After the poorly directed, by the numbers last week known as "Panic", which is so far the season's worst episode, the season makes a major comeback with the contraversial "Articles of Faith".
What is arguably the best episode of the season so far, we find a political, story-twisting and rather emotional episode that reminds one just how good "The Dead Zone" can be.
Everything is in top form with this episode. He and the writing was taken very, very seriously, it seemed to be written for a movie more than a 45 min. long television show. With the episode being centered around an apparent hate-crime, the characters react very seriously to the situation. (Which is more than I can say for the car-wreck that was last week's episode.) Bruce is very much offended by it and the audience can't help but watch how he reacts to the situation. Johnny directs his attention to whatever he feels is the most important and what he discovers keeps the audience guessing as the story takes more twists than expected.
The episode also marks the guest return of Dana Bright who does very little in this episode but get in the way. However the character does explain where she's been for the past two and a half seasons so at the very least one plot hole has been taken care of in the series.
Set aside that the episode is has the best writing we've seen all season, noteworthy directing (something that seems to be missing in the series as of recent) and a complex story that's just about 'too-good=for-TV', it also seems to have much to say. The episode revolves around the subject of hate crimes and racial discrimination. This time its not the young black boy found dead as we've seen a million times on other shows with the same message. This time its a middle-eastern child that's murdered, but the episode is able to use that as a benchmark for universal racism: African-Americans, Jews, Muslims, Asians...etc... The episode's finest moment is a convicted young man's monologue. As he spits out his horrible praise of racism into the camera of a news channel one can't help but let their jaw drop and force themselves to think.
The surprises grow when its found that the murder had nothing to do with a hate crime at all. It was just a cover up and someone was taking the blame for it. So one must think, is hate that powerful? Is it a big enough, and evil enough, source of pride that one would want to take the responsibility of a hate-crime murder?
The end of the episode sports racists talking online about how they hoped it was 'one of them' that killed the middle-eastern boy. They perfered that to a scared, young 'church boy' who tried to cover up the murder as something done out of racial hate. They wanted it to be a true hate crime.
The beginning episode alos throw some 9/11 thoughtfulness in: Should we hate an entire nation or religion for the acts of other evil people? Does that make an entire nation or religion evil as well? Or just certian people out of that nation and religion? This shouldn't just be applied to middle-easterns, but everyone, everywhere. It's an intresting fruit for thought.
Overall the episode returns some of "The Dead Zone"s more contraversial feelings to the audience and gives people, both fans and casual viewers, plenty to think and talk about. It's been a long time since "The Dead Zone" got its hands dirty and took on such serious subjects. Furthermore it was an excellent episode to pull out the stops: Great writing, directing, accurate character reactions, a dark, serious story and plenty of twists to keep you guessing. And what's even better is that we finally get an episode that Mr. Piller said would come after the season opener. Was this a victory for Johnny? Or just a lot of bloodshed and guilty faces full of hate? This is contemplated near the episode's end. "Should we hope that prayer will make everything better?" Johnny asks Purdy, skeptical as always. "That's the question we must ask before we pray." Replies Purdy, who always seems to have an answer to Johnny's skepticism. And yet again...Johnny has no comeback. And this time, for such a subject matter, it seems more appropriate than ever.

***1/2 out of ****

I have to agree with you(about this episode, anyway). With the episode's excellence and Dana's return, it felt like a return to the greatness we saw in Seasons 1 and 2 (and mostly in 3). The Dead Zone is once again "too good to be on TV!"

I really enjoyed this episode too. "The Dead Zone" has always been a series of standalone weekly adventures, but since the third season, the non-arc episodes were almost uniformily dull. The plotting would always be straightforward and predictable, the crimes of the week rarely had any emotional relevance for Johnny Smith, the visions lacked psychological depth -- basically, "The Dead Zone"'s weekly standalones had become predictable and pointless. This episode is a correction on a lot of those flaws; while a standalone story, there are numerous twists and turns throughout the story, from Johnny's alarming initial vision to the confusion of the murder. Johnny's powers aren't a convenient expository plot device, but instead an element of danger and mystery that people are suspicious and untrustworthy towards. The episode was tautly paced, full of interesting developments, and gripping from start to finish.

