Category: TV Sci-Fi (Page 71 of 81)

Journeyman 1.13 – “Perfidia”

December 20, 2007 /

So what do you say when a show is simply gone too soon? The “final” episode of “Journeyman” was a pretty fantastic exit for an ongoing piece of entertainment that was just getting started.

The episode opened with Dan having traveled to a mental hospital not to far in the past – only September of ’07. There he meets Evan, a man who claimed to be a fellow traveler. Of course, since he’s in the looney bin, his assertions are questionable. He tells Dan that he’s there to help him escape and meet up with a beautiful woman in a photograph. Evan also tells Dan that he no longer travels due to the meds he’s on, which literally keep him grounded. After some convincing, Dan provides a distraction, Evan escapes and Dan immediately travels back to the present. There he discovers Evan was killed shortly after his escape by jaywalking. So it’s back to September…

Meanwhile, Jack is busy causing a stink with Elliot Langley, trying anything he can to connect with the guy and get him to admit that he knows Dan and something about his travels. Katie is getting bad marital advice from her sister and Livia’s just plain getting married.

The story of Evan was a tragic thing of beauty. All he wanted was to reconnect – even if only for a moment – with the wife he sacrificed during his travels. He sacrificed their entire marriage so that she could live a full life, while it turned out that the time line wasn’t so kind to Evan: he was destined to die on the same day no matter what Dan and Livia did to try to help him.

In the episode’s final moments, Dan and Langley finally have a confrontation of sorts. Elliot admitted to not only knowing Dan, but also knowing a fair amount about what was going with him and that it would be dangerous to continue on with an acquaintance. He also told Dan that the “system” was breaking down and that he was the last traveler. Dan replied, rather Yodaishly, “No, there’s another one.” He of course was speaking of Livia. He then went home to Katie and stood his ground, saying that even though through meds he too felt he could ground himself, that it wasn’t that path he wanted to choose. Rather ironic and sad that while the character of Dan Vassar chose to continue traveling, NBC is the meds that are going to keep him from doing so.

Is “Perfidia” an appropriate ending for “Journeyman?” Well, it wasn’t ideal and certainly had that feeling that there was plenty more story to tell, but since it’s the only ending we’re likely to get, it served its function and didn’t leave viewers hanging in any major way. One of the great little moments of the piece was Dan seeing himself traveling for the first time in the cab. It’d sure be great if someone would greenlight a “Journeyman” miniseries to give a proper ending to the story, although that’s highly unlikely.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Journeyman, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Journeyman 1.12: “The Hanged Man”

December 18, 2007 /

It’s all beginning to feel a bit anticlimactic, isn’t it? Oh, not to imply that the show’s going downhill for its two-part finale, but rather the knowing that this is probably “it.” Good thing NBC found a place on the schedule for 1.13 as this would’ve been a dreadful place to stop.

In some ways, “The Hanged Man” was the strongest episode of “Journeyman” yet, because its premise was so simple and, at the same time, so powerful. What’s a time traveler to do when a minor mistake in the past erases one of the most important people in his life in the present – and replaces them with someone of equal value? That’s what Dan had to face when he discovered upon returning from a mission that his son, Zack, had been erased from existence and replaced with a daughter. And of course the timeline had changed to accommodate the rewrite for everyone else as well, including Katie, who was aghast at the idea that Dan might try to take away their daughter and replace her with a son she never knew. And Dan will now live the haunting memory of a daughter he only knew for a day and was responsible for “killing.”

Here’s the strongest example yet of Dan’s awareness of the changing timelines, while the rest of world is unable to see the major shifts in the world around them. And it’s a huge shame because through this episode it’s become all too obvious the lengths to which this series could go if only it got a chance to do so. The character of the psychic was also a noteworthy addition, because she was present and serving the same function in both timelines. And of course she dropped a major doozy when she spoke of Dan’s birthdate and how it tied into his special abilities – and that Livia’s birthdate was also special. And exactly how does a genuine, functioning psychic play into the “Journeyman” storyline?

In the end, Dan went to see Elliott Langley (Tom Everett) and we were left with a massive cliffhanger as Langley refused to speak with Dan and claimed to not even know who he was. Timey-wimey? Or just plain subterfuge? I guess we’ll find something out on Wednesday night, but whatever it is, I doubt seriously that it’s going to be a proper end to this series. We’re going to be left dangling with promises of what will never be.

