Journeyman: Emily

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 10PM ON NBC

I'm really sorry that I have to do this but I am beyond annoyed at this show. There's a lot going on and with Dan constantly travelling to the past I'm sure it has got to be hard keep everything straight given all the implications of his actions in the past. Except if you want to be a successful television show then you MUST keep everything straight and consistent. So how in the world do the writers think I wouldn't notice the fact that although the stolen money was left in the past the FBI is not only still interested in Dan in the present but they're still looking for the stolen money? What's even more ridiculous is that in the same episode that they drop they ball on this, they make it even worse. Throughout the episode Jack started to come around to Dan's rhetoric on time travelling after he fed him more and more information on a kidnapper that had never been caught. But when Dan went after him in the past and caused his arrest, Jack forgot everything and time changed to the way it was before Dan said anything to him. Now, if this changed then how could the issues with the FBI not change?! He left the money in the past! If they're this interested in it then I'm sure they would have come across the bills in circulation or even at the crime scene where he left it. Then clearly they would have no reason to suspect him in the future. Let's not forget that Dan's tip to Hugh in the past about the kidnapper should have had a big effect on his future position in life (possibly giving him greater opportunities for advancement) and yet when Dan went back to the present Hugh was still the same. I'm so incredibly angered by this that I actually considered not watching the show anymore. I think I'll continue to watch but another huge mistake like this and I can't see myself hanging around anymore.

Speaking of the kidnapper, I was actually pretty impressed with the creativity and action of the time travel story line this episode. Dan finally rebelled against his intended job (although only slightly since he still helped the girl anyway) and went after the child kidnapper despite Livia's warnings. Apparently, if you stray from the intended path and change something in the past then there will be dire consequences in the future. For Dan, they are pretty extreme. His failure to listen to Livia resulted in the arrest of the kidnapper, which is all well and good except for the fact that he was released from prison six years later. Not only did he come out with an intense vendetta to pursue against Dan but he's meaner and stronger than when he went in. Jail seems to have turned him into a hardened criminal and he's targeted both Dan and his family now for revenge. Next week should be interesting as Dan finally learns the consequences of straying from his path.

I think it's interesting to watch Katie's reactions to everything. Her frustration finally boiled over this week when she threw a mug at the wall after Dan disappeared during their conversation. Who could blame her though? She loses her husband randomly and for unknown periods of time, her son is beginning to lash out at others, and there's absolutely nothing they can do to fix it. But I don't think blaming Dan is going to help either. It's not like he asked for this or knows how to fix it or who to talk to about it. It's totally out of his control. He's pursuing the only lead he has in Dr. Langley but he's not giving him much to go on at all. At least she finally admitted to Zack what Dan is doing seems to be very important. The truth is that although we don't know yet why this is happening he appears to be doing good things and so you have to believe it's important for him to keep pursuing it.

My frustration aside, this was a pretty good episode. Unfortunately, the word out is that "Journeyman" may not be around past the end of the episodes filmed before the writer's strike. I hope this isn't true and NBC decides to give it another chance when the strike is over. Anyway, I'll still watch even though I'm angry. Until next week, enjoy the review!

Journeyman: Winterland

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 10PM ON NBC

Amazing! Livia lives in the past!!! To be clear she actually lives in 1948. Apparently, she began time travelling to the future in order to complete tasks in the same manner as Dan. Until one day when she travelled to the 80's and never went back. She has no idea why but since she was stuck in the future she began to live her life and take advantage of all the opportunities available to a woman in the 80's that wasn't available in the 40's. So, she went to law school! Too funny; you have anything in the world you want to do and you go to law school. That aside, as we all know, she ends up with Dan later on but eventually she was sent back to 1948. Why? We don't know that much yet but it's amazing to know this much now. It makes a lot of sense considering everything but it also opens up a host of new questions. For instance, how can she travel forward in time but Dan only back in time? Is this whole time travel thing only happened to them? Is there a purpose to that?

