Journeyman: "Friendly Skies" (Episode 102)

Second Hand smoke - A San Franciscan's Nightmare

They say that you can't really judge a show by it's pilot. In production pilots get far more resources, days to shoot and money in the budget than a show gets on a weekly basis. Plus, because it's designed to entice the network to buy more, the writing is always as top notch as they can get it, putting all their best feet forward to impress the viewer. Now a second episode, that's where you get to the bottom of what you'll actually be watching week in and week out, and on that basis Journeyman ain't terrible. It's nothing groundbreaking (think Quantum Leap with more angst), but it's not a bad show to relax after your Monday if Heroes didn't quite do it for you.

This week, Dan Vassar once again travels through time to put right what once went wrong. We're told a little more about the rules of the game, albeit in very vague terms (citrus fruits explode for some unknown reason). Dan can predict his leaps somewhat, Wifey still doesn't believe Dan even after his dramatic unearthing of her ring, but the weirdest bump for me was the vague indication that Livia doesn't quite know what's happening and may only be slightly more in the know than Dan. The concept works far better with a character that is an expert to Dan's novice (not to mention making the title Journeyman make sense), but in this case Dan suspects that Livia is simply following him the same as he follows his cases, but he'll have to wait another week to get more answers.

We begin with Wifey watching as Dan gets an MRI, presumably to prove that there's nothing wrong with him. Wifey, how would a shadow on an MRI explain how your ring got buried under your old concrete patio? Apparently they're also on the way to the airport, because everyone knows that the medical industry is so punctual that you should always take care of MRIs on your way to catch a flight. Wifey has a moment where she loses sight of Dan and actually has a start. So maybe she does believe. Dan and the wifey are off on vacation to make a new baby, but Wifey is having her doubts.

Once in the air, and after some angsty relationship drama, Dan heads to the head and sure enough, he leaps away. He finds himself in a different airplane in a different era of in-flight smoking, bad projection movies, hot air stewardesses and actual real food for an in-flight meal. Oh and far too much seventies funk music in the background. Why do television shows (I'm looking at you Cold Case) shove so much pop music down the audience's throats to reinforce what era we're watching? I get it from the wardrobe and set dressing. And the writing. And I know that music ain't cheap.

Back in 2007, Wifey realizes that there's a problem brewing. The crew has noticed that Dan has gone to the head and never come out. In nineteen seventy-something, Dan sits next to a very pregnant woman, as in water breaking all over the place pregnant. Dan knows that he's there to deliver a flying baby.

Cue crazy backwards credits.

In 2007, Wifey lies when the crew inquires about her husband. In the seventies, Dan delivers the baby like a pro. Wifey leaves Dan a message (wait, you can't use your phone in-flight!) and texts Det. Brother for emergency help. Back on the ground, Wifey gets grilled by the oh-so-fun authorities of the 21^st century. Man, that 9/11 was a real downer, huh. Dan wakes up in the present with a bunch of slumbering travelers and knows what happened thanks to Wifey's cell message. He catches up with Det. Brother and they spring her from custody, chalking everything up to a misunderstanding.

Back home, Dan and Wifey deal with more relationship problems of the type that can only be caused by time traveling. Dan levels with her and explains to her and us (and resets for the new -fingers crossed- viewers) that he travels through time, following a specific person and when he completes a task to Ziggy's satisfaction (sorry, wrong show) he leaps back home. If only Sam Beckett had it so good.

Dan pops out again only to be awakened on a sidewalk in the 80s by Livia, his not-so-dead fiancée. Despite wanting to grill her, Livia forces Dan to continue with his mission, but not before giving him some advice: carry an old phone, older currency and avoid exploding grapefruit. Right behind Dan is the woman that he helped and the daughter that he delivered. The mom recognizes him and they have a chat... underscored by more annoying era-specific music. Dan learns a little about the girl (Tanna) and her father. He convinces her to at least tell the girl who her father is.

One little flash later and Dan is back at home, digging for the old charger to his old cell phone. Wifey got rid of it a long time ago, not foreseeing that Dan would become a time traveler. She reminds Dan about their dinner party and he notices that she's still on her birth control. So much for baby number two.

