Category: TV Sci-Fi (Page 75 of 81)

It was odd enough for “Journeyman” to cast John Schneider as the host of a ‘70s swingers key party…but to cast him in the part for only one scene? (Granted, I believe it was his voice that showed up later on the phone, but still…) What’s the deal with Bo Duke anyway? He’s going to be showing up on “Nip/Tuck” this season as a rather affluent porno empire owner as well. Isn’t this the guy who used to be squeaky clean and promoted family values and the like? Has Pa Kent finally realized that working in Rome requires doing as the Romans do? (Perhaps Kevin McKidd gave him some tips about working in “Rome”?) Not that I’m complaining. Schneider’s paid his dues — I say let him swing and peddle smut. You’ll get no complaints from me.

But Schneider the swinger wasn’t the real bomb dropped this week: Livia is from 1948! Her entire relationship with Dan was a fluke. I didn’t see that one coming, did you? Just when I thought I was starting to figure them out… And the mysterious Dr. Langley showed up again, and again he said nothing, but seemed to know everything. Actually he did indicate that the government had a very keen interest in his work, and that Dan needed to be careful in that regard. (He certainly wasn’t surprised by Dan disappearance.) But Dan’s getting it from all sides at this point, isn’t he? It’s starting to seem like Dan’s only comfort zone is when he’s traveling. Back home the FBI’s breathing down his neck about the Dylan McLeen stash — which he got rid of at least some of in this episode. Actually, that wasn’t entirely clear: did he give all the money to the girl, or just some of it? If not, then where’s the rest? And then there was a matter of a certain $20 bill from the present that looked counterfeit in the past that’s haunting him as well. And how exactly did Jack end up with that in the last scene? I expect to a big turnaround where Jack’s concerned here shortly. He was more for his bro than ever before this week.

After the intensity of last week, this was clearly a transitional/setup episode, designed to spin the action around in another direction for the last third of the known season. There’s been so much talk of new series getting the axe because of the writer’s strike and it wouldn’t surprise me if “Journeyman” ended up being a casualty. On the other hand, the optimist in me is thinking that there’s a lot of paranoia going on, and the networks would be silly to just cancel all the new shows at this point. It’s only been a week since this thing started and it’s already ballooning up into the end of TV as we know it! NBC needs to start rerunning “Journeyman” over from the beginning after this run completes. Or have a marathon. Or something. Many people simply didn’t get into this show and this point would likely be confused if they tried. But if the nets don’t have any other product, it’s something they should consider. I know there’s a bigger audience out there for this show than the ratings system is showing and I’m surprised by how frequently I discover people watching it that I never would have guessed would be into such a show.

Last week I bemoaned sweeps; this week I am grateful for them. This was easily the best episode since the pilot. The entire mythology of the series cranked up about 3 notches.

In 1999 Dan saved the life of a man who was set to testify against a gang, and in the process made his 1999 self a target of the same gang. So instead of his typical bouncing around from time to time in an episode, he’s forced to stay in one night to save himself – and his future marriage and child – with Livia aiding him for the evening.

What struck me as most noteworthy about this episode was the notion that Dan and Livia are far more suited to each other at this point than Dan and Katie. They understand one another and their lives have far more in common at this point than his “real” life, which is progressively becoming harder and harder to maintain. Katie would like to get back into the TV News game, but how can she with a child and the knowledge that Dan might disappear in a flash? Dan’s weekly assignments are to right the wrongs the timeline has massed up; what if “Journeyman” as a concept is all about righting the biggest wrongs of all? The loss of Dan and Livia’s relationship and the loss of Jack and Katie’s? For the first time in the series, I really, really liked Livia and she truly seemed to have Dan’s best interest at heart, especially in the scene where she ended up in the present, in his bedroom closet next to the moneybag – all while Katie and Jack argue footsteps away. What if Katie and Jack are actually supposed to be together? As was even demonstrated at the beginning of the episode, Jack possesses the potential to be a much better father than Dan is even capable of being at the moment. Jack’s a good man who simply doesn’t know what’s going on (although he’s getting much closer with each passing episode).

There’s something in “Doctor Who” called the Blinovitch Limitation Effect that posits “a dangerous energy discharge will result if two temporal versions of the same person come into contact”. I thought about this immediately when Dan kicked his own ass in ’99. Had this happened in “Who”, the universe would’ve exploded. Not that “Journeyman” is under any obligation to play by other time travel rules, but it was interesting to note that he was able to beat the crap out of his drunken ’99 self without too much fallout – well, um – other than screwing up his timeline anyway. The rest of the story saw Dan being forced to take the place of his ’99 self in a card game and thus he falls back into a night of gambling and drinking, all set to The Verve’s “Lucky Man”. The entire sequence punctuated by the arrival of ’99 Katie was the episode highlight.

But the FBI are closing in and next week things will get even stickier. Yes, the promise of this series is being delivered. By the way, “Journeyman” supposedly has 13 episodes in the can or at least nearing completion. No more have been ordered at the moment, but we should be good through at least the end of the year, what with the writer’s strike and all. I’m sure at the moment, studios aren’t placing season orders for anything.