Journeyman: "Home By Another Way" (Episode 111)

"Dan, what's this clashing choirs thing that is so popular in 2007?"

Oh, Journeyman, how I missed you. That’s full of sarcasm for those of you at home. As if I didn’t know that this show had already veered into the schlockiest realm of domestic drama, this week the storyline for this show about a time traveler hardly needed to have anything to do with time travel. Oh sure, Dan went back in time and met up with ex-fiancee that moved forward in time (all three timelines taking place on Christmas eve for no real logical reason – but it’s a Christmas episode!), but the storylines had no real need for time travel. Sure, Dan talked to his father and his boss in 1979, but essentially Dan got an opportunity to express his childhood pain to his father (albeit as Dan Carson) and he gathered some information to help save his job and those of his co-workers (but won’t the paper still be running a deficit?). Dan didn’t really do anything in the past though that he couldn’t have accomplished on some level in the present, and in fact didn’t end up changing the past much at all (although Jack now remembers chatting with his father about how “he felt like a freak”) On top of that we got all the worn-out traditional familial dramatic situations: the mother-in-law harping on the wife, the stress of the holiday party (which was bizarrely lavish), an unexpected pregnancy, an engagement and… a healthy dose of post-traumatic stress focused on an apron that magically keeps reappearing. Oh yeah, and Clash of the Choirs starts next Monday.

Will one day the 90s be shown only in sepia tones?We start with Livia back in the forties, listening to the hot new hit “White Christmas” while she pretties herself up. She ponders a picture of Dan and herself from their past (or is it future?) relationship. But no time for that, a man unknown to us (but clearly known to Livia) breezes in and lays a smooch on her.

Too much product placement.Meanwhile(?) in 2007, Wifey is listening to the same song in the kitchen. We know it’s 2007 because in the first shot the director and the production designer have crammed in not just the iPod with the song playing, but the dramatic Bose iPod dock, the iPhone and a flat screen television in the kitchen, ironically playing a Christmas classic. Wifey’s cooking up more cookies for her big party with the carolers and twenty of their neighbors. Dan’s worried that this plus his mother coming to visit may be too much too soon for Wifey. Danny boy gets called away to the office. The owner is going to be trimming the staff, including Dan. Fired on Christmas Eve. I’ve never seen that anywhere before. Hugh’s quitting too because he’s just not going to take it.

The boss is going to officially announce it at the end of the day, but Dan decides to give the guy a piece of his mind. The boss slaps him back about how his productivity is down. Time for the past!

You'll lose those looks some day, honey.It’s 1979 and Dan has transported from the newspaper’s elevator on Christmas Eve to the newspaper’s elevator on Christmas Eve. He bumps up against on of his coworkers looking younger and cuter, but of course nobody ever remembers running into Dan before. Livia is there, and oddly enough she’s been snatched out of Christmas Eve as well. There’s just no justification for it. Dan knows the exact date, because it’s a day that will live in infamy as the old-time newspaper man that ran the place dies in his office during the Christmas party, in the company of the young thing that Dan had just been talking to.

Dan has the unfortunate luck to run into his old man again and we know that this leap is not going to be simple and instead wrought with paternal angst. Oh, and it just so happens to be the night that Vasser the Elder leaves his family. Again, on Christmas Eve?

Cue crazy backwards credits.

In the present, Jack shows up with his girlfriend that we don’t care about to help prepare for the party. Wifey dispatches him to get Mama from the airport since Dan is “unavailable”. Jack is completely onboard with the time traveling and we’re completely done with his Jerk-Bro storyline. Thank god for small favors.

In 1979, Dan and Livia figure that the mission is to take care of the old man and keep Young Thing from giving him a heart attack tonight, but Dan is suspicious, because the older version of Young Thing that he knows is too good to need to sleep her way to the top. Maybe the mission is his father? Livia doesn’t want Dan to “go off mission” and Dan apparently learned nothing from the bullet in his shoulder. But Livia wants to act like Dan shouldn’t even talk to his father, when all they’ve done on this show so far is meddle in their own personal pasts. Off mission my ass.

In ’07, Jack’s girlfriend reminds us that Jack was affected by Dan and Jack’s father leaving as well. The convo is interrupted though by Wifey have a flash of PTS at the sight of her apron from the debacle that was the last episode. And why hasn’t she just gotten rid of thing in the weeks that have passed?

"I'm being polite... to your breasts."In the past, Livia chats up the old man and asks about his health. He’s polite, but Livia brands him pervert. Speaking of perverts, Dan’s dad is totally not into the idea of fidelity in marriage. Dan and Livia are interrupted though by the young version of Dan’s future employer, and he’s still a dick as young man. He takes a swing at Dan and of course Lucius Vorenus comes out and pops the guy. Livia is knocked down and loses her locket. Dan picks it up, but Livia is already gone. Dan is about to learn about Livia current past(?).