Keeping these questions in mind for the future, I love this new twist. Although I think it pretty much sets aside the idea that Dan and Livia will ever get back together one day. As she said herself, they were doomed from the beginning and never meant to be together. The two of them tonight got to meet up on the 70's at a key party. I know a lot of crazy things happened back then but a key party?! Really? That's cheesy and kind of weird. I'd hate to be the daughter who saw her mother having sex with the complete stranger. I totally understand how she was messed up after that; wouldn't any of us be? I can barely stand the thought that my parents had sex at least the one time before I was born let alone think about either of them having sex with strangers while still married. The challenge for Dan and Livia during this episode was decent; not the best of the season but definitely not the worst. I like when there's some action and excitement to his time travelling rather than just detective work. The best line of the night took place when Dan got home and told Katie about his trip back to t he 70's:

Katie: "I love that you went to a wife swapping party and it was Nixon that turned you on." (referring to the Nixon speech denying his involvement in Watergate that was on the tv at the party)

Speaking of Katie, she and Dan seem to be doing a little better. They had a nice little love session and they also appear to be supporting each other more. She stood up for him against Jack whereas a few weeks ago she was going to Jack for help. I think their communication about everything is getting better which is helping them get through everything. Although by the end of the episode Katie broke down. Understandably so because Livia told Dan that through her own experience the trips begin getting longer over time. It's got to be very hard having your husband disappear randomly, for unknown periods, with no control over it and no way to even speak to him.

The marital stress probably isn't being helped by the FBI which has begun to force their way into the their lives thanks to Jack. So, how were they to deal with this problem? Well, it all leads back to the money so if they don't have the money then they can't be in trouble. That's a bit of a simplification but it's really what it all boils down to. Dan ended up leaving the money in the past so I believe this will be the end of the FBI involvement for now. How can it not be right? If the money was back in the past then it never could have come into Dan's possession and then no FBI. I'm really hoping this is the case because this story line has been pretty lame so far.

As for all the time travelling questions, Dr. Langley is definitely involved in everything. Why would he keep contacting Dan if he wasn't? Plus, when Dan disappeared right behind him he had a smirk on his face that clearly showed he knows more than he's letting on. It seems we're starting to get more and more information about him and I'm sure we'll be getting a big dose before long. I also think all the talk about Quartz Crystals as Dan travelled to the past may play a role in the answers we're looking for. They supposedly have the properties that could make time travel possible and with talk of them popping up all over I have to believe we're getting some hints here. What do you think? Anyone know some information about quartz that we don't know yet?

Anyway, this was yet another solid showing from "Journeyman." Hopefully the show will be back after the hiatus due to the writer's strike. I believe we only have two to three episodes left before they run out. I really hope the strike gets worked out soon so we don't lose our favorite shows, including this one, for too long. Until next week, enjoy the review!

Journeyman: Double Down

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 10PM ON NBC

This was probably the best episode of the season for "Journeyman." It was intense, exciting, interesting and more importantly we learned about the character's pasts. I always find televisions shows and especially drama's significantly better when the story line's are emotionally charged. Tonight was certainly that and more. As Dan travelled back in time to save the life of a key government witness from a gang, he ended up becoming part of the problem too. The gang found his press pass and decided to eliminate Dan as well. Except if they eliminated his past self or changed to much of the past events his entire future could be gone, possibly even his own life. So Dan also became the life he had to change when he went back.

This scenario gave the episode interesting twist; not only did we have the usual stuff but we had the chance to see what Dan was like after Livia died and how he and Katie got together. It was pretty innocent if you ask me, Dan nor Katie did anything out of the ordinary that would cause you to think they were out to hurt Jack or screw him over. They simply fell in love. It was nice to get some information on this back story. I've felt a bit lost over the first few episodes, like I was putting faith in a lot of unknowns without any payoff. Thankfully, we started getting some of that payoff. Despite, my questioning of the strength of their marriage I think Katie and Dan could survive just about anything. They've been through hell and made it through so why can't they make it through this?

