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'Journeyman': A Christmas to remember
The holidays can be stressful -- all the baking and decorating, plus disapproving family coming to visit. Journeyman adds in downsizing, pregnancy, post-traumatic stress, a proposal and that whole unstuck-in-time thing, making it one hell of a holiday.
We wish you a Merry Spoiler.
It's not looking like a Merry Christmas in the Vassar household. How much does this holiday suck? Let me count the ways...
Bah, humbug the first: Dan gets fired. Evil suit Dennis Anbacher has decreed that editorial staff shall be reduced by 25 percent, and both Dan and Hugh are out the door. Merry Christmas, indeed.
Bah, humbug the second: Dan and Livia are still unstuck in time. In fact, they get unstuck back to Christmas Eve, 1979, the night Dennis' father, the previous publisher, died. Rumor has Old Man Anbacher had a heart attack while cavorting with a young copy girl named Nancy, who is now a respected reporter. Hmmm.
Bah, humbug the third: the night Anbacher dies is also the night Dan's dad finally left for good, thus scarring him for life. Ouch.
Bah, humbug the fourth: While Dan is out gallivanting through time, Katie is trying to keep it together despite being haunted by the events of the last episode. No matter what she says, it's not easy to shake off being held captive and made to play mommy by a gun-toting psycho.
Bah, humbug the fifth: Dan and Jack's mom is in town, and she's never liked Katie. And since Dan is otherwise disposed and Jack has his own problems, she's got no one to run interference.
Bah, humbug the sixth: Jack's girlfriend Theresa seems inordinately interested in Dan's mental health. That, we discover, is because she's pregnant with Jack's child, and she wants to know the chances of her kid being psycho. Jack is somewhat taken aback.
Bah, humbug the seventh: And let's not forget Livia -- she's got a life in 1948, you know. This life includes a sweetheart named Henry she really wants to get back to. Interesting...
Dan and Livia figure out in short order that (1) Dennis has always been an ass, as he hits on Livia then tries to hit Dan, (2) Nancy did in fact know Old Man Anbacher, but she wasn't with him when he died, and (3) Dennis was with him-and he watched his father die of a heart attack without lifting a finger. Harsh.
Dan tries to use that knowledge in the future, enlisting Nancy to "persuade" Dennis to call off the layoffs. The newspaper -- and his job -- are saved.
Katie holds it together for as long as humanly possible, but finally, after seeing that accursed apron Bennett made her dress up in one too many times, she snaps and flees to the bedroom. Her mother-in-law is her unlikely comforter -- she has to know that this isn't something she can get over in a minute. Plus, she says, Katie has to know that Dan is not his dad -- he won't leave her. He's in it for good.
Jack and Theresa try to come to terms with things -- Jack says he's in it for the long haul, but Theresa doesn't know what she wants to do. They decide to take it slow.
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends
- Again, I love the Newsroom of Yesteryear -- booze everywhere, people making out in the halls, and dreadfully bad fashion choices. I'm almost sorry I missed that era.
- And then I'm reminded why I'm not so sorry -- "Believe it or not, she wants to be a journalist," Daddy Vassar sneers. A woman journalist! Of all the unlikely things! (Now pardon me while I call my old journalism mentors to thank them and then renew my N.O.W. membership.)
- Did anyone else panic when Huh pulled the bottle of booze out of his drawer? Is that something he keeps in case of emergency (i.e., having to fire someone), or have the layoffs pushed him off the wagon? Poor Hugh...
- Dan enthuses when Zack announces they're using fennel seeds in the new batch of cookies. "Do you even know what that is?" Zach asks. "I ... have no idea." Hee.
- I love how Livia's 1948 home is all sepia-toned. Nice touch.
- Holy crap, Henry proposed to Livia! And Livia said yes! How does that square with her speech to Dan earlier -- "Maybe people like us can't have anyone else in out lives"?
- Dan tells Katie they can call the party off -- "Just have a peaceful day with the family." "Your mother's coming, so peaceful? Not an option."
