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'Journeyman': Every picture tells a story
OK, explain to me again why NBC didn't stick with Journeyman? Because this episode was funny, tense and mind-blowing -- plus it answered a few questions (maybe) and raised several more. And to top it off, we got an explicit Kurt Vonnegut reference and a tribute to bitchy, inappropriate aunties the world over, which is clearly a shout-out to me.
The Queen of Wands indicates there are spoilers in your future.
One of the things this show does well is tackle the consequences of time travel, both when it comes to domestic relations (it's tough to be a good husband and father when you can get pulled out of time with no notice), and when it comes to the changes made in the past having consequences in the future. This episode melded the two aspects beautifully, as something Dan accidentally leaves in the past changes his future domestic life something fierce.
Dan first gets whisked away to save a mother (Sondra) and son (Chris) who are trapped in an RV that's teetering on the edge of a cliff. He manages to get them out -- but in the process, he drops his spiffy new digital camera. He's bummed, but he figures he'll be ok if no one finds it.
Yeah, nice thought, Dan -- he next gets pulled to the early 80s (if we're to go by the music cue) to find that Sondra (now wearing oversized and massively thick glasses) working for a tech firm that's incredibly paranoid about security breaches, and Chris showing off the camera he found to Dewey, a young tech geek on staff. Uh-oh. Dan and Livia try to get it back, but they're thwarted and escorted out of the building. Dan returns home to find everything's fine, just fine... except his son Zach has disappeared, and has been replaced by a daughter named Caroline.
Dan is devastated and is determined to get Zach back, but Katie, who never knew Zach, doesn't want Dan to change anything. This is the only life -- and child -- she's ever known. And Caroline seems like a great kid -- does she have any less right to exist? Her being born rather than Zach was just a quirk -- in Zach's timeline, Dan and Katie got busy after a baseball game, while in Caroline's timeline, Dan got called away from the game because some technology at the paper broke. What should Dan do?
There are a couple of other changes. One, technology is wildly advanced -- we're talking digital paper, holographic screens, the stuff of science fiction. It's tremendously cool. Two, Chris disappeared shortly after Dan saw him in the 80s. Could the two changes be somehow connected?
Why yes, yes they could. Dan basically begs and pleads his way into the past to meet up with Chris as he's about to sell the camera -- not to Dewey, as Dan originally thought, but to the head of security at the firm. She's not to be trusted -- I'm a little unclear on this, but I'm thinking she disposed of Chris after she got the camera. Dan and Livia snatch the camera back and run. Dan manages to ditch it in a garbage truck that's in the process of compacting, so all those lovely advanced circuits are unusable bits of silicon. And to top it off, he and Livia get pulled out of the past just in time to dodge a bullet -- and to send the bullet meant for them into the security chief's chest. He gets back home to find Zach back -- and Katie apparently none the wiser about her alternate-reality daughter.
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends
- I admit it -- I kind of loved Annette, Katie's sister, and I'm delusional enough to think she's All About Me. We're both bohemian, cosmopolitan aunties; we both appreciate a stiff drink; we both enjoy tweaking our sibling's significant others; we both spoil our nieces and/or nephews; and we both lived in Hong Kong. Plus, she's a gorgeous, wildly successful something and I... um, ok, let me get back to you on that on.
- Annette, when she first hugs Katie -- "My god, it's like hugging a pretzel stick." I, too, want to feed Katie a cheeseburger or 12.
- Jack, when Dan asks him to get agent Garrity's files on him: "We're talking the FBI -- I mean, they wake up in the morning and put a stick up their ass." Hee.
- This episode also spent a lot of time portraying the unpleasant effects inadvertent time travel can have on one's sex life. Dan gets pulled away form Katie while she's flinging off clothing and burrowing under the covers (oh, the look on her face when she realizes he's gone...). Later, Livia gets pulled out of time in a peek-a-boo nightie -- and she's not happy about it.
- Livia also tells Dan about Henry's proposal -- and that she's planning to get married that weekend, because Henry has been drafted.
- Annette convinces Katie to consult a psychic -- who may actually have some answers for her and Dan. First, she tells alternate-reality Katie that everything is in disarray, suspended, and that's certainly true. Then, she tells alternate-reality Dan that he's looking for something small, but vital -- Zach. Finally, she presents Dan with a birth chart, and tells him he was born when a rare, mystical comet was passing over. That's happened only once before -- when Livia was born. Hmmm.
