(S01E03) "Traveling is about instinct. What is yours telling you?" - LiviaLooks like more and more people are getting into Journeyman. In our first poll, a little over 52% said they were already hooked to the show while, in our second one, 68% said they were loving the show. Will this week's installment keep people coming?
To answer my own question, I'm not sure. Don't get me wrong, the episode wasn't bad and I'm sure viewers (I include myself in that lot) will tune in next week for more, but I share JJ's views on the show when he says "I'm really going to like this show it if I'm kept guessing as to the purpose of Dan's journey through time." This week's episode didn't keep us guessing at all. Yes, they wanted us to wonder if Dan had to save Alan or Charlotte but since the talented John Billingsley played Alan, it was a given he was the one to save.
Since I pretty much knew who Dan had to save, I somehow found myself drift away when he was in 1989. What particularly interested me this week were Dan's relationships with both Livia and Katie. Journeyman's creator Kevin Falls told Buddy TV that "There's this thing with Dan and Katie and Dan and Livia and exploring those relationships each week [...] is a more long-term story. So there are stand-alone [episodes] where new viewers can watch and not have to catch up, but where loyal viewers are rewarded each week with ever-evolving characters." Even if "Game Three" was only the third episode, I felt like I was rewarded, at least a bit, for being a loyal viewer.
I could talk about how Dan helped Alan while trying to warn people about the earthquake but I think what was more important this week were the relationships. For sure, Dan and Katie love one another. However, the couple is on shaky ground right now and their problems are more complicated then him putting the toilet seat down. Katie stood by her man while he was having gambling and has been lying for him ever since he started traveling but it seems she reached her limit when she discovered that Dan met Livia in the past. I'm pretty sure Dan will end up telling her that he lied because he didn't want to hurt her and they'll try to patch things up. However, he'll need to be 100% truthful with her from now on if he wants her to stand by him. It wouldn't surprise me to see her go back to Jack if she and Dan ever divorce.
Katie is not the only one who made discoveries about "the other woman;" Livia did too. However, the latter seemed to take the news better than Katie did. Probably because Livia understands that it is normal for Dan to have moved on after he learned she died. Even if Livia said she was happy for him, it was clear she was hurting. Learning about the other woman is one thing, but learning that said other woman used to date Dan's brother and that they (Livia and Katie) were friends, that's another story. Livia will need time to process this news. It will surely impact her future interactions with Dan.
Thanks to Livia sticking around longer than in the two previous episodes, we learned a bit more about her and traveling:
- She started traveling before she met Dan.
- It stopped sometime before they got together.
- She didn't tell him about her travels because it stopped while they were together.
- It resumed when she "died."
- She reminds him that traveling is about instincts yet she later tells him that he can't improvise as it could lead to dramatic events,
- Why is it that Livia got a break from traveling? Was it because she got together with Dan? Will they need to get back together in the end to both stop traveling?
- What will happen if Dan gets injured or killed in the past? Will he miraculously be healed and sent back to the present?
- Why was it that this time Livia was always around?
- Who chooses when they travel and where?
- Why is it that no one sees him disappear? (Katie notices he leaves but doesn't see him vanish.) When he is at the office and vanishes, one would think that a coworker would notice it since it's a crowded and open place.
- Why is it that Jack knows about Dan's travels yet doesn't seem to understand that his brother's "cases" can require him do weird stuff. Why is it that Jack thinks of gambling first and doesn't even mention that his brother's weirdness can be linked to traveling? One would expect better investigation from an... investigator!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-09-2007 @ 2:01AM
BC said...
Katie told Jack about Dan's traveling, but Dan didn't--otherwise he wouldn't keep coming up with pretexts for asking Jack for information and using police resources. Jack doesn't believe Katie--who would, really--so he believes she's enabling and covering up for Dan. That's why he comes up with other reasons for Dan's behavior.
Is there something I missed?--because this seems obvious to me.
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10-09-2007 @ 3:58AM
Rick said...
Livia it seems here to help guide and teach Dan about traveling. I think her job is basically to supervise him. Perhaps she is the one that recruited him into traveling.
