The Dead Zone: Articles of Faith

(S05E04) Now that The Dead Zone is in its fifth season, the writers are lurching about a bit for compelling things for John Smith (formerly Johnny) to do. In last night's episode the" Articles of Faith," the writers pre-packaged a storyline that is vehemently anti-race/hate crime in the form of John Smith using his psychic powers to solve one such crime.

The Dead Zone has undergone many incarnations in its five seasons. The first season was a compelling watch every show. Our hero, Johnny Smith, is shown with his longtime sweetheart, Sarah, making plans to marry. He goes out on a rainy night to rent a video, and is in a car accident that derails his life. He slips into a coma and doctors tell Sarah that he will never awaken. After nine months of hoping they are wrong, Sarah, who is hugely pregnant with Johnny's child, marries sheriff Walt Bannerman, with whom she has fallen in love while keeping vigil over Johnny in the hospital. Walt was keeping vigil in the same hospital.

The first season deals with the consequences of Johnny waking up from that coma ... five years later. Not only does Johnny have to come to grips with the fact that his beloved fiancee is married to another man, that he has a son who doesn't know him, and that his teaching career seems to be over, but he also has to face a frightening phenomenon: When people touch him, he sees startling visions from their lives-- as though he himself were in the vision.

The first season centers on Johnny trying to come to grips with having the visions and adjusting to his new life. His physical therapist, Bruce, becomes his best friend, and I am pleased that Bruce is still on the show in Season Five. Johnny has almost immediate visions of a murder, and, of course goes to the police. And who handles the case in this small, Maine town? Why, Sheriff Bannerman, of course. He and Johnny stalk opposite corners of the room like caged tigers, eyeing one another warily, and yet dependent on one another to solve the case. However, the air is charged with the tension of what they both know: Bannerman is married to Johnny's wife and raising Johnny's son.

These early episodes were quite gripping and compelling. Season two sustained the energy of season one with Johnny and Sarah navigating the love they still have for each other. However, Stephen King's original characters have provided an important problem: Sheriff Walt Bannerman is a salt of the earth kind of guy, the best husband and father television writing could create. And Sarah really does love him. So, she, being a woman of integrity (and our like of the character depends on this) cannot bring herself to leave Walt. It is a love triangle of people who have really done nothing wrong. Whether or not that will continue led the show some snap, crackle, and pop.

However, the romantic triangle eventually had to be resolved, and Johnny Smith had to be given a more longterm, sustainable storyline in order for the season to continue. The writers even continued this well. You have to over look the convenient plot devices: Johnny's mother died while he was in his coma (I am not ruining anything from three seasons ago by telling you that she killed herself in her despondency over Johnny never waking up), leaving a huge estate to Reverend Gene Purdy, who establishes a Faith Heritage Foundation. Purdy's being a reverend provides the series with plenty of opportunities to be preachy through the ever-excellent David Ogden Stiers' mouth (remember him from M*A*S*H? No? Ah, well, then you are not old, like I am).

Following the plot of the novel, Johnny Smith meets a politician named Greg Stillson. Stillson comes from a textbook (comic book) overbearing father. Stillson, who is smaller in stature than his father, develops survival skills by becoming Oily Like Snake. Stillson goes from being a smooth talking Bible salesman who seduces lonely housewives to a greasy politician running for State Senate. Johnny meets Stillson through Reverend Purdy, shakes Stillson's hand, and has a vision of the apocalypse and The White House. Therefore, Johnny's new Mission for The Series is to stop Stillson from becoming President of the United States.

So far as I can tell, only four episodes into the fifth season, this is still a primary series goal. However, the writers do also throw in completely unrelated episodes, as in the case of last night's "Articles of Faith."  As my husband said, "Last night's episode seemed like a poorly done afterschool special about racism and intolerance, and didn't seem organic to the Dead Zone world." And it's true, last night's episode was not representative of the quality I know the series can put forth.

In "Articles of Faith," John Smith (not Johnny anymore!) and his faithful buddy Bruce are at a rally for a new reverend in town. John's former lover, reporter Dana Bright, is also in town (with some attractive blonde highlights in her red hair, I might add).  (And can I just ask, what is up with John's orange-George-Hamilton skin and bleached look? Helloooooo!) She is working for television now, not newspapers, and working with a college student editor, who may intern with her at some point. The show has begun with shots of computer screens and images if people typing and young-sounding voices talking about white supremacy and Rehowa (Religious Holy War). One of the young voices says he has just been made to move to Maine (where the series takes place) with his father. Hmmm... Religious Holy War, new reverend in town, and young kid who has just been transplanted in Maine... Coincidence?

While John is in the crowd after the New Reverend's talk about tolerance, he has a vision of a murder: A young Pakistani (Muslim)  man is killed, and covered with white paint, with the words, "White Power," written on the wall next to him. But John doesn't know who has touched him to prompt the vision. Last night's episode tries to throw us off track with false clues: The whole series points to the new reverend's son, of course, with just a few furtive glances on the part of the son to let us know that all may not be as it appears to be.

Of course, the clues don't really add up: The real killer is the editor of the student paper, who is gay and has been involved with the young Pakistani man. The murder victim threatens to reveal their affair to his parents, so College Editor, who is also a bible thumper, kills him in a warehouse that they usually use for trysts. And of course, he just happens to find white paint and a paintbrush in the warehouse, and voila: A hate crime is born.

The episode closes with the same images of young people spouting their hate at their computers, just so we understand that none of the issues about how bad and wrong hate crimes are that have been raised in the episode have been resolved. Because otherwise, we wouldn't know that, I guess.

This is not one of the series' finer moments or finer episodes. I hope that is not a sign that it's time to retire John Smith to a nice, sunny beach somewhere where he can't touch anybody.

One of the particular joys for me in watching The Dead Zone, though, has been and continues to be Anthony Michael Hall. If you follow the link to the official website, and click on Hall's picture, you can email him! (And the other actors).

I grew up with Anthony Michael Hall; he was the skinny nerd next door in Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. So, seeing him become a thoughtful man of integrity in The Dead Zone has been a little disconcerting, but  also a lot like going to a high school reunion every week. Only a whole lot cheaper than a plane ticket, and nobody has to see how I've changed.