By the way, it was a very cool scene when Dan was fighting his past self. He almost got his butt kicked by himself which I thought was interesting; but then again his present self ended up knocking out his past self so I guess he did anyway.

As for Livia, it was interesting to watch her confront the reality of Dan being married to Katie. I didn't think we'd ever see her go to the present but it was great. You could really see the pain on her face and at the same time the fact that she knew there would never be anything she could do about it. She still loves Dan and I think she always will but she chose her path (or it chose her, however you may view it) and there's no going back; or is there? I have a feeling this whole trip to the present may be a hint that it's possible Livia may end up encountering the present day Katie at some point. I think this would be amazing and will open up a massive can of worms for Dan. It would certainly stir things up just a bit.

Now, for Jack. Understandably he's a bit cautious when it comes to Dan given everything Dan has done in the past. But turning him in to the FBI? Is he really that petty and cruel? I was shocked that he so willingly gave his brother up because he was hurt that Katie and Dan left them out of their secret. It's extremely immature and traitorous. I'm actually a bit annoyed that we have the government intruding upon the story lines already. These type of issue are usually more annoying than interesting (take for instance the storyline from "House" or "Charmed'). I hope they find some quality way of moving this forward and if it were my choice I'd have them out of the show as fast as possible. In the meantime, Dan needs to find a way to mend fences with his brother before things get worse. He needs allies not enemies. I don't know exactly how he could prove the truth to Jack (he's considerably more skeptical than Katie) but he needs to find a way.

This was a great episode, probably the best of the season so far. I suggest you watch before our shows stop running due the strike. Maybe you'll get hooked and start watching when things start up again. Until next week, enjoy the review!

Journeyman: The Legend of Dylan McCleen

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 10PM ON NBC

Unfortunately for all of us "Journeyman" fans, our beloved new show isn't faring to well in the ratings despite excellent episodes the last few weeks. Monday was no exception; we had a great all around episode and another slip in the ratings. The only encouraging news is that the new ratings demonstrate that many viewers are recording "Journeyman" and watching it within 24 hours of the original airing. Whether this saves the show or not is still a question up in the air but for my part I hope the show is given a chance before it gets the customary quick axe from NBC.

Last night, Dan travelled back in time to help Dylan McCleen complete what he set out to do. At first, it appeared Dylan was a robber and criminal who formerly served in the U.S. Marines. It turns out he did serve but he was stealing money and engaging in criminal activity for an important reason. While serving overseas in Malaysia, a local family saved his life and kept him safe. He vowed that he would find a way to get that family into America but it would cost a lot of money to do that. This led to his robbing a plane that was carrying a very large amount of money. This is where Dan comes in. He had to help Dylan find the father of the family who he was able to get into America but then lost contact with and then help him to get the rest of the family. As usual Dan was able to do this but not without the regular bumps in the road along the way.

Lucky for Dan, Dylan was very generous. Apparently, he only needed a small portion of the money to get the family to America and gave Dan the rest as a thank you. How is this good for Dan (besides the obvious)? He mentioned earlier in the episode that he wasn't able to buy old currency because it was too expensive and this was affecting his ability to accomplish his goals when he traveled back. Now he won't have that problem for a very long time. Plus he was able to use some of it to buy 49ers tickets for his son, Zack, to make up for missing the game they were supposed to go to.

Speaking of Zack, he's the first person to actually see Dan travel back in time. This was huge and I have to believe it's going to have serious repercussions down the road. How could he be the first to see and not have a bigger role to play from now on? Maybe he has something to do with the reason it's all happening or maybe he's supposed to take over for his father when he gets older. We may get a better idea what role he's going to play in all this as we see more episodes but for now all we can really do is speculate about what this could mean.

