Category: Journeyman (Page 6 of 6)

Journeyman 1.3: “Game Three”

October 9, 2007 / Ross Ruediger

Whereas 1.2 was a series of safe, almost pleasant excursions for Dan, 1.3 is just the opposite.

He’s transported to 1989 – on the day of San Fran’s big quake. He meets a gambling lawyer who might be his mission, but before he knows for sure he’s back in his own timeline. Katie, his wife, is at this point proving to be quite the trooper, as she’s handling the fallout from Dan’s “trips” with as much efficiency as is necessary to keep them both afloat.

For the first time Dan finds himself constantly returning to the same day, and since he knows it’s the day of the quake, he’s also in constant danger. Instead of fixating on lawyer Alan Pratt (Peter Billingsley), he realizes his boss Hugh’s (Brian Howe) sister was killed in the quake and he makes it his mission to save her…which doesn’t work out.

This is also an eye-opening installment for both Livia and Katie – each finds out about the other’s place in Dan’s life; it’s like the ultimate time-travel cock block.

“Game Three” is another great episode for this series and much of what happens is very personal as the thrust of the goings-on is mostly around the series regulars (the mission almost feels like an afterthought). If the show keeps this up, it’s going to quickly turn into a “for fans only” type of thing and it’s going to find it difficult to build a following. Indeed, if the series intends to keep up this sort of momentum it will either be a classic or canceled. Man, I hope it’s the former.

Journeyman, TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Journeyman 1.2: “Friendly Skies”

October 2, 2007 / Ross Ruediger

The second installment of NBC’s “Journeyman” is the sort of thing that made a devotee of the pilot breathe easier. The show’s still just as good, doesn’t appear to want to needlessly complicate itself right away (this is always nice for people who may not have seen the first episode), and now it’s allowing itself to have a good time. Last week I spoke of “Journeyman” in relation to “Quantum Leap”; this installment reminded me a lot more of the old show.

As the story opens, Dan (Kevin McKidd) and wife Katie (Gretchen Egolf) are at the doctor where Dan is going through the old MRI process. Since his jumps through time are always preceded by massive headaches, maybe there’s something to be found inside his noggin? As viewers, we’re with Katie at this point, and for the first couple minutes we keep expecting him to disappear. The gag is taken to its logical place when Katie walks into the room and he’s gone – but he’s not; he’s just behind a partition getting dressed.

Skip forward to the couple going on a much-needed vacation that may also involve working on another child. They’re nestled quite comfortably in their seats when Dan decides to use the facilities. While he’s in the bathroom, the headaches hits and bam! He looks down and sees little wrapped bars instead of liquid soap. He stumbles out into the plane only to find himself smack in the middle of a seventies-era flight (Southwest, maybe?). Smoke is everywhere and not from a malfunction either. No, this is back when airplane travel was a far more swingin’ affair and people lit up right and left, the stewardesses were more like flying whores (thank you “Dice” Clay), and everyone was drunk. KC and the Sunshine Band’s “Get Down Tonight” echoes throughout the flight. Before long, Dan finds himself delivering a baby. Back in the present, Katie is forced to concoct an elaborate lie as to what happened to her husband. This entire sequence is (ironically) a breath of fresh air after the seriousness of the first episode. It’s as if the show is telling viewers, “We know how to have fun, too!”

Journeyman, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Journeyman 1.1: Leap Before You Look

September 25, 2007 / Ross Ruediger

It’s of course easy to compare “Journeyman” to “Quantum Leap”, since both have the same apparent basic premise: A man jumping around through his own timeline, aiding those who need his help. Television has changed a lot in the nearly 20 years(!) since Scott Bakula made his first leap back in 1989 as Dr. Sam Beckett, and it’d be unfair to both shows to compare the two outside of the basic premise over the long haul. But for the purposes of discussing “Journeyman’s” pilot episode, it can’t hurt to at least talk about what makes the new show different from the old.

Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd) is not a scientist; he’s a newspaper journalist. His time traveling escapades here are shrouded in much mystery. Whereas Beckett nabbed his “gig” in the name of science, Vasser isn’t yet quite sure why this is happening to him. Both men have their contact person: Sam had Al (Dean Stockwell), a fellow scientist, and Dan has Livia (Moon Bloodgood), his dead girlfriend. Or is she dead? Seems not. Dan had believed Livia to be dead, thanks to an airplane crash, but she indeed alive and shrouded in mystery. Clearly, “Journeyman” is going for a deeper arc than “Quantum Leap” was allowed.

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