I think where the show's flaws continue to show in this episode, however, is in characterization. This isn't a problem with the episode itself, but with the show as a whole. In the past, Johnny, Bruce and the regulars would be on a continuous path of development throughout the season; the standalone stories would resolve themselves at the end of the episode, but the characters would learn new things about themselves, develop their individual skills, connect differently to each other, etc.. The character progression took place over the course of the entire season while the stories were generally kept to single episodes.

This episode is an example of the present approach to the regular characters. A few observations are made about Johnny's isolation, and how he and Bruce are very good friends, but nothing really changes for him. He doesn't have any new insights into himself, no thoughts on how he relates to people or what his role in the world is. Johnny Smith, once an evolving and developing character has, for three seasons, remained the appealing but unchanging action protagonist. He's a reliable hero, without the personal demons and painful loneliness that cast shadows on his earnest nature and heartfelt desire to help people. Dana Bright's appearance is also an example of this; she's a pleasant enough presence, and it's good to see Kristin Dalton, but Dana is the same at the beginning of the episode as she is at the end. And if the show is only doing stories where characters have ceased to grow, then that sense of stagnation becomes obvious. It's been obvious for awhile, and plainly exposed by dull and predictable writing. Thankfully, this week's story was neither dull nor predictable. If "The Dead Zone" is going to stick to its standalone stories, the episodes need to be as twisty-turny as this one.

Michael Taylor has had his name on his share of golden episodes. He's also done his share of absolute crap on this show. I think this episode goes in the former category.

Final note: Had this story aired second, I think we might have been more accomodating of the light diversion of "Independence Day" and the action-oriented "Panic."

- Ibrahim Ng

It's good to see some positive reaction to this episode. Given the thread titles I was beginning to wonder if I was on the right board.

I disagree regarding the development of the John Smith character. s4 had many stand alones that fit into the category you have described. John was often passive, never really getting his hands dirty with the exception of Grains of Sand, when he took a pipe to the throat. In Articles of Faith we see John taking chances because one of the people closest to him has been and continues to be affected by the main issue of the story. We see a John who is sure of what he saw but unsure how to get the point across. Each vision brings more questions and in the end John is reminded of just how isolated he is. He can't respond to Dana the way he might like because of the weight he carries. After a season where John got very comfortable with his abilities, he is suddenly reminded of how vulnerable those abilities make him. Similar clouds of darkness were stirred by last year's Vanguard and Babble On.

The issue of intolerance hits home for John on many levels. Bruce talks about being 'profiled' by store owners, avoided by 'white middle aged women'. Occurrences John and any white viewer of the series might witness but not necessarily consciously acknowledge. Then there is John himself. People know who John Smith is. They could admire, fear, even hate him for who he is. For something that he cannot change-just like Bruce cannot change the color of his skin. In the tradition of some of the very best of DZ this episode functions on many levels.

Many posters have commented on a 'lack of darkness' in s4. IMO said darkness is slowly returning. You can't get much darker than John's horror at realizing Miranda's fate in Forbidden Fruit. His reactions in and out of vision mode in Articles of Faith emphasize how affected he is by what he sees. Even Independence Day had an inkling. The desperation John felt when talking to Bruce. "What can I do? How can I help these people?" The character need not wallow in angst the entire episode to experience a level of darkness and introspection. As light hearted as Independence Day was there was the horror of the accident and how it was avoided to remind everyone that John does not function in a vacuum.

I am surprised by reports of this episode as a satisfying mystery. Although I was glad to see Johnny striking out at Bruce in the throes of a vision (I miss the way Johnny used to take on the characteristics of the people in his visions) I didn't find the other visions terribly intriguing. It was pretty clear from the young editor's first appearance that he was involved, and I pride myself on being an incredibly poor solver of mysteries.

But the worst thing about this episode was its lack of subtlety. DZ used to tell stories about moral ambiguity and now they tell black-and-white stories about how nothing's...black-and-white. The lack of self-awareness in this episode is astonishing. The racists were very stereotyped and unrealistic. They did not feel real to me. They didn't creep me out and disturb me and make me feel dirty the way real racists do (and the way this show used to do). The story was too conscious of its own moral and came off as preachy and silly.

And that concluding paragraph of a conversation that Johnny, Purdy and Bruce have at the end...gah. Gag me with a spoon. The platitudes! Did Smallville's Jonathan Kent find his way into the writers' room?

And poor Dana got the shaft. I guess a bad explanation is better than no explanation for her absence, but...*sigh*.

Ib, I think you're spot on regarding the characterization.

