THE DEAD ZONE

A By-the-numbers Bomb

By Jason Davis     July 07, 2006

Hot on the credits of a lackluster 4400 episode, USA presents a fitting follow-up in the form of "Panic," likely the most by-the-numbers installment of THE DEAD ZONE produced in recent memory. Before enumerating the clichés that fill out the episodes time slot, it's important to note that THE DEAD ZONE is, on the whole, a decent show. It doesn't aspire to be THE WEST WING or THE SOPRANOS. Like other entries in the "adventure of the week" format, its primarily interested in telling a solid story that explores another niche in the arena marked out by the show's concept. Essentially, it's a question of how can we employ Johnny's psychic gifts this week? That's all well and good and the show is almost always up for deploying its principal character in a new and interesting venue with a couple nice plot twists that appeal to an audience that's tuning in for their expected dose of DEAD ZONE.

Last week, I noted that the highway venue was a novel spot for Johnny to work his magic and, though some folks wrote in to note that MONK had availed itself of a similar setting earlier (as did the UK series ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE which I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone fond of gallows' humor), I stand by my belief that "Independence Day" was a tale well-suited to its space and continued the show's propensity for involving its hero in an exciting new situation each week. Sadly, the same cannot be said of "Panic" which finds Johnny, his son JJ, and a teenaged neighbor trapped in the Smith house while two cutthroats try to murder the teenager. Series of this ilk often borrow a high concept from the cinema to facilitate the development of a story but knocking the word "room" off the title doesn't distance this episode enough from an obvious bit of source material. As Johnny and company elude their enemies in a hitherto unknown secret passage within the Smith house (one would think Johnny would have sensed such a place by now), the two thugsapparently hired from Bad Guys Are Us sans any optional character ad-onsgo through the motions of capturing a worried Sheriff Bannerman and making threats while the much more interesting B-story leads Johnny and friends to safety.

The B-story, featuring Johnny's grandfather and father, is an engaging riff on the tragedy of Japanese-Americans being turned on by their neighbors after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As a back up for the A-story, this tale is wasted, but provides some nice background on the Smith family as well as calling attention to an unfortunate moment in American history where fear of the enemy led to acting like the enemy. Ten-year olds Sam Charles and Issey Lamb turn in strong and subtle performances as young Herb Smith (Johnny's father) and his Japanese friend, Koji. Adam Targum's script wisely refrains from any direct mention of Japanese internment camps as these were more common to the Northwestern region where THE DEAD ZONE is filmed rather than the area of Maine where the series is set.