By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
With the season now marching towards a conclusion, it’s time for some of the plot threads to start coming together. The most recent episodes have represented an important turn in the relationship between Sarah and Johnny, and as expected, what seemed like a foregone conclusion at the end of “Numb” has turned into a lost opportunity for happiness.
Johnny’s decision not to tell Sarah about his vision of Walt’s death (or, in fact, his attempts to save Walt and change his friend’s fate) has indeed come back to haunt him. The thrust of this episode is the revelation of this information. Without proper setup earlier in the season, the pieces couldn’t have fallen into place in the current tragic configuration, and that planning is the strength of the season thus far.
Johnny had to have the opportunity to open up with Sheriff Turner; that was the purpose of “Interred”. Similarly, “Numb” (and to a lesser extent, “Outcome”) brought Johnny and Sarah closer together, so Johnny would have to face his own doubts and guilt about Walt. Other episodes provided the context for Sheriff Turner’s conflict in this episode regarding Walt and his secrets. While one could quibble about the consistency of the writing from week to week, it’s clear that the new writing staff is making an effort to connect the dots.
As if to illustrate the point about the stand-alone elements of this season’s episodes, this installment reaches high but slightly misses the mark. All things being equal, this would have made for an interesting Rev. Purdy episode. Without the past history with Johnny, however, the exploration of faith and belief doesn’t quite ring true. Also, had Purdy been involved, his decision to keep Father Tony’s “exorcism” secret would have carried more weight.
That said, it’s interesting to see Johnny’s own perspective on his visions. Given the past six years of his life, it could be a case of protesting too much. While there’s an apparent genetic and scientific component to his visions, there’s also an apparent purpose. Science can explain how the visions happen, but the question of why is still open to interpretation.
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