Dead Zone 4.9: "Babble On"
Written by Adam Targum
Directed by Mike Rohl
In which Johnny begins having visions related to his father, but when the visions seem to connect with a disaster still to come, Johnny comes to an important realization…
This has been something of a rocky fourth season for “Dead Zone”, but I think that the past few episodes have put things back on track. I went into this episode cold, and since I had no conception of where the story was going, I found it rather revealing. I couldn’t remember, as the story unfolding, whether or not this idea of a genetic component to Johnny’s ability had ever been explored.
Some might not take to the concept very well, but I think it makes perfect sense. People have brain injuries all the time, and yet in the vast majority of cases (as seen on the series), those who have recovered haven’t been cursed with the same abilities. If I recall correctly, in the very first episode, there’s evidence to suggest that Johnny always had the potential for these visions; the accident and coma simply altered his brain structure and chemistry to the point where that ability became far more prominent.
The logical extension of that would be the revelation that someone in Johnny’s family had also experienced visions. Of course, that would have major implications, especially since his ability was always treated as something unexpected and unique. Well, what a shock…Rvd. Purdy knew all about his father’s visions, and helped put the man in an institution. So all that shock and awe about the visions in the first season makes a lot more sense, given how corrupt Purdy is.
This adds a bit to the story of how Purdy managed to get involved with Johnny’s mother. Purdy has always seemed like a greedy bastard, and his manipulation of Johnny’s estate and trust fund was just plain criminal. All that said, Purdy also seems to have other designs (several, in fact), and placing Johnny’s visions in the context of “God’s work”, as opposed to madness, is clearly related to Purdy’s overall agenda.
That explosion was easily one of the biggest effects on the series this season, and it was rather impressive. Skipping over how Johnny survived was not. OK, it wasn’t all that important to the story, but I found it rather hard to believe that two people trapped in the middle of a gas explosion big enough to drop a building would get away with relatively minor injuries!
I thought that the format of the episode, the peeling back of several layers of the mystery in an overlapping fashion, worked very well, and demonstrated a lot of the originality and complexity that brought such quality to earlier seasons. A lot of that complexity was missing from a few of the episodes this season. This is the difference in my mind: as predictable as this story was, it didn’t unfold in a predictable manner. That’s what I felt was missing from episodes like “Still Life”.
Something else surprised me this week: the music wasn’t quite so intrusive. It was still rather bombastic and quite present in every scene, but it meshed with the material far better than in episodes earlier in the season. And that main theme is growing on me more and more. In this case, the music really set the stage for a tale that had far-reaching implications for Johnny.
Seeing how badly “Young Johnny” was portrayed (the kid couldn’t act), it made me think of a side to this episode that didn’t hit me immediately. If Johnny inherited the potential for visions from his father, then what is the implication for JJ? Will he also begin showing signs of seeing visions as he gets older? I’m flashing back to some of those disturbing “Millennium” episodes, where Jordan would begin seeing flashes of insight like her father, and it was never a good thing. How would Walt react to having a psychic kid in the family, especially given the plans Sarah talked about?
All in all, one of the best of the fourth season, with a concept that really made me look back at the earlier seasons with a renewed sense of clarity. This is the kind of direction that the writers should be going in, rather than the less satisfying “Johnny Smith, Psychic Detective” material.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4
Final Rating: 9/10
Directed by Mike Rohl
In which Johnny begins having visions related to his father, but when the visions seem to connect with a disaster still to come, Johnny comes to an important realization…
This has been something of a rocky fourth season for “Dead Zone”, but I think that the past few episodes have put things back on track. I went into this episode cold, and since I had no conception of where the story was going, I found it rather revealing. I couldn’t remember, as the story unfolding, whether or not this idea of a genetic component to Johnny’s ability had ever been explored.
Some might not take to the concept very well, but I think it makes perfect sense. People have brain injuries all the time, and yet in the vast majority of cases (as seen on the series), those who have recovered haven’t been cursed with the same abilities. If I recall correctly, in the very first episode, there’s evidence to suggest that Johnny always had the potential for these visions; the accident and coma simply altered his brain structure and chemistry to the point where that ability became far more prominent.
The logical extension of that would be the revelation that someone in Johnny’s family had also experienced visions. Of course, that would have major implications, especially since his ability was always treated as something unexpected and unique. Well, what a shock…Rvd. Purdy knew all about his father’s visions, and helped put the man in an institution. So all that shock and awe about the visions in the first season makes a lot more sense, given how corrupt Purdy is.
This adds a bit to the story of how Purdy managed to get involved with Johnny’s mother. Purdy has always seemed like a greedy bastard, and his manipulation of Johnny’s estate and trust fund was just plain criminal. All that said, Purdy also seems to have other designs (several, in fact), and placing Johnny’s visions in the context of “God’s work”, as opposed to madness, is clearly related to Purdy’s overall agenda.
That explosion was easily one of the biggest effects on the series this season, and it was rather impressive. Skipping over how Johnny survived was not. OK, it wasn’t all that important to the story, but I found it rather hard to believe that two people trapped in the middle of a gas explosion big enough to drop a building would get away with relatively minor injuries!
I thought that the format of the episode, the peeling back of several layers of the mystery in an overlapping fashion, worked very well, and demonstrated a lot of the originality and complexity that brought such quality to earlier seasons. A lot of that complexity was missing from a few of the episodes this season. This is the difference in my mind: as predictable as this story was, it didn’t unfold in a predictable manner. That’s what I felt was missing from episodes like “Still Life”.
Something else surprised me this week: the music wasn’t quite so intrusive. It was still rather bombastic and quite present in every scene, but it meshed with the material far better than in episodes earlier in the season. And that main theme is growing on me more and more. In this case, the music really set the stage for a tale that had far-reaching implications for Johnny.
Seeing how badly “Young Johnny” was portrayed (the kid couldn’t act), it made me think of a side to this episode that didn’t hit me immediately. If Johnny inherited the potential for visions from his father, then what is the implication for JJ? Will he also begin showing signs of seeing visions as he gets older? I’m flashing back to some of those disturbing “Millennium” episodes, where Jordan would begin seeing flashes of insight like her father, and it was never a good thing. How would Walt react to having a psychic kid in the family, especially given the plans Sarah talked about?
All in all, one of the best of the fourth season, with a concept that really made me look back at the earlier seasons with a renewed sense of clarity. This is the kind of direction that the writers should be going in, rather than the less satisfying “Johnny Smith, Psychic Detective” material.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4
Final Rating: 9/10
posted by John Keegan | 19:19
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