As with the death of "Hulk's" sister, the loss of a close friend or relative may have the effect of turning around a life headed downhill. I think this episode sets the stage for Dan taking actions that may seem "evil" but they are necessary for the greater good. Livia is likely here to help with this transition as it seems against Dan's nature to do harm.
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10-09-2007 @ 6:42AM
Paul said...
Dan DID talk to Jack about it, didn't he? He mentioned seeing Livia, which is why Jack mentioned that to Katie -- even if he doesn't actually BELIEVE that Dan is a travelling through time. He wanted to stir the pot after it was apparent Katie was standing up for her husband and believing the travelling story.
I'm REALLY liking this show, btw.
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10-09-2007 @ 6:47AM
Jeffrey Lipsey said...
I believe this week's episode was much better than last week's, and I'm excited to see where the show will go.
I'm a fan of the complex web of relationships between Katie, Livia and Dan (both in the past and present). They rely on Dan's delicate balance of lies and deceit to just about everyone he knows.
"I mentioned last week that I thought Katie found out too soon about Dan. Although I still feel this way, the dramatic scenes to follow after Katie learned about Dan's habitual run-ins with Livia should be quite interesting."
http://lamererun.com/category/journeyman/
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10-09-2007 @ 7:25AM
Shmirdawg said...
Livia must be pretty snappy with her job. She must be finding and helping people out real fast when she "travels" if she still has time to find Dan, wherever he is, and talk to him. A little inexplicable unless she has much more control over her power than Dan does with his.
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10-09-2007 @ 10:23AM
clgbutterfly said...
The simple answer about Jack's attitude is he is jealous and wants any excuse for lashing at Dan. He's seen his brother go down the wrong path. Think about it, they've already hinted that Dan used to be a drug addict, alcoholic and had a gambling problem. Jack is right he's acting erractic and that usually means a person's fallen off the wagon. He also wants to drive a wedge between Katie and Dan in hopes to get Katie back.
As for Dan keeping Livia a secret, he was doing that to protect his marriage. It's very difficult to decide when to say something and when not to say it, especially when a marriage has been rocky. I'm sure he originally thought of saying nothing hoping he wouldn't see Livia again, so it would never be a problem. Of course anyone who has omitted the truth in a marriage knows this comes back to bite one in the rear.
I was also very curious about Livia's time traveling. As Katie asked, "Is it Genetic?" What causes his traveling. By Livia being a traveler and then eight years after her death he begins to travel makes me assume it isn't genetic, but I don't think its scientific either. I think it will always be a mysterious force. As far as Livia's traveling versus Dan's traveling they are currently very different. It is apparent that Livia doesn't know why it happens, but its been happening her whole life, plus we are all still assuming that she's mortal. What if she isn't mortal? What if her time with Dan was simply an extended time jump? It is apparent that she is a disparate of time, an exile. As to the other question of why does no one notice him disappearing, again it is simple, when people are working in crowds, especially large cities they pay little attention to things at the corner of their eye. And that is perhaps when he disappears in a blink. Who hasn't experience someone suddenly disappearing when we knew they had just been there a second ago?
Journeyman is establish a strong background and still doing a pretty good job of keeping one shots. You must find the balance in order to keep people coming back, just look at shows like Dr. Who, which have been using this same formula fantasicially for over 50 years. My only fear is that if Journeyman is sucessful it might stunt the career of this fabulous actor.
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10-09-2007 @ 12:16PM
Chris (Amateur Traveler podcast) said...
The even simpler answer about Jack is that he does not believe Dan is a time traveler. Although at some point that 2007 $20 bill that he got from a guy in the past may came back up in the story line. It is probably locked away in evidence somewhere.
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10-10-2007 @ 7:28PM
fred said...
Well, the part you "focused" on is what I believe to be the flaw of this series, the whole soap part of it.
Why did he had to marry the girlfriend of his brother ? I can't tell. Makes as much sense to me as to having his brother trying to catch him (in the past) last week, that's just not good.
http://88.191.26.34/i_watch_tv/2007/10/10/journeyman-game-three/
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