Here's the second half of my TV Round-Up for the day. Enjoy!
The 4400: CarrierThis week, we meet returnee Jean DeeLynn Baker, whose apparent ability is creating a harmful virus that can kill you even through a bio-hazard suit. Yeah, I'm not really getting what her ripple effect was because her virus kills indiscriminently. If there's been some pattern and maybe it was some type of attempt to weed out certain types of individuals who won't be useful in the future (such as, let's say, Florida fans), then I could see it. But honestly, I don't get it other than to have Tom and Diana have someone to chase across the country. Meanwhile, Maia's aunt has apparently caught a repeat of
Back to the Future, Part 2 on USA and thinks--hey, the kid can help me make money by giving the outcome of games before they happen and I can use this to place a few bets. Ummm, cute idea, but have we had any evidence that Maia's visions can be this specifically targeted? Or that she has this kind of control over them? And if she can do this, why not go ahead and tell us how the Titans are gonna do this year, cause I'm dying to know. And then Shawn thinks about giving up the center as news of his healing ability gets out and instead sets up a foundation at Lilli's request. Now, I am all for Shawn having to deal with the consequences of displaying his healing ability publically, but his tantrum and being overwhelmed by requests to heal everyone was not the way I'd hoped they'd go with this. The question of who should he heal is a good one and I really hope they explore it in the upcoming episodes.
The interesting plot thread in this one comes from the Tom and Alana plotline. I loved seeing Kyle's reaction to everything--oh, so you had an entire eight-year relationship in 10 seconds and I'm just supposed to accept this. Also, the idea that Tom was prouder of the alternate Kyle was a nicely done little moment in the show. Seeing Alana connect with Kyle was nicely done and I like how they're integrating the events of last week into the overall arc storyline of the show.
The Dead Zone: The Last GoodbyeI kept wanting to like this episode more than I did. But, alas, it feel firmly into the down nature of what has been, so far, an up and down year for
The Dead Zone.
Part of it is that while it tweaks the convention of Johnny solves the murder of the week plotline, it didn't really do anything new or exciting with it. I mean, I guessed early on that our rock star hero had faked his own death and while I didn't guess why, the solution to the crime didn't exactly thrill me. Turns out that rock hero was planning on settling down and walking away from the rock star lifestyle and his fellow song-writer couldn't handle it. Why? Cause the rock star was loyal to his lifelong buddy and was putting his name on songs to help ensure he got some of the benefits of the success. So, the buddy kills the girl and rocker fakes his own death. Of course, they do say one part of being a great rock star is knowing when to die and maybe that was part of it. But I find it hard to believe that no one ever went looking for the guy before now. I mean, we hear of Elvis alive and working at a gas station in Tupelo every few weeks, so why the Enquirer wasn't hunting down this guy I'm not quite too sure.
Anyway, back to the story. Johnny and Sarah go on this quest to find said rocker. Which as I think about it, wasn't part of the point of last year that due to Purdy's being in bed with Stillson (not literally, mind you) that the trust fund was running out? So how is it that Johnny has all this free time to do this when he probably should be looking for a job? Again, these are details that maybe were addressed and I've missed them in the transition or they've slipped my mind in the long interim between seasons...
Overall, an episode that definitely was not all that it could have or should have been. Put this one firmly in the miss category for season four.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 7/28/2005 02:18:00 PM |
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