Dr. Langley also made a visit tonight and claims that maybe he was trying to call Dan's father when Dan's phone rang in 1988. Still, this makes no sense. Even if he was trying to call Dan's father why would Dan's cell phone ring? He's definitely hiding something and Dan should follow up on it rather than take this man's posturing at face value. It was really cool watching Dan meet his father. Wouldn't you like to be able to live moments by traveling back in the past that you never got to live before? I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of his father on the trips but for now I think this was good for Dan. It reminded him how bad of a father his dad was and it was a kick in the butt to start working harder to be there for his own family.

Lastly, Livia needs to start dropping some more information. It's really starting to get annoying that she knows a lot but refuses to let anything slip. Give us at least a little something to go on here. The one thing that's bugging me about Livia has a lot less to do with her and a lot more to do with Dan. Why has Dan not told Katie that Livia never died? Katie is under the impression that the only Livia he sees is the past-Livia not the I-Never-Died Livia. Granted Dan said that she does what he does but I don't know if Katie really understands what this all means. If she knows its the actual present day Livia, just traveling back then too she might be a bit more angry.

Keep watching and get your friends into it too. We don't want to have to start a letter writing campaign to NBC begging to save the show. It'll be much easier if we all just watch. The show is definitely increasing the quality of writing as well as the acting and is consistently bringing us good storylines now. My recommendation is too keep watching or start watching if you haven't tried it yet. Until next week, enjoy the review.

Journeyman: The Year of the Rabbit

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 10PM ON NBC

This was a big night for Dan and Katie. As I predicted last week the two of them were going to have some serious bumps in the road now that Katie knows Dan has seen Livia on his trips back in time. Tonight showed just how bumpy it's going to get. Dan had to go back in time to save a woman from being killed over some embezzling in her Internet start-up business. Unfortunately, this was a big night for Katie as she was throwing a massive black tie affair she had been planning for a very long time. Needless to say, Dan's constant disappearances in addition to his meeting Livia did not go over well.

Understandably Katie is having a very hard time with Dan's travelling. He disappears at random times, comes back days later sometimes, and now he's seeing his ex-fiance. My problem with all this is that Katie is mad at him for something totally out of his control. Obviously he shouldn't have lied to her but throughout tonight's episode she got increasingly agitated at the circumstances, all of which are completely out of Dan's control. If he had started this whole thing or had any power to stop it then clearly she would have every right to be angry at him; but he didn't and he doesn't so I don't see why she should be this angry at him.

The worst part of all this is that Katie is leaning on Jack. This is something I'll never understand. Granted Dan and her are having problems but it hasn't been going on that long and yet she's already leaning on her ex. Her comment that she wanted him to ask her to dance at the event was over the line. Saying no was the right thing to do but then by saying that it's just as bad as if she had danced with him. Especially since none of this is Dan's fault there is no reason under the sun why she should be thinking of another man. We still don't know how or why Jack and Katie broke up and how she ended up with Dan but what Jack is doing now is wrong. He is clearly making it known that he wants her back and doing that with a clear mind and thought out is the worst thing he could do to a brother.

At least now Katie knows that Dan sees Livia every time he goes back and that she travels too. I don't think she knows that it means she never died in the plane crash or not. It would be interesting to see the two of them have a conversation in the present. Maybe Katie could work out her fears and she and Dan could move on from all the angst.

The biggest question of the night is about how the travelling is occurring. In the present, Dan made a call to Elliot Langly about tacions; apparently these are particles that might be involved in time travel and Elliot is an expert that may know about them. The weird part is that the return phone call Dan received was on his old cell phone from the early 1990's AND he got the call when he was IN 1998!!! There's no way this guy is not somehow involved in everything that's happening. At the very least he knows who or what is controlling it and he's associated with it all somehow. There's no way he can't be if his present day phone call reached Dan back in 1998. The details about Elliott are still eluding us but hopefully next week we'll get some more information.

I do want to point out that it was great seeing another appearance from our old friend Geoffrey Owens, Elvin from "The Cosby Show." He seems to be everywhere lately. We saw him show up in the season premiere of "Las Vegas" a few weeks back and if you saw "Boston Legal" last week he also made an appearance in one of the trials.