- Even though Jack knows about the time travel thing now, it's not any easier for him -- he still takes it as a personal affront when Dan gets pulled away and dropped back in the present. Somehow, that makes the brotherly relationship that much more authentic -- Dan is still Jack's pain-in-the-ass younger brother, only now, he's skipping through time instead of skipping chores.
- Again, great work on the parts of Kevin McKidd and Gretchen Egolf. Check out the emotions that flit across Dan's face when he first tries to approach his father, and then realize he has no idea what to say. And the way the blood drains from Katie's face when she sees that damn apron keep appearing is heartbreaking.
Next week, we get two episodes of the show: One in its regular time slot, and the next when Life usually airs on Wednesday. Is this good news or bad news? I have no idea. The ratings are holding, and Life, which has already been renewed, had similar numbers to Journeyman when it showed in the Monday-night timeslot. Plus, Journeyman was the16th most Tivoed show in America after its last episode -- ahead of such full season earners as Life, Chuck, and Pushing Daisies. Here's hoping...
I thought this was one of the slower episodes of the season, probably because I thought it was pretty predictable (it seemed pretty obvious to me right from the start that his actions in the past were somehow related to saving his job in the future)
That said, I still love this show, and hope NBC does the right thing by it. Gretchen Egolf really is fantastic: if NBC does cancel the show, I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of her in the future.
Finally, does anyone know why NBC didn't show a preview of next week's episode(s) during the closing credits?
| Dec 10, 2007 11:52:31 PM | #Sadly I believe showing the final episode on a Wednesday probably means they're just burning it off before the holidays to get it out of the way. I believe pressure from the fans managed to ensure that we see all the episodes they made, but I think that's it unless they have a change of heart.
It's a real shame because the show has been very interesting the past few weeks and has really risen above the level of the pilot.
tacitus | Dec 11, 2007 12:09:24 AM | #One knit picky thing kept bugging me during last night's episode, was 9-1-1 even around in '79? I was 8 at the time and I sorta recall when the idea of 9-1-1 and the break up of "Ma Bell" were big news. Somehow I don't think I was an avid news follower at that age so I'm thinking it started in the 80s. Maybe I'm wrong, but Dan & Jack's ability to trace a 9-1-1 call from nearly 30 years ago just seemed a little too improbable.
I do like that Jack is more understanding now about Dan's time travel and if the show wraps up next week, I still think this was a great "short story" if you will that had a nice arc and wrap-up that doesn't leave viewers annoyed with unanswered questions.
Hmmm | Dec 11, 2007 4:31:17 AM | #
Sadly, I agree with tacitus. The lack of previews seems to be a small hint that a decision has been made. Otherwise, if you wanted to give the show a fighting chance, you'd show a preview to spur some interest.
The only caveat might be if this strike keeps on going. I hate cheering on a strike from a TV viewers perspective(ugh, looked at the midseason slate and there isn't that mcuh that whets my appetite, television wise). But if this goes on long enough and pilot season is pushed back, then Journeyman might be able to get another half season's order.
As for the episode, it was alright. Not great, pacing was a tad off, but the acting was still superb. It feels like they are setting something up with Henry, or at least Henry will become more involved (well, would become more involved).
Tony | Dec 11, 2007 4:41:24 AM | #Another strong episode. I love the way (unlike most shows) the emotions from the previous episodes carry over and aren't simply forgotten now that it's a new episode: Dan still struggles with his various issues, especially regarding his abandonment; Katie has been traumatized by having been held at gunpoint a few weeks earlier. It's this kind of smart plotting that keeps me coming back. This show remains the best of the new season, and NBC would be out of their minds to let it go.
Brandon | Dec 11, 2007 4:52:55 AM | #Another strong episode. I love the way (unlike most shows) the emotions from the previous episodes carry over and aren't simply forgotten now that it's a new episode: Dan still struggles with his various issues, especially regarding his abandonment; Katie has been traumatized by having been held at gunpoint a few weeks earlier. It's this kind of smart plotting that keeps me coming back. This show remains the best of the new season, and NBC would be out of their minds to let it go.
