Authors: Hans-Ake Lilja
Lilja’s final words about
The Dead Zone
- The Original Pilot
If you get a chance to see this one I think you should take it. It gives you an interesting look into the series’ development and you get to see how other actors and actresses portrayed the characters you have gotten used to. Just don’t expect to get another story here. The story is entirely the same as the pilot that aired on TV.
****
The Dead Zone - Season 3
Posted: October 20, 2004
I have just finished the third season of
The Dead Zone
and let me tell you right off—this series just gets better and better. I almost didn’t think it would after season two, but it did. Season three is the best one so far and I’m really happy that it’s returning for a fourth season.
Season three has twelve episodes and all are really good. Some are a bit better than the rest though. My favorites are episodes nine (
Cycle of Violence
), eleven (
Shadows
) and Twelve (
Tipping Point
). None of the others are bad though.
So, let’s take a look at all of the episodes…
In episodes one and two (
Finding Rachel
, parts one and two) we get introduced to the character Rebecca Caldwell (played by Sarah Wynter from
24
). Johnny tries to help her find out what happened to her sister, Rachel. Something that he is still doing in episode twelve…
We also get to learn more about the Armageddon and Stillson. Personally, these Armageddon episodes are my favorites. I also really like the character of Stillson (played by Sean Patrick Flanery). He really does a great job in portraying the sleazy Stillson. Unfortunately for Johnny, his obsession with Stillson gets revealed and he himself becomes a suspect in the disappearance of Rachel.
In episode three (
Collision
) Johnny relives his accident some years earlier, but this time there is a little girl present in the visions. Throughout the vision of his own accident he has to save this little girl before it’s too late. In this episode we also get the understanding that there is something going on between Johnny and Rebecca.
In episode four (
The Cold Hard Truth
) J.J. finally gets to know what we have all known from the beginning—that Johnny is his real father. Now he and Johnny have to try to build a relationship as a father and son, as well as keep Walt in the picture—not an easy task.
In episode five (
Total Awareness
) we get to see a kind of Big Brother-inspired show in which Johnny helps another psychic escape from government people. What this episode mainly does though, behind the story, is to give Johnny a chance to be a father to J.J.
In episode six (
No Questions Asked
) we get to see a bit of Walt’s background and something that happened to him in the past. It includes two of his childhood friends and a shooting. Walt really doesn’t want Johnny’s help, but when Johnny refuses to leave him alone he agrees to let him help…but only if he doesn’t ask any questions about what he sees about Walt’s past…
In episode seven (
Looking Glass
) we, for the first time, get to see someone fooling Johnny into having a vision. A pair of twins makes Johnny have visions of them committing a murder they really aren’t doing…or are they…
Episode eight (
Speak Now
) is all about Johnny and Sarah’s past, even if it doesn’t look like it from the beginning. The two are at a wedding rehearsal when Johnny sees himself stopping the wedding. (He doesn’t know why he is doing it though.) As it turns out, the bride’s “love of her life,” whom she thought was dead, really isn’t, and the question now is, does he tell her so she can wait or should he keep his mouth shut and let her be happy now? See the connection to Johnny and Sarah? On a fun side note, Johnny also sees Bruce’s future marriage and drives Bruce nuts with it.
Episode nine (
Cycle of Violence
) is one of season three’s best episodes. While at a performance by J.J. at his school, Johnny gets a vision of a shooting. While trying to find out who the shooter is the school becomes a fort with guards at every door. It’s making the students really frustrated and angry. I won’t reveal the twist on this one. You should see for yourself, but I really liked it. As I said, one of the season’s best episodes.
In episode ten (
Instinct
) we once again get to see Johnny’s visions of the end of the world. One thing is different here though: this one might be caused by something other than Stillson…if it’s the end of the world at all.
Episode eleven (
Shadows
) is among the best episodes in this season. Here Johnny gets a vision of himself killing another man. He doesn’t know why or even who the other man is. What happens is that Johnny gets visions of what happened in reverse order. Starting with the fact that he kills someone and ending with the reason why he is killing. The only problem is…will he be able to change history before it’s too late?
The season finale (
Tipping Point
) is a really good episode. A lot happens in this one. Johnny’s headaches and blackouts are getting worse and he is considering brain surgery to remove his dead zone—his powers, in other words. That alone is enough to scare fans of the series. Besides that, Rebecca shows a darker side. During hypnosis she tells Johnny that all he will be able to see if he gets a vision from her is that she is planning a surprise party for him…and it works very well.
Lilja’s final words about
The Dead Zone
- Season 3
The third season is probably the best one so far. It ends with a cliffhanger that makes you scream for more. If the show had been canceled after season three it would have caused an uproar with the fans, that’s for sure.
I’m not sure when this one will be out on DVD, but once it is, go get it!
