Finalewatch: 'Journeyman'

December 19, 2007 9:57 PM

Journeyman ends the season right where it began, giving us plenty to chew over and savor. It's like a MÃ¶bius strip pretzel. Come on, NBC -- how can you give up on infinite, salt-sprinkled, flavorful goodness?

These spoilers will always come home.

This episode was a great way to wrap up the series, if this is indeed the end. We got a firmer grasp on what's going on with Dan, got an object lesson in the dangers of messing with the past, and heard a few more warnings on what the stakes are for Dan, Katie, and all the rest. But we know the work isn't over -- and there are still plenty of questions to be answered.

We start the episode with a bit of a shock -- Dan is in a mental hospital, bleeding and disheveled. The year? 2007. Uh-oh. Before we can panic unduly, we discover he has gone into the past -- but only by about six months. Whew. I was afraid they were going to pull some sort of bait-and-switch with us here -- "It was all a dream!"

The assignment is Evan, and he's not just any person in peril -- he claims he's a time traveler, just like Dan. He thinks Dan is there to help him reconnect with the love of his life. After a couple of false starts and moments of distrust, Dan gets the whole story -- and it's a doozy.

Evan is indeed like Dan -- he gets pulled out of time. More than that, he was happily married to Lauren, a woman he adored. But the object of one of his missions showed up later and killed Lauren for something Evan had done in the past, just like Bennett almost did. Evan was so distraught that he managed to go back to the day he and Lauren first met -- and he made sure that didn't happen. Now they wouldn't have a life together but Lauren would be alive, and Evan thought that would be enough. It wasn't. Evan is obsessed with seeing Lauren again, and convinced that if he just gets time with her, she'll somehow remember him.

And you know what? It works. He dances with Lauren again, and she starts to look at him as if she knows, like she's feeling a life that never happened but wants to be revealed. As she gazes at Evan in confusion and a little awe, Evan grabs his arm and drops dead of a heart attack. Oof.

But that's not the end of the gut-punches. As Livia and Dan watch Evan's body being wheeled away, they spot something else -- the Dan from six months ago, getting into a cab. This is the moment he first came unstuck in time. It's where he started. Was Evan meant to die that day, no matter what? Was Dan destined to get drafted in the time corps when Evan died? What the heck is going on?

We get some insight from the elusive Elliot Langley. After Jack (awesomely) flushes Langley out, he finally provides some answers: Temporal anomalies exist the world over, and throughout time. And throughout time, a cadre of travelers have had the ability to travel, to affect things -- to change reality. He doesn't know why -- no one seems to be doing anything to control it -- but he does know the dangers. If anyone were to discover this ability, they'd do anything to manipulate the gift -- and that would include manipulating a traveler's loved ones to try to influence the traveler. Everyone who knows Dan's secret is at risk -- and they put him at risk.

But there's more -- Langley says the ranks of travelers are dwindling. The system has been breaking down, and Dan is the last one. Not so, says Dan -- there's one more. But mindful of Langley's warning, he won't say who.

Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends

Let's talk about the episode title: Perfidia, Spanish for perfidy. To refresh your memory if it's been a while since you studied for the SATs, here's the definition: "Deliberate breach of faith; calculated violation of trust; treachery." Does this refer to the Powers that Be betraying Evan, the possibility that Katie could be manipulated (by Annette? By someone else?) to betray Dan, or the network for betraying the creators, writers, actors and fans of the show?
The thought of Katie betraying Dan, or becoming a liability to him, is haunting. She passed one test -- she didn't give in to Annette's urgings that she ditch Dan. But I'm thinking Annette, and whoever or whatever she works for, could be a threat.
Of course, Jack is just as much a potential problem -- I loved how he put Langley on the spot in his class, but that action also exposed Dan to danger from whoever is watching Langley.
I loved Evan, especially his explanation of how he ended up in the nuthouse: "I used to sleep in the nude, and get called away, and I woke up one too many times in family restaurants. At first, I didn't tell the authorities that I was a traveler, and then I did, once, and then I make the fatal mistake of insisting that I was, and here I am!"
Evan on Livia: "She's one of us. You can tell by the shoes." Again with the shoes!
Was the head wound and blood on the floor at the beginning of the episode really necessary? It just served to torture poor Katie even more, and the woman has been through enough.
Speaking of torture -- oh, poor Livia, pulled out of the shower as she was getting ready for her wedding! Of course she was panicking -- that's a stressful situation on the best of days, and she's not having the best of days.
Finally, I can't say enough about the fantastic actors on the show. Kevin McKidd, Gretchen Egolf, Reed Diamond -- all phenomenal. I'd watch them in anything. Of course, I'd like to watch them in more episodes of Journeyman...

