ShadowDog's

Second Annual (41 Hour) Dead Zone Marathon!


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Hours 11-15

Ground Rules

1) Start marathon at 6am EST on June 11th. Finish marathon (All episodes from Seasons 1, 2, and 3) by 10pm EST on June 12th, just in time for the premiere episode of Season 4! Finish by watching that episode.

2) Watch at least one episode per hour, meaning I can take no longer a break than 15 minutes per hour.

3) Post at least one episode commentary at the top of each hour. Also post regularly at Official Dead Zone board to prove I am still awake.

4) Diet Pepsi amounts are marathon totals, not per hour.

5) Because I've already marathoned Seasons 1 and 2, those seasons will be viewed this time with audio commentaries on.

Reader Feedback
"My son is quite Mad. Where did I go wrong? Break a leg." -Dexter I "Good luck! Please don't be insane after this. ;-) Besides sanity is overrated. :-D" -MSR "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -hallfan
"Treadmill? Stationary bike? You need to conserve your strength! LOL!" - brattytxn    
     
Current Hours

Hours 1-5

Hours 6-10

Episode Commentary Key:

Visions: Prolonged marathons tend to cause hallucinations - er - visions.

Grouch of the EP award: There are some GROUCHY people in this series! Who was the surliest person in this ep?

General Remarks: What I thought of the ep, in general.

Commentators: Who commented on this episode? (where applicable)

Commentary Highlights: Again, where applicable.

Funny line of the ep/commentary: TEE HEE!
Trivia Question: Every now and then I'll ask a trivia question. Be the first to answer!

1.11 "Dinner With Dana"

Ounces of Diet Pepsi: 44
Visions: None
Grouch of the EP award: Dana. True, she put up with a LOT from Johnny considering he couldn't pay attention to her for longer than ten seconds. But she was really getting ticked off about his constant visions.

General Remarks: A very engaging story that really delves into Dana's backstory. A lot was made in the commentary about this being a "ship in the bottle" episode but it didn't feel that way at all. It was an interesting enough story that it would have never crossed my mind.

Commentators: Kriston Dalton, Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Taylor

Commentary Highlights: This was the lowest energy commentary so far in the series. There were a lot of pauses and the three didn't always seem engaged with each other or the episode they were watching. AMH scored with his naked crew comments during the love making scene. Taylor mentioning AMH's huge female following on the internet was also interesting.

Funny line of the ep/commentary: I'm making an effort to not duplicate funny lines from last year, but this line is so funny it has to win for the second year in a row. "Make room for Daddy." - Purdy announcing his presence in bed with Johnny, Dana, and Sarah.

Trivia Question: How many others guys was Dana dancing with while she was dancing with Johnny?


1.12 "Shaman"

Ounces of Diet Pepsi: 50
Visions: I'm starting to feel it. Can the Spider Monkey God visitations be far behind?
Grouch of the EP award: Female Astronomer. "I get my doctorate in December. Why don't you come back and see me then!" Excuuuuuuuuuuse Me!

General Remarks: As each season goes by, the importance of this episode grows. This is the first time that we find out that a Dead Zone can allow a psychic to communicate with someone in another time period. This opens up Darth Scar later on and then, in the Season 3 finale, Future Johnny. We don't know what ultimate impact those two will have on the resolution of the Armageddon arc but I imagine it will be pretty big. Also, as pointed out in the commentary, this episode probably has the least amount of dialogue as any in the series so you get more physical acting.

Commentators: Lloyd Segan and Rachel Talalay

Commentary Highlights: The two have a good chemistry and high energy. A big relief after the last ep. Lloyd tried a little too hard to be funny (the Bob Crane "joke" was the biggest groaner) but at least he was trying so it wasn't annoying. It was more of the groan variety. Rachel was funny, bright, and a very knowledge director so it was a fast episode.

Funny line of the ep/commentary: "I have to point out that Chrysler was very happy with our promotion of the PT cruiser in this episode." - Lloyd "Dollar dollar dollar dollar!" - Rachel "Exactly. And he's showing how economical the Cruiser is by filling it up." -Lloyd


1.13 "Destiny"

Ounces of Diet Pepsi: 50
Visions: I'm really starting to feel it now and I'm only a quarter of the way through this. Yee haaa!!!
Grouch of the EP award: Johnny, without a doubt! "Do you have any advice for me?" - Johnny, managing to piss off Bruce right after he's pissed off Sarah.

