(S06E04) Last season, I was ready to throw this show out the window. It was a sad, tired, droopy show, and I thought it had run past its time. I don't know whether they have a new pack of writers this season or whether they all just found a personal muse, but this season is already so much better than last season. The show seems to have regained some of the air of the first year, when I was so smitten with it.

So, perhaps it was appropriate this episode revisited the very carnival of the first episode, the carnival after which J.J. was conceived. It was also very fitting that some of the revelations of this episode took place in such a setting.

Of course, outside of the fact that J. J. has started his journey toward sullen teen, I think the revelation spoken of in the previews was that J.J. is also beginning his journey toward developing Johnny's abilities. Before Johnny's stroke, he relied mostly on intuitions rather than the full visions he enjoys today. That is very interesting. We know that Johnny's brain injury gave him access to the dead zone of his brain, which gives him his visions. But I admit that it hadn't occurred to me that J.J. might have some of the same abilities. It makes sense though-- the first episode and the scene at the carnival demonstrated that Johnny had definite abilities before his accident, as well as after.

Part of what also makes this season so enjoyable to watch is the newly cast J.J. I don't remember much about the other kid who played him. He was fine. But this boy has some real nuance and talent, with makes it a real pleasure to watch him. And that kind of complexity was necessary for dealing with the fact that his mother and his father (yet not his father) are now living under one roof for the first time, not only with each other, but also with him. Watching Johnny and Sarah navigate Johnny's parental authority and the fact that they are in essence raising their son together now was very interesting-- and I am glad they aren't glossing over this issue.

But on to tonight's circus plot: Did anybody else yell at their TV screen, "He's DEAF!" When the newly minted sheriff was yelling at Duncan. Telling a deaf man that you'll shoot him, especially if you have specifically been told that he is deaf, is probably not going to hold water in court. Not the brightest bulb in the box, is she?

One of my primary complaints last season is that the episodes all seemed to exist in a vacuum that didn't further the characters in any way or advance the themes of the show. So far this season, we have the subtext of the new sheriff's investigation of Walt, Johnny's tentative peace with Stillson, and the awkward new family formed by Johnny, Sarah, J.J. and Hope. The plot in this week's episode accomplished great strides in propelling the characters forward and giving them growth, development, and the promise of more new and interesting storylines in the future. All of this is so much better than last year. Welcome back.