Review: 'Journeyman' - The Legend Of Dylan McCleen

By MARX PYLE Oct-24-2007

The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the "Journeyman" episode, "The Legend of Dylan McCleen."

It is episode five, and the Vassers are finally getting used to the idea of Dan (Kevin McKidd) popping in and out of the present. The family is enjoying themselves when Dan suddenly pops away, leaving his son alone in the middle of a busy crowd. Katie (Gretchen Egolf), realizing that their son is lost, freaks out and has Jack call in the police to help find him.

Meanwhile, Dan pops into a forest and helps a mysterious man hanging in his parachute. He identifies himself as Dylan McCleen and reaches for a gun in his money filled briefcase. But Dan does his little pop before McCleen can point the gun at him.

Time has passed, and Dan arrives at home. Luckily his son was found. Needless to say, leaving his son, Zach, in a crowd upset everyone and is making his brother Jack think the worse.

Now Dan and Katie have to face the hard fact that Dan must be treated like someone suffering from seizures. He can’t drive or be alone to take care of their child. Zach is upset, but pretty much forgives quickly … after all the two of them are going to a game together, right? Dan faces the hard fact that he has to let his son down to protect him.

Between popping into the past, we see a number of complications in Dan’s life. First, his newspaper is having financial problems and Dan’s lead on the real identity of McCleen could be the break the paper has been looking for.

The gun waving incident from last week's episode is coming back to bite Dan in the butt big time as a police officer visits, grilling Katie about Dan’s whereabouts. You see, at around the time Dan popped in with the gun, a clerk was nearly beaten to death by a man with a gun. The clerk can't identify the attacker because he’s in a coma. The police suspect Dan, and Jack is partially responsible for pointing them in his direction. I expect to see a lot more problems coming up soon with Jack. Siblings can be such a pain, can’t they?

The mysterious Dr. Langely pays Dan an unexpected visit at work. Dan feeds him some line about writing a science-fiction novel about a man jumping through time. It is obvious that Dr. Langely knows Dan is the "character" in the story. Dr. Langley serves up a dish of strange dialogue about "God" perhaps controlling him and how there are those who would use his powers for their own goals. Hmm… I’m very curious to see where this is going.

So, in the past Dan pops back and forth discovering more about the identity of McCleen. He learns that he was in Special Forces and promised to help a man's family escape from Cambodia, which was the real reason he took the money.

Dan helps him find the man from Cambodia so he can complete his mission. But with this newfound knowledge, Dan can’t bear to reveal his identity to the newspaper. Oh, and Dan sees his father in the past--played by "The 4400"’s Joel Gretsch with a "tribble" growing from his upper lip. Dan sees how his father just waves off his family.

In the end Dan saves a family from Cambodia and figures a way out of his problem with his son. He gets three tickets so Katie can come too. Oh, and did I mention his son sees Dan’s "magic?"

What Worked

This episode managed to finally pull off a successful A story (Dan’s time travel adventure) and B story (Dan’s life in the present). Although again the B story was stronger than the A story, but it didn’t overshadow it like it usually does.

I loved that Dan met his father. Dan’s son seeing him disappear was also an interesting change. The mysterious Dr. Langely continues to be intriguing, and I can’t wait to see what it is leading too. The added complication with Dan being suspected of the robbery was a nice twist, building off of past episodes, further increasing the tension between Dan and Jack.

What Didn’t Work

I’m not sure what the writers plan on doing with Livia. She continues to do nothing substantial except be a complication in Dan’s and Katie’s relationship. But now that Dan and Katie sort of talked and dealt with the issue, it seems her character is becoming useless ... sort of a poor man’s version of Al in "Quantum Leap." They need to move her story along.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due The episode "The Legend of Dylan McCleen" was written by Matt McGuinness ("Arli$$") and directed by Allison Liddi Brown ("Las Vegas"). "Journeyman" airs Monday nights on NBC at 10/9c following "Heroes."

About the Author: Airlock Alpha is a leading science-fiction site that has delivered entertainment news to the masses since 1998. It is part of the BlipNetwork, a series of entertainment news sites owned by Quantum Global Media that also includes Rabid Doll and Inside Blip.
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