To me John is seeing something in the making and he asks what everyone would ask: what can be done about it.

The Armageddon scenario is a failure of everything!! Every social institution. Every diplomatic solution. Where do you turn to for help in such a situation? Where do you look to for answers? In "end times" everyone man's hand will be against his neighbor, so to speak. "Nation shall rise against nation (ethnic group against ethnic group), "kingdom against kingdom" (political upheaval on a global scale). Natural disasters will cause market competition, economic failure, etc. What will be the only thing that will save "humanity" if not what John says and that is "toleration"? Like Gene says, dialog helps understanding.

But push all that aside when events happen so fast that none it has time to work. Where do you turn? John is supposed to solve all of this and even he is asking Gene where to begin. He does seem to be asking what he is supposed to do. He did it in "Independence Day". His father showed him in "Panic". He was shown a lesson of who he's dealing with in "Forbidden Fruit". Knowledge is power but it too has its own burden.

I've a hard time with the connections to Revelation because I interpret that book as having to do with the past, not the future.

But I agree that the questions you are asking are pertinent. I just didn't feel like they came through believably in the episode. The episode had a definite moral: HATE = BAD. Oh, and we're confused about what to do. Okay. There's just not much there. It's such a commonplace, simply-stated thesis.

This episode just didn't leave me thinking the way something like "Shadows" does. If I want to be disturbed and wax philosophical about white supremecists, I'll watch another documentary about them on the National Geographic Channel. Or read Them. "Articles of Faith" just doesn't have any meat on it for me. *shrug*

I think you've missed a lot in this episode if all you got was 'hate = bad'. Surely you caught the discerning of what should and shouldn't be hated against at the beginning of the episode? And even further is the way its played out. The hate crime wasn't really a hate crime, it was simply covered up and bloated in to a bigger deal than it actually was. the fact that the show potrayed the subject through an innocent person willing to take responsibility for the crime was amazing. Just how far does the strength of hate go? That's the question the episode tends to ask, not 'hate is bad'. That's been evaluated through many series and episodes in those series, but "The Dead Zone" took a twisting enough approach to the question that the subject was made far mroe unique than anticipated. Is it as thoguth provoking as "Shadows"? No, but there are few episodes better than "Shadows" anyway.
As for the closing moments with Johnny and Purdy, perhaps you should catch it again. I doubt you saw the depth in their comments.

Quote:

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I think where the show's flaws continue to show in this episode, however, is in characterization. This isn't a problem with the episode itself, but with the show as a whole. In the past, Johnny, Bruce and the regulars would be on a continuous path of development throughout the season; the standalone stories would resolve themselves at the end of the episode, but the characters would learn new things about themselves, develop their individual skills, connect differently to each other, etc.. The character progression took place over the course of the entire season while the stories were generally kept to single episodes.

This episode is an example of the present approach to the regular characters. A few observations are made about Johnny's isolation, and how he and Bruce are very good friends, but nothing really changes for him. He doesn't have any new insights into himself, no thoughts on how he relates to people or what his role in the world is. Johnny Smith, once an evolving and developing character has, for three seasons, remained the appealing but unchanging action protagonist. He's a reliable hero, without the personal demons and painful loneliness that cast shadows on his earnest nature and heartfelt desire to help people. Dana Bright's appearance is also an example of this; she's a pleasant enough presence, and it's good to see Kristin Dalton, but Dana is the same at the beginning of the episode as she is at the end. And if the show is only doing stories where characters have ceased to grow, then that sense of stagnation becomes obvious. It's been obvious for awhile, and plainly exposed by dull and predictable writing. Thankfully, this week's story was neither dull nor predictable. If "The Dead Zone" is going to stick to its standalone stories, the episodes need to be as twisty-turny as this one.

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I agree here. The first three seasons seemed to develop all the main stars along the way, we saw groth in almost all of them, but with Season 4 there seems to have been a brick wall set in front of these characters that keep them from growing together. Now that Johnny is over Sarah there just isn't much for her to be involved in any more. They tried last year with the whole rock star thing, but that was a really dull episode and a very forced excuse to try and develop a 'friendship' between these two characters.
It seems that the entire cast never do anything with each other anymore that pushes them further in to development. We never see Johnny, Walt, Sarah and Bruce all lined up together anymore. We havn't even seen Sarah in this season yet, her character has almsot become a guest appearence. It's time they were thrown back in to the loop I think.