General thoughts
Sensational! From all the Journeyman episodes, this is the one I've always remembered most vividly.
The video e-paper, the Star Wars holographic monitor, the timeline replacement: what could be cooler? Even time travel pales in comparison. But if you ask me, I think Dan would've done better if he stayed with the second timeline. He would have a cool supercomputer and a beautiful daughter. OK, he would have to give up his son, but that would be a small price to pay.
No, seriously. Wow, that look Katie gave Dan when he said, “I need to get our life back tomorrow,” and then she held her daughter and said, “Don't you change anything,” that was totally moving and dramatic. And when he replied, “Of course not, this our family. I wouldn't change a thing” I'm sure they both knew he was lying.
Oh, Katie's annoying sister Anette. I'd long had a cursh on her ever since the X-Files, when she played Scully's New-Age sister. Apparently she still believes in New Age things.
Anette: “Where's my nephew?” – OK, here's a part I have a problem with: Dan had just left the camera in 1984. Shouldn't Dan have arrived in an altered timeline the moment he came back the first time? I think it would've been pretty shocking if Dan had seen his new daughter and asked “Who's that?” in front of all the guests, who would think he's crazy.
Hey, do you all remember Simone Hundin? Well, not she appears as a mysterious soothsayer. And what's the deal of that comet connecting Dan and Livia's birthdays? Let's watch the last episode and find out. Or then, if that doesn't work, search for online interviews with the show's creators for answers.
At the end we have Dan Vasser, father of the year. Now, will you please take 30 seconds to mourn the disappearance of Caroline Vasser, your daughter?
One final note: Elliot Langley always looks synister and shady, and a terrible liar. Oh, well, we have one more episode to look into that. Or online interviews...
Interesting dialogue passages:
Livia and Dan try to find the junior camera stealer...
Livia: “Henry wants to get married this weekend.”
Dan: “What are you going to do?”
Livia: “Marry him.”
Dan: “I hope you're happy, Liv, I mean that.”
Livia: “I know you do.”
Wow! Livia couldn't sound more ecstatic! No, really, she sounded like she was talking about a funeral.
Dan productively spending his reporter time watching videos...
Hugh: “What are you watching?”
Dan: “Some kid I used to know. He and his partner invented an occular implant.”
Hugh: “Riveting.”
Dan: “Actually, it is, since they are about five years away from giving sight to the blind.”
No, they aren't. It's 2012 (five years later) and that's far from happening.
Creatively rephrased dialogue passages:
At the “previously in Journeyman” vignette...
Livia: “You're gonna be tested, Dan, you gotta study.”
Dan's mom: “Now you listen to me, Katie. You don't need him. You're a strong woman, and you don't need anybody, except yourself, much less half-baked advice from a semi-senile old lady like me.”
As Dan falls down the stairs (hilarious, by the way)...
Hugh: “You know, if the stairs are a problem, we have the transporter room.”
Dan: “Since when?”
Hugh: “Ever since you changed the timeline, I think.”
At the “Seinfeld” computer company in 1984...
Dan: “If I accidentally left something significant behind in one of the trips, would that cause problems?”
Livia: “Depends. What did you lose?”
Dan: “A digital camera.”
Livia: “New technology? Never good to leave behind.”
Dan: “How do you know? From one of your trips to the future?”
Livia: “No, basic sci-fi rule, duh, you moron!”
Meanwhile, at Vasser Manor...
Anette: “Where's Dan?”
Katie: “He was called away. A story.”
Hugh: “He was? You mean, he's actually reporting? First time in a month. Wait! I'm his editor. Shouldn't I know something about it? Well... Nah!”
Caroline shows Dan her artwork...
Caroline: “I made this at school. It's a butterfly. Do you like the effect?”
Things I learned in Journeyman:
- Never leave future technology behind. Duh!
- Fortune tellers are always wise, always possess deep secrets, and are never crackpots, even when they are full of vague generalizations. (OK, that “Zack!” thing was almost unecessarily specific.)
- Cops appreciate culture as well. (Apparently Jack read Slaughterhouse 5.)
- 1984 garbage truck compactors can crush anything, even small cameras surrounded by a lot of soft trash like paper.
- Alternate-timeline girls make pink butterflies. Boys from this timeline make green ones.
