Fare Thee Well, Journeyman

It sounds like, barring some fan-driven, Jericho-like resurrection, Journeyman has gone the way of so many short-lived shows before it. At least NBC didn't follow in the despicable footsteps of Fox (see: Drive) and refuse to air the last few episodes. Instead, fans were treated to an extremely entertaining double send-off last week, with new 'zodes on both the regular night of Monday and a finale on Wednesday.

While the show started a bit slow (for me, anyway), it continued to improve virtually every time it aired a new piece of the puzzle. The last few installments really hit some high notes, including making the time traveling more personal - when Dan's actions lead to both peril in his own home, and emotional heartache when he inadvertently erased his own son from existence! - and beginning to answer some of the core WTF questions. If the writers had been willing to really deal with the ramifications of what the hero was doing, I think I'd probably consider this one of my Top 25 TV shows, since I'm such a fan of time travel. As it is, that one weakness kept me from getting completely drawn into Journeyman, but I'm still going to miss it... quite a bit!

I particularly liked that the plot and setup were both allowed to evolve, rather than continually reverting back to the status quo. Even just the fact that more and more of the supporting cast were becoming "believers," rather than simply playing the same old Scully-card, over and over, earned some affection in my heart. I also appreciated that the show's continuity itself was always being referred back to, as if the characters in it were actually leading lives, and not just there to provide the backdrop for each week's drama in the past. I guess that style of TV writing's not as uncommon as it was a few years ago, but it still struck me as rewarding to the returning viewer, as Vicki and I were.

If you never checked the show out, but have a chance to do so in re-runs (or streaming from NBC.com), I'd recommend you invest a few hours. It's worth it. And while the finale that we got didn't come even close to resolving all of the mysteries, it did wrap things up nicely enough to provide some closure. And the last scene's a beauty!

I gave the Journeyman premiere only 2 and 1/2 stars, but I'm upping my rating on the series itself.

Rating: *** 1/2