How many of us have ever imagined what we would do if we found ourselves as time travelers to the past? Would we try to change the world and kill Hitler or save Kennedy? Seek out our younger selves to right wrongs? Or try to cash in on Beatles songs before they’re written? (Peggy Sue, I’m looking at you, girl). Well, if you’re Madison, you’re just trying to go with the flow. And that is one of the joys of Madison, herself. For as much of a fish-out-of-water as she is, some seventy years in the past, there is nothing she isn’t up for. It truly is a Taoist attitude. The Zen of Madison.
From the theme song we learn “she should probably be trying to get out… but, Madison, she’s having fun…” Perhaps that’s the core of her go-with-the-flow outlook. She’s not frantically trying to get back home (relax, Marty McFly! Seriously!) so she’s open to each new experience as it comes. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t questioning what exactly is going on here. And as we join her for her fifteenth adventure with “The Saint,” we meet her existential crisis. Is Madison dead?
Back in episode six, when she worked for Sam Spade, Madison had a visit from her grandmother, aged as Madison knew her in our present day. That is her first inclination that maybe she’s dead and this is some sort of afterlife? Is that why her grandmother shows up? Is this heaven? No, Shoeless Joe. This is OTR. Also, Madison has met up with a lot of shoot outs and other life threatening encounters. More than once she’s asked, “Can I die? What exactly are the rules here?” So far so good… And then comes the obituary in “The Saint” actually listing Madison Standish as dead. Did she die back in 2020 and has been in these radio shows as a sort of limbo? As the last moments of her brain fires electrons until Madison is no more?
Dude. This is a comedy. We don’t go that deep. But the fact is, having someone like Madison actually taking moments to think about bigger things than herself, brings more to her story and her character. That she can philosophize about a world outside of her mocha lattes and endless string of lousy boyfriends. Like a good episodic sitcom, Madison is the same character show to show. But… she definitely is maturing in her new world. Stripped of the technology that engulfed her every day, Madison has been able to look at the bigger picture and thrive in this OTR world.
So, perhaps, Madison is moving from a shallow existence to a more meaningful life. And isn’t that a great use of time travel? Well, in any case, it is a lot of fun.
-Chrisi (aka Madison)
