Huge So Weird fan here. It is one of my favorite shows of all time. I was 12 when it started airing and I remember being so enamored by the series, especially with Fi's quest to connect with her dad and the familial relationships (Fi and Jack, and anything Molly-related).
Over the years I'd sometimes search the songs on YouTube (the lyrics for the main ones like Rebecca and The Rock were etched in memory) and I think I downloaded the series files at some point a few years back to show someone I was dating at the time (who was coincidentally an Alexz Johnson fan but had never really watched So Weird), but I only watched a couple episodes.
Now that I have been doing some digging with the Disney+ release, I am both amazed and ashamed at how deep the fandom for this series has been over the years and wondering why I never looked harder to find it or revisit the show in a more studied manner. I always reference it to people as one of the most impactful shows of my life but for so long it just lived in my memory. So it has been a trip to really be back in the So Weird universe with the Disney+ release (or it was until season 2 got snatched).
So, anyway, that is a long intro all to say that I rewatched all of season 1 in the first week of Disney+ and wanted to share my thoughts and ranking of season 1 episodes. I was concurrently listening to the podcast so it was great to hear multiple perspectives on these episodes as I was rewatching and piecing together my memories. If I have more time on my hands eventually (and upon my next rewatch) I'll probably
up more on each episode in their respective episode threads. For now, my commentary is mostly related to the rankings and quick takes. I also recently posted the list on Twitter without commentary.
13. Escape: I found this to be such a run of the mill, mystery-of-the-week episode but without really alot of stakes. I honestly found it very boring. I am most drawn to the mythology and the relationships on the show and this did not serve either of those in any significant way. The guest character did not seem very developed. The stuff with Jack and Clu was a bit silly.
12. Sacrifice: I thought this was a decent episode and there was some great Jack and Fi elements in here, but I am not a big foot fan, I am not that invested in war history, so this one was kind of a clunker for me personally. Again, it's only so low because it's not a stand out standalone episode and not connected to larger mythology. I did not really have much memory of having seen this episode (though I am sure at the time I had watched all the episodes that aired).
11. Memory: Upon rewatch I was stunned with how unusual and kind of boring I found this episode (also did not remember it much), but I did begin to appreciate its oddity and commitment to the disorienting aesthetic. It may not be very satisfying but it does kind of stand out as a visual and narrative exercise. I do, however, believe that the writers may have had larger plans here with the alien subplot of the series and I appreciate the open-ended and unresolved ending here and in Listen (again maybe not satisfying for the episode, but to actually leave episodes like these unresolved, open-ended is kind of bold, especially for what this show was).
10. Simplicity: Boy did I find this one annoying and way over the top, sometimes cringeworthy. But kind of like "Memory" it does actually stand out. Silly or not, it adds some character and quirk to the show and the characters; plus it is Molly-centric-ish so that is always a plus. There are many backstory tidbits here to feast on, so it's a little higher than the previous entries.
09. Tulpa: Decent standalone episode, somewhat impressive scare-factor (for back then); I don't have much more on this episode.
08. Strangeling: There is so much mythology and backstory set-up here (on so many fronts--Molly, Rick, Fi, Jack) that it kills me I didn't enjoy this one as much as I wanted. The cousins and the cheesy monster did not hold up. It's still an essential episode from season 1 but not necessarily a top fave.
07. Lost: I was so taken aback by this episode because I also did not have a strong memory as I was watching and was surprised at how different this was from other episodes (in that it really centered alot on this girl and her family as opposed to the series regulars) and I think that made it stand out. But maybe more than other standalone episodes, I can see why it may have stuck with many fans (as the podcasters mentioned it being a surprising fan favorite from several fans). I was a little bummed the podcast has not addressed (so far as I've gotten) race on this show, which I think could be a reason this episode may have stood out for some fans. It does not just feature a black subject for the week, but her entire family. Considering how white this show is (just as a matter of fact and something I was glad to hear Cooksey address on his interview podcast episode), it is worth noting that "Rebecca" is considered the consensus fan favorite and "Lost" we hear is another fan favorite. While they can only do so much in 24 minutes, the relative complexity and full lives they give these characters of color in their one-off episodes is impressive (again for how white thew show is) and could be a reason it resonated, even subconsciously, with a wider audience.
06. Angel: I'll be honest, I'm not a major fan of this episode and I recognize it resonates strongly with many fans. I like the character building for Jack and Molly and I think it is a good episode (a little slow, but that's one of the things I do appreciate about this show as with other episodes lower on the list--it doesn't adhere to a cookie-cutter formula; different episodes set their own pace, aesthetics, format, etc.) I'm just not personally invested (not grew up with alot of) angel iconography. Still, a strong episode.
05. Family Reunion/pilot: If this were not the pilot it would be much lower but because it sets up the characters and does feature a decent, relatively high-stakes mystery/adventure of the week.
04. Singularity: The Fi and Jack dynamic here is the entire episode. Her saying goodbye to Jack one of the series highlights. I could have done without the baseball backdrop but I'm a bit of sucker for time loops (I don't love them outright but I find them intriguing and do enjoy the brain teasing) and I think this one did a pretty good job with that.
03. Web Sight: This one may be a bit higher than it should be (Will have to wait for another rewatch to judge) but since it's the second to air, much like the pilot, it does do alot of work to set up the kind of show this is, both in good ways (Molly-centric-ish but also establishing more firmly the dynamic of people not believing Fi) and cheesy ways (the laptop opening on its own). It's a great episode to illustrate what many of the episode and the dynamic of the show would be like.
02. Will O' the Wisp: Kind of a gamble as it's not only almost a bottle episode but it's mostly Fi and Jack the whole episode and these two talented young actors really sell it. I think it is very much linked to Singularity (and explicitly too since they show a clip from it). I think the comment on the podcast about this being the topper to a season that was about Fi and Jack's relationship was insightful. It heightened the character and relationship development and also really laid down some of the groundwork for what to expect in season 2. A great finale.
01. Rebecca: Well, of course. What more is there to say that fans of the show won't already understand? I'll be honest, Fi is of course so central to the show (as evidenced in season 3) and I'm a Fi4ever kinda guy but So Weird is not what it is without Mackenzie Phillips for me. She brings this sense of weight and real grief (maybe trauma) to the show and (this is just me) I think it's as much her acting as it is how her troubled past is part of her as a person and how that somehow seeps into the character she builds here with the writers. And it is not apparent in every (even most) episode but to me it's always there just barely perceptible. Whereas it is episodes like these where it really comes through and you get a sense of how much baggage there is beneath the Molly we see episode in and episode out. The conversation between her and Jack is heartbreaking and odd at the same time and to me signals that some element of her character is (intentional or not) informed by her own loss of childhood in a way (something that becomes a bit more canonical in "Siren"). Anyway, I could go on about Mackenzie/Molly, but the song is really what tops this episode and seals it as the best. Perhaps it is unfair that it is (I think) the only episode of season 1 that features a full song performance and one we have not really heard before. It is still probably my favorite of the series because it has stood out through all these years in my memory. I have some minor reservations about one element of this episode that I want to wait to complete my rewatch to revisit, but it is also about how race and cultural mysticism is treated on this show (something I think season 3 traffics in perhaps more openly and perhaps more problematic).