Show: Journeyman (NBC)
Episode: “Pilot” – Series Premiere (Season 1)
Premiere Date: Monday, September 24th, 2007
Rating: 3 out of 4 Stars
Quick Synopsis: Wow, where did I go?
Long Synopsis: A guy starts jumping through time. At first he isn’t sure what is happening to him or why, or if he is just losing his mind. He starts to realize that he is tracking life of a man in the past. He figures that he is supposed to help him in some way. As these jumps continue to take place, his wife, family and friends start to wonder if he is okay, as he keeps disappearing for days at a time, even though it only feels like a short time to him. While in the past he comes across his former fiancé before they had ever met. In the present she is dead. This starts to cause problems for him and his future life. He finally completes his mission and some people in the future are saved because of it.
Review: Journeyman is another in the line of time traveler shows. In this version we have a guy who travels back in time to change something that will ultimately benefit the present, if he does it right.
The cast is really good. Kevin McKidd (Rome) plays Dan Vasser. He is married to Katie, played by Gretchen Egolf (Marshall Law). She used to be his brother’s, played by Reed Diamond (Judging Amy, Homicide: Life on the Streets), girlfriend. They have one child together. He was once engaged to Livia Beale, played by Moon Bloodgood (Day Break), who died in a plane crash, but whom he comes across in the past.
This sets up kind of a weird love triangle with himself, his wife and the past version of his former fiancé. Also, the dislike between the two brothers, since he went on to marry his brother’s former flame provides another interesting dynamic to the show.
A lot of questions are brought up in the first episode. What is happening to him? Why is it happening? Is there someone behind it? Why him? What is he supposed to do? Is this happening to anybody else?
Journeyman keeps you interested the whole time. There is a lot to like about the overall story and mystery setup up in the first episode. If the weekly stories, about the people he is being sent to help, remain interesting, this could have a good run.
It does have a few flaws, like his being able to run into people in the past, now being older, but nobody seems really notice. The guy must have aged quite nicely, I guess.
But, they can have a lot of fun with the time travel too, like the guy using the huge brick cell phone in one scene or everybody dressing like Madonna from her Desperately Seeking Susan
This TVaholic will be tuning in next week, to see what questions get answered and what new ones will arise.
How about you, what did you think NBC’s new fall series, Journeyman?
