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The Dead Zone: The Man Who Never Was

Johnny: "It's a shame when you got to look forward to groceries being delivered to get a little company."

In spite of a superior and ultra creepy opener, I was disappointed with this one when it turned out to be heartwarming instead. Not that there's anything wrong with heartwarming... it just wasn't what I expected.

Good casting, though, with Robert Culp playing the sequestered former spy living out his life under house arrest. (For those of you who don't know, Culp played a dashing CIA agent posing as a tennis pro in the groundbreaking sixties series, I Spy.)

The best parts of this episode were Johnny misdirecting the car bug, touching "Alma" to find out where Grissom was, and the whole bit with Johnny's clever use of the press. Although didn't he just piss a whole lot of reporters off, now? And speaking of O.J., Jimmy Hoffa, and Amelia Earhart, couldn't Johnny actually answer a lot of those questions? I know I'd be dying to know if Lizzie Borden actually did it, wouldn't you?

Come to think of it, Johnny also just pissed off some government agents. One new bit of info we got was that the government uses psychics. Probably a set up for a future episode?

The little girl who was part of the deception was a weak point in the script, even though Johnny did say, "That tadpole may need some therapy down the road." But it seemed improbable that government agents would put a small child into a situation like that, and I was uncomfortable with Johnny being so nasty to her. Also, wouldn't it be a lot easier to have a rest home with guards and bars for agents like Grissom? Sort of like the Village in The Prisoner, perhaps?

Bits and pieces:

— I liked Bruce saying that he dances with the gal he came with. As a health care worker, he wasn't blindly believing everything Johnny said, but he supported him anyway. That's a real friend.

— Hurray for continuity. The guy at the beginning talking about Johnny was the same one in the jury episode last year who had a supernatural website.

— The vision of Johnny's house being searched was downright creepy, especially since they saw his Stillson thing in the basement.

— Another issue of the "Weekly." The only headline I could see was, "Johnny Sees Elvis Secret Past." :)

Quotes:

Dr. Gibson: "How's your sex life?"
Johnny: "Is that a medical question or do you have tickets to the symphony?"
I do like that Johnny has a doctor who knows about his talents, and believes that they're real. This also happened in the original novel.

Grissom: "If it will help, I can tell you what happened to Amelia Earhart."

Kid: "Mommy! Mommy! The man's touching our house!"

Walt: (to Sarah) "I liked him better when he was calling you instead of me."

Two out of four stars,

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

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