Episode Description:

Johnny uses his powers to try to stop Stillson from marrying Miranda Ellis, whose life may be in danger because she knows too much about Stillson's unscrupulous past.

Episode Review:

Miranda: "What is this? A wedding or a political fundraiser?"
Ellis: "Both, if we do it right."

I always like Stillson episodes, and this was a good one. Most of the early scenes still had that "Johnny Smith, psychic detective" feel, but I think they really pulled out the stops with several exceptional scenes at the end.

Greg Stillson actually came across as sympathetic, until he reverted fully to type by letting Janus murder Miranda with snake venom. Of course, we could see Miranda's death coming; they seeded it early on by saying she had a weak heart. When it became apparent that they were setting Miranda up as a love interest for Johnny, though, I started to think maybe they weren't going to kill her after all. Maybe that's why they did it.

I haven't been on board so far with cold-blooded string-puller Malcolm Janus, but he finally got to me this time when he was telling Miranda about tribes and blood on the marriage bed and stoning impure women. And the always wonderful David Ogden Stiers hit it out of the park with that chilling scene about Purdy discovering Miranda's eulogy in that sealed envelope. Excellent.

And now, Stillson is the tragic figure who lost his fiancee on their wedding day. The public will love it. There's no stopping him now.

Bits and pieces:

-- Same cast, same credits. Except we didn't see Sarah or Walt in this episode.

-- Jeremy the ethical reporter felt like a red shirt character at first. I really didn't expect him to do what he did. The scene with his pregnant wife and the snake was also unexpectedly chilling. Good writing there, guys.

-- Purdy's ministry has increased three-fold since he went satellite. Yes, he was horribly upset by the eulogy in the envelope. But is he ready to give up that kind of power? Not that Janus will let him.

-- Johnny said at one point that he couldn't go to the police with just visions. But hey, he does it all the time.

-- There were several references to the current political situation in the United States. And that's good. If they had ignored it, it would have seemed detached from reality, and a lot more fictional.

-- Loved Johnny's vision of all the well-paid people in Janus' office wasting time, painting toenails and making photocopies of themselves.

-- In this season's hair report, Anthony Michael Hall kept last year's very nice do, and Bruce stayed minimalist. They both looked great.

-- This episode was dedicated to the late Michael Piller, may he rest in peace. "For Michael. 1948-2005."

At least three stars and possibly four,

Billie

Bille Doux reviews episodes of 'The Dead Zone' for her website.
She reviews individual episodes of science fiction & cult TV shows
for her website, located at http://www.billiedoux.com/

Behind The Scenes:

 - The episode will open with Johnny trying to convince Stillson's fiancée, Miranda Ellis, not to sacrifice her life to appease her father's political ambitions. What will she decide? Just when you think you have the answer figured out ... well, I give you this clue, all isn't what it appears to be. - Lloyd Segan on May 17th in his blog.

 - In our season opener "Forbidden Fruit," Tommy did a great job of really pulling the script together while still maintaining the integrity of the original story and, also, serving all the different goals and agendas of the actors and the network and everyone trying to work to make this the best it could be. - Shawn Piller on June 18th in his blog.
 

Cast & Crew:

Written by: Christina Lynch & Loren Segan
Directed by: Shawn Piller
Guest Starring: Sean Patrick Flanery (Greg Stillson), David Ogden Stiers (Rev. Gene Purdy), Martin Donovan (Malcolm Janus), Laura Harris (Miranda Ellis), Don S. Davis (Sen. Harlan Ellis), Joris Jarsky (Jeremy Tomlin), Terence Kelley (Congressman Kelley), Michael Kopsa (Jake Truax).