Grade
Fantastic episode. Time travel at its best, and a moving father son/daugther situation. I can only give this one 10 butterflies.
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dtmuller
13 years ago
How many "best episode yet" episodes are we going to get? OK, at most, one more. I have to say that this has been the most consistently good series yet (admitting, as I must, that I've only been in on about half of them). That is, unless next week Dan finds out that his mission is to stave off an invasion of silver-skinned aliens and giant mice while trying to exorcise the ghost of a Roman emperor who has been possessing Katie (which would explain a lot).
madp:
Caroline shows Dan her artwork...
Caroline: “I made this at school. It's a butterfly. Do you like the effect?”
Excellent! They should have used that!
OK, we don't have ocular implants that give sight to the blind, but we also were supposed to have a manned mission to Mars in 1978 (
The Time Tunnel), bases on the moon and orbiting hotels in 2001 (
2001: A Space Odyssey), and time travel in 2007 (
Timecop). But forget all that, where is my flying car, dammit! (
The Jetsons)
I don't think Langley forgot Dan; that last stare indicated to me that he was just playing ignorant. We'll probably never find out why. I suspect we'll also never find out about Livia's marriage, what happens to Jack and Theresa, do things ever settle down for Dan, what was the FBI guy after, what's the story with Langley, and
who the heck is in charge of all of this?And on a "be careful how you post" note: Had to laugh at the way the thread displayed for me. Bob apparently displays the thread as "thread" or "nest", which shows which specific post you're replying to. I display them as flat, which just shows the posts in the order that they were posted, without regard to lines of conversation. So what? Bob replied to the "Romulan Commander" thread, commenting that "She was hot". But the "flat" display puts it after madp's post that ends with comments about Dan's daughter. Be careful Bob; this is how ugly rumors get started.
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madp
13 years ago
by - dtmuller on Mon Jul 9 2012 11:12:46
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That is, unless next week Dan finds out that his mission is to stave off an invasion of silver-skinned aliens and giant mice while trying to exorcise the ghost of a Roman emperor who has been possessing Katie (which would explain a lot).
Come on, no spoilers! You just ruined it for all of us!
OK, we don't have ocular implants that give sight to the blind, but we also were supposed to have a manned mission to Mars in 1978 (The Time Tunnel), bases on the moon and orbiting hotels in 2001 (2001: A Space Odyssey), and time travel in 2007 (Timecop). But forget all that, where is my flying car, dammit! (The Jetsons)
I thought you meant
Back to the Future II. It's true, but the predictions in these movies were either too far ahead, or the movies did not take themselves too seriously. Journeyman, on the other hand, seemed to have such a serious approach to the subject that they actually seemed to believe that would be possible.
And on a "be careful how you post" note: Had to laugh at the way the thread displayed for me. Bob apparently displays the thread as "thread" or "nest", which shows which specific post you're replying to. I display them as flat, which just shows the posts in the order that they were posted, without regard to lines of conversation. So what? Bob replied to the "Romulan Commander" thread, commenting that "She was hot". But the "flat" display puts it after madp's post that ends with comments about Dan's daughter. Be careful Bob; this is how ugly rumors get started.
HA, HA, HA! That made my day! I had to see the thread as both "thread" and "Flat" and effect was hilarious. So, for now on just to be on the safe side, I'm posting detailed quotes.
Just a curiosity. We've seen that actress, Ellery Sprayberry, before, by the way. She played "Young Olive" in Pushing Daisies, in the episode in which she was kidnapped as a child, her supposed kidnappers went to see "Old Olive," and she pretended to be engaged to Ned. As for the girl being hot or not in the future, I suggest revisiting this thread in ten years and we can all form a judgment.
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bob-402-252005
13 years ago
And on a "be careful how you post" note: Had to laugh at the way the thread displayed for me. Bob apparently displays the thread as "thread" or "nest", which shows which specific post you're replying to. I display them as flat, which just shows the posts in the order that they were posted, without regard to lines of conversation. So what? Bob replied to the "Romulan Commander" thread, commenting that "She was hot". But the "flat" display puts it after madp's post that ends with comments about Dan's daughter. Be careful Bob; this is how ugly rumors get started.
Yikes! Thanks for the heads-up. I went ahead and edited my post to add a quote.
Now that makes my
Scooby Doo sig seem suspicious.
___________
I'd've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.
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