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Deadzone
Anyone here Watch it ?
Comments
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I'm working my way through it slowly, and have already got Season Two waiting on the shelf. Since I didn't finish it before the start of Season Three, I'll probably just wait for those DVDs to come out as well.
Blu
Thankfully the DVD set for season 2 is out and I've restarted from the beginning. It's great to watch these episodes in all their DVD glory - anamorphic and 5.1 audio!
Beware reader, below here, there be spoilers. Read at your own risk!
Ok - I've working my way through the mostly excellent second season of The Dead Zone. Out of the dozen of episodes I have watched on DVD, I had seen only 3 or 4 before on TV.
So far, with one exception, all the episodes have been a joy to watch. Several themes have been played out this season:
1) exploration of the secondary characters
2) the continuing Stillson story arc
3) Johnny's slow realization that Reverend Purdy may be right that he has been given his 'gift' for a reason, destiny if you will
4) continuing to weave story points from the novel into the television series.
Last night I watched Zion - an episode where Johnny's physical trainer - Bruce - is given the spotlight. Zion is a stand out episode, so far, for the second season. This episode adroitly juggles all of the 4 points listed above. It is also a watershed point.
First off one of the least explained characters, Bruce is given some real depth here. The relationship between him and his preacher father played by Lou Gossett Jr. is a joy to behold as these 2 actors work with one another. The traditional head butting sequences between father and son are woven into Johnny Smith's story with Bruce's need to find his destiny, purpose, or guiding angel.
This is done by showing how Johnny's life would have been if Bruce hadn't been there to become a fast friend of John's. The writer's are to be commended for the masterful combination of Bruce's desires with John Smith's major story arc.
It's a riff from 'It's A Wonderful Life' that not only allows Bruce to have that heart to heart talk with his father he never got to have but it also allows the TV series to play a version of the book's ending for John Smith. It's a stripped down version of the book with a bitter John Smith determined to carry out his destiny to it's tragic end as he tries to derail Stilson's political career.
Bruce gets to accomplish several things in this episode. His character is given much needed background information, he realizes that he has found his destiny, he has closure with his father, and he has seen and understands the power of the visions John has had, especially regarding Stilson.
There is so much going on in this episode that it is a marvel of layered and cohesive writing. Not only does the writing provide powerful moments for this one episode but it builds on the series overall framework as well. An amazing balancing act.
Top that off with great performances by John Adams as Bruce and his father portrayed by the always excellent Lou Gossett Jr. and what more could you ask for in a TV show?
The watershed mark here is now we know that the events of the book will not be played out. What fate will John Smith, Stilson and the rest of the cast meet if this story arc is ever resolved? Will John live? Will others die? At this point, I doubt anyone connected with the show has mapped this out yet.
Hopefully the show will last long enough that we all will get to see these questions answered!
I'm going to do shorter writeups of the previous episodes just for the enjoyment of the exercise.
Hope you enjoy reading this and please post any thoughts, comments etc.
July 16,2004
Aaron Baldwin
I can honestly say that I had never given The Dead Zone a fair chance.
Just the fact that Anthony Michael Hall was the star gave me some pause. I couldn’t believe that the kid from Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club would be worth watching in a lead role. Also, when I heard that Stephen King, whose book the series is loosely based upon, wasn’t necessarily behind the show, that was another strike against it. (I’m a serious King fan.) It should also be noted that the series has very little to do with the 1983 David Cronenberg film, inspired by the same novel and with Christopher Walken in the starring role.
My skepticism held until about five minutes into the first episode of the second season.
The Dead Zone Season 2 (4 stars, $49.98) stars Hall as Johnny Smith, a man injured in a near fatal car crash who emerges from a six-year coma with psychic abilities that allow him to see the past and future through visions triggered by touch. Heading an ensemble cast, Hall is likely the most believable psychic you’ll ever see, even more than John Edwards, the star of Crossing Over.
The five-disc set includes all 19 episodes and several features, including interviews with guest stars such as Robert Culp, Ally Sheedy, Rieko Aylesworth (24), Tracey Gold and Louis Gosset Jr.. Also available on each episode is director/actor commentary, a five-part “Making of an Episode” that runs on each disc.