Brandon | Dec 11, 2007 4:53:16 AM | #The fact that there were no previews for next week does not necessarily mean that NBC has decided to pull the plug. Because of the writers' srike, none of the shows have new episodes. For the foreseeable future, it will be lights out for every show on every network except for reality shows, game shows, and shows that already have filmed their episodes for a spring run.
Having said that, I love this show, and it would be completely unwise for NBC to kill it without giving it a chance to grow. If NBC does kill it, we can only hope that another network like USA picks it up.
Pete | Dec 11, 2007 6:21:23 AM | #"Her mother-in-law is her unlikely comforter -- she has to know that this isn't something she can get over in a minute. Plus, she says, Katie has to know that Dan is not his dad -- he won't leave her. He's in it for good."
Actually, her mother-in-law told her Katie doesn't need Dan. She loves Dan but she knows Katie is strong enough to be without him. I thought that was an interesting piece of advice, although not too surprising considering she was left in the lurch by Dan and Jack's dad.
Andy | Dec 11, 2007 6:56:00 AM | #Could it be that Dan and Jack's father is a time traveler too? Is that why he left them? When he said goodbye to Jack didn't he refer to himself as a freak?
Eddie | Dec 11, 2007 6:59:20 AM | #exactally, jack's father time travels, sleeps with livia, livia is jack's real mother, and journeyman goes to day time drama....anyway, more DVR than Chuck and Life is HUGE!
| Dec 11, 2007 7:16:18 AM | #You know what bothered me? That Anbacher didn't remember Dan and Livia coming into the room and seeing his dead father on the floor. That would've been enough alone to blackmail him, right?
andy | Dec 11, 2007 7:23:08 AM | #Great episode as usual. Well acted, and superb writing.
I still don't know about Theresa. The pregnancy kind of explains things, but I still don't trust her. There's just something about her.
I believe there is more to Dan's father. He very well may be a Journeyman too. Langley did say he knew Dan's dad.
We learn more and more about Livia each week. Henry reminds me of someone though, but I just can't put my finger on it. Wouldn't surprise me if Livia & Henry are parents to someone else on the show.
I really, really, really hope they don't cancel this show. I look forward to it every week. It's better than 95% of the other crap out there.
Shaggysteve | Dec 11, 2007 7:37:06 AM | #Got hitched with the time-travel gimmick. Saw an episode. Got hooked. I checked out LIFE during its tenure in JOURNEYMAN's timeshot and, sad to say, liked the way that show played out too. But since LIFE was renewed, gotta show love for some of the best acting on TV today on JOURNEYMAN.
pakopako | Dec 11, 2007 7:38:57 AM | #I love this show I look forward to it every week I think it is politics and favoritism if NBC doesn't give this show a full season. If it is pulling the same ratings as Life why won't they pick it up.
Erika | Dec 11, 2007 7:43:41 AM | #My husband and I thought Langley might be Livia's new boyfriend, stuck in today.
After last night, I don't think his father is traveler. He would have been more vague about why he was never home. So Dan did change things with his father because he went home and told Jack why he was leaving.
Also, do you think the pictures he took of Dan will play in the story some how?
tv | Dec 11, 2007 8:12:56 AM | #If this show gets any attention from the powers that be, Gretchen Egolf needs an Emmy nod
Corey | Dec 11, 2007 8:22:41 AM | #This was a terrific episode. The interaction between Frank and Dan in 1979 made it. Did you see the look on Frank's face when Dan mentioned 'his' father left on Christmas, too ... you almost thought that would have changed his mind. And deep down I almost feel like he knew Dan was his son - and if he is a time traveler (what 'Eddie' said above - he did refer to himself as a 'freak' upon leaving home), that would have explained it for him.
I look forward to seeing what comes of that roll of film Frank took of Dan in 1979. Will that show up in the future?
I'm still waiting for the episode when young Livia meets old Livia in 2007. Will old Livia explain everything to her younger time-traveling self?
It just keeps getting better. Come on, NBC, have a heart. Didn't Seinfeld flop in its first several episodes?
