Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.
An episode from the second season of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ("Paris, May 1919", first broadcast 24th July 1993 note ) paired with the bookend sections of one of the TV movies (Travels with Father) and a newly-filmed chapter called "Princeton, May 1919" to form a single feature-length episode entitled Winds of Change which, chronologically, is the nineteenth instalment in The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.
It is 1919. Indy is in Paris, working as a translator for the American delegation at the Versailles peace conference, where President Wilson's idealistic vision of a future without war falters against the realities of diplomacy. Indy meets up again with his old friend T. E. Lawrence, who introduces him to the historian Arnold Toynbee, who prophetically warns that the French government's desire to punish Germany will lead to a future world war.
Disheartened, Indy returns to the USA on an ocean liner where he meets Amy, a beautiful young woman. Back in Princeton, Indy meets his old friend Paul Robeson. The two go to New York where they encounter racial prejudice directed against Robeson. Indy's frustrations is compounded by the frosty reception his father gives him when they are reunited. Henry Snr. still treats Indy as a child and refuses to listen to his worldly insights gained from his experiences abroad, resulting in a confrontation between then which sets them on separate paths, not to cross again for almost twenty years.
This episode contains examples of:
- All for Nothing: At one point, Indy, dismayed with the way the peace conference is going, wonders if the Great War was, ultimately, for nothing.
- Amicable Exes: At the end, Amy and Indy realise that they have no future together, snd part on good terms.
- Been There, Shaped History: Having more action than most in World War I, Indiana Jones was at the Versailles peace conference that followed it, working as a translator for the US State Department.
- Blasphemous Boast: President Wilson compares himself to Jesus, even going so far as to state that he (Wilson) is better as he has a practical solution to the world's problems.
- The Bus Came Back: A few examples.
- Ned, last seen in Daredevils of the Desert note , meets up with Indy in Paris.
- Nancy and Henry Snr., both last seen in Spring Break Adventure, reappear — although as far as they’re concerned, Indy is the one who has come back (to Princeton).
- Call-Back: Plenty.
- When talking with the diplomat, Indy recalls what the Mexican peasant who he encountered in Spring Break Adventure note said about how the men in power change, but the people go on suffering.
- Indy refers to Ned's letters to him. These have been referred to in several previous episodes.
- When Indy returns to Princeton, he finds that his old girlfriend Nancy, last seen in the first part of Spring Break Adventure, is now married to Butch and is now the mother of "Little Butch".
- Indy mentions to Goddard that he has some flying experience.
- Indy and Henry Snr. reminisce about their visits to Athens and Russia, which was originally there due to some of the Princeton scenes serving as bookends to that particular episode.
- Call-Forward: The strained interactions between Indy and Henry Snr. inevitably put the viewer in mind of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which is when they finally reconcile. In particular, Henry Snr.'s angry reaction to Indy's decision to go and study at the University of Chicago rather than stay in Princeton brings to mind his comment in the film that Indy left just when he was becoming interesting.
- Cassandra Truth: Even before the peace conference is over, Toynbee predicts that punishing Germany will ultimately lead to another war.
- Contrived Coincidence: On the ship back to the USA, Indy contrives (by way of bribing the purser) to be at the same dinner table as Amy.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Gender-flipped; Amy's mother does not approve of Indy, thinking that her daughter should be dating a young man of better social standing (it's even mentioned that a member of the incredibly rich Rothschild family came round to see her while she was with Indy in Central Park).
- Defrosting Ice Queen: A platonic example — Goddard is distant and aloof towards Indy (as he was to his previous lab assistant) until he learns that he has flying experience and a keen interest in science, after which he's only too happy to tell him all about his rocket research. By the time they are doing rocket launches in the park, he's even addressing him as "Indy". The difference between his engagement with the young man and that of Henry Snr. is very apparent.
- Downer Ending: The episode ends with Indy leaving Princetown with his relationship with his father in tatters.
