Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

The Dead Zone: Shaman

Shaman: "When we die, we all sound the same."

I was confused at first about what was happening. If I understood it correctly, in the beginning Johnny was meeting the descendants of the locals who would have died if Johnny hadn't "met" the Shaman from six hundred years ago, and helped him. That was why Johnny kept touching the locals and seeing them disappear, accompanied by visions of the meteor streaking across the sky. But there was something disturbingly circular about Johnny having a vision of the Shaman having a vision of Johnny.

I liked this episode a lot better on second watching. I especially liked the scene when Johnny and the Shaman were both on a spiritual plane (or in a dream?) together and speaking each other's languages. There was an emotional impact, true drama from experiencing the Shaman's sacrifice. The Shaman stayed behind and died in order to awaken Johnny, so Johnny could live. He told Johnny, "You have to go. There's something for you to do. I've seen it." Greg Stillson, perhaps?

Two new ideas were introduced here: (1) that there are other psychics as strong as Johnny, and (2) that psychics can connect through time if they touch the same object. The Shaman even had a head injury, which supported the idea that Johnny's visions had a physical cause.

Bits and pieces:

— Why did Johnny go looking for the site alone, without Bruce?

— Beautiful scenery. Gorgeous location shots.

— Johnny's gift came in pretty handy just from a survival standpoint; seeing his own death from exposure, and knowing where the kid had thrown the lighter.

— I kept worrying that Adam Beach's hanging costume and hair would catch fire.

— The vision of the meteor and the rocks in the air before they hit the people was really striking. No pun intended.

— The postcard had a symbol of Johnny and his cane along with the deer. That was cool.

Two out of four stars,

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

5 comments:

  1. This episode moved me considerably.

    Particularly, this was the first time I noticed the prominence of what you call the "'Dead Zone' mantra."

    "There's still time."

    Whenever Michael Hall says that phrase... man, I believe him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I will just refer to Billie's 5th Rule of Television and move on.

    ReplyDelete
  3. bruce and johnny were out on a drive and johnny found his way or rather fell into a mountain area where he saw a indian shaman. why didn't bruce go with johnny when he was climbing that mountain. how sarah was comforting jj was a mother's love.walt and bruce were all searching for johnny as he was stuck inside the cave lying there. loved the scenery and locations were beautiful around the area.

    ReplyDelete
  4. johnny and bruce are out for a drive in the mountains when bruce fills the car up for gas while johnny pays the guy sitting out front when johnny gets a vision of a meteor hitting a mountain and he goes to talk to a meteorologist who says she can't see the meteor but something is going to happen. johnny drives to the mountain and he goes off to find where it was when he takes a nasty fall down the cliff where he sees a cave where a indian shaman that was around six hundred years ago as he disappears and he's the only one that can see johnny. johnny is hurt and cold when he builds a fire in front of him before bruce and walt try to track him down and find where he is. the shaman had a head injury where he saw johnny in his coma and in his accident before he died so that johnny would wake up before walt found him in the cave and got him to a hospital.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Amazing eposide. Love this one. Very well woven together and always loved Adam Beach

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.