A San Francisco newspaper reporter begins leaping through time in a series that borrows equally from Quantum Leap, Early Edition, and Day Break.
Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd) finds himself having episodes of relocation in time, jumping (in the pilot) as far back as 1987. At first, he thinks they're just vivid dreams, but eventually he realizes that something really is happening to him. Each week, it seems, will find him leaping about within the life of some specific person who he's meant to help; it won't always be clear whom he's meant to save, or how.
His unexplained absences from the present are beginning to cause stress in his marriage -- there is the strong implication that Dan has not always been the best husband, though it's never quite spelled out what exactly he did -- and he struggles desperately to convince his wife, Katie (Gretchen Egolf), that he's not drinking or on drugs. Brother Jack (Reed Diamond), a cop, is equally skeptical.
Dan's trips to the past are complicated by the fact that he keeps stumbling into people from his own past, notably his one-time fiancee, Livia (Moon Bloodgood, who seems to have a thing for this sort of time-travel fantasy, having played a similar role in Day Break); running into her often means running into Katie and Jack, who were dating when Dan and Livia were engaged.
As is often the case with time-travel shows, there are a few unfortunate anachronisms; we see the F-line of streetcars in a scene set several years before they were actually introduced, and a character refers to "Y2K" in late 1997, long before the phrase entered popular usage. I do like, though, that the show doesn't shy away from the potential complications of Dan's jumping into a period when he was already present. There's a cleverly handled moment in the pilot when Dan realizes that at least one person understands what's happening to him, and that explanation seems likely to be the ongoing mystery of the show.
McKidd is a nice change from the leading men we usually get these days, with more rugged, craggy features; he gives Dan a bluntness that's refreshing. Egolf is terrific, funny and romantic as she and Dan celebrate their anniversary, convincingly nervous and unsure as she wonders what's happening to her marriage.
Journeyman is a pleasant bit of entertainment, certainly more interesting than its competition (CSI: Miami; The Bachelor), and should fit very nicely with NBC's light-fantasy Monday lineup.
No comments:
Post a Comment