So I stand corrected in my skepticism. As a matter of fact, I intend to pick up season one very soon. With excellent writing, acting and great storytelling, The Dead Zone just became my new favorite show. For those of you who are curious, you can catch it at 9 p.m., Sunday evenings on USA,
I disagree with that statement. The author will probably reconsider that thought after he watches the first season. At this point every event in the movie has been handled by the series at one point or another.
Beware reader, below here, there be spoilers. Read at your own risk!
OK let's go back to the first episode of season 2. This one picks up from the last episode of Season 1 - Destiny where John has his first startling vision of Armageddon. John has this vision when he is touched by Rev Purdy!
It is solidified when John shakes hands with an upcoming politician - Greg Stilson. In a neat twist - a trademark of the series - Stilson is being publicly endorsed by Rev Purdy and the Heritage Foundation.
As the episode unfolds John is trailing Stilson looking for more clues to his vision. Another handshake with Stilson leaves us puzzled as John does not have any visions. We begin to realize that his powers have stopped and this is brought to light when he is called in by Rev Purdy to investigate the child kidnapping from a Bill Gates like father - Arthur Markoff.
The pressure mounts on John as he fails to find any clues as to the boy's whereabouts. The kidnapper calls John and taunts him saying the boy's fate is in his hands. The kidnapper makes biblical references which to him show that John is like the prophet Daniel. His destiny is to find Nebuchadnezzar and warn people that he is leading them to worship false gods.
A pretty good start up episode for season 2 that carries on the story threads left from season 1. There is enough ambiguity in the role of the kidnapper for the audience to intimate that God is showing John his destiny. The parallels between him and Stilson to the biblical story are clear.
The phone conversation scenes between John and the kidnapper are well choreographed. With each phone call we see more and more of the kidnapper as he is revealed to us visibly and dramatically at the same time.
The kidnapper urges John to become a teacher again before they part for the final time.
A very good episode.
Sunny that would be a coup indeed!
Episodes Descent & Ascent
Some of the loose threads – this is a series remember so not all will be answered! - left over from the first season were addressed in the second season premiere episode, Valley of the Shadow. The next 2 episodes move the focus from the Stillson story arc and return to further mine - pun intended - the relationships between the main characters.
The John, Sarah, and Walt triangle is revisited. Until now this triangle has been mainly seen from John's perspective. Sarah has had some input but Walt has been restricted to a few pensive stares and pointed remarks.
On the surface, the first episode starts out as a straight rescue mission. Four teenagers have been lost in a mine. Walt calls in Johnny for help. Through the use of his Dead Zone, John is able to track the teenagers from their vehicle to an abandoned mine. So far standard stuff. Fortunately the production staff for the series is never that complacent. John tells Walt that this mine is owned by his family. A funny beat is set up here when John confides to Walt that he use to come up here with his dates when he was younger. The payoff comes a bit later when Sarah unwittingly tells Walt she has been here before.
In the mine John begins to pick up visions of not only the teenagers but of miners who were killed in an accident. These miners worked for John's grandfather. Through further visions John realizes that his grandfather is responsible for the fate of the miners. With this dynamic established, John struggles with separating his visions of the miners and the lost teenagers.
Through a series of events two of the four teenagers are found when tragedy strikes. Walt wants to call off the search until an expert rescue squad can arrive. John tells Walt that the remaining teenagers won't last that long. Despite a vision where Walt and John end up in a cave in, they re-enter the mine. As they renew their search Walt and John have a heart to heart about the relationship between them and Sarah. The seeds for the episode Ascent are planted here. John begins to realize that he is not the only one who has been put upon by his accident.
By the end of the first part, Walt is injured, suffering a head injury. John touches Sarah and sees a vision of them at Walt's funeral.
In Ascent, Walt is in a coma and his outcome does not look promising. As expected, John volunteers to establish contact with Walt in an effort to bring him back. The payoff in this episode is strengthened by the events that occurred in Descent. The mine now becomes a visual representation of Walt's mind and his memories. It also is used to show the bright white light at the end of the tunnel that is so often referred to in near death experiences.
