Episode 5.4: “Articles of Faith”

11. July 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Review

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
 

Episode 5.3: “Panic”

03. July 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Review

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

Episode 5.2: “Independence Day”

27. June 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Review

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

Episode 5.1: “Forbidden Fruit”

20. June 2006 · Write a comment · Categories: Review

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

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