General Remarks: Like all of the season finales, this is a very strong episode. A LOT goes on here in a mere 45 minutes. Sarah and Johnny consummate their season long flirtation. Stillson's entire backstory is set up. Johnny gets his first Armageddon vision. And Purdy reaffirms what Johnny learned from the last episode, he has to learn to fulfill his destiny.

Commentators: Shawn Pillar and Craig Silverstone

Commentary Highlights: You know it's a good commentary when they impulsively start pretending to be the valley girls attending the Crispy Critter party. "Oh my God! Can you totally believe this party? Oh my god!" LOL! The later "2001" and Lord of Rings riffs were just icing on the cake. These two guys are really entertaining as well as informative and round out 13 excellent commentaries.

Funny line of the ep/commentary: "...you cannot deny the possibility that some other force is guiding you, choosing what you see." - Purdy
"Just say his name, I know you're dying to." - Johnny



2.1 "Valley of the Shadow"

Ounces of Diet Pepsi: 56
Visions: The only thing I'm envisioning right now is dinner! Well, that and the pink rabbit in the corner.
Grouch of the EP award: Kidnapped Boy's Father: "I don't understand. Kidnappers want money." So that's the ONLY reason anyone's ever been kidnapped, aye? The kidnapper took a rich man's kid because that's the only way the police and media would care! Duh!

General Remarks: Probably the weakest of the three season premieres, but only in comparison to the other two. It's interesting to see Johnny try to operate without his powers, but the show picks up once he recovers them. Other than that, nothing from the previous finale is resolved so we couldn't help feeling a little let down. If not for those expectations, this would probably be considered an even better ep.

Commentators: Eric Schaeffer, Lloyd Segan, Michael Taylor

Commentary Highlights: It's pretty bad when three commentators have 2-3 minute long silences, which always makes me wonder if stuff has been cut out. Eric was great in the ep and is really funny in the commentary, only dragging it down when he has to have basic things explained to him. "When the hell am I in this episode?" - Eric Schaeffer, halfway through the first act.
"Let's talk about something ... like the show." - Michael Taylor, interrupting Eric's long recount of his failed attempt to mack on some woman.
"Do you really think anyone buys these things to hear about the show? They can watch the show." - Eric's reply.
"Hey, Lloyd, say something bad about ONE person so you'll have some credibility." - Eric, after Lloyd gushes over his 100th person.

Funny line of the ep/commentary: "A double date, two guys, two girls, sometimes you eat food, see a movie, short for moving picture." - Bruce, futilely trying to convince Johnny to do him a solid.
"Can you believe what those people are doing to my house? They want to make it an old pottery barn. Full of ducks, and plaid, and pineapples." - Kidnapper


2.2 "Descent"

Ounces of Diet Pepsi: 60
Visions: None.
Grouch of the EP award: Old Minors. Sure, the Old Johnny Smith was responsible for you guys dying, but was spitting and writing "Die Johnny Smith" really necessary?

General Remarks: This was an interesting personal journey for Johnny as well as the trying to find the stupid teenagers adventure. The cliffhanger came totally as a surprise, unlike most of them where you're looking at your watch and realizing that there is NO WAY they're wrapping everything up in the final five minutes.
But the best part had to be the initiation of the Sarah/Dana war. A lot of really good snippy dialogue was exchanged by these two women this season.

Commentators: Jaison Stritch and Peter Petrovicz

Commentary Highlights: As usual, there is good chemistry between the commentators and they're both engaged. They were full of quips that were not trying too hard such as: "If you're a Star Trek fan, remember that the people wearing the red shirts are the first to die. I'm not trying to say anything though." - Peter as the red garbed Collier is introduced. Collier doesn't last ten minutes before dying horribly.
The Scully joke was also funny and showed a vast knowledge of the genre.
"I'm really curious how Johnny got his cane back." - Peter
"Some questions are best left to the movie gods." - Jaison

Funny line of the ep/commentary: "Does that compassionate tone come naturally or do they teach that in journalism school?" - Sarah, to Dana as they begin their season long war of words.


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