The series begins with a young Henry Jones (Corey Carrier), his parents Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. (Lloyd Owen) and Anna Jones and his governess Helen Seymour traveling around the world for his father's lecture tour. Henry got into quite a bit of trouble but he also gained a greater understanding and appreciation of different cultures.
(The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones episode My First Adventures)
In the beginning of the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, viewers first saw young Indiana's distant relationship with his father as Dr. Jones couldn't tear himself away from his research to talk to his son. Right off the bat, you see that his research on medieval lore was more important than finding out why his teenage son (River Phoenix) came home dirty, distressed, slightly injured and trying to get his attention.
(Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)
Throughout the movie, you get to see Indy and his father reconnect and it was wonderful to see that. What I enjoyed about the TV series was that it did a terrific job of showing how this father son relationship was so strained. While he was a young boy, Indy and his father's relationship was okay but Dr. Jones was very reserved. However, there were moments when Dr. Jones broke from his reserved demeanor and showed his emotions such as in the first volume fourth episode Travels with Father. In the first part of that episode, Henry and his family were in Russia when he kept getting into trouble due to some accidents and to avoid being punished he ran away. During that story, Dr. Jones had been really worried about his son and had actually expressed his feelings. The second part of the story was surprising because while Henry and his father were traveling through Greece to get to a monastery where his father was conducting research, Dr. Jones was fun, engaging and really paid attention to Henry. It felt like his father was finally seeing him and too bad it didn't last because they have a good relationship when his father allows it.
Throughout the first five episodes in volume one, any warmth and nurturing Henry received was from his mother Anna who truly was the glue that kept the Jones family intact. Because as the series moved along to Indy as a teenager (Sean Patrick Flanery), his mother had died and what minuscule relationship he had with his father seemed to have disappeared. His father was even more reserved which probably factored into Indy's decision to join the Mexican Revolution while he and his father were on spring break visiting family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. From there Indy eventually traveled to Belgium where he enlisted in the army to fight in World World I. I mention all of this because Dr. Jones was so aloof and distant that I believed that caused Indy to rebel. I can think of less dangerous ways to rebel but this is Indiana Jones and he doesn't do things the easy way.
It wasn't until three years later after the war ended that Indy returned home to Princeton, New Jersey in the third volume fourth episode The Winds of Change and found his father to be extremely reserved, strict and standoffish. There wasn't much goodwill left between them and despite Dr. Jones cold exterior you could tell he was still angry. Understandably so, considering his then teenage son had not only joined the Mexican Revolution but also enlisted in the Belgium army to fight in the war. In the Last Crusade, Dr. Jones said he didn't tell his son what to do and respected his privacy which taught Indiana self-reliance. In the TV series, Dr. Jones mainly did that but I think his residual anger towards Indy for leaving caused him to become very strict. His standoffish behavior and being very strict led to he and Indy having a big fight.
(The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones episode The Winds of Change)
Although, they made up, his father's reserved demeanor along with him becoming even more distant led to Indy leaving once more to attend the University of Chicago to study Archaeology. Indy's decision not to go to Princeton seemed to close the door to their relationship because although his father had written to him during the war letting Indy know that he could go to whatever university he chose to, I think his father thought he would eventually go to Princeton. This news seemed to caused his father to become withdrawn leaving Indy with a cold send-off. It wouldn't be until 20 years later in the Last Crusade that these two would finally mend their strained relationship.
Despite their differences, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and his father Dr. Henry Jones (Sean Connery) have some similar characteristics. They are both intelligent, stubborn and obsessed with their interest, Dr. Jones with medieval history and lore and Indy with finding artifacts. It shouldn't have taken 20 years for father and son to have reconciled their relationship but it did add heart to an already interesting story about finding the Holy Grail. Which makes the scene with Indy looking sadly at his father's picture in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull so bittersweet. It was great that they had a chance to mend their strained relationship but it's sad that by the 1950s Dr. Jones had died. Although you could really tell how much he really missed his father, at least Indy has good memories of them reconnecting to look back on.
(Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
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