- Jack digs up some of Garrity's files, and finds a picture of young Dan with Langley at NASA. Dan confronts Langley with the picture -- and Langley claims not to know him. Is he telling the truth, or lying? Did Dan change something in the past that makes it so Langley never met him? Or is Langley manipulating everything somehow? I hope we find out...
One episode left: Do you think all of our questions will be answered? How do you feel about Dan being born under the sign of a mystical comet? Is Langley controlling things, or is he just a scientist with a hunch? And how stupid is NBC for dropping this show?
One of my favorite episodes. I hope the show somehow gets picked up on the SciFi Channel. It has been one of my favorite new shows this season. It is hard to believe that the episode Wednesday night might be the last one.
Jeremy | Dec 17, 2007 9:45:45 PM | #Episode's been over for 2+ hours and I'm now coming to terms with what I just witnessed.
What an unbelievable hour of television.
www.savejourneyman.net. Keep sending Rice-A-Roni to 30 Rock, the show isn't dead, but it's on life support.
Corey | Dec 17, 2007 10:22:54 PM | #Episode's been over for 2+ hours and I'm now coming to terms with what I just witnessed.
What an unbelievable hour of television.
www.savejourneyman.net. Keep sending Rice-A-Roni to 30 Rock, the show isn't dead, but it's on life support.
Corey | Dec 17, 2007 10:23:06 PM | #Great episode as always. I really couldn't warm up to Katie's sister. Poor Caroline, she couldn't help it that she didn't exist in Dan's memories. I wish that there could have been a way that Dan and Katie could have had both Zach and Caroline as their children. After seeing Annette and Dan's parents I'm glad that Jack is the only extended family member we really got to know during the thirteen episodes. I know I wouldn't have wanted to claim any of them as family.
The producers promised that on the NBC website that all questions should be answered during the final episode Wednesday. I hope they really are.
Penny | Dec 17, 2007 11:36:33 PM | #One of the best in the series, especially after last week’s one where it was largely filmed on two sets (the Register and home). I was impressed by the visual effects here, not to mention the brain-twisters and the Dr Langley finalé.
It also answered one thing that I queried very early on: how come Katie never experienced any time-line changes? Well, she does—and how!
Jack Yan | Dec 18, 2007 4:21:50 AM | #Journeyman is the best show this season. It needs to be picked up for the back nine as well as a second season. I think if the ratings system were to change we would see a lot of young shows succeed and fans wouldn't have to continually ask for the networks not to cancel their favorite shows. Please reconsider your stand NBC. Journeyman is worth your effort. Thanks for your time and consideration on this matter.
By the way, I loved last night's episode. It was great. Can't wait for Wednesday night.
Michelle Johnson | Dec 18, 2007 5:15:36 AM | #I was a little confused by the marriage comment by Livia...wasn't that during the 198(4) trip? No one was being drafted then--at least not in the United States.
I do love the show. I am sorry NBC (the network that is floundering at #3/4) has made another bad decision!! Go Figure.
Tina | Dec 18, 2007 6:47:24 AM | #I will be so sorry to see this show go. It has been some great TV this year.
To Tina: Livia was talking about her life back in the 1940's.
Cathy | Dec 18, 2007 6:58:50 AM | #That was a superb episode! I did not care for the implied connection between Dan, Livia, and a mystical comet. To say that a mystical comet, or some other higher power, is responsible for this is a stretch. For those who believe in God, God would not have to send people through a time passage to change the destinies of others, He would just do it Himself. Also, if God decided to send people back in time to 'fix' a life that was messed up, that would suggest that God made a mistake in that person's life the first time. If one believes that God is perfect, then one believes that God does not make mistakes. I believe that is this show continues, they definitely should stick with a scientific/government conspiracy/wealthy philanthropist angle. Introducing religion or mysticism as an explanation, and suggesting that God is doing one thing or another, might turn off many viewers.
I love this show, and when the episode was over, I actually was mad. I said out loud, "I cannot believe that NBC is going to give up on this show. This is the most fun I have had watching TV since season 1 of LOST." I hope that the stiff shirts at NBC do the right thing and keep it. If not, I hope that the producers sell the rights to another network.
Pete | Dec 18, 2007 7:03:20 AM | #One of my favorite shows of the season. Hope NBC changes its mind and extends this show. If not, like Jeremy says, hope Sci-Fi channel picks it up.
Roly | Dec 18, 2007 7:06:14 AM | #One of my favorite shows of the season. Hope NBC changes its mind and extends this show. If not, like Jeremy says, hope Sci-Fi channel picks it up.