At work, Dan convinces the boss that he's not on drugs, despite going AWOL. Dan's airport fiasco is big news, but he's putting the blogger kid on it. Elsewhere, Det. Brother tells Wifey that he doesn't want to be her first call anymore. He's never gotten over when they used to date. And he might blame her for Livia's death. Interesting.

Dan continues to Google, excuse me SpyderSearch, for information. He discovers that the woman he helped died in 1991. A migraine comes on and Dan knows what is about to happen. He makes a run for it, but the leap still catches him off guard. From the 1994 hotel that he wakes up in (so nice that the year is plastered on everything) Dan calls home. His 1994 home. Not getting anyone, he knows that its safe to sneak in and rob himself and snatch his phone charger. So... is this show going to address paradoxes at any point? Or true causality? I mean, I know why Dan couldn't find his charger in the future, it's because he stole it from himself in the past. This show has the potential to get particularly thick with problems. I hope the writers have though this through (who am I kidding-- will this show even get twelve episodes?)

Dan leaves his iPhone on the counter and is swigging juice when the happy 1994 foursome of Dan, Livia, Det. Brother and Not Yet Wifey come in. Dan hides and eavesdrops on Livia and Wifey discussing pregnancy scares. Wifey plays with the iPhone a little, but girls don't pay any attention to technology. When Dan sees an opening, he grabs his iPhone and ancient cell phone charger and skedaddles. Back at the hotel, he finds the now teenage Tanna waiting in the lobby to try to meet her father. Dan holds her hand through the encounter, which goes extremely badly. Dad is a bit of a dick and pushes her away with some unkind words and a wad of cash. It's the same way that he dealt with her mom.

Dan flashes back to the present, not sure of what he just accomplished. At home Dan has a bit of a fight with Wifey about the birth control and runs off to get his newly rebuilt Mustang back from the mechanic. Thankfully, Dan gets enough warning with his headaches to pull over before smashing his car up again. Once again, he wakes up in a plane, this time in 1995. Livia is there to meet him. She doesn't have answers for him, but even if she did, they keep getting interrupted by the stewardess. Dan thinks that she's following him, but she doesn't know. She doesn't even know about Wifey. That's going to be awkward. Dan gets no answers, but the one difference that I noticed is that Livia has to be traveling into the future. Otherwise she would be coming from a point even further in the future where she could find out all about Dan. Or she's unstuck in time, which doesn't really explain where she disappears to. Livia has Dan sit in her seat, right next to Tanna's dickish father. Only now he's dying.

When they land, Dan uses his new old phone to track down the grunge-styled Hanna, but in his rush he gives a cabbie a “counterfeit” (read: 2007) twenty dollar bill. Tanna is having none of Dan's do-gooding and doesn't want to see her father. Despite that she might be able to save his life. Dan can't push anymore though, because the cabbie has put the police on to him. He takes off through the streets of San Francisco to the strains of Smashing Pumpkins. Where's a time leap when you need one? At the last minute, Tanna picks Dan up on the street. Just as then Officer Brother almost catches up with him.

At the hospital, Tanna has a less than tearful reunion with her father. As they have a heart to heart about how Tanna may, just may, save her father's life. Because she takes after her mother. Dan leads away a bystander so they can have their moment. Over coffee, the random bystander introduces himself, but before they can talk in depth very much, Dan vanishes.

Back in 2007, Dan missed his dinner party and he makes it up to Wifey. He tracks Tanna down and goes to see her. Tanna recognizes him, just like her mom did once before. Turns out that Tanna wasn't able to save her father since she wasn't a match. But she was able to save the bystander... he was a pilot and is now flying humanitarian missions in Darfur. So it was all about the pilot... Fate sure doesn't work in an extremely roundabout way. There must have been an easier way to get the pilot a transfusion.

Cue “Young Folks” by Peter, Bjorn and John in no less than the fourth show that I've heard the song in this very young fall season. Those guys must be rolling in royalty checks. Dan is off to have a vacation with Wifey. Apparently the airport has footage of Dan getting on the plane at the beginning of the episode, but never exiting. This has earned Dan and Wifey a spot on the awesome “No Fly List”. They decide to drive to Mendocino instead. And Dan breaks it to Wifey that his MRI came back. There's nothing wrong with him.

NEXT WEEK: EARRRTHQUAAAKE!