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The Dead Zone: Coming Home

"Corn, wheat, soybeans... back in Indiana, we don't farm bodies."

About as heartwarming as a Dead Zone episode gets.

When they walked into the retirement home at the beginning, Johnny immediately got a vision of someone dead, and I thought, wouldn't it be stranger if he didn't, with it being a retirement home and all? So I liked that the denouement was in that vein. The spider coming out of Beebe's mouth was a big hint that Spider was the Shadow Man, and I thought for a while that he was killing them, as I was supposed to. I'd heard of body farms before, but didn't catch on until just before Johnny and Bruce started tripping over bodies.

That final scene with Sarah and her father resolving their differences was supposed to be the big one, but it felt awkward and forced to me. I was much more strongly moved by Johnny telling Sarah what really happened when her mother died.

Leaving aside the strangeness of Johnny being with Sarah through this sort of family situation instead of Walt, this episode worked pretty well. I laughed out loud several times (especially during Johnny's act as "Jonathan the Mysterious") and like I said, was moved by that scene about Sarah's mother. I also thought it was a nice twist having Bracknell live at the end, and decide to donate his body, making Johnny's vision come true.

Interesting parallel, having a "Sarah and Daddy" episode right after a "Johnny and Daddy" episode. Come to think of it, we had a superior "Bruce and Daddy" episode in season two, didn't we? Is Walt going to get a Daddy episode, too? (I don't think "Ascent" counts.)

Bits and pieces:

— Foxglove Retirement Home? Isn't foxglove a poison? Never mind, I guess it's appropriate.

— Marty Bracknell played drums at one point, a little continuity with Sarah's music thing there.

— Florida to Maine. Gotta say, not a good idea for the elderly; the cold will probably do him in.

— Nicole deBoer looks nothing like Ed Asner. Just saying.

— Okay, Beebe's pink coffin. Imagine eternity in a pink coffin! And what happens to the coffin when someone is cremated? I thought it got burned, too, but it didn't here. Do they sell it second-hand to somebody else, or just rent them for people who are getting cremated? "Hey, got a great deal for you on a used pink coffin..."

— At one point, Sarah said to Johnny and Walt simultaneously, "Ask your son."

— In this week's hair report, wouldn't it have worked better for Sarah's pink hair to be more extreme, and to coincide with her long hair phase?

Quotes:

Old guy: "Lock your doors. He's coming for all of us."
Sarah: "I hope he's not my father's roommate."

Johnny: "You never had a punk phase, Walt?" (Wouldn't it be fun if he did? Imagine the flashbacks!)

Bruce: (looking away) "Is it like the Crypt-Keeper?"

Not great, but definitely watchable. Three out of four stars,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

2 comments:

  1. I loved the heartwarming ending. There's so little happiness and wholeness in Deadzone. I thought both scenes were good, but you're right that the one about her mom was better. Probably because Sarah and Johnny have so much connection, as opposed to the dad character we were meeting for the first time. I like the old coot though, and think it would be great if he showed up again. And there was stuff for JJ to do! Sneaking out at night to protect his grandad from the soul- sucking shadow man!

    I had no idea about the body farm and was really creeped/grossed out before the reveal. It was like Johnny and Bruce were having a nightmare! Even then I thought someone was killing the old folks till Johnny said otherwise. Which was a relief and a nice twist. Most shows would have had a serial killer.

    Fun catch that Johnny's vision of Mr Bracknell's body at the farm will eventual come true after all! I didn't pick up on that.

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  2. ed asner playing sarah's father marty was great when he was being haunted by a shadow man in the nursing home that johnny did not see. the only vision he got was seeing a old woman dead outside. jj sneaking around at night to see grandpa to protect him from the shadow man while johnny and bruce were climbing fences to find out more about what's going on there. this one is better than the johnny dad and bruce dad episodes that we seen before in season four and season two. sarah johnny and jj were driving to the retirement home while jj said it smelled like old people and johnny was going to wash his hands in the little people's room.

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