- Falling-in-Love Montage: Indy and Amy have one of these in the ship; they are shown playing cards together and holding hands while walking around.
- Foregone Conclusion: Since it will be apparent to anyone who's familiar with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that Indy and Henry Snr. had been estranged for many years prior to the events of that film, it must be obvious that they're not going to get along here.
- French Jerk: Clemenceau comes across as one of these. Same goes for the French politician who doesn't even bother to wake up when Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese turn up to state their case. And the French in general for their treatment of the German delegation (to the extent of cabbies refusing to drive them from the station to their hotel, and hotel staff throwing their suitcases to the baying mob that has assembled outside).
- Headscratchers: A minor one, but why does Indy's childhood friend Paul Robeson address him as "Jonesy" rather than "Indy"?
- Historical Domain Character: Loads, even by the standards of this show. Within the first twenty minutes, Indy has re-acquainted himself with Ned (T. E. Lawrence) and encountered Arnold Toynbee
, Gertrude Bell, Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau, David Lloyd George, a young Ho Chi Minh and Prince Feisal. Back in Princeton, Indy is revealed to be a good friend of Paul Robeson. And he works as a lab assistant to Robert Goddard. - Hope Spot: Indy and Henry Snr. have one of these when they briefly get along as they reminisce about their pre-war travels. At the end, they even hug awkwardly before Indy finally tells Henry Snr. that he's going to study at Chicago rather than Princeton, which gets a frosty response. The two will not speak again until the events of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
- Paul Robeson's valedictorian speech, in which he expresses his hope for racial equality in America, also counts as an example of this.
- Hospital Hottie: As an attractive young woman who wants to study to become a doctor, Amy evidently aspires to be one of these.
- It's All About Me: Lawrence is called out in this, and admits it in private.
- The McCoy: Indy displays shades of this, especially when contrasted with his emotionally cold father.
- Nice to the Waiter: Indy is nice to the waiter in the restaurant, who turns out to be Ho Chi Minh.
- Noodle Incident: Indy can speak Vietnamese and mentions having travelled to Vietnam (or rather, French Indo-China as it was then). In no episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles did he do this — and that includes the unproduced episodes from the abortive third series.
- Remember the New Guy?: When he returns to Princeton, Indy meets up with his old friend Paul Robeson. This is his only appearance in the show; a younger version of him was to have appeared in an unproduced episode in the abortive third series which would have explored his childhood friendship with Indy.
- Separated by a Common Language: Downplayed. Ned is momentarily confused when Indy uses a couple of American colloquialisms, but neither of them makes a big deal about it.
- Shout-Out: Indy and Goddard bond over a love of the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. The latter's novel The War of the Worlds is mentioned; in Real Life, Goddard first became interested in the idea of space flight as a result of reading this book at the age of 16.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: The previously idealistic Ned is somewhat scornful of Indy's support for what President Wilson is trying to achieve. Arnold Toynbee and Gertrude Bell provide a more overtly cynical countrast to the more idealistic Indy. Ned later sees his hopes for an independent Arab nation dashed by the machinations of Clemenceau and Lloyd George, and Indy is later disillusioned by the poor treatment of the Vietnamese delegation. After Indy returns to Princeton, Henry Snr. adds a further dose of realism by stating that the League of Nations cannot possibly work because Congress will never agree to the USA joining it (which is what happened).
- The Spock: Henry Snr., who has no idea of how to deal with his own grief other than to bury himself in his work, and is at a loss as to how to deal with his newly-returned son who has some serious emotional baggage of his own.
- Young Future Famous People: Two examples.
- The waiter in Paris is Ho Chi Minh, who would have been 29 at the time and did indeed work as a chef and occasional waiter while beginning to show an interest in politics.
- Indy's childhood friend is Paul Robeson, the singer, actor and civil rights activist who would have been 21 at the time and who was indeed the valedictorian of his graduating class at Rutgers, and used his speech to call on his classmates to work for equality for all Americans.
