Well, from previews, it looks like Stillson is back next week, so he hasn't been written out. But he's just a guest star anyway, so he wouldn't have to live in Montreal. Same with Purdy.

I thought this episode was...okay-ish. It still felt like we were wrapping up loose ends and rebooting the show. We've got Sarah and JJ living with Johnny. We've got the new sheriff, we've got the 'investigating Walt' storyline in motion. We're at square one for setting up a whole new set of storylines.

The one thing that drove me nuts, and is now at the point of ridiculousness, is the possibility that ANYone in Cleaves Mills would be unaware of who Johnny Smith is, and what he can do, and the amazing things he has done (and people he's saved, publicly). Nina (the psychiatrist) has supposedly been in town for five years, and she doesn't know who Johnny is?

I just want this show to get past the point of having to go through the whole "So... you think you're a psychic..oKAYYYY..." spiel each time. It would be like every person Superman came across thinking he's crazy for thinking he can fly and that he has super-strength.

While the new JJ actor was really obvious, and a too different from the original actor, I'm glad they made the change. The old actor had zero personality or acting ability. The new actor is ten times better and actually capable of being a major character on the show.

I am okay with a new direction for The Dead Zone too. Last season was unwatchable for me too.

I didn't get that they were trying to make her unlikeable. Perhaps as a girl, your "bitch radar" is more finely tuned than mine; I just saw her as skeptical, someone Johnny will have to prove himself to. I too thought she'd become his new love interest until the lame "move in with me" scene...if they write a slow "falling back in love" progressive storyline into this season I'm going to throw up.

I wasn't aware that filming had moved from Vancouver to Montreal until reading the comments last week, but that may help explain the cast changes. It might be that some of the actors didn't want to move, and their characters were written out of the show (Walt, Bruce) or the actor replaced(JJ). I'm still going under the assumption that Stillson and maybe Purdy were written off as well, due to the way their continuing story lines were concluded last week. Both were only occasionally recurring characters anyway, so I'm holding out hope that one or both will return later this season, although I won't be holding my breath. I'm still bitter about the changes, though (like you couldn't tell!)