‘Ride with Norman Reedus’ Recap: ‘The Eternal City with Johnny Knoxville’

9/25/2023

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Johnny Knoxville and Norman Reedus in Episode 603 of ‘Ride with Norman Reedus’ – ‘The Eternal City with Johnny Knoxville’. (Photo Courtesy of AMC.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 603 of ‘Ride with Norman Reedus’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

It is definitely safe to say, that season six of Ride with Norman Reedus on AMC, is offering up some transformative moments for the travel/road trip show. Simply because… there’s only been one episode this season, that explores what these types of shows normally explore. Which is the majesty of a particular destination and its customs and foods, and the wonder of just getting away from it all. For last week’s journey through Northern Italy, ended up being a vastly different type of adventure. One that spoke to how sometimes we get away for reasons that aren’t designed to clear our heads or help us recharge or teach us about another corner of the world. We also do it to learn about people that matter to us, to learn from them, and well… that surprise made it obvious that season six is going to learn hard into more intimate reasons as to why we travel, and last night’s episode reinforced that.

For ‘The Eternal City with Johnny Knoxville’ spoke to a bevy of unique and intimate reasons to motivate someone to travel. Such as finding meaning regarding life and how sometimes… we need to lose ourselves to just find perspective and appreciate the gift of life we’ve been given. The latter of which, Norman handled on his own in Rome, Italy. For he was to meet Johnny Knoxville for their adventure a day down the line. Which gave him the time to just walk about the city and try its foods and meet new people and experience the different journeys we all go upon. All of which reminded him… that we are all in this experience together and we all share in beauty, and that life truly is a gift that is worth celebrating with others… and and there’s nothing wrong with just losing oneself in a foreign place to rediscover that.

But of course, Norman was looking for more in this story, and when Johnny arrived on the scene, he and Norman headed out into the areas surrounding Rome to explore… some of the meanings of life, and how we endure when our time here is so short. And a trip to a location filled with monstrous and abstract statues, helped Norman and us to remember… that documenting our feelings, our fears, and our experiences in something that lasts or through people that can carry our story along… is one way that we carry on. Since those stone effaces were deeply mired in emotion and pain, and the need to work through something dark, and well… they have withstood the test of time and now express abstract emotion and a story, that we of course, can learn from. Which was a unique journey that offered up a fine lesson on how we endure, and another example of that… was explored via a place that was simply known as… the Dying City.

For this particular town was and is quite literally, falling off of the mountaintop that it was constructed upon. Simply because time eventually moves all things. But the city has not died just yet, which allowed for Johnny and Norman to see the majesty of what endures when we work to create something special. For that old place was still filled with beauty and people and structures that did offer homes to people, at least during the summer. Which spoke to how when we build a good life and a good legacy, based on a strong foundation… what we leave behind endures, be it good or bad… as was counterbalanced by a special trip to the Roman Coliseum. Since that too endures but serves as a reminder of a darker time in our history, one where violence truly ruled the day. But it too, was built right and built on a strong foundation and it teaches us so much in the 21st Century, and well… those voyages definitely made for some powerful metaphors and examinations and offered up great meaning as well for anyone that tuned in.

All of which, you don’t necessarily expect to find in a travel show or a road trip show. But that is the point. Because clearly, this series is eager to explore all the reasons we travel, and all that we will find when we go out into the world, and that made for a brilliant adventure. One that really did make it clear that sometimes… we do want meaning, and we cannot find it at home. We need to find it elsewhere and getting lost in a city as incredible as Rome, is the way to do it. But of course, don’t forget to have fun while doing so, which Johnny and Norman did take part in. Courtesy of great jokes from Johnny, and a fun competition between the two of them to see who could land the most selfies with fellow tourists. In the end, however, this is an episode of this show that had incredible substance. Which is saying something when one considers how much these adventures have taught us in the first place. But that is the wonder of this series, it evolves, it grows, and it will be fascinating to see what other powerful moments await us as season six of this journey continues along. Until next time.

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