Roly | Dec 18, 2007 7:06:21 AM | #How can NBC give up on on Journyman a show with so much promise.I sense the best was yet to come.I really hope NBC changes its mind or SCI FI Channel steps up>What a waste what aloss.Journeyman was flat great TV.
Woody | Dec 18, 2007 7:25:54 AM | #Once again another great episode. I'm going to be so pissed off if this show is cancelled. It's one of the best shows on t.v.
I thought showing the alternate-reality was great. I got so mad when they couldn't get the camera back at first.
What exactly was his mission though? Was it just to save them from falling off the cliff? If Dan hadn't dropped the camera he wouldn't have had to rescue the kid later.
I guess now we have some kind of explanation of why Dan is a traveller. There are still some things left to figure out. Like how he travels, who controls the travelling, and why he travels?
Not sure what to think of the Langley scene. Is Langley testing him? Did something in the past change them meeting? One thing for sure, Langley knows more than he's telling. After seeing that picture I'm thinking is maybe Langley Dan's real father? Maybe he planned Dan's exact birth to coincide with the comet cycle? He is a scientist after all.
I do not want this show to end. There is so much potential for it. So many stories they can tell. NBC would be making a big mistake in cancelling it.
Shaggysteve | Dec 18, 2007 7:34:04 AM | #So many of you suggest that Sci Fi pick it up so why don't we all write them and suggest it? feedback@scifi.com
SCI FI CHANNEL
If you have suggestions or comments for our Programming Department about the SCI FI Channel or any of its shows, please contact:
feedback@scifi.com
Aaaaargh. And this show is on "indefinite hiatus" too. Just when things are charging up momentum it lost a bulk-load of viewers from that announcement.
The question isn't why did NBC pull the plug on Journeyman. It's what on earth do they think they can repalce it with?
pakopako | Dec 18, 2007 7:59:50 AM | #Of all the new shows I started watching this Fall (Chuck, Reaper, Pushing Daisies, DS$), Journeyman is the one that is getting better and better. The others I mentioned, IMHO, are hanging in there or starting to tail off.
NBC, please realize you have a gem here, and stick with Journeyman.
Tom | Dec 18, 2007 8:24:29 AM | #Another great sci-fi show gets put on the wrong network at the wrong time and dies a sad death (pause for my own sad nostalgia for Firefly, Brimstone and possibly even Threshold)...Hey, one of the actual benefits of this stupid Writers strike is that Journeyman even MADE it to the 13th episode...The ratings have been so anemic that any other season, this show would have been pulled by early November after, what...six or seven episodes, tops! Also, SCI-FI doesn't always make the best decisions either (I was seriously annoyed at the passing of DRESDEN FILES)
Ed | Dec 18, 2007 8:27:36 AM | #I wonder if Langley is Livia's son. He's about the right age. Maybe that's why he's interested in time travel.
GJ | Dec 18, 2007 8:53:50 AM | #awesome show, i was so engrossed in it.... i am going to miss this show terribly.
i really think with this strike, that nbc should try re-running all episodes in another time/day slot and who knows what could happen!
they should at least make an effort to save this show instead of just letting it go. that's really pathetic on their part.
Lenny | Dec 18, 2007 9:18:05 AM | #This was the best episode yet. I love this show. Come on, NBC, reconsider.
Lorrie | Dec 18, 2007 9:19:14 AM | #They need an earlier time slot IMO. But i would go for it being on Sci-Fi or if one of the other networks picked it up like the CW. They could run it right after Reaper.
WKD2 | Dec 18, 2007 10:13:48 AM | #Hey, I just turned 80 and love Journeyman. I could mention shows that should go, but not this one.
Phyl | Dec 18, 2007 10:34:40 AM | #I really love this show- its one of the few shows that my wife and I can watch together.. I seriously hope NBC decides to give it another shot.. It's their own fault it didnt get higher ratings.. no advertising! The only explanation I have for that is that the show cost so much to make that there was no room in the budget for any..
Anderson Evans | Dec 18, 2007 10:37:16 AM | #This was the best television episode I have seen in a long time. NBC would be out of their mind to drop this show. Over 5200 people have signed the petition online hopefully some of you will also. The comet thing was more funny than cool. http://www.petitiononline.com/jmf/petition.html
Albert | Dec 18, 2007 10:43:35 AM | #I haven't missed an episode of Journeyman since it started and I love it. I don't think it should be canceled. I hope another network will pick it up.
Dorel | Dec 18, 2007 11:24:34 AM | #
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