Sarah: "First I lose you, and then I lose Walt. I must have banked up some really lousy karma."They weren't kidding when they advertised that everything would change. I was ready for some change. Maybe not this much, though.
Sarah has again lost her man while pregnant with his child. That last scene in particular, where the dying Walt was saying goodbye to Sarah, knowing that Johnny would see it and relay it to her, was quite moving. It was so like Walt to be thinking of Sarah and J.J. in his last moments. It was unspoken, but in saying his final words and knowing Johnny would most likely see them, Walt was saying goodbye to Johnny as well.
They didn't really explain why the death thing shifted from Walt to Purdy and back again. Was Walt destined to die no matter what? Would he only have lived if Purdy had died instead? At least they were consistent: Johnny didn't get a vision of Walt dying the third time because Johnny himself sent Walt to Faith Heritage to save Purdy. Johnny caused Walt's death. This is not something that Johnny is going to find easy to live with.
Is the Stillson arc over? Has Armageddon been successfully averted now that Janus is dead? I also got the feeling that Greg Stillson joined the conspiracy in order to stop it. He told Johnny, "I'm not the man you think I am." And Johnny touched him and got a whole new vision that did not include the end of the world. Greg Stillson causing Armageddon and Johnny trying to find a way to stop him was the main plot of the original Stephen King novel. I must admit I'm perturbed by the possibility that, hey, it's all over and the series is going in a whole new direction.
What bothered me even more than the end of the Stillson arc was the possibility that they wrote Bruce out. Is Bruce really leaving to take another job? Please, no. I'm okay with losing Walt; his death was dramatically sound and opened some interesting plot-related doors. But Johnny's friendship with Bruce is one of the things that really works on this show. Dammit.
Bits and pieces:
— No saga sell, and a two-second credit sequence. That was new. Since we just lost at least one cast member, there will probably be a new credit sequence next week. Maybe they'll get rid of that terrible music. One can hope.
— There was also a new J.J. This was the third kid to play J.J., and I found it jarring, especially with Walt's funeral and all. Was little Spencer unavailable? Was it the move away from Vancouver?
— Sarah said that J.J. didn't have a father any more. She said it to J.J.'s biological father, Johnny. That was hurtful, Sarah. What was she thinking?
— Did I detect some re-kindling of Greg's former interest in Sarah, despite the bowling ball?
— What did Walt find out about Johnny from the woman on the park bench?
— In the season opener hair report, Sarah's was longer than it has ever been on this show. Bruce's hair moved from his head to his chin; I liked better on his head. Johnny's was much the same, which was good because it's his best look, in my opinion. No more pompadours, please.
This was a big episode, and Walt's death made me cry. Episodes that make me cry get four out of four stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
a very sad episode that this was. i was not expecting to see walt die and johnny not telling sarah anything. sarah was very pregnant and still being charmed by stillson. a teary eyed episode for this one.
ReplyDelete"Sarah said that J.J. didn't have a father any more. She said it to J.J.'s biological father, Johnny. That was hurtful, Sarah. What was she thinking?"
ReplyDeleteWe all know that all 4 of them considered Walt JJ's real father, for lack of the right term. While Johnny is the biological father and has a father-like relationship with JJ, it's not the true parental relationship Walt has/had. I think Johnny was truly trying to help JJ as a parent/ friend doing what his best friend Walt would have done. While it did hurt Johnny the way Sarah railed at him with the not his father thing, we have seen in the past that it didn't bother Johnny that JJ saw Walt as his father; like in Into the Heart of Darkness. I think Johnny believed JJ could have two father's which was clearly accepted by Walt in these later season. Poor Sarah with the kids, loosing her men, and trying to navigate the emotional rollercoaster of loving both men.
I posted a couple comments Anonymous before I realized there could be an up side to sharing my name.
ReplyDeleteABorth -- lol. Yes, I tend to respond to comments more often if someone posts their name. (I *always* respond to questions, though, even if they're posted by Anonymous.:)
ReplyDeletewalt and sarah were picking out baby names while having breakfast with johnny then jj said they should name the baby gretsky bannerman. walt leaving for the fair downtown with jj in which jj is playing on stage with his kid band and sarah's disappointed that he doesn't spend any time with her like they used to. johnny sees this all along in his vision that walt's going to die that he can't tell them what he saw. purdy had a fight with janus that led to some candles being knocked over and setting the whole church on fire before walt comes in and tries to get him out but walt is killed instead. johnny tells bruce he can't tell sarah about walt's death and walt tried to save purdy but it took his life. sarah shows johnny the wedding ring before johnny touches and get a vision of walt dying in the fire and says he loves sarah adn always has.
ReplyDeleteThe season that changed everything indeed. The episode starts with Johny predicting Walt’s death (it’s not the first time he had similar visions about his closed ones) but the difference here is that it actually happens. I found the first half of the episode pretty good with Johny trying to prevent his vision from coming true. But then, Johny gets another vision where Purdy dies. In fact it is all related to Purdy as he suddenly decided that it was time for him and Janus to end their collaboration. Obviously, Janus gets upset and slaps Purdy who pushes him, accidentally killing him as he gets impaled by a candlestick. Then Walt tries to rescue him as a fire breaks out, and well you know the rest. I can’t hide my discontentment here, I saw so much promise in Janus, the guy was such a mystery throughout the 4th and 5th seasons, why on earth killing him in the very season premiere and especially following his last encounter with Johny? 😖 The rest of the episode focuses on the characters grieving the loss of Walt. Purdy decides to leave as he feels responsible for the death of these 2 men, Bruce got a job offer and decides to leave after surprise, there’s no more Armageddon when Johny touches Stillson, so was Janus the one who somehow caused it and now that he’s gone it will never happen? Also, JJ is played by a new actor who handles things well considering it’s no easy to replace an actor and play his role, I still think little Spencer looked more like Johny. The death of Walt could’ve been made a bit sadder, I didn’t feel that sad even though I liked the character. Sarah says at some point that JJ doesn’t have a father anymore right in front of Johny, that was so rude and uncalled for, surely Walt would’ve wanted Sarah to be happy and would’ve entrusted Johny to take care of the family for him, I guess the mourning phase mixed with pregnancy don’t do so well. That episode was okay, I still dislike the fact that Janus is dead and that Armageddon won’t happen as well as the fact that Bruce is leaving. 5/10
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