TNMC
This site’s design is only visible in a graphical browser that supports web standards, but its content is accessible to any browser or Internet device.
JOHN DOE
Episode 1.05 "John Deux"
Written by Geoffrey Neigher
Directed by Felix Alcala
Guest Stars: Peter J. Lucas (Dorimond), Micheal McShane (Brunellas), Adam Henderson (Medical Examiner), Erik Breker (Smith), Tim Henry (Father), Brian Drummond (Doctor), Adrian Hough (Kerrigan).
Air Date: 10/25/02
The ads for "John Deux" led most of America to believe that John would meet up with a man who shared his plight. All of the symptoms were present: woke up naked on the beach, color blind, amnesia. Whether or not the guy was in any way related to Doe, we just don't know for certain. It always winds up being "maybe, maybe not" with this show.
"Deux" opens with some X-rays of John's skull. Some folks online have postulated that John might have a computer for a brain, but I guess this puts that theory down. Too bad, he could have been just like D.A.R.Y.L. only grown up and not gay. Well, obviously gay I suppose. John gets on the doctor's bad side real quick when he starts ranting about his problems and randomly diagnosing people in the waiting room. Why in the fuck would people just start asking a stranger about their problems? He sure doesn't look like a doctor. Even if they thought he was a physician, people normally wait their turn.
We move right along to mystery man of the hour. I'll call him Richard Roe, for now. Some extreme sports enthusiasts are gunning their ATV's down some stretch of beach in "Canashington", where they notice a naked guy hugging a log. They wake him up and ask his name, but he can't remember who he is. It's the pilot all over again. He's even color blind with the grainy vision. At home John and Karen share a moment and she doesn't even make me want to kick the television. This time. Suddenly John's computer is making with the Star Trek klaxons. He's set up an online search using his description, and this means it's found something. It found the guy that just washed up. They're identical, all the way down to their height and weight. Dominic Purcell weighs 185? Jesus, can't someone hire a dumpy unattractive male lead for these things? It would really help my self-esteem. Thanks.
John sneaks into the hospital to meet the guy, but when he wakes up he goes into a fit. Before going catatonic, he mutters "they got you, too". What this is supposed to mean is a mystery to me. Richard didn't have a mark like John's so he was probably just rambling. John gets arrested, and we are once again shown that he and Lt. Avery don't get along. When John goes back, because he's a dolt, the Richard is missing. John and the cops track a van that might have been used to kidnap Richard to a blind, trailer park computer turd known as Brunellas. Computer Turd winds up dead after talking to Doe, and John thinks these people are sending him a message.
While searching on his own, John encounters a crazy Frenchman who claims to know the truth about John's past. John, being a major league moron, buys it. What does he get for his trouble? He's nearly carved up for his organs. You see, the Frenchman didn't know John or Richard. He was just out to harvest their organs. It was all a coincidence. Richard's dead, and John's at a dead end once again.
I liked this episode. There were the usual glitches, but I'm not as sick of those as I used to be. I don't think we need proof of John's abilities that often. He manages to do plenty of that without the annoying question and answer sessions. I enjoyed the scene in John's home where he has three sources of info going at once. It shows how vast his knowledge is and that he has limits. This is all anyone really needs to get what John can do. We don't need him answering the questions of random strangers all the time. It's tired, and we're only five episodes in.
This show manages to confound even the observant among the audience. It's made constant references to eyes throughout, and I'm not sure how that fits into everything. It's something to ponder in the long run. Lt. Avery's fear of hospitals was a delicious bit of irony given that the actress is well known for her role on Chicago Hope. I find little things like that amusing, and I wonder if they do that for the benefit of obsessives like myself. John learns nothing, he and Avery get closer, and the online fanatics have more info to postulate with. A good outing, I suppose. "John Deux" earns:
Episode Rating: 8 out of 10
- Steven Dougherty doesn't trust the French, especially if they offer to drug him up in an abandoned storefront.
What do you think? Talk about it on the Forums
