Review: Journeyman – The Complete Series / Cert: U / Director: Various / Screenplay: Various / Starring: Kevin McKidd, Moon Bloodgood, Reed Diamond / Release Date: Out Now
They are a great many American TV shows that get cancelled before they have a chance to truly shine, and in most cases, they are quickly forgotten, which is a pity. Journeyman first appeared in 2007 and only lasted one season. The show follows the exploits of journalist Dan Vasser who becomes afflicted with the power to slip back in time. In true ‘story of the week’ style, the condition only stops when Vasser helps some stranger resolve some plot point or other.
Despite its sci-fi premise, the show is more about the human drama rather than the consequences of adjusting history; the time travel is simply there to move the drama forward, this is not Quantum Leap or Doctor Who. The main protagonist’s friends and family assume that these strange absences are the result of his terrible life choices, and the whole thing has a patina of the mundane about it, and this does make some of the episodes slower than they should be.
Luckily the ongoing plot threads are interesting, and it eventually gets round to developing an arc-plot. It gets better as the series builds momentum, becoming more intricate and interesting as it progresses. The story ends too soon, but we do get a reasonable conclusion to the whole thing and it is a complete story, despite also being a big pile of wasted potential.
The DVD extras are nice enough; we get some insight into how the show would have progressed had it not been cancelled, and how the whole thing was put together in the first place. It is unlikely that the show has many fans, and we doubt they’ll be any campaigns to bring it back, but this DVD collection does have enough features and commentaries to appease anyone with an interest in the show.
Extras: Flashing Backward – 75 min “making of” documentary / The Back Nine – what might have happened had the show not been cancelled / Audio commentaries / Deleted scenes / Stills gallery