This was another great episode from "Journeyman" but unfortunately the ratings are still on the low end. One bit of encouraging news is that the new ratings systems placed "Journeyman" in the top ten DVR viewed shows within 24 hours of the original airing. Maybe this will save the show for a little while longer; NBC did announce their order of four more scripts.

Journeyman: Game Three

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 10PM ON NBC

Welcome back to the show that's about to be cancelled. Unfortunately, after looking through the ratings the past couple weeks (which have slowly declined since the pilot) and the fact that we are talking about a show on NBC (known to give the axe to decent shows without giving them a chance), my intuition is telling me that "Journeyman" may not be around too much longer unless something changes. So I beg each and every one of you who reads this review to please at least give the show a chance. I won't mess with you and pretend this is the best show on tv, but it certainly is very far from the worst. If you watched this week's episode I'm sure you'll agree.

One of the big stories this season has been that Dan used to be engaged to Livia until one day her plane crashed and her body was never found. At some point after her death Dan started to become very close to his brother's wife, Kattie. His brother apparently made some very serious mistakes at that time and today Katie and Dan are happily married for seven years with a son. It turns out that Livia didn't actually die in the plane crash. Before she met Dan she was a traveler too but during their relationship it stopped; well until the plane crash. Since then Livia has been traveling while Dan moved on and married Katie. Last week Livia found out Dan was married but not who his wife was. This week Katie asked Dan point blank if he's ever run into anyone he knows and he lied. At the very end of the episode Katie found out that Livia and Dan have run into each other when he travels back.

Needless to say, after finding out this information Katie is not happy. If Dan had been honest he might have saved himself a lot of trouble. My point in all this explanation is that this is a fantastic storyline. It's suspenseful, intriguing, and heartbreaking. Although this show is centered around the time travel, the romantic edge and personal relationships at stake give it a unique perspective. Next week's episode shows the aftermath of this information coming out and it doesn't look that good for Dan. Although it's tragic what happened to his relationship with Livia, I find myself hoping Dan and Katie can work it out. They seem to genuinely love each other and although Livia is actually alive his life and his heart belong with Katie.

The individual episode stories that take place with Dan going back in time to change the outcome of someones life are also great. Each week he travels back and runs into the same person again and again. As he meets them each time he's supposed to figure out what to change in that persons life so their future turns out differently. This week he needed to make sure Alan Pratt, a gambling addict, experienced the 1989 San Francisco earthquake so he could realize his life wasn't over and work to turn it around. After surviving a near-death experience Allan paid off the gambling debts and became a famous lawyer who exonerated 150 prisoners who were wrongfully convicted using DNA evidence to show their innocence.

"Journeyman" has been consistent in it's quality and I hope more people pick up on just how good this show is before it's too late. NBC tends to cancel shows the moment they lose momentum, so please give it a shot before it's too late.

Journeyman: Friendly Skies

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 10PM ON NBC

Welcome Back! It's been quite a while since I last reviewed the pilot episode of "Journeyman." Man as a lot happened with this show since then. The advertising around New York City was enough to make me feel like this show has been around for years. Everywhere I went there were signs for Journeyman. There were even ads wrapped around the New York Times the other week. Unfortunately, "Journeyman" hasn't gotten off to a great start ratings wise. The news out there so far is that its premiere ratings weren't superb and last night it lost 11% of the viewers from the premiere. If you want some more detailed info check out my friends site. He put up some numbers you may be interested in.

As for episode number two on the season, I would say it was rather good. It was consistent with the goals set out in the first episode and didn't change course in any significant manner. Dan and Katie decided he should get an MRI just to make sure his supposed "time traveling" wasn't actually a tumor in disguise. Turns out everything's just fine up in the old nogen and Dan and Katie leave for a trip to start on their efforts to have a second baby. With all the new changes in their lives now Katie isn't too sure if having the baby is the best idea. But Dan thinks its just what they need. Unfortunately, when Dan goes to the bathroom mid-flight he travels back in time leaving the flight crew wondering where their passenger disappeared to. Needless to say this begins an avalanche of issues resulting in the plan reversing flight back to San Francisco and the Vasser's banned from flying.

