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1.2 What It Seems

Bruce: "Damn, your new brain must come with caller ID."

At the end of the pilot episode, Johnny was convinced that someone was going to kill nurse Allison... but she doesn't die, after all. At first, we wonder if maybe Johnny's gift is fallible; later, we learn that a stranger died in Allison's place -- a woman who wouldn't have died if it weren't for Johnny's vision.

This is a one-hour version of the larger serial killer plot in the book and movie, and strongly keyed to developing a relationship of sorts between Johnny and Sheriff Walt Bannerman, who is also Sarah's husband. The emphasis is on the fact that Johnny has a vision, he does something, and everything changes. He has power -- and it isn't benign in the least.

Johnny proved that he was worthy of such power by committing two selfless acts in this episode: (1) after his vision that he and Sarah were going to have wild, crazy sex on the kitchen counter, he made her leave before it could happen; and (2) he took action to save Walt's life, when a part of him must have been horribly tempted to let Walt, a virtual stranger and a huge impediment to him, die so that he could have Sarah and their son back.

Sarah was obviously hoping that her two men can be friends, which is naive as well as in character. Johnny and Walt are completely different types, physically, mentally, emotionally -- plus each has something the other desperately wants. My favorite moment in this episode was Johnny, Sarah, and Walt attempting to eat lunch together. "My son plays hockey. Our son. (pause) All our son."

Walt was very likeable here. Understandably leery of Johnny, and threatened by his very presence, Walt is too professional to let it affect his job. Walt is the strong, silent type. Still waters run deep.

This time, instead of observing others, Johnny is a participant in the visions. He is actually in the killer's body, which allows Michael Hall to play other parts, and it heightens the suspense, since Johnny can't see the killer's face. To make it even more interesting, Johnny's sex vision with Sarah doesn't seem to be a vision at first. This sort of thing puts the viewer off guard. Excellent writing choices here, guys.

This episode introduced Dana Bright, the Lois Lane of The Dead Zone, who works for the Bangor Daily News. She's a strikingly beautiful woman as well as oddly abrasive in a believable way, and she and Walt show some interesting antagonism toward each other. "The usual 'no comment', Sheriff?" "Get a life, Dana."

Bits and pieces:

-- Episode two starts with a "previously on," and then for the first time, the very cool and spooky credits. The haunting theme music consists of two phrases repeated three times: "Feel no shame for what you are," and "Fall in love." (Close captioning is the reviewer's friend.)

-- Johnny's vision when he sees Walt's death even goes to the extent of Johnny's wedding with Sarah and their second child.

-- Johnny and Sarah's son is called "little Johnny" here. Speaking of which, why don't Walt and Sarah have children of their own? Was Sarah unwilling to commit to that extent while Johnny was still alive?

-- Lots of good Bruce moments here; he's wonderful comic relief, and John L. Adams gives excellent support to Michael Hall.

-- Johnny and Purdy are a lot less combative than they were before the coma. Johnny told Purdy that he doesn't believe in anything he can't see under a microscope, while Purdy expressed an opinion about Johnny's "resurrection" having something to do with a higher power.

-- A lot of the serial killer plot is out of the original book, right down to the dialogue.

-- Johnny mentioned their taste of the day thing (ice-blended cappucino) with Sarah in the kitchen scene, right before his hot monkey sex vision of the two of them on the kitchen counter.

-- Ten miles? Johnny limps with a hospital cane for ten miles? Can you say, improbable?

-- Johnny twice picked up a phone and knew who was calling. But isn't direct touch necessary for Johnny's gift to work? Is he feeling someone through the telephone wire?

-- The length of Anthony Michael Hall's hair changed throughout this episode, sometimes in the same scene. According to the first season DVD, this happened because the first two episodes were filmed twice, a year apart, with different actors playing Reverend Purdy and Dana Bright.

-- Walt: "When the last three girls were killed, you were in a coma. Which, as far as alibis go, that's a pretty good one."

-- Dana: "The self-effacing, shy hero. An American classic. In no time at all, you'll be endorsing breakfast cereal."

Three out of four stars,

Billie





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