Big drama this week on Pan Am as the crew of the Clipper Majestic are forced to make an emergency landing in Haiti and barely make it out alive in what might have been the best episode of the season so far. First, many apologies for not posting about last week’s episode “Truth or Dare”. Work has been especially crazy the past few weeks and I just didn’t have the energy to stay up and watch on Sunday. I won’t let it happen again. Just in case you didn’t see it either, here is a quick rundown of recent events:

The crew of the Majestic shuttled a plane full of US sailors back home to New York. During a game of truth or dare on board Laura (Margot Robbie) reveals she posed nude for the Life magazine man and Colette (Karine Vanasse) reveals she always wanted to fly a plane. Once airborne Laura meets a young black sailor named Joe who ends up at a party at Maggie’s house later that evening. He spends the night and when he and Laura go sightseeing the next day he gets into a scuffle with some racists at the bus station. Meanwhile Kate (Kelli Garner) is upset when her handlers rough up Nico and force him to spy for them or suffer the wrath of his secret police. She is furious at how the operation was handled but convinces him to help them. At the end he is sent home to Yugoslavia but not before forgiving Kate and professing his love. Oh and Colette got her chance to fly during a very sweet moment in the cockpit with Dean.

Now…on to this week. WOW what an episode! In the wake of Hurricane Ginny (see what they did there?) the Majestic is forced to land in Haiti when a passenger named Henry has a heart attack on board only to find the country under siege and a doctor unwilling to help. Colette manages to get some medicine from him and pick up an orphaned girl before getting back to the plane but it’s too late. Poor Henry has died and the problems for the Majestic are just beginning. The storm has destroyed part of the runway and the plane is too heavy to take off.

The temporary flight engineer (Sanjeev is on vacation in Bombay) is all gloom and doom and wants to quote regulations all day but Ted (Michael Mosley) and Dean (Mike Vogel) aren’t having it. After ditching the luggage, some fuel and poor Henry the plane makes a harrowing escape just as Papa Doc’s rebels storm the airport. I don’t know how technically accurate this episode was in regards to what a fully loaded 707 can or can’t do but I really don’t care. This was some compelling television.

The girls really kicked ass this week. The way Maggie (Christina Ricci) and Laura handled the Haitian rebels who boarded the plane was awesome, and Maggie just flat out owned that douche Miguel. Grace under pressure indeed! For once Kate didn’t have a mission and spent her time comforting our ailing patient until help comes, and she’s the one who suggests leaving his body behind to make room for the orphaned Haitian girl. I also loved that Colette stepped up and pretty much became the heroine of this episode all because she speaks French and she is fierce.

I loved the incredulous look on the new flight engineers face when Dean gave her the headset to talk to the tower. Then when Ted gave the poor guy the smack down in defense of Dean’s flying skills I wanted to cheer. That moment said everything we needed to know about this flight team. The bond these guys have extends to the girls as well and it shows when they all fess up to bringing the stowaway on board to avoid anyone getting punished. Kate pulls some strings to get the girl a green card and a foster home and the hour ends with some warm fuzzies and Colette planting a big wet one on Dean. I am totally Team CoDean! Vous allez fille!

Pan Am is taking a break for the holiday and won’t be back until December 4.

It was The Maggie Ryan show on Pan Am this week as we learned more about the sassy brunette who rules the Clipper Majestic with an iron stiletto. Seems Miss Ryan isn’t quite the picture-perfect stewardess she likes people to think she is and she certainly doesn’t have a fan in Miss Havemeyer whom she sassed quite effectively back in episode one.

Framed by Maggie’s fight with Pan Am brass to keep her job we learn through flashbacks how she made her way from being a not very good waitress to the Goddess of the Jetway we see before us today. Maggie (Christina Ricci) is a fraud, a very charming and intelligent fraud who doesn’t speak the languages she claims to and earned her education by posing as other students who have dropped classes at Berkley. When she’s found out she bolts and charms her way into the blue suit. I actually like Maggie more now. She’s ruthless and while she can be a friend when she wants to be we learn that when the chips are down Maggie takes care of Maggie. And it was Maggie doing exactly that which landed her and doe-eyed Laura (Margot Robbie) in a Brazilian prison for buying stolen goods. And once again Ted (Michael Mosley) comes to Laura’s rescue. When are these two gonna go on a date?