Josh | Dec 11, 2007 8:26:53 AM | #I think the pictures Dan's dad took will play out in the storyline somehow. The writers of this show really thinks things through, and tie everything together nicely. I don't think they would have had in the show if it didn't mean something.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I was half expecting Dan's dad to show up for the party or somewhere else in the present during the episode.
Shaggsteve | Dec 11, 2007 8:44:53 AM | #I just love this show, I want it to stay!
I too was expecting Frank to appear in the present. Great guest stars in last night's episode (dennis and old man anbacher)
I look forward to this show every week and hope NBC sees the strong potential this show has!!
Lenny | Dec 11, 2007 9:00:36 AM | #Great show... PLEASE don't cancel it NBC!!!
Sean | Dec 11, 2007 9:16:16 AM | #This episode was, to me, far superior to the two-parter. This is the episode you show newer viewers.
One- there were definitive events- no digging through old newspapers. The publisher; the shenanigans at the party; the layoffs; Vasser leaving his kids.
Two- rock solid emotional turmoil- Livia's dismay at missing time with her man back home; Dan missing his family; Jack having a kid and Theresa worrying about signing up with the weird family; Dan's anger at his father and desire to recetify versus the lesson not to fool with history; Katie and the fallout from the home invasion.
Three- a Christmas episode that isn't treacly. Yes, things ended up well, but yet Katie is budding a belief of independence, Dad still left Dan and Jack, and Ansbacher Sr. is still dead.
And Sarah- about Livia and Henry... I view it that Livia gains strength from Dan. He is loyal and forges ahead on his instincts and good intentions, and when they spoke, she took from the conversation that palling around with Dan in time won't preclude her from having a life with Henry. It won't be easy, but it's possible.
(paraphrasing) I liked her quip to Dan when he asked about '48, and she said Truman beat Dewey, if he was wondering.
Casper | Dec 11, 2007 9:19:43 AM | #I was more or less indifferent to Journeyman at the beginning, but it has really grown on me. And my wife realy loves it too. Something we can watch together. We would be disappointed if it went away. Great show
tasmith | Dec 11, 2007 9:46:42 AM | #I wouldn't say this was the best Journeyman yet, though it's one of the strongest for sure. What I will say is that the creative team has hoodwinked us all into thinking this was a non-serialized drama that was inextricably intertwined with its central premise. In fact, over the last 5 or 6 episodes, the show has significantly blurred the lines to become an almost-serialized drama that uses that central premise in the most subtle, casual of ways to tell a very human story.
After the pilot, I expected a very non-serialized, Journey-of-the-week format, comfortably surrounded by some nice, family drama, with a long string of Big Picture drama playing out with Livia as the messenger. Now, 11 episodes in, the show has overwhelmingly become a family drama, with the Journeys providing a nice backdrop, and a simple convention for exploring the different relationships in the show - primarily Dan and Katie, followed very closely by Dan and Jack, Dan and Livia, and recently, Jack and Teresa. The natural question to ask might be: Why Dan? - if he's only going to explore personal and/or family-related dramas in the past, then what makes him and Livia special? But setting that aside, the recent episodes have given all of those characters and relationships tremendous room to grow, and the show has blossomed as a result.
Now, as for Teresa, I've heard from some fans that she's giving off a witchy vibe, that they're not sure of her intentions. I think she's naturally a very smart woman. Maybe you could say that she's a little defensive by nature, maybe doesn't let people in very easily. But mostly, she's smart with a knack - trained and honed, in fact - for reading people. And she sees this family drama for what it is - a charade. She knows when people are lying, she knows when the subtext starts to spill out all over the conversation, and she clearly knows that all of this is happening right under her nose. She probably looks at Dan just as she said, as someone who is either a) mentally unstable, b) nursing a massive habit of some sort or c) involved in some shady dealings. She's seen Jack's attitude toward Dan and how dismissive he's been of Dan's excuses and such, and that has just reinforced her impressions, misconceptions as they may be.
