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Sunday, 12 August 2007 |
By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
Much like the episode of “The 4400” that aired on the same night, this was a “bottle show”. Nearly everything in the episode took place within the confines of the train station at the heart of the story, centering on multiple iterations of a single vision. This is the second such episode in a row, but in an odd way, it works. It serves as a capable follow-up to the previous installment, which brought the relationship between Johnny and Sarah to an interesting place.
Instead of stepping right past the issues and settling into a relationship for the two characters, the writers keep things nebulous. Johnny isn’t sure where things stand, even after Sarah’s apparent declaration of intent, and his past history is at the forefront of his mind. Without getting into the subject too deeply, especially without Sarah in the episode, the writers touch on the delicate emotional matters that stand in the way.
The previous installment set up the case for setting aside the roadblocks. Past episodes have shown that Walt’s death has a tendency to drive Johnny and Sarah back together, if Johnny’s visions are taken as accurate. This episode, coming sometime well after the infamous kiss, gives us a better look at Johnny’s concerns. This could be setting up a situation where Johnny, wanting to prevent a disaster, sets himself up for heartache by waiting too long. That’s actually a minor part of the episode, but it does alleviate some of the concern that Johnny and Sarah are moving too quickly after Walt’s death.
Most of the episode is another look at Johnny’s psychological issues, which is typically the side effect of a “bottle show” in the first place. Walt’s death and the subsequent introduction of Sheriff Turner has highlighted Johnny’s tendency to take action without anyone else’s consent, as though he has the right to act because he has the visions. This episode reinforces a related issue: Johnny can become so focused on the big picture that he doesn’t see how his actions can make things better on the small scale.
This could be an effect of Bruce’s departure earlier this season. Bruce was there to remind Johnny that it wasn’t all about preventing Armageddon; it was about changing things for the better one day at a time. Without Bruce, is Johnny beginning to lose that perspective again? On the other hand, Johnny is practically impulsive when it comes to helping others, so perhaps it’s a matter of Johnny’s perception.
Whatever the case, most of this episode is a string of smaller moments, all of which get better because of Johnny’s intervention, linked to an impending disaster that Johnny himself might cause. That chain of events is the highlight of the episode; the relationships at play last just long enough to stay interesting without being overextended. The conversations about Sarah keep this episode from being completely stand-alone, tying it to the larger season arc, which at this point, could have been a point of contention. All in all, a solid episode for the middle of the season.
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