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JOHN DOE
Episode 1.01: "Pilot"
Air Date: September 20th, 2001
Written by: Brandon Camp and Mike Thompsen
Directed by: Mimi Leder
Guest Stars: Romy Rosemont (Mrs. Nichols), John Rosenfeld (Even Nichols)
I wasn't expecting much from John Doe, at least at first. The concept seemed cool, but it was one of those scenarios that rarely deliver in television. It's a hard situation to make good on. You set up a big mystery about your protagonist as the thrust of the show, but the more you build on that premise the harder it is to make the premise worthwhile in the end.
It all starts when a man (Dominic Purcell) wakes up naked on what appears to be some scorched earth. The shot was grainy, so I can't be absolutely certain, but it looked like the ground underneath him had been burned. When he wakes up he wanders around for a second and falls off a cliff right smack into the ocean. He's picked up by some Khmer fisherman and we find out this is Seattle. The first bit of strangeness he encounters, other than the nudity and such, is that he can speak and understand Khmer. Ok, that's pretty neat. When the paramedics examine him he doesn't remember who he is, or anything about himself, but he can tell what time it is by looking at the sun, and he's a smart-ass.
We learn everything we need to know about John, as he comes to call himself, in the first 15 minutes. Including his abundance of trivial knowledge and the fact that he can apply what he knows to physical tasks. We also learn about his limitations. There are no sure things in life, and even though he can make highly accurate guesses, he doesn't always win. He does get a little depressed about his lack of a past, but he doesn't dwell on it too much, which is a plus. The most unusual attribute he possesses is his vision. He can only see in black and white, which plays into tonight's mystery.
While doing crossword puzzles in a bar and playing armchair Jeopardy, John sees a news report about a missing girl. The thing is, he sees her in color. This prompts him to think she might be related to him. It's something, and he latches onto it desperately. When he looks into things, he discovers his abundant know-how can be applied to criminal investigation. It makes sense. He fits the template of the classical blueprint Detective. He possesses a near super-human level of knowledge and he can apply that knowledge to see what the casual observer can't. There's even a Police Detective (John Marshall Jones) to serve double duty as his Watson. It's a nice set up, but it can easily get stale if they don't keep the cases interesting form here on in.
The episode ends with an ominous scene involving a woman on a boat who spots John. She starts waving and shouting the name "Tommy" and when he turns to look, he sees her in color. The promos make it look like John might find some answers to his past next week, but I doubt it's anything he can really go on. All in all this was pretty similar to the Pretender in scope and premise, a show I enjoyed for the most part. A nice blend of humor, mystery, drama with colorful dialogue and loads of trivia for one to use at parties later.
I give the pilot:
Episode Rating: 9 out of 10
- Steven Dougherty knows a lot of trivia, but he wishes he looked as good naked as Dominic Purcell.
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