ShadowDog's

Second Annual (41 Hour) Dead Zone Marathon!


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Hours 30-33

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 "Oh, and if you happen to "see" any unicorns... DON'T play leapfrog!" - Digigoose "And remember, if you happen to see any purple Pikachus, do no, I repeat, DO NOT take any offers of tangerine lemonade from them." - HK
     
Current Hours

Hours 1-5

Hours 6-10

Hours 11-15

Hours 16-19

Hours 20-24

Hours 25-29

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!

2.18 "The Combination"

Ounces of Diet Pepsi: 124
Visions: Uh oh, the bunnies are making ME dance now!

Grouch of the EP award: Burgess Meredith wannabe.

General Remarks: I don't like boxing so this episode didn't do a whole lot for me. However, two segments were fantastic. Johnny teaching Avila how to fight from his visions was very original, and the final solution was an awesome character study and a brilliant idea.

Commentators: Teddy Atlas and Michael Taylor

Commentary Highlights: Atlas is an interesting guy with a ton of boxing information at his disposal. He and Michael get along well. I don't personally find boxing interesting so this commentary was boring to me but anyone who likes the sport will be engrossed. Atlas does has a problem repeating himself that might annoy anyone, but he was engaged with his commentary so probably saves it for people who like boxing.

Funny line of the ep/commentary: "Weigh in's tomorrow. Go home, get some rest, think happy thoughts about killing the bastard." - Vic


2.19 "Visions"

Ounces of Diet Pepsi: 130
Visions: I can't feel my legs.

Grouch of the EP award: Both Incarnations of Christopher Wey are real grouchy pants. Sheesh! Lighten up, dudes!

General Remarks: We've had three season finales now and it is very difficult to rank any of the three higher than the others. You could make a strong case for each finale. In fact, if you count "Zion" as a finale you have a 4 for 4 record of really strong episodes to finish seasons. This is a very touching story played powerfully by Frank Whaley and the regular stars.
One thing I find especially poignant is what Johnny said about his life being lost by accident in one night while Wey pissed his away one choice at a time. Moron.

Commentators: Craig Silverstein and Shawn Pillar

Commentary Highlights: Hearing the inspiration and evolution of Shawn Pillar's idea for this episode was very interesting. I never knew until now that the Shaman wasn't intended to be more than a one shot idea. Indeed, Shawn thought the idea for Futureman would never see the air. Hard to imagine that now, isn't it?

Funny line of the ep/commentary: "What's my name? Get the hell of my porch, that's my name!" - Present Day Wey


Since I haven't watched Season 3 on DVD before, I'll be doing it without the commentaries and so have replaced those categories with the old and true "Moron of the Ep" category.

I've got 9 hours to watch 12 episodes. I can just make it by watching 4 episodes every three hours (4 X 45 minutes=3 hours) but my entries will be shorter as I have to start hustling if I'm going to be done before the season premiere. No more breaks!

3.1 "Finding Rachel Pt 1"

Ounces of Diet Pepsi: 136
Visions: None. I think I have my second wind.

Grouch of the EP award: Bruce is just not his usual fun loving self, is he?

General Remarks: Why is Johnny losing time? It never happens again (even in the season finale he merely falls unconscious) and there is never an explanation. It does make for an exciting episode though.
The handcuffs and whips blackmail seems a little dated. I imagine it was something worse that the network made them dial back.
As mentioned on the message boards last year and by NdB herself at a convention, the Sarah slap just made no sense. Having said that, NdB did the best she could with the material she had. Upon watching that scene again for the first time since it aired, I was impressed with how angry Sarah looked and acted.

Moron of the Ep: Bruce again! Come on, baby! You've been with Johnny for 3 years and you doubt him about Armageddon?!? Has he EVER been wrong before?!?

Funny line of the ep: For the first time ever, I've got nothing. I remember last year that the first couple episodes were especially somber, with no time taken for the usual humorous moments. It's either that or I'm just not capable of laughing anymore.



3.2 "Finding Rachel Pt 2"

Ounces of Diet Pepsi: 136
Visions: I just lost my second wind, the Dance Bunnies are back.

Grouch of the EP award: Kennedy. Aw, what's the matter? You've been Purdy's lapdog for at least three years and you finally have some backbone? Too bad it doesn't last!

General Remarks: Love the Johnny and Purdy conversation that went from the excellent Cuban Missile Crisis parallel to Johnny's "Save your ass or save your soul?" demand. The Walt and Sarah was less exciting but knowing it will soon pay off for good makes it more palateable.
The ghosts of past prisoners in Johnny's cell was a very subtle and clever joke.

Moron of the Ep: Purdy. Did he really think he was going to be able to run that jive past Johnny for the rest of their lives? Sooner or later Johnny was going to see through that bogus note!
Rebecca, generally considered a "replacement" for Dana and thus loathed by fans, comes across much better a year later with cooler heads watching. Her character is strong, clever, and an equal for Johnny in every way except for supernatural powers. (unless you consider the ability to work with troubled snot nosed teenagers a supernatural ability!)

Funny line of the ep: "You know, this is crazy. Johnny's just into politics." - Bruce lamely explaining away Johnny's Stalker Boards covered with information on Stillson.



3.3 "Collision"

Ounces of Diet Pepsi: 142
Visions: I think I went blind for a minute but that might have just been a bad reaction to day old cheese dip.

Grouch of the EP award: Once again, Walt is very irritable. "Air raid siren? Johnny, what the hell are you talking about?" Was it necessary to curse? Sometimes Johnny takes his time. Walt quickly leaves after a few more snippy comments.

General Remarks: This was an interesting episode ... definitely an original idea. But despite the new information we receive about Sarah's pregnancy and when she says goodbye to Johnny (which was very rewarding for me personally) it felt like a road well traveled on two different levels.
1) Psychic communication through time. Johnny has communicated with the Shaman, with Wey, and will communicate with himself from the future later on this season. And now he communicates with himself from the past. I think this concept has been explored extensively enough now.
2) The events covered in the pilot. This is at least the 4th revisiting of the time period right before and right after Johnny's accident. How many times can the show revisit this era? Sure, we learn new stuff each time and discovering is always good, but we're entering the 4th season now. Hopefully this episodes finally puts this habit behind us.

Moron of the Ep: Johnny. Do you think it took him a LONG time to figure out he was seeing the night of his accident? I do. But then again, I'm very cranky right now. LOL

Funny line of the ep: This is another dark, mostly humorless episode (the early part of this season had a real problem with that) but Johnny saying "My Dead Zone is trying to tell me something." struck me as funny. Really?! You think so!? You mean as opposed to ever single other episode of this series?! LOL



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