I am home sick -walking Phenomena- and thinking about watching some TV tomorrow - I noticed that Star Trek alum Nicole de Boer is in the series "The Dead Zone" - Is it worth watching?
The Dead Zone
- Thread starter Distorted Humor
- Start date
You can find a bunch of opinions on TDZ in this SFF thread.
I think the first season and a half (up through "Zion") are terrific, exploring the ramifications of Johnny Smith's psychic powers in a variety of clever ways, ranging from crime thrillers to psychological dramas to romantic comedies to mindbending sci-fi scenarios to intricate puzzle stories. It was the kind of show that could be a different show every week, and that kept it fresh and engaging. There was still some good stuff in the rest of the second and third seasons, but I feel it started a gradual decline at that point, coming under increasing network pressure to become a more formulaic action/detective show. The reason I think of "Zion" as a natural endpoint for the first and best phase of the series is because it basically resolves the plotline of the original novel, after a fashion, and thus has sort of a finale quality to it. After that, the show began to move away from the original arc/mythology (and that initial flexibility of format) and focus either on crime/danger-of-the-week stuff or on new arcs that drifted away from the core mythology of the series.
Then at the start of the fourth season, the show underwent a network-imposed change of direction (and showrunner?), and the resolution to the third season's cliffhanger finale was awkwardly rewritten with major story threads either shoddily tied off or simply ignored, and that's when it really started to decline. The show went off the rails the most in the fifth season, introducing a new Big Bad that just didn't work. Also, Nicole de Boer's character was increasingly marginalized in seasons 4 and 5. The concluding sixth season was relatively better writing-wise and brought de Boer back to a more central role, but it was still well below the show's peak, and it suffered from budget cuts that cost the show a couple of its other regular characters. The production also relocated from Vancouver to Toronto in the final year, and given how heavily it depended on real locations rather than studio sets, it felt kind of strange and unfamiliar after that.
Then at the start of the fourth season, the show underwent a network-imposed change of direction (and showrunner?), and the resolution to the third season's cliffhanger finale was awkwardly rewritten with major story threads either shoddily tied off or simply ignored, and that's when it really started to decline. The show went off the rails the most in the fifth season, introducing a new Big Bad that just didn't work. Also, Nicole de Boer's character was increasingly marginalized in seasons 4 and 5. The concluding sixth season was relatively better writing-wise and brought de Boer back to a more central role, but it was still well below the show's peak, and it suffered from budget cuts that cost the show a couple of its other regular characters. The production also relocated from Vancouver to Toronto in the final year, and given how heavily it depended on real locations rather than studio sets, it felt kind of strange and unfamiliar after that.
I caught up on the series on Hulu--and I was blown away by how excellent it was. The acting--the overarching storyline--the character conflicts--excellent.
Building on what Chris said about Miss deBoer's character being "marginalized"--well, her character had less of a role in Season 4 (first half, anyway) than in the first three--however, she had two superb episodes in that season ("The Last Goodbye" and "Coming Home") in which she was basically the central character--and she shined in both (particularly in "Coming Home": Nicole's at her absolute BEST when her character's going through inner turmoil, of some sort).
In Season 5...she was barely there, only in two eps--one only in one scene. The other--the second-to-last in the season--much of the action concerned her, but she was mostly offscreen. I strongly suspect this was due to her not being available for much of the season--this was around the time she was off filming "Ties That Bind", I think. Interestingly enough, I think Season 5 was the weakest for the show.
Season 6...it felt so different, it took a lot of getting used to. The characterizations seemed a bit different.
As for the ending...well, I will give TPTB a lot of credit for not trying to "rush" the ending and force tying up of loose ends, with the canceling of the show. Still--the ending leaves a BIG thread untied--I don't want to give it away; I'll just say that a major villain is Still At Large.
However, one gets the idea that the emotional conflicts of the mains are at least on their way to a resolution--and with the exception of the One Big Thread left untied, the show ended in a kinda-sorta satisfying way...and I found myself mentally laying out how it would conclude, after that. But then...maybe that's just the writer in me.
(I'll say...the storyline itself could easily be resolved with a movie.)
In the end, Distorted Humor--I'd say: HECK yes, go watch it...from start to finish!
Building on what Chris said about Miss deBoer's character being "marginalized"--well, her character had less of a role in Season 4 (first half, anyway) than in the first three--however, she had two superb episodes in that season ("The Last Goodbye" and "Coming Home") in which she was basically the central character--and she shined in both (particularly in "Coming Home": Nicole's at her absolute BEST when her character's going through inner turmoil, of some sort).
In Season 5...she was barely there, only in two eps--one only in one scene. The other--the second-to-last in the season--much of the action concerned her, but she was mostly offscreen. I strongly suspect this was due to her not being available for much of the season--this was around the time she was off filming "Ties That Bind", I think. Interestingly enough, I think Season 5 was the weakest for the show.
Season 6...it felt so different, it took a lot of getting used to. The characterizations seemed a bit different.
As for the ending...well, I will give TPTB a lot of credit for not trying to "rush" the ending and force tying up of loose ends, with the canceling of the show. Still--the ending leaves a BIG thread untied--I don't want to give it away; I'll just say that a major villain is Still At Large.
However, one gets the idea that the emotional conflicts of the mains are at least on their way to a resolution--and with the exception of the One Big Thread left untied, the show ended in a kinda-sorta satisfying way...and I found myself mentally laying out how it would conclude, after that. But then...maybe that's just the writer in me.
(I'll say...the storyline itself could easily be resolved with a movie.)
In the end, Distorted Humor--I'd say: HECK yes, go watch it...from start to finish!
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