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Halloween Day by Day: "The Dead Zone" (Season One)


One of my favorite Stephen King novels (next to "The Shining" of course), is "The Dead Zone".  I'm also a huge fan of the movie version starring Christopher Walken.

I mean- It's CHRISTOPHER WALKEN!

*coughs and calms down from his fanboy fever*

Anyway, back in 2002, when I heard that they were going to produce a "The Dead Zone" TV series, I was stoked.

Since I don't watch TV, I waited until the first season was on DVD, and binged it.  I binged it hard.  Like two teens hiding the bushes at the local make-out spot hard.

I loved it.  The first season follows the novel for the most part:  Johnny Smith is in a car accident that puts him in a coma for six years.  When he comes out of it, he discovers that he has psychic abilities to give him visions upon touching someone.  After rubbing shoulders with congressional candidate, Johnny is then sent on a path to prevent a possible nuclear apocalypse from occurring.

Since this was meant to be an ongoing series, they had to stretch it out a bit- which allowed them to include some "filler" episodes that helped to flesh out the characters and the world they live in.

I'm just sad that they had to cancel the show after the sixth season, as I absolutely loved this series.  The basic story, and the "filler" episodes fit together nicely, so as to present a fairly coherent painting of the world and characters.  The series blended drama, paranormal, suspense, and humour in a marvelous way that made the show entertaining and engaging for me.

The acting was amazing.  Anthony Michael Hall (as Johnny), David Ogden Stiers (as Rev Purdy), and John L. Adams (as physiotherapist Bruce) all put in just astounding performances in their roles.  I was especially glad to see Stiers, as I'd been a fan of his since his role on "M*A*S*H".  They brought such life and energy to their characters that I couldn't help wanting to see more of them.

I also really enjoyed the visual effects used during the visions.  They had an almost "Matrix" sureality to them, especially as Johnny was able to move at normal speed- and interact with items, while everything else moved at a different pace.  Just a fascinating way of doing it that impressed me.

"The Dead Zone" TV series impressed me, and I would absolutely tell people to find Season One and binge watch it... and then binge Season Two...

It's in "The Good" for sure.
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