John relives events that transpired while he was in a coma. He gets to see and more importantly experience them from Walt's perspective. An added bonus is that he gets to see the birth of his son. These scenes are well done as we see first John as Walt, then Walt as Walt play out the same scenes. John learns what Walt is all about and how it was possible for Sarah to fall in love with him.
Walt is deciding that this may be the right time for him to step out. John has to find a way to convince Walt that he can't do that and must come back. Walt's 'father' is trying to convince Walt and John that going into the light is the noble thing to do. This leads to a climatic confrontation as John confronts Walt in his office as all the other settings in Walt's mind undergo a Langolier-like disintegration.
Listening to the commentary tracks I can understand the pride with which the cast and crew reference their work. These two episodes have great writing, acting, direction, SFX, and music. They are also constructed in a manner to play off of and enhance one another. The exploration of all the characters is a treat to watch. The production staff continues to take standard dramatic plots and layer them with extra dimensions that enhance the overall product.
One of the production members comments that the series tries to work in the 3 H's in each episode. Horror, humour, and heart. These two episodes demonstrate that mantra.
As one watches the series on an ongoing basis it strikes me that having a limited schedule of 13 to 19 episodes allows for extra polish to be done to the scripts. This is also evident in what I would term the lessor or standalone episodes.
In this installment John has a vision of a new skin wrinkle prevention cream - that was worded awkwardly! - that comes with a harmful secret. If released on the market the cream will cause birth defects. John's initial efforts to remove the product, understandably earn him the ire of the corporation, Culp & Belling. Nice word play on the company name. To further compound matters John's intervention backfires giving the cream unexpected publicity. His subsequent visions reveal to his horror that the publicity elevates the number of affected newborns to almost epidemic like proportions.
John desperately tries a new tack. One of his visions points him to a computer specialist who has developed software that will be able to analyze the ingredients of the cream and identify the harmful side effects. The catch is that the software will not be developed until after the birth defects begin to occur. With Dana's help, John is able to track the scientist, currently a MIT dropout. Instead of meeting the professional person John saw in his vision, he finds an insecure and hermit like geek. With no other options or visions at hand, John doggedly pushes Thomas Burke towards his fate.
Burke can't really proceed without the help of someone whom is familiar with the product. As luck, fate, or clever writing would have it, a class mate of Burke whom he had romantic inclinations towards works at Culp & Belling. In turn, the classmate – Claire – also has harbored feelings towards Burke. Things hit a major snag when Claire finds out their reunion is being masterminded by John. She leaves Burke angered. All the plot line do get resolved. The software is created and used to prevent the distribution of the cream.
This installment strays closer to the more generic plots that one can find in other TV series. The saving graces are the touches of humor and layering of the various plot threads upon one another. The threads are so seamless that you are carried to the next one without realizing it. The hook for each thread carries your interest to see how it will all come out. Engaging performances from the actors playing Burke and Claire keep you from reaching for the remote as well.
Here is the What If episode of season two for sure. John saves the life of a young boy from an auto accident and ends up in the hospital needing surgery. During the course of the surgery John receives a series of blood transfusions from a total of six donors. As John recovers he begins to have visions triggered by the blood from the donors as it passes through his Dead Zone.
Naturally all six donors are facing life changing events with negative and, for one or two donors, even tragic consequences. John and Bruce are able to track the source of the donations to an outdoor food court which is in a downtown area. Access to the food court is available to restaurants, stores, and businesses. The donors all live or work near the food court.
John struggles to sort through all his visions and identify each of the donors. In quick order we find the donors to be a street person whom is a veteran of Desert Storm, a young frustrated writer, a pregnant woman, her shy co-worker whom carries a torch for her, an overweight businessman one oyster away from a painful death, and a mystery bike messenger who is going to come to an abrupt stop.
With the exception of the bike messenger, John gets to play out each of the characters in an excellent acting showcase. Given the number of donors these moments are painted in broad strokes and there is a whimsical touch throughout the episode. By the end of the episode many of the donors paths cross even if just superficially. It is demonstrated that cause and effect are not always equal. In some instances the smallest act by one person can have a major impact on the future of someone else. Conversely a direct action by one person may only cause a minor deviation in the life path of another.
I keep coming back to it again and again but I have to continue to acknowledge the excellent writing. Episode after episode they elevate the material.