What did you think of the episode? Were enough questions answered? Were you satisfied with the explanations? Who would be the biggest threats to Dan and his work? And how pissed are you that we probably won't find out?

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| Comments (108)

108 Comments

Watching Journeyman is a real delight. I cannot stress enough the high quality acting and the great character depth the writer's have achieved in such a short amount of time.

It is really sad that NBC does not see the show's potential like apparently every other viewer does. I personally do not know anyone who has watched one ep and wasn't immediately hooked.

I am keeping my fingers crossed - maybe Santa will bring us the go ahead decsision for season two. ;-)

For what it's worth - my personal new favs for this new season are Journeyman and Life. Seems like I am not alone with that...

TillmanZ | December 19, 2007 10:18 PM

You didn't mention the best part of the episode, Sarah. Dan and Livia saying that it's time one of them should go, and Dan saying that he has a feeling it will be a very long time before they see each other again.

Wow.

Corey | December 19, 2007 10:30 PM

I loved the show. If it is never picked up at least it had something of a real finale. I will now follow whatever Kevin, Gretchen, Reed and Moon will do for the rest of their careers, because I tend to stick with people I enjoy seeing in something.

I loved the way they tied the pilot to this episode.

Good luck to all involved with the rest of their careers.

Penny | December 19, 2007 10:30 PM

Man was that a bittersweet episode! Best episode I have seen on broadcast tv this year, but I knew beforehand that they canceled it and that knowledge was tearing me up as I watched it. How, how, how can this reality show crap survive when a show like this doesn't?

hondo | December 19, 2007 10:58 PM

This show was AMAZING. I found it riveting from start to finish (all 13 episodes).

NBC is crazy, and Journeyman is too good for network television.

Maybe Kevin Falls should take it to Cable, or to a full-length movie.

barb60 | December 19, 2007 11:11 PM

Hondo -

"How, how, how can this reality show crap survive when a show like this doesn't?"

Because you are among the enlightened few who bother to THINK and not just mindlessly watch TV. Unfortunately, the m***es just watch. They don't need continuity. They just need something they can pick up their phone and vote for. It's "interactive." It makes their pathetic lives mean something. Reality TV serves to give those who watch something they don't have... reality. Ultimately, corporate America will always cater to the lowest common denominator. They're too stupid to speak up or know any better.

Mike | December 19, 2007 11:25 PM

P.S. - Can you tell I'm ****ed off that the show isn't coming back? At least they gave us a bit of a conclusion and some answers. Threshold and Brimstone never had such treatment. Best episode of the season, and this was the best new show this year. It only makes sense that it's canceled! *sarcasm*

Mike | December 19, 2007 11:28 PM

Great show, very sad to see it go. Also has one of the best opening themes I've ever seen.

Tom | December 19, 2007 11:48 PM

That was fantastic television. Not for the sci-fi, or the fantasy, Those last few minutes between Dan and Katie were more romantic than a 1,000 Reese Witherspoon movies. I nearly came to tears. (and I am a very hetero guy)

Let's see the Bionic Woman do that!!!

Seriously, if NBC airs one more minute of that crap fest and doesn't continue the saga of the V***er family, then I will loose all faith in the network.

It is definetly not a Quantam Leap clone, as was first suggested when the show premiered, but here's what the two shows do have in common, the ability to transcend the sci-fi genre and produce some awe-inspiring moments.

I almost forgot I was watching a sci-fi show. In fact I suspect most Journeyman fans will agree, the best elements of the show have nothing to do with sci-fi.

Those last few minutes were a love story, plain and simple, between a man and a woman truely meant for each other.

Dan not only accepted his fate, he embraced it, and so did Katie.

The last images, when Katie finally sees him dissapear, were awe-inspiring, and somewhat reminscent of the Quantam Leap finale.

As he was sitting in that chair, I could swear he was willing himself to travel., seemingly taking control of his destiny, just as Sam Beckett did.

I also wonder, as they zoomed into Katie's eye for that final shot, if he heeded Elliot Langley's words about putting his friends and family in danger.

Did he as his fellow traveler did, erase himself from wife's memory, just as our other traveler did?

I sure hope not, because I want to see them continue their path together.

PLEASE NBC!!! RENEW THIS SHOW!! CANCEL BIONIC WOMAN!!!

PUT THIS SHOW ON FOX, USA SCI-FI, BET I DONT CARE!!!!

PUT IT ON AT 3AM!! JUST PLEASE CONTINUE THE ADVENTURE!!!

Chad | December 19, 2007 11:58 PM