The remainder of the episode follows Dan as he tries to fix the outcome of a young girls life that he actually ended up delivering on a plane in the 70's during one of his trips back in time. The storylines that he ends up in as he travels back in time have been excellent during these first two episodes. I've found myself extremely engaged in them despite the fact that I'm also as engaged in the primary storyline dealing with how this is happening, why its happening, and how he's juggling his present life with the new time travel. This is the trickiest part to the show, keeping the viewers engaged in both stories. If either one failed then the show would be utterly boring and without direction. Thankfully, the writers are doing a superb job and that's what has made this show so great.

Apparently, Livia is on some sort of mission to follow Dan. Maybe it's to help him or maybe it's to watch him and make sure he doesn't change someone else's plans. Who knows? But what is clear is that Livia doesn't control what's going on. Clearly she's a player and knows a lot more than Dan but some one or some thing else is controlling everything. I'm very interested to find out how many other people can time travel and what exactly is the purpose in all of this. Also, I can't wait to see Livia's reaction when she finds out Dan married Katie. She probably won't believe it. I couldn't imagine being in either Dan or Livia' shoes. They were very happy and engaged but the plane crash changed it all. Now he's moved on, has a kid, and is happily married but somehow Livia is still alive and he gets to meet with her when he travels back in time. That's got to be gut wrenching. I think some point in the future they're going to kiss or even sleep together. Obviously that would be a terrible thing for Dan to do but there's so much emotion there. There won't be and couldn't be a relationship for them but I can see this happening.

Another great installment from the crew over at "Journeyman." Everyone start watching so we don't lose another quality show to the ratings crunch.

"Journeyman" Pilot - NBC: Best New Show I've Seen This Year

SERIES PREMIERE, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 @ 10PM ON NBC

I had the opportunity to view another new show coming to NBC this fall, "Journeyman." Just like "Chuck" I started watching this show without knowing anything about its premise or characters. Overall, I have to say this was a great show.

At first I was a bit confused as to what was going on given that I knew absolutely nothing about its premise. But after about 10 minutes it all started to become obvious. Essentially, the show follows the life of Dan who one day starts waking up in random places. Before he wakes up though he has extremely vivid dreams about going back in time 20 years. At first he believes these are just dreams but eventually realizes his dreams are real. It turns out he's going back in time to change it; to fix something that went wrong. The catch is that in the present he actually disappears for days at a time when this happens. Needless to say his wife, Kate, his son, his brother, Jack, and his friends don't exactly believe him when he says he isn't cheating on his wife or using drugs again.

As the show goes on there are many more twists that don't reveal themselves right away. It's very similar to "Lost" and "24" that way; you keep asking yourself how and why this is happening or how a particular character shows up. AND ITS GREAT!! Too many shows these days treat us like idiots who can't think for ourselves and it's great when a show comes along that makes us ask for more and at the same time keeps us thinking once the show is over. Every week I eagerly anticipate the next episode of "Lost" and "24" while day dreaming during class or blindly walking down the street in Manhattan wondering what's coming next on these shows. Take my word for it, this show will do the same thing to you too!

It's suspenseful, interesting, intriguing, exciting, and above all the producers know their music. The end of the pilot episode has "One" by U2 playing while Dan in one last romantic attempt to prove to his wife what's actually happening digs up their backyard (I'm trying not to leave any spoilers in here for you; trust me its romantic).

On a side note, it was great when Dan asks his son what he should think when he's nervous about his piano recital the next day and his son replies "practice plus confidence equals success."

If my opinion means anything to you watch the pilot episode!! Hopefully the rest of the season will be just as good...