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JOHN DOE
Episode 1.08 "Idaho"
Written by Brandon Camp & Mike Thompson
Directed by Henry Bronchtein
Guest Stars: Leon Russom (Lorne), Rutanya Alda (Cassie), David Parker (Det. Roosevelt), John Walsh (Himself).
Air Date: 11/15/02
Promos intimated that this was the episode that would answer all of our questions. It did for a few of them. Too bad the answers were all lies. It's also unfortunate that this was obviously the case after about five minutes. Grace Zabriskie returns and actually has a few lines. Is it me, or was she a whole lot better looking as Laura Palmer's mother?
FOX manages to start things off with some corporate cross pollination. John has called in the folks at America's Most Wanted to help him out with his identity quest. John basically comes out about having amnesia in the hopes of attracting people who might recognize him. It works. Sort of. While John's airing his dirty laundry to the nation, Frank is investigating the murder of a small time private eye who seems to have suffered a heart attack. Pretty cut and dry, right? Not when the deceased's last assignment was tailing John Doe around town.
You know what really pleased me this week? No Karen. Not a fucking sign of her. I must say that already enhances the enjoyment factor quite a bit. Anyway, back to the case. John concludes that this wasn't a heart attack after all, but a clever electrocution. John continues to abuse police resources for his own selfish needs, allowing him to find the person who allegedly gave the dead dick the assignment. While rummaging through Black Duster Man's room, John finds pictures of the Lady from the Ferry, AKA the Lady in Teal. One of the pictures shows a house that John easily tracks down. Fortunately they spare us the footwork on that one. In the house he finds Sarah Palmer herself. Sarah calls John "Thomas" a few times. John gets fed up with her riddles and tries to call the police, only get zapped by Black Duster Man.
He wakes up in a circular room and is informed that his name is Thomas Crowder. Thomas, it seems, suffered from a debilitating disease that nearly destroyed his brain. Mrs. Palmer's people found a cure, but there were side effects. Monochromatic vision, enhances cognitive functions, unusual phobias, etc. They even tell him the woman from the ferry's name is Theresa. He's from Idaho, but he disappeared three years ago, and it's taken them this long to find him. They only want to tell him the truth. Of course, I had a hard time buying that what with all the weird shit going on and the fact that they killed that physician back in "Doe Re: Me". Not exactly trustworthy.
John goes to Idaho and finds everything they told him about. His parents are conveniently dead, and they even have explanations for his fondness for "My Funny Valentine". John thinks it's all a little too pat, but he swallows it anyway. Some store-bought muffins tip John off to the fact that this whole scenario is a big, fat lie. When he gets back to Seattle, everything he saw is gone and he doesn't know what to believe anymore. The only clue left is a little figurine of a Phoenix, the red hue of which, John can see.
This doesn't look good for Mrs. Palmer, either. She has a meeting with some deaf guy on a park bench. She failed to "harness" John, so now she has to pay. The mysterious deaf dude figures the truth would have been easier. Though not as good on the ratings, I suppose. Black Duster Man stabs Mrs. Palmer in the back with a little knife emblazoned with a Phoenix logo. It seems to me that everything John's seen in color has been put there for him to see. Something to steer him away from the truth, whatever that is. So how does the little girl factor into it? Was she planted, too? Good questions that will probably never have answers.
Even though I saw the surprise coming a mile away, I still enjoyed this episode. It had less of John spouting statistics and more clues into his mysterious background. Less Karen is also a plus. I'm going to miss Grace Zabriskie, but at least that lopsided smirk of hers won't annoy me anymore. I give "Idaho":
Episode Rating: 9 out of 10
- Steven Dougherty, in a fight between Grace Zabriskie and John's assistant Karen, would choose a chocolate milkshake.
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