really like then? Thats a ridiculously unfair statement with absolutely no basis in fact. there is a great wealth of incredible music,literature,art,movies,products and other cultural artifacts from that time for us to evaluate that you are attempting to dismiss offhandedly for no valid reason. I think that's very unfair.

All you have to do is compare and contrast todays society to the one we had then to realize there were a great many aspects of life back then that were far superior to today.












Donofrio_QLTD said:
Hehe!! Calm down, dude!! I never said I didn't like cliches. QL was filled with them, after all, because, as you say, it was a fictional TV show, no more. I accept that and that's part of the fun. My point is with the writing of the characters in this particular episode. Most of the time I loved Paul Brown's characters, being them from the 60's or whatever, but there were other times where it seemed that he didn't have a clue and chose to overdo them a lot, like on this episode or like on "Private Dancer" or that other one, "Temptation Eyes". I feel that the characters in this episode are all pretty straightforward and have no real substance. They come off as empty and I can't simpatize with them or feel bad/good for their decisions. Even on the episodes where he manages to have very interesting characters, there are parts where he slips it a bit and I can't help but notice that he seemed to have a pretty one-sided view of life, at least during the time he collaborated with QL. That's one of the reasons I consider him one of the weakest writers of the series. At least he managed to be consistent and, like I said, I liked him most of the time either way. I can't say the same thing about Robin Jill Bernheim, for example, or many other season 5 writers like Richard C. Okie, who helped to kill the show, in my opinion. Experiencing the body of work from those fellows, let me tell you that Paul Brown was missed a great deal on the last season. The fact that you mentioned nowadays life doesn't have anything to do with what I tried to say, sorry.
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MO said:
This one gets a "Good" rating from me. The teenaged boys were over-the-top immature, more so than any teenaged boys I've ever met. I know they were supposed to be annoying, but I think the writers blew past the mark and kept on going. I found the Michael Jackson scene completely unnecessary, and I assume it was put in for time filler. I liked the scenes with the cars, especially the part where Sam didn't know how to get to the crankshaft (?), so he made Jill show him that she remembered. Of course, the race at the end was the best, even if they did wreck that awesome car.
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I agree,the teenage boys behaved like Beavis and Butthead and were ridiculously unbelievable. Parents were much stricter back then and wouldn't have tolerated that degree of idiocy.The Michael Jackson part was just filler,the writers would do that off and on throughout the series,like the "Piggy Sue" scene with Buddy Holly. I didn't mind it too much,some of it was kind of funny.

I have to confess that overall I do like this episode though because I love the 1950's and early 1960's era,and its always cool to see the cars and way the people dressed back then. As someone who owns several late 50's and early 60's cars it made me wince to see them wreck the chevy in the end.
 
I also thought the end scene where Sam and Al sing "Let it be me" was great. And the part where Al wanted the hamburger and fries and Sam teased him with them was funny.
 
Another middle of the road episode, this one. Camikazi Kid is similar to The Right Hand of God in the way that I find it to be more forgettable than the other season 1 eps. This is the first time we get a glance at Sam's troubled history. Cheryl's upcoming, doomed marriage to the sleazy Bob brings up memories of Sam's sister Katie, who also married an abusive man.

The best parts of this episode are those that deal with Cheryl and Bob. I love how protective Sam is towards Cheryl, and the way he stands up to Bob. The car race at the end is also fun, as too is the little scene with a young Michael Jackson. Unfortunately, this episode is not without some annoying drawbacks. Most of the side characters come across as annoying, from Cam and Cheryl's parents to Bob's father (although he is kinda funny at times).

Finally, the ending of this episode with Sam and Al singing together, and then Sam giving Jill a small kiss is one of the sweetest moments in the series.

My rating. Average (my opinion having changed slightly since I rated this one as good 6 years ago). A pretty decent episode all in all.
 
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