****
The Dead Zone - Season 3 (DVD)
Posted: June 8, 2005
Yesterday the third season of
The Dead Zone
was released on DVD. I have already reviewed the season when it aired on TV, and you can read that review elsewhere in the book. In this review I’ll concentrate on the DVD box, and primarily on the extra material in it.
For starters, we get commentaries on all twelve episodes and as you’ll know by now, if you keep reading my reviews, I have come to like the commentaries on the DVDs very much. It gives the movie, or in this case the episode, an extra dimension. You get a sneak peak at what the filmmakers thought when they shot the episode and how it all happened. Nice.
There are also three documentaries in the box. In the first one we get to see how the filmmakers made the leap to HD from 35mm film. I’m no film expert, but HD is a way of shooting the episodes. In the second one we get to follow two pretty eccentric brothers who are in charge of feeding the entire crew of
The Dead Zone
. It’s amazing how much food they eat. It’s quite interesting to see. The third and last one feels a bit unnecessary though. Here, we get to see how actor Chris Bruno stays in shape by exercising. It feels more like a home movie than something that should be included here.
Two really funny things in the box are the gag reel and the deleted scenes. The gag reel is a collection of scenes where the actors and actresses mess up. It could be they forgot their lines or that they started laughing. It’s really fun to see. The deleted scenes are a must. I love to see what didn’t make it, and here they do it in a really smart way. They have added a short section before and after the deleted scene so that you know where in the episode you are. These parts are in black-and-white and then the deleted scene is in color. Really well done.
There is also a short movie called
Five Minutes ’Til Mitch
that is written and directed by John L. Adams. This little movie has nothing to do with
The Dead Zone
and makes a pretty weak impression.
Lilja’s final words about
The Dead Zone
- Season 3 (DVD)
Season three is the best season so far, and if you like
The Dead Zone
you need to go get this one right away…and if you don’t like
The Dead Zone
you will after you have seen this DVD box.
****
The Dead Zone - Season 4
Posted: October 14, 2005
So, season four of
The Dead Zone
is over. This one had eleven episodes and is the shortest season yet. There will, however, be one more episode: a Christmas special that airs in November.
Season four is a bit slower than the previous three seasons. Personally, I think it’s because the episodes are pretty standalone and aren’t really connected to the big Armageddon issue that I personally like so much. Don’t get me wrong, Armageddon is present in season four, but not as much as I would like. Even so,
The Dead Zone
is still one of the best shows on TV.
As usual, I’m going to take a closer look at each episode and let you know what I think about them. My personal favorites this season are episode eight (
Vanguard
) and eleven (
Saved
), but let’s not get ahead of ourselves…
In episode one (
Broken Circle
) we get to see the conclusion from last season when Rebecca set out to kill Stillson. This all gets concluded here, and it actually feels more like this episode should be in season three than in season four, but it’s a great way of connecting the seasons. Stillson once again shows what he is capable of doing and we get to meet a new stranger…a stranger who actually saves both Reverend Purdy and Stillson…
Johnny also throws away his cane, so he won’t have the visions of himself from the future anymore.
In episode two (
The Collector
) we get to meet a really creepy man. He has kidnapped a woman who he then tries to turn into the perfect woman. Johnny sets out to rescue her, but things get complicated by another woman who used to be in the kidnapper’s care…and now she wants him back.
In episode three (
Double Vision
) Johnny meets another psychic, and love is in the air. They meet when they are both on their way to stop a sniper from killing a doctor. Johnny then sees her in his visions and to his shock the woman also sees him. They are sharing the same vision; they are both in it and seeing it at the same time. Very complicated, but definitely an interesting twist on things.
In episode four (
Still Life
) a painter’s daughter is missing and Johnny, who gets a painting with the daughter on it delivered to his door, starts to investigate. As it turns out the missing daughter isn’t the painter’s daughter after all—she is a stand-in for his real daughter, who isn’t who we think it is…
In this episode there is also a little connection to King. At one point Bruce says, “This the part when you start saying ‘Redrum’?”
In episode five (
Heroes and Demons
) a cop is framed and sentenced to death for a murder he didn’t commit. His autistic son tries to help him get cleared from the charges through Johnny. A very interesting twist.
Here we also get a nod to King’s work when a person is called Mr. Cujo.
In episode six (
Last Goodbye
) Johnny and Sarah go off looking for a rock star who is supposed to be dead. Now his son is a rock star as well, but always gets compared to his dead father…something that is very hard on him. His father died when his car went off a cliff and the son is heading for the same destiny…until Johnny finds out that the father might not be dead after all…
In episode seven (
Grains of Sand
) Johnny and Bruce save a baby from drowning when the car his mother is driving goes down in the river. Johnny tries to find the baby’s father, but after finding out he is an illegal immigrant from Mexico he doesn’t dare turn the baby over to the authorities. (He sees a future full of misery for the baby boy if he does that.) Johnny instead starts to think about how it would be to become a father again…