But then there's 2 key changes: she finds out she's pregnant right around the same time that Jack makes a 180 degree turnabout on Dan's attitude. All of a sudden, without any change in behavior on Dan's part, Jack is now covering for Dan, their relationship is far more relaxed, that ever-present, underlying tension just evaporates overnight. Knowing what she knows, seeing what she's seen, what is she to make of this? If she was just the girlfriend, I think her snooping would have been creepy and/or witchy. But what she said was absolutely true - when she finds out she's pregnant, those family issues become *her* family issues. I'm sure that kind of sudden change effects you in a myriad of ways, and especially initially that life-changing shock can mess with your head. Seeing what she's seen, suddenly finding her comfortable life turned upside down in more ways than one - I can understand and sympathize with Teresa. That doesn't make it right, but I can certainly understand the impulse, and her explanation after the fact was right on the money - she doesn't know how she feels about this situation, and putting her raging fears and doubts to rest with some sort of reasonable explanation is going to be very high on her list of priorities for her immediate future personal harmony.
Beyond that, I thought the work-place drama was a little weak though it all tied together quite nicely. Seeing his father and gently nudging his own past history was perfect. That part could easily have been so overdone, but this was handled perfectly. Dan's clearly learning to navigate the past - it's the present where he needs all the help he can get. Katie is once again on top of her game - the aftermath of the attack in their home isn't overplayed, but it's also inescapable, and the use of the apron was fantastic. When Dan's mother put it on and she just about fell apart on the spot - that was Katie at her best. I love that the mother-in-law was so far from the stereotype as well. How perfect that they set us up for the stereotypical nagging, overly-critical mother-in-law (I swear, with fingers *and* toes double-crossed, that I have never met, much less been related to such a stereotypical mother-in-law... promise :) ), and then made her issues with Katie eminently reasonable. Their initial conversation about how she hurt Jack was intriguing - there's clearly more to that story, and I hope we get a chance to see it play out. Then, to top it off, we get their second conversation which transforms her mother-in-law in a weathered but wizened matriarch. Even if Katie has trouble putting her advice into perspective, we can all see where that advice is coming from, and how perfect that we get to see it play out in the past during the same episode. Extremely well done.
Oh yeah, and Dan time-travels - *time-travels!* - back to see his father and solve a mystery. I think it's awesome that this central premise of the show has been so subtly woven into the on-going narrative that it's almost a non-issue. I sincerely hope that these last few episode aren't the last we will see of Dan and the gang. The strength of the story should easily earn this a place on the schedule once the various TV productions start rolling again, but at this point we can only hope. As it stands, this episode was pretty great, with Dan dealing with his father issues and answering the question foremost on Katie's mind - Dan is not his father, and he will always come home. Good job, show.
Jeff Woodie | Dec 11, 2007 9:53:36 AM | #Journeyman is one of the best written shows that I have seen in awhile. The acting is wonderful and keeps my attention. My wife and I look forward to this show every week. Some of the last few episodes are almost mindblowing with the exception of last nights. If some exec is out there reading these, i hope they have a change of heart on this one. Watch the show. It takes some shows a year or two before they become instant hits. (ie Scrubs). Studio 60 was also a wonderful show that was well acted and written and you did not give it a chance. You planned for its failure by putting it on bad times aligned with the wrong shows. CHuck and Bionic work together cuz of the whole spy theme. Journeyman, Life and Law and Order work well due to the drama, phylisophical ideas, and smart writing. Please QUIT dumbing everything down for the obvious Nielson tools that don't know how to pick quality programming. I do not know a single person who watches Dancing with the Stars so where do there high numbers come from? I think it is a joke and a faulty system. Please do not give Journeyman the same fate as other well written and acted shows.
I never join blogs or do this on any basis unless I beleive in something and this show fits the bill. I just ask that you guys at NBC give this thing a chance. Give it a Thursday night marathon. Promote it better. Align it with other successful shows. GET RID OF ER for the love of humanity. That show has run its course. ITS dead. How many viewers must you continue to lose before you turn everyone away from your network. PLEASE LEARN and Quit repeating the same mistake over and over again by canceling good shows. You must find a better way of managing your strong talent TV shows.
Any news on numbers?
Tony | Dec 11, 2007 12:13:38 PM | #
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