(S01E02)

Tonight was a good example of the show's accelerated pacing. After an impossibly brief trip through an MRI machine (the results came back negative - of course), only a few minutes passed before Dan Vassar found himself on his next journey through the fabric of space and time.

He and and his wife were heading on a vacation to get a little rest, a little relaxation, and a little pregnant but during the flight to their vacation destination, Dan had another one of his episodes while visiting the latrine.

He entered the toilet and it was the present. He popped out of the toilet and found himself in an airplane from the 1970s that seemed more like a party than a plane ride. K.C. and the Sunshine Band was blaring, flirtatious stewardesses in loud outfits walked the aisles provocatively, and the air was filled with clouds of cigarette smoke. I'm sad I wasn't old enough to fly in the 70's.

I found it very cool that the writers made this trip through time occur mid-flight. For some reason, it caught me off guard as I imagined most of his journeys would take place on terra firma. Don't ask me why I thought this, I just did. I also really like how the soundtrack switches to songs from whatever era Dan happens to be traveling in. I find that detail to be a particularly charming point.

Anyhow, back in the present when the stewards realized that Dan had been on the pot for an extended period of time, Katie Vassar was stuck trying to pretend that she boarded the plane by herself. I can't imagine this would be a very fun situation to be in with today's hyper-sensitive airport culture but she handled it quite well and even joked that she and Dan "planned to have lots of sex" when they made it to their vacation spot. She covered up for her husband pretty well considering she must have been mighty confused during this sequence.

Last week, I got the impression Katie didn't fully believe Dan's time travel story - especially since all he had for proof was the cheesy "rip up the porch - find a ring and newspaper clipping" display that seemed more like a Criss Angel illusion than proof someone can travel through time. Disappearing from an airplane mid-flight? Now that's what I call proof! If there was any part of her that still doubted him, it had to be completely eradicated tonight.

Back to the past, Dan delivered a baby on a plane in the '70s and made it back to the airport in time to get his wife out of trouble with the law. At this point, I was pretty sure Dan's main purpose would be to follow Diana Bloom for the remainder of and help her through various trials and tribulations. I was completely incorrect as we'll see in a second.

Before that, how strange is the love quadrangle between Dan, Katie, Jack, and Livia? I'm sorry, but if my girlfriend died, I wouldn't marry my brother's ex-girlfriend. Hell, I wouldn't date my brother's ex if my girlfriend hadn't died. Isn't this against some sort of brother/man code? It had to be extremely difficult for Dan to watch his current wife with his brother. It must have been doubly hard for Dan watch Livia as he's obviously never gotten over her.

I appreciate how the writers had me inaccurately guessing Dan's real purpose for making his way through time this week. I initially thought that Dan's sole purpose was to help the mother give birth. Then, I though his mission was to help mend a non-existent relationship between the girl he helped deliver and a father that wanted nothing to do with her. Then I thought his mission became helping Tana's father through an illness Tana's father find a matching bone marrow transplant candidate. Wrong and wrong and wrong although these were all inherently a part of his mission.

As it turns out, the mission all along was to help Tana meet up with Billy Marble, a person who just happened to be in the hospital waiting room where Tana, her father, and Dan had a conversation about Tana potentially helping her father with his illness. I'm really going to like this show it if I'm kept guessing as to the purpose of Dan's journey through time. It will make things a lot more interesting.

On the other side of that, I'm not too interested in having to guess what the heck Livia has to do with everything. I realize it's early, but I find her character to be more of a distraction at this point. The scenes she's been in, specifically when she's addressing Dan while he's in the past, never really seem to answer any questions. In fact, I've been left shaking my head after every conversation she has with Dan.

Also, why doesn't Livia know anything that's going on in Dan's life? She doesn't know that he's married, and she doesn't know who he's married to, yet she can magically find him every time he's sucked through the wormhole? I'm not buying it.

I'm sure it will all be sorted out in due time. Anyhow, this episode was a good fast paced complement to an attention grabbing season opener. The ratings weren't stellar by any stretch of the imagination, particularly with a strong lead-in show, but they weren't horrible either. I hope the viewing audience is finding the show as interesting as I am so I can find out what's really happening in the life of Dan Vassar. It's just going to get better from here.