The Dead Zone Blog

Written by Adam Targum
Directed by Chris Bruno

During the fourth season, I was rather critical of the stand-alone episodes.  In particular, I was bothered by the apparent lack of originality.  A lot of the stories were predictable, without the deep character study that can alleviate some of the effects.  This episode seems to be an odd hybrid of the clever storytelling of the first couple of seasons and the predictable plotting of more recent years.

The predictable element, I thought, was the revelation that the cop was actually the escaped convict.  That was telegraphed to the point of being annoying for the rest of the episode.  The moment Johnny had the vision when speaking to the “cop”, it was obvious where things were going.  That left me searching high and low for something worth watching, and thankfully, the rest of the episode was interesting enough to do the trick.

I liked the fact that all the elements that would come together in the end were introduced piece by piece, out of context, so that a good amount of time was spent working out how the threads would intersect.  It wasn’t quite as interesting as episodes like “Precipitate” from the second season, but it was a lot more intricate than many of the fourth season stand-alone episodes.

The best elements of the episode were the smaller moments.  The main characters have been the victim of poor characterization for a little while now, mainly as the writers have attempted to lighten up the tone of the show and make it more “viewer friendly”.  But the solution (at least, for this episode) is coming up with a fun guest cast.  Bruce gets to flirt with a hottie, the bikers were a complete hoot, and Johnny got to run into groupies of a very different sort.  The bikers alone were worth the time!

There is, of course, the lingering question of “re-watchability”.  An episode can be somewhat clever and entertaining, but that doesn’t mean that it’s something you would want to watch repeatedly (or, say, with commentary on a DVD set).  This was a very pleasant episode, but it was also rather lightweight.  There’s no long-term consequence, even from a character perspective.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 6/10

Written by Christina Lynch and Loren Segan
Directed by Shawn Piller

A funny thing happens when you take a 22-episode season, split it in half, and try to refer to the mid-season two-parter as a season finale and season premiere.  It’s not always as powerful as one would like it to be.  One could debate the differences of opinion and interpretation regarding the 22-episode order and how it was supposed to hash out, but the bottom line is that the fourth season ended in a weird place and the fifth season starts in a decidedly muddled fashion.

Let me put it this way.  My wife, who usually has no problem picking up details from a couple seasons earlier, couldn’t remember what the heck was going on and who everyone was.  She got up and left halfway through the show.  I stuck it out, and while I’m glad that I did (since I like where the story is going), I have to acknowledge that this wasn’t as good a premiere as it could have been.

I’m a little off-put by the lack of actual promotion for this season.  Sure, there’s been the occasional clever commercial and a good amount of press, but “The 4400” was given a spotlight and a recap special to get the audience back in the swing of things.  Granted, this entire season of “Dead Zone” has been in the can for over a year, but couldn’t someone spring a little extra time and effort, especially if the rumors of another season are valid?

Even looking back at my comments for the fourth season finale (re-watching wasn’t an option, since the fourth season box set was nowhere to be found in my usual haunts), it took me forever to remember Janus and his place in the DZ universe.  At this rate, it’s pretty clear.  Janus is like the Devil behind Stillson’s Antichrist, right down to the near-limitless ability to maneuver.  And like the Devil, Janus offered Johnny a throne of his own, should he choose to stay out of the way.

The interesting thing here is that Johnny has been operating more or less alone in his fight against Stillson, at least when it comes to having solid local allies.  The emergence of Janus as a recognized evil behind Stillson’s bid for power could swing the odds in Johnny’s favor.  Purdy is in a compromised position, but he has to believe Johnny now, in the wake of Miranda’s death.  Who knows what could come of that?

It’s a difficult thing, because on the one hand, the series has been stumbling with the more episodic fare over the past couple seasons.  It’s almost as if the clever twists for visions and mysteries have been covered and the writers aren’t sure where to go for that next creative element.  (Though, granted, each “twist” will either click with a viewer or won’t, making it very subjective.)  Usually I would point to serialized elements as the cure, since they provide the writers with a larger context and something of a creative safety net.  (It looks to help “The 4400” quite a bit this season.)

In fact, I’ve often said that a stronger focus on the series mythology is needed to give the series a proper send-off this season, if it is indeed the final stretch.  The political and moral questions behind Stillson and Johnny’s continual efforts to derail the man’s aspirations can be very involving.  But it can also get hopelessly tangled without the proper context.  I feel like this episode was missing that context.  Let me put it this way: if someone happened to be a new viewer, would they have any clue what was going on?

Another thing that was a little disappointing was the focus away from the usual supporting cast.  Bruce was there to support Johnny in his fight against Stillson and Janus, and Miranda was prominent enough.  But where was everyone else?  Perhaps that was addressed in the first part of the story, but that’s where the lack of clear context kicks in.  If this had aired immediately after the fourth season finale, then it might have seemed less detached and disjointed.

(As a sidenote: I also have a podcast associated with my various reviews called “Dispatches from Tuzenor”.  An episode later in the week will be related to this episode of “The Dead Zone”, so it might be something of interest .  Go to http://entil2001.libsyn.com if you want to listen!)

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 6/10