Journeyman, The Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Six Million Dollar Man

Sunday, November 4th, 2007

07:30 Journeyman
12:00 The Six Million Dollar Man
01:00 The Nancy Drew Mysteries

Journeyman. Episode 6. Is it just me, or is Moon Bloodgood kinda rubbish in this? Seems like her scenes in this episode, and the last one, were dubbed. Badly. And performed badly, too. Plus, her character is utterly useless within the format of the show. She accomplishes nothing. Aside from that, I'm enjoying Journeyman. As time-travel shows go, it rates below Time Tunnel, Quantum Leap, Tru Calling and all the others, but it's getting better as it goes on.

The Six Million Dollar Man. Season 2, Episode 14. On a remote island, Steve is taken prisoner by a Japanese soldier who believes that World War II is still in progress. One of the best stories ever told on the show, with a superb new character, a superb guest star (John Fujioka), a great performance from Lee Majors (again) and moments that can haunt the viewer for decades. They certainly haunted me.

The attention to detail and maturity of storytelling are both very impressive. The episode opens with a clever backstory. After the credits roll, we are told two surprising pieces of information: Steve was not Oscar's first recourse, and Oscar knows who is living on the island in question. The storytelling choices make the episode stand out from similar efforts. And the opening sets the tone.

Very soon, Steve is in the company of the Kuroda. First as an enemy, then as a prisoner, and finally as an ally. Their conversations (and the emotions that go with them) are some of the best moments ever filmed for this show. There's a great poignancy, and profound sense of loss, conveyed in the story of the man who lost his life to war, but lived on anyway. It's subtle. But, it's as good an anti-war story as you are ever likely to see. The ending, with the final conversation between the two men, will bring a tear or two to the corner of your eye.

The Nancy Drew Mysteries. Episode 4. A play is about to be staged in a soon-to-be-demolished theatre. To everyone's surprise five famous actors volunteer to appear. Five people, Nancy discovers, who appeared in that same play together - for one night - twenty years earlier. Even stranger they obviously hate one another (judging by the witty barbs that fly back and forth) yet they are to been seen together at odd hours, carrying a large amount of bricks and - on one occasion - a large sarcophagus (!!). The dialogue is fast and funny, the slapstick comedy is perfect, Nancy is as clever and persistent as ever, and the end result is the funniest and cleverest (and possibly best) episode of Nancy Drew.