07.18.06
Posted in Review at 1:14 pm by Administrator
Written by Karl Shaefer
Directed by Michael Robison
With the first half of the season rapidly coming to a close, I’ve been worried that the entire season would be buried under storytelling problems. I’ve almost gotten used to the feeling of disappointment that tends to come before the end of the first act. So when I found myself engrossed in the story, and ultimately quite pleased when the credits began to roll, it was a wonderful change of pace.
As the writers themselves put it on the official website, bottle shows can be a great opportunity to focus on story. Drama needs to be generated through character interaction, usually prompted by some extreme circumstance. In this case, Johnny finds himself in a situation where he must do the wrong thing in order to do the right thing. As it turns out, he’s not the only one.
That was something I really liked about the episode. I could tell, in general terms, that there was more to the story with the head thief, even before the flashbacks began. But his actions spoke of desperation, and I was intrigued by the possibility of how that desperation was born. Tying it to Purdy was a nice touch, and one that forced a bit of a confession out of Gene. Much like Johnny, it was a matter of doing terrible things for some perceived greater good. Unlike Johnny, he was willing to kill to restore the object of his faith. (Thus, to a certain extent, lending question to the veracity of his faith.)
I’ve always liked Purdy as a character, just in terms of the complexity of the man. He is the leader of a vast religious movement, but a man fundamentally at odds with his faith. He may have been sincere in his desire to know Christ more personally through Johnny, and it might have given him a restored sense of faith, but how long would it have taken for Purdy to use that vision to further his financial goals?
The fact is, just the act of buying the supposed object of his faith rendered it powerless as a path to restoration. It was immediately tainted by the manner of its acquisition. Purdy was trying to purchase faith, which is an impossibility. And so the result would have ended poorly, had Johnny seen the face of Christ or walked in John the Baptist’s shoes. Purdy would have laid claim to the vision as a means to an end, objectifying Johnny as much as he objectified the relic.
I love episodes that expose, through something other than exposition, the underlying psychology of the characters. Lately, the series has been a little preachy, which has stolen away some of the power of the narrative. In this case, the writers managed to dial it back a bit, even in the final scenes, which could have been a lot worse than they were.
All that said, there were still some nagging problems. I found myself wondering why Purdy didn’t recognize Johnny’s voice, considering how often they have been around each other. Also, the kid who plays JJ is a horrible actor; he pulls you out of every scene he’s in, because it never rings true. Oddly, Chris Bruno seemed to be stumbling over his performance this week. That’s one of the overall issues I’ve had with recent seasons: the cast chemistry has really degraded, and it seems like conversations are a bit too stilted and unnatural. I still haven’t seen one hit it out of the park this season, but this was the one I’ve enjoyed the most.
(As a sidenote: I also have a podcast associated with my various reviews called “Dispatches from Tuzenor”. Recent episodes have highlighted “The Dead Zone”, so it might be something of interest . Go to http://entil2001.libsyn.com if you want to listen!)
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 7/10
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07.11.06
Posted in Review at 1:55 pm by Administrator
Written by Michael Taylor
Directed by Michael Robison
I’ve been less than thrilled with the first few episodes of the season, so I went into this latest installment with a bit of trepidation. With the lackluster quality of the fourth season continuing into the fifth (not surprisingly, given the production details), there’s little sense of consistency from episode to episode. As a simple example, note the fact that Johnny and Purdy interact quite a bit in this episode, but don’t say a word about Janus or any change in their relationship.
I was thankful, then, that this episode was a tad better than the season thus far. It still had a number of issues, but overall, it dealt with some interesting dynamics of hate and prejudice. There will no doubt be a backlash from those looking for any hint of anti-homosexual bias, given how the story itself played out, but I thought that it dealt with a wide range of racial and prejudicial issues with equal judgment.
Of course, I also felt like that exploration was sometimes heavy-handed. The opening and closing montages were horribly done, especially the mismatched and poorly-casted voiceovers. Like the previous episode, the writers sometimes oversell the message of an episode. Some scenes were practically destroyed by the heavy-handedness. For instance, the Muslims sitting around tossing out exposition, which came across as forced and unnatural.
