I'll admit it, I get nervous every time someone without  a significant science fiction pedigree enters the genre, particularly when it is a ‘hit maker' like Tim Kring (Heroes), or now the duo of Kevin Falls and Alex Graves, who both have Aaron Sorkin blood on them from their experience with The West Wing, and in Falls' case Sports Night.  Kring, of course, insulated his lacking comic book and science fiction sensibilities with royalty from those ranks, Falls and Graves are much more hands on with Journeyman.  Any notion that Journeyman would be a ‘me-too' high concept show was gone within the first 10 minutes.  The fact of the matter is, Journeyman is a whole new genre.

I watched Journeyman after attending a conference call with Kevin Falls and star Kevin McKidd (Dan Vassar).  Falls admitted to not really having the sci-fi geek blood in his veins and forecast that the show would probably hold off for a while before getting into any kind of mythology concerning the time travel itself. 

When a reporter asked my favorite question, which was why does society flock to these super-powered extraordinary heroes, Falls gave a response that seemed a little confused, or perhaps me and the questioner just take our Joseph Campbell (The Power of Myth) a little too seriously.  It was not the recipe for confidence for this hardened science fiction and comic buff.  Since watching the pilot, however, I am now convinced that Journeyman is the best new television show this season.

The essentials of the story go like this:  Dan Vassar is a reporter with a beautiful wife, Katie (Gretchen Egolf), an adoring son, and an exploding career.  Suddenly he finds himself traveling in time involuntarily and soon figures out that he must resolve problems for the people that he meets.  Amongst those he runs into in the past is his deceased fiancee Livia (Moon Bloodgood).  He struggles with the choice of being able to save her, but bigger twists await.

On the surface, it is predictable, if not banal, science fiction fare.  What you would definitely expect to come from creators with no roots in the genre. What Falls and Graves have created, though, is a world of characters that interconnect in believably dramatic ways.  Whether you are traveling with Dan into the past, or dealing with the fallout of his journeys in the present, there is a connective tissue that keeps the stakes squarely within the dramatic realm of the characters.

Most science fiction fails because it puts the world over the characters.  Without good characters, it hardly matters how impressive the realm is that they exist in.  Surprisingly, the way Journeyman succeeds is decidedly non-science fiction.  Journeyman is a visceral drama that, frankly, doesn't need its science fiction aspect to be an amazing show.  Vassar could just as easily be driving out of town to solve problems of people in need, and Journeyman would still pack the emotional punch that is so rare in the world of television.

Those who are looking for the next Lost or Heroes will definitely be surprised by what Journeyman has to offer:  a dense, well-drawn dramatic platform upon which to tell stories with emotional depth exceeding that of most prime-time dramas.  Journeyman, in other words, achieves a level as an ensemble character piece that most non-genre shows are constantly struggling to reach.

Journeyman still appeals on the level of its science fiction trappings, but it is the almost nonchalant treatment of these devices that makes it work.  Vassar is initially astounded that he is traveling, but quickly becomes caught up in the desperation of his mission and the device of time travel is relegated almost to the status of a bus or a taxi, merely a method of getting the character back and forth between narrative extremes of high drama.

There is definitely mystery beginning to build in the pilot, but my predication is that the questions of who, what, why, where, and how will be lost in the human story, provided some network exec doesn't lean on the team to start appealing more to the visceral elements of Heroes audience.

There is really no comparison for Journeyman, but if I had to go there it would be Lost season 1. While Lost is doing the blend as well if not better than any show on television, Journeyman may be doing a better job of keeping its human drama in the front and its monsters in the back.  Not once in Journeyman do you feel that the presence of the fantastic has jettisoned the imperatives present in the characters lives. 

A+  to infinity and all the stars in the universe, Journeyman is the show to watch.


- Jon Lachonis, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Images Courtesy of NBC/Universal)