I had a moment of divine clarity this week while watching Pan Am. Humor me for a moment while I explain. Here we have a show about the crew of a vessel that travels the world to exotic locales with exciting and interesting people on board. The focus is on the crew but their love lives often get entangled with the passengers with dramatic results. The action takes place mostly on the vessel but we sometimes get to go “ashore” with them and experience the world through their eyes. Pan Am is the new Love Boat.

Don’t laugh. You know it’s true, and I mean this with the utmost respect for both shows. The Love Boat had a very different feel of course. There was a lot of kitschy humor on the Pacific Princess and I certainly don’t want any sort of Gopher character to show up on the Majestic, but at the core I think the structure is the same. And I can’t help but think of Julie Our Cruise Director whenever Maggie Ryan is on screen. All that is missing is Isaac the bartender and Charo of course. Sadly Charo didn’t arrive stateside until the mid-60s so casting her as a famous passenger wouldn’t make sense. C’est La Vie.

I worried for a hot minute that Pan Am would not be able to sustain the level of fabulousness set by the premiere episode. I am happy to say I was proven wrong. Pan Am gave us another strong week and dove a bit deeper into the back-story of these sexy ladies. This week the newly christened jet clipper Majestic took off for Paris with more than one colorful passenger on board.

The episode got off to a great start with Maggie giving the surly Mrs. Havemeyer a piece of her mind concerning the pre-flight weigh-ins.

“If there is an ideal weight for serving drinks surely there is an ideal weight for looking down ones nose.”

SNAP.

Even with an extra pound or two the ladies in blue were very excited about the Paris trip but none more than Kate (Kelli Garner) and Laura (Margot Robbie) who dreamt of this trip since they were kids. Laura even managed to retrieve a drawing she did of the Eiffel Tower as a little girl to further drive home the sentimentality of this excursion. Kate is assigned another mysterious mission before boarding so her attention will be elsewhere. Their excitement is dashed a bit though when their shrew of a mother shows up on the flight. Kate is incensed by her appearance but Laura reaches out to her and finds out her intentions at least seem to be noble. Kate is not impressed.

Also having troubles on this flight is Maggie (Christina Ricci) who gets harassed and man-handled by a drunken passenger. Not one to endure such disrespect she stabs the man with a fork and finds herself in a spot of trouble. First Officer Ted (Michael Mosley) is quick to help out though, but not in the way she had hoped. He manages to diffuse the situation and avoid Maggie getting fired…but at the cost of her self-respect. I have no doubt Maggie will exact revenge in some way.

“I am NOT included in the price of your ticket!”

Well said Maggie.

Meanwhile Captain Dean (Mike Vogel) is getting over the disappearance of his gal Bridgette by focusing his loins on Colette (Karine Vanasse). When he finds her stranded on the side of the road on the way to the airport and offers her a ride he finds himself bewitched by the French beauty and asks her to show him around Paris. Granted, his sightseeing trip mostly involves trying to track down any news of Bridgette who vanished before the series began. When he finds out Bridgette (Annabelle Wallis) is now supposedly married it is Colette who comforts him. I give it two more episodes before they are fornicating.

Once in Paris Kate sets out to meet her contact and Laura meets their mother for dinner where she finds out that her intentions were not as noble as she first implied. Good old Mom has brought Laura’s jilted fiancé Greg along to win back her heart. Laura is annoyed but manages to have a heart to heart with Greg who understands why she ran and tells her a story about his childhood dream to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

“If what you are leaving me for is your Kilimanjaro then Bon Voyage.”

While Laura says goodbye to her beau Kate is meeting her contact, who turns out to be Bridgette. The package she is delivering is Bridgette’s new identity. She has been forced into hiding after screwing up a mission and finding herself compromised. She has a warning for Kate; this is what happens when you don’t follow the rules to the letter. Kate isn’t fazed and has no intention of quitting. Way to go Kate. I like this girl.

So will Dean ever find out what happened to his Bridgette now that’s she has a new name and new like is Missouri? Or will a taste of Colette’s tasty baguettes make him forget her altogether? Tune in next Sunday when Pan Am returns and Maggie sets her sights on John F Kennedy.