The music score certainly doesn’t help. In some places, the tone of the music is so preachy that it kills whatever subtlety might have otherwise been attempted by the writers and director. I’ve tried to keep an open mind with the scoring changes, since it sometimes works very well. I actually like the opening theme. But in certain scenes, the music is completely over the top, and that happens in this episode as well.
I’m still on the fence regarding the return of Dana Bright. It seemed like odd timing, especially since there was nothing about her part in the story that required her to be in the episode. The writers touched on their past relationship here and there, but if I didn’t already know their history, I don’t know that I would have gotten as much impact out of this episode. On the other hand, without that context, it might have been easier to accept their relationship as presented in this episode.
This episode actually brings to mind what I feel is the defining difference between the early seasons and the more recent productions. The first few seasons told good stories and told them well. The recent seasons have told good stories, but they’ve been told poorly. I personally feel that the overall package hasn’t been as strong of late.
This was a good story, and it kept me engaged, despite the nagging problems with the storytelling. I just wish that more attention would be spent on the fundamentals. If there is a sixth season down the line, I hope they take the time to see where things didn’t work out and make the necessary adjustments. Unfortunately, if their online blogs are any indication, the production team believes this to be solid material, so I’m not particularly hopeful.
(As a sidenote: I also have a podcast associated with my various reviews called “Dispatches from Tuzenor”. Recent episodes have highlighted “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: 1/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 6/10
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07.03.06
Posted in Review at 6:44 pm by Administrator
Written by Adam Targum
Directed by Kevin Speckmaier
With the seasons of “Dead Zone” being so short, this episode is more or less a third of the way down the line. This is, unfortunately, also the third episode in a row to disappoint me. I think it’s clear why the producers wanted to swap the previous episode out and air this one during the holiday weekend. It’s certainly not an hour that stands up to close inspection, and it highlights a number of the issues that began in the fourth season and continue during this stretch.
This is the second time that I saw the episode in first run while visiting with my sister, who loves the stand-alone episodes and generally likes the elements I find lacking. (She’s a big fan of episodic TV, and I am certainly not.) I was surprised to find that she was just as disappointed by this episode as I was, and for the same general reasons.
In particular, this story had a lot of nagging logical issues. A lot of things happened and decisions were made in ways that made little sense in terms of basic physics or motivation. One example would be the ultra-convenient disabling of the alarm system, which somehow managed to disengage one or two mechanical locks while leaving the rest firmly in place. That makes very little sense. Wouldn’t it have been more logical for the assassins to break a window and crawl in, rather than gloss over a major plot point?
Then there’s the decision to leave Walt alive. Given that the assassins are ready to kill everyone in the way, and they are more than happy to beat Walt to a pulp, their reasons for keeping him alive don’t track. By that point, Johnny and JJ had plenty of reason to expect an execution, so all the assassins gain is a chance for someone else to get in their way.
Johnny’s rescue of Walt was ridiculous. Why would Johnny’s house have an industrial-sized air vent system? And why didn’t the assassin, looking for a way into the basement, wonder how Johnny had gotten to Walt and notice the massive hole in the wall? And this is after two assassins drill a dumb waiter shaft with about a dozen bullets and manage to miss Johnny with every single shot! By the time the federal agents arrived just in time to save Johnny, I was shaking my head, wondering how a script like this could get past the writing staff.
Usually I like it when the writers try to forge a link between stand-alone elements and character exploration. And in general, I liked the idea of exploring Johnny’s family history. It’s just that the revelations, and how they pertained to the “home invasion”, were utterly predictable. This is also an episode where the musical score just added a pretentious quality to the historical scenes. I got the message easily enough (Johnny is a selfless individual with a desire to do the right thing, something inherent to his family), but it was incredibly overdone.
The advance information for the next episode sounds a bit more promising, but thus far, this season has been disappointing.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 1/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 0/4
Final Rating: 4/10
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