At the risk of spoiling episode five of jPod: it was yuck. After achieving above-averageness in episode four, the show reverted back to what it does least well. Ridiculous plot twists that were unsatisfying and distracting, plus the usual tonal problems. The All-Tube click farm segments were pretty good, granted (All-Tube being a YouTube parody).
There was a moment when Carol (Ethan's mom) became frustrated at her dysfunctional family, and says, "Families are families and they're always messy." As I was watching this I nearly cried at the lost opportunity for her to say, "All families are psychotic." Which is, of course, the name of one of Coupland's books. Given that the first line in jPod the novel is: “Oh God. I feel like a refugee from a Douglas Coupland novel" this is the kind of meta-wink that might actually, you know, work.
On a side note, Ethan wears a Gama-Go t-shirt in this episode that I actually own. I bought it last March, for the record. Still, I felt somehow cheapened seeing it on TV.