Journeyman, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Nothing says “happy holidays” quite like…

December 13, 2007 /

Now, mind you, we can’t tell you where to find a copy of this elusive piece of LucasFilm lore, but if you happen to already have a copy, you’ll want to head over to Mike Nelson’s RiffTrax right now and be prepared to spend $3.99 to download the newly-recorded audio commentary for the special by Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett, a.k.a. The Film Crew.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Humor, News, TV, TV Comedies, TV Sci-Fi

Is “Journeyman” truly now on the journey to oblivion?

December 12, 2007 /

That’s what the Hollywood Reporter would have you believe. Fortunately, however, we figured it’d be best to get the status of the show from the man who created it in the first place, so we dropped a line to Kevin Falls and asked if the series still had a pulse.

Will–

It’s not getting a back nine this year, but then I don’t know if any show will. It will be interesting to see if they let the actors go. They usually hold onto them for awhile. I would say life support is an apt description. But we do get to air our last two shows and it’s only going to make people more upset. They’re really good, “Journeyman” at its best.

So there you go.

Granted, as the show’s creator, it’s to be expected that Falls would be more optimistic than most…but, then, as a man who’s been around the TV block a few times, he knows the reality of the business, so let’s just do the equivalent of sitting by the patient’s bedside and keep tuning in for these next two episodes. After all, resuscitation still remains a possibility ’til the plug has officially been pulled.

External TV, Interviews, Journeyman, News, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Journeyman 1.11: “Home by Another Way”

December 11, 2007 /

Christmas episodes of most any series seem required to deliver a case of the warm fuzzy-wuzzies, and “Home by Another Way” was no exception. It also covered the loss of employment at the most critical time of the year, and by doing it through the newspaper business – a notorious high wire act as of late – it managed to make something of a statement. A third, almost minor storyline involved Livia being dragged away from a date back in the year 1948. Probably the episode’s greatest achievement is how it effortlessly strings together all of these elements as if they were lights on a tidy little tree.

Early on, Hugh informs Dan that the publisher of the paper is cutting 25% of the writing staff before the end of the fiscal year. Turns out Dan’s a casualty (seemingly due in part to the publisher’s awareness that his work hasn’t been up to snuff as of late). Before he knows it, the flash occurs and he’s back in 1979 – Christmas Eve, at the paper and a party is in full swing. He isn’t sure why he’s there though. Two events are going to occur within the next 24 hours: the paper’s publisher (the father of the guy in the present) will die before the night’s over under mysterious circumstances and also Dan’s father will leave his family on Christmas Day. Both men are of course at the party and Dan isn’t sure which is his mission. Enter Livia, looking stunning in a long, red dress.

Back in the present, Katie – with some help from Jack – is trying desperately to prepare a nice Christmas evening for family and friends while battling the ghost of Aeden Bennett, as well as Dan and Jack’s mother. Mom puts a pretty fine point on it when she tells Katie that no matter what her current marriage and child may mean, she hurt Jack once upon a time and she’s not about to forget that. Of all the elements in this episode, Grandma was probably the least effective and most clichéd.

Dan shows up briefly in the present – just long enough to enlist Jack’s help in discovering the details of the publisher’s death back in ’79. When he returns to the swingin’ party, he gets into a tiff with the son who will someday be his publisher, only for dad to dress down son in front of the entire gathering. And of course there was also the B-plot of Dan dealing with his father and trying to convince him that maybe he shouldn’t leave his wife and kids the next morning. And in the present Jack has found out his girlfriend in preggers, and in the past Dan discovers Livia’s got a guy back in the ‘40s.

Writing about “Journeyman” has become quite the task. Every time I sit down to recap, it becomes all the more apparent how well done the show is, given how many elements there are in every episode, and how they typically gel into something fairly easy to follow. In the end, Dan managed to save everyone’s jobs at the paper and also to convince his Dad to at least tell his sons that his leaving isn’t their fault. It’s great how the show manages to allow Dan to retain the knowledge of the timelines he alters; in the “new” present, Jack has a vivid memory of their father saying goodbye and telling them he felt like a freak in his own household. “Home by Another Way” was something of a calm before what will likely be next week’s two-part storm.

Here we are – two episodes away from what may be the end of “Journeyman”…or a pretty strong beginning.

Journeyman, TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Premium Hollywood

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