Back at the house, the family is being familial and Grandma has arrived. Wifey is annoyed, as per usual, but is vaguely supportive. Meanwhile, Jack is learning how stupid everyone around Dan ends up looking. Dan gets Jack to pull the file on the death of the old man, but Jack is concerned that it’s Christmas Eve and that he won’t get anybody on the phone… at the police station.

"You think we had sex... don't you? Pervert."Dan chats up Old Young Thing in the present and she claims that she didn’t know the old man at all. Jack calls with information about the death of the old man, but the details are scarce. The guy was dead when the paramedics arrived, but the interesting thing is that the call came in anonymously, which is weird because it had to be someone that knew the old man or worked for him.

"Don't mess with me, I can fire you... someday."With that information, Dan flips back to 1979 and runs into his daddy. Papa Vasser talks about his family and how they’re better off without him, but Dan tries to tell him about how his experiences with his father affected him. Livia shows up to put Dan back on track. Dan wants more time with his dad, but Livia is impatient to get back to her man in the past. The Young Boss tries to get Dan thrown out, but the old man steps in and on Papa Vasser’s word, security lets Dan go. The old man chews out Young Boss and tells him to grow a pair.

At home, Grandma is adjusting all the chairs in house for the show. Apparently they’re putting on more of a show than just a neighborhood party. Does everyone rent furniture when they have guests over? Grandma is overbearing and Wifey feels like she’s got a target painted on her back. Jack noticed as well.

"Don't worry, baby, these pictures will never make their way into the present."The Vasser men continue to discuss fathers and Papa is clearly doing research on how it’s going to affect his boys when he leaves. Papa makes a point that he’s distant by taking photos of Dan, which of course doesn’t strike Dan as problematic at all. Dan is the worst time traveler that has ever existed. Dan continues to try to convince his father not to leave, but Papa has his own young thing to shoot some photos of.

Back in ’07, Grandma points out the florist(?) has arrived, right before she tells Wifey that she doesn’t like her much. She’s glad for the joy that she has brought Dan, but she hurt her other son first. Wifey would say something in response, but Grandma dons the traumatic apron (seriously, why is that thing still around) so Wifey is at a loss for words.

Boring girlfriend wanders upstairs, supposedly looking for a sweater, but she beelines it to the medicine cabinet where Jack catches her looking through Dan’s meds. She’s worried because the craziness may be genetic and she’s not worried about Jack… she’s worried about their baby. Sigh. Maybe the baby will get its own time traveling spin-off.

In ’79, Young Thing has left the building, but the old man is locked up in his office. He’s on the floor, dead, and in the room is his son exacting his vengeance by allowing his father to expire on the floor.

Wifey worries that the partygoers won't enjoy her Pizza Sandwiches.At home, people start arriving for the party, but Wifey catches another glimpse of the apron and she finally throws it away. She hides out in her bedroom feeling bad for herself.

Meanwhile, Jack and girlfriend talk about what to do now about the baby and it turns out that Jack would love to be a father, but she’s very unsure about what to think about any of it. But she does know that she would like to spend Christmas Eve with him.

In 1979, the old man is rolled out of the building and Dan decides to use his time to convince his father that he should at least tell his sons why he’s going to leave. And like that, Dan is gone. Back in the present, Dan marches into his office with a plan about how to save their jobs. He lays out the truth as he knows it to Old Young Thing, but she denies every aspect of it. Instead, Dan marches up and confronts the new old man and tells him the truth. He’s all blustery and argues with Dan, but when Old Young Thing comes in and verifies Dan’s story, he has no choice but to drop his façade and to go along with Dan’s demands. At his announcement to the company, rather than mention layoffs, he instead tells all the employees gathered there that the layoffs were just a rumor and that they all have their jobs for the foreseeable future. But is the paper still in trouble financially?

At home, Katie finally opens up about her PTS to Grandma of all people and she tries to comfort her and is very supportive. She knows that Dan isn’t always there for her. It was the same way with Papa Vasser. Dan catches up with Jack and learns that Papa Vasser did indeed come to them and explain to them why he was leaving all those years ago. Jack remembers and presumably his life was changed in some small way, but poor Dan will always have those years of blaming himself for his father leaving.

Oh and in 1948, Livia gets engaged. Whatever.

NEXT WEEK: CLASH! OF! THE! CHOIRS! DON’T FORGET!

Don't cross Lucius Vorenus. He once killed a man just because he sold his pre-teen daughter into sexual slavery. He's crazy, that one.