Travels with Father or Why Indiana Jones Has So Many Daddy Issues

In today's episode Indy travels to Greece and Russia, while illuminating the difficult relationship he has with his father. I definitely found these two episodes more enjoyable than the last set, and they both tackled interesting questions of philosophy and politics in a very easy to understand manner. By far the most interesting part of these episodes, however, is the family dynamic, namely between Indy and his dad.

Greece, 1909
In the first part of the episode Indy and his dad are encouraged/forced to explore Athens and the surrounding Greek countryside together on a trip to a monastery for Henry, Sr.'s research. Henry and Indy connect over learning about philosophy and then having to navigate a tricky situation at the hanging monasteries, which brought out a lot of the father-son dynamic that made The Last Crusade so entertaining. Despite the clear distance between father and son, their time spent together in this episode hinted that the two of them have a lot more in common than even they thought. It was quite impressive how well this episode was able to capture the gradual warming of Indy toward his dad as they adventure together.

Russia, 1909
Continuing the family dynamic theme, Indy once again finds the sour end of his dad's personality in the second part of the episode when he keeps making clutzy mistakes at a fancy party. Indy is so fed up with his father that he runs away to the Russian countryside and encounters the great Leo Tolstoy, which is really what you should expect at this point in a series littered with icons of history and the arts. As it happens, Tolstoy is also running from some family drama, and the two quickly bond. I really enjoyed some of their off the cuff conversation about capitalism and communism without beating the audience over the head with it. The relationship between Indy and Tolstoy was sweet and made what otherwise could have been a pretty boring episode entertaining.

Next up: Indy heads east in Journey of Radiance!

In the next set of adventures for Young Indy, we travel to Austria and Italy while Indy discovers the ups and downs of love.

Austria, 1908
In the first episode of this duology, Young Indy and family travel to Hapsburg-era Austria where Indy develops his first crush on the young Hapsburg princess, Sophie (also the daughter of Franz Ferdinand, naturally). In the process he also has dinner with Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung to hear about the psychology of love. While the episode was not notable for any big reason, I do remember feeling the same crush feelings as Indy on the young princess. Recalling that memory led me down a path to wondering if my own 9-year-old son has felt any of the same feelings yet. Yikes...

Florence, 1908
In the second half, Indy and family travel to Florence where they are swept up by the romantic opera scene and the operas of Puccini. The biggest plot point in this episode revolves around Indy's mom getting involved in an emotional affair with Puccini, who almost convinces her to run away with him. My biggest takeaway from the episode was the tumultuous family relationships Indy grew up with. His father was mostly absent and emotionally distant, which led to his mother's short fling with one of the world's best opera writers.

Overall, these two episodes have not been my favorite so far, and other than living vicariously through Indy's crush, I remembered very little on rewatch. Next up is Travels with Father, and perhaps a chance for Indy to grow his distant relationship with his father?