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4.7 Grains of Sand

Johnny: "Let's go with the fuzzy duckies."

This one at least gets points for originality and social conscience.

The opening scene was good, and I liked the basic premise -- that Johnny knew he was the only hope for that baby's future, and that he took his promise to a dying mother and his responsibility to baby Miguel more seriously than the law. Johnny being cheated out of fatherhood hasn't been addressed as much as it could, either, and I thought the way they used the train set to give us glimpses of Johnny as Mikey's adoptive father worked. And I loved the cute way Sarah, Bruce, and Walt were all roped into babysitting, and "branded" with baby spit-up.

But this was another episode that just didn't feel right to me. It's like the basic premise of the series is being sacrificed to formula. (No pun intended.) What about Armageddon? We saw visions of Mikey going all the way up until he's a young adult, and I think that conflicts with our major arc storyline. Aren't millions going to die? With survivors living like savages?

One of the things I've always liked about The Dead Zone is that it can be about anything, and I think this story worked on a basic level. But this is one of those times when having Maine as the setting worked against the story. I'm sure there are illegal immigrants in Maine, but it didn't have the veracity or impact of, say, California or Texas. I was unclear about the motivations of the INS agent, too. Some of the things she did just didn't make sense. I could probably watch it again and figure it out, but if I didn't get it the first time, that's not so good.

And (again) where the heck is J.J.? We just got an episode about Johnny as a possible foster father, and there was still no J.J. Talk about not making sense.

Bits and pieces:

-- We got a little more of Johnny as savior of humanity: "St. Michael, he stops bad things in the world, like you do."

-- There was a reference to a "Pink Lobster" restaurant. :)

-- In the trailer scene, Anthony Michael Hall's hair looked odd, like it was artfully streaked. I mean, I know it is, but it doesn't usually look like it is.

-- Johnny: "Do you have any idea how rare this is?" Bruce: "Not as rare as a single, funny, beautiful, female African American lawyer. In Maine."

Charming, but forgettable. Two out of four stars,

Billie




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