But it wasn’t all about Maggie this week. The Majestic headed south to Rio and Captain Dean (Mike Vogel) is shocked to find Ginny his fling from Monte Carlo on board. She is headed south to join her “boss” but secretly wants to ride in Dean’s cockpit some more. Dean is smart enough to realize that there is turbulence ahead and shuts her out, at least until they get back to New York. But the Majestic has ears everywhere and Dean doesn’t quite know how to whisper. Ginny certainly wasn’t helping things when she invited Dean and Colette to join her and her lover for dinner where she proceeded to get drunk and flirt shamelessly with her Captain.

Kate (Kelli Garner) was grounded this week due to some mysterious mixup with her immunization records that turned out to be just her CIA contact making sure she stayed state side to work some covert magic on her new boyfriend Niko. Kate gets the info they need which leads Mr. Anderson to suggest she work on turning Niko into a spy. And just when poor Kate was falling in love! No good will come of this.

Sadly it was another week woefully devoid of any Colette goodness. Aside from providing some window dressing for Dean at dinner she was mostly seen fluffling pillows and being glamorous in the background. I long for some flashbacks into her past, and hopefully very soon. As the sun set on New York this week poor Maggie still has her job but at what price? Her betrayal of Dean (the plane has ears remember?) will surely come back to bite her in the ass in a big way, and it looks like she might already be regretting it.

Pan Am continues to delight and amaze me each week and I just love it to pieces. This is a show that given the chance to grow (hello ABC) could turn into something really special. The potential for evolving stories and new characters moving in and out is endless and we have the whole world to visit. Plus it is summer 1963 and things are about to change dramatically come November when Maggie’s beloved President Kennedy takes his final plane ride. Then there is Vietnam on the horizon…the list goes on. And with a cast like this the sky is literally the limit. So why hasn’t ABC announced whether or not Pan Am is being picked up for a full season? You got me. This is easily one of the top five new shows this season and with other shows dropping like flies it seems like a no brainer.

This week the Clipper Majestic headed to Monte Carlo by way of London where Kate (Kelli Garner) finds out her duties are moving beyond the usual courier stuff and into real espionage. Her mission this time is to procure the fingerprints of a Russian agent who will be gambling in Monte Carlo with a handsome passenger named Niko Lonza (Goran Visnjic) and has already taken a liking to sassy Maggie (Christina Ricci). Her sister Laura (Margot Robbie) is distracted by her desire to return her engagement ring to her jilted fiance Greg and is very distressed when she finds out the pawn shop sold it. Ted’s (Michael Mosley) relentless and adorably bumbling pursuit of her isn’t helping either. Captain Dean (Mike Vogel) has his own distractions when a gorgeous passenger storms into the cockpit wearing her fur coat and takes a liking to the young pilot.

Kate really proves her worth as an undercover agent in this one when she turns on the charm and uses her mad skills with a pool cue to draw Nico’s attention from Maggie who is none too pleased with Kate’s sudden competitive streak. Maggie gets her back though in a very clever and playful way and Kate’s mission is on. The final piece of the puzzle though is a stunning green dress that the girls were admiring upon arrival at the hotel. Let’s pause for a moment and bask in its glory.

Even a great dress can’t solve everything though as Kate finds out when the Russian agent arrives wearing gloves. It doesn’t take her long to manipulate the situation to her advantage and she has the womans gloves off in a flash thanks to a well-placed glass of red wine. Well played Agent Cameron! Well played indeed!

Missing out on all this intrigue was Captain Dean who was abducted by Ginny the saucy minx from the cockpit and whisked around Monte Carlo for a day of fast cars and loose women. And just when Dean thinks life can’t get any better he finds out Ginny to the personal secretary/mistress of the Vice President of Pan Am. After a near miss with a misplaced room key Dean thinks their little affair went unnoticed but something tells me this will come back to haunt him.

Finally, Ted showed us once again that he isn’t quite the sexist cad we took him for in the first couple of episodes. Upon learning of Laura’s plan to head to Harlem unchapperoned to buy back her engagement ring he offers to tag along for protection. Once there he realizes she is being taken advantage of by the new owner of the ring and steps in, even though Laura doesn’t want his help. She leaves without the ring and with a new found hatred for Ted until he reveals he went back and secured the precious trinket by trading his prized Rolex. And who said chivalry is dead! I love the banter between these two.

With an ensemble cast like this it’s hard to let everyone shine so Maggie and Colette took a back seat this week. But from the looks of the previews for next week Maggie is about to step back into the spot light in a big way. Pan Am arrives at your gate next Sunday night at 10pm on ABC.