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Episode Recap: Blowback
Watching this week’s Journeyman, it became pretty clear just how much of a raw deal Dan got with this whole time traveling business. Since the show began, he’s not once gone back in time before the 1970’s and he’s never left San Francisco. Because of this, it has made it really difficult for present day Dan to avoid the people he has come into contact with in the past. We’ve seen this happen in previous episodes but in this week’s show, it really came back to bite him in the bum.
When we left off last week, we saw Aeden Bennett (the kidnapper Dan sent away to prison in the past) out of jail and stalking Dan and his family. As things picked up again, the action kicked off within moments as Aeden burst into Dan’s house and shot him. Before Aeden could fully exact his revenge, Dan was saved by another journey into the past to 1980. Suffering from a gunshot wound, Livia rushed to his side and got him treated at a nearby hospital. Temporarily healed, Livia informed him that his current mission was most likely a test from the people who control their trips for going off-track in his last journey. After hearing this, I’m sure I’m not the only one who now thinks Livia is working with Dan to make up for her changing the timeline by starting a relationship with him during one of her missions. Anyhow, with his wound bandaged up Dan made his way back to the house he had appeared in front of when he first got back to 1980. Upon entering the house, Dan found a little boy locked up in his bedroom, hungry and fearful that his abusive father would come home and catch him talking to a stranger. Dan later learns that this little boy is actually a much younger Aeden Bennett.
In 2007, Aeden searched high and low for Dan and when it seemed he had somehow gotten away, Aeden decided to go after Katie. Meanwhile, Jack met with the FBI agent investigating Dan. Despite illegally acquiring access to Dan’s computer, the agent showed Jack some interesting discoveries in Dan’s search history. Aside from searches for Dylan McCleen, Dan also turned up in a photograph from the 70’s after delivering a woman’s child on an airplane taken on the same day he disappeared from an airplane mid-flight and later turned up on the security cameras wearing the exact same clothes. Although this discovery baffled both men, it seemed the agent was hiding some additional information from Jack.
As Dan continued to figure out his purpose in meeting the childhood version of the man who had just shot him, he slowly started to understand how Aeden grew up to become the man he did. When Dan tried to get Aeden out of his abusive situation, Papa Bennett returned home angry to learn that his son had gotten out of his locked bedroom. At the same time, Dan’s wound began to open up again. With little time to seek additional medical help, little Aeden dressed Dan’s gunshot wound (how ironic?) and Dan tried again to break through to the young boy in hopes of preventing him from growing up to be a criminal. When Livia showed up to help Dan out once again, it was clear that he needed more than just some gauze and electric tape for his injury. As she accompanied him in the ambulance, the two were transported back to 2007 to save Katie from grown-up Aeden and get Dan the modern medicine that he needed.
Livia found herself at Dan’s job where Jack was meeting with Dan’s boss to discuss the facts about the FBI investigation. Hugh revealed that upon calling the FBI, he learned there was no record of an investigation of Dan Vasser. Hmm, looks like the good doctor was right! Jack caught a glimpse of Livia out of the corner of his eye and quickly excused himself to go after her. Without giving any specific details, Livia pleaded with Jack to help his brother who was severely injured somewhere in the city. Over at Dan’s house, the FBI agent showed up looking for Dan. Instead, he popped in on Aeden holding Katie hostage and Aeden shot him several times. Looks like a swift end to that investigation! As Dan woke up again in 2007 he rushed home knowing his wife was in danger. When he arrived, Dan reminded Aeden of the injured man he helped when he was younger and the good person he has the potential to become. At that point, Jack showed up with back-up and saved the day. Finally, it looks like Dan, Jack, and Katie could put the drama behind them and come together as a family, albeit still a family with some major issues.
With another episode behind us, this show continues to get more interesting each week. In the past month, the series has def. taken it up a notch. If only the show started out this good, I think it would def. have the audience it needs to continue post-strike. Nevertheless, we’ve got another new episode coming to us in 2 weeks. Now that Jack truly understands what Dan has been going through, there’s no place to go but up. He’s got a police office brother to help him out, a news reporter wife, and a boss who doesn’t seem to care at all how many hours he puts in at the office. Everything’s looking peachy for our time traveler. Even the pesky FBI agent seems to be taken care of. The only thing we need now is another meeting with Dr. Langley to shed some more light on the situation. It’d also be nice if Livia and Katie have some sort of interaction coming up. Those two would have plenty to say to one another. I do have one question though, if the FBI was never really investigating Dan, does that mean nobody was actually tracking the marked money? Maybe it’s time for a nice vacation for the Vasser family after all this craziness! See y’all in 2 weeks.
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Nov 27, 2007 11:57 AM
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This was just a great all-around episode and I can't wait to see the next one now that Jack finally believes (albeit he probably doesn't understand just yet) what's going on.
And I also hope for a Kate-Livia dialogue - although it'd probably be one of those conversations that are awkward even for the people watching!
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Nov 27, 2007 12:05 PM
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First of all, can someone fix the link to this week's blog? It was very hard to find. The link under TV Show Blogs leads to last week's.
One intriguing thing you didn't mention was Livia's suggestion that the reason she was sent to the future (to her) was to bring Dan and Katie together, by "dying" and having Katie console Dan. I like the idea that Katie and Dan were meant to be together instead of Livia and Dan.
When we first realized that the child was Aeden Bennett, I thought that Dan would get him the help he needed, which would stop him from becoming the wacko that he turned into. I thought that when Dan returned to the present, the gunshot wound would be gone because he had changed the past. I'm glad that didn't happen because it would have been too easy.
I was also glad to see that Jack finally believes his brother. That should make everyone's life easier going forward.
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Nov 27, 2007 12:26 PM
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I, too, think that Livia's mission is Dan or at least one of them. To help him with his traveling. I feel sorry for the travelers though. I hope Langley can shed some light on who "they" pick and why.
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Nov 27, 2007 12:30 PM
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I really enjoyed this episode. I felt it answered many of my questions  I had about the show and its characters, but then it formed new questions  .
Question #1: What was the purpose of Dan going back in time to see younger Aeden Bennett? Was it just to get information so he can save his wife because in the end younger Aeden still remained with his father (I assume) and turned out to be a kidnapper? What was Aeden rationale for kidnapping and killing the girls? (he mentioned it briefly)
Question #2: Is the FBI agent alone in his research or are there more people like him searching to find time travelers?
Question #3: How are the time travelers chosen? Is it due to you having come in contact with a previous time traveler? If so, will Katie become more too?
If anyone can answer at least one question it would be greatly appreciated. It would put my mind at ease and end my sleepless nights tossing and turning over Journeyman (just j/king  )
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Nov 27, 2007 1:22 PM
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It seems there is an unseen character that we are kind of getting to know: the person who is controlling Dan's trajectories. They yanked Dan out of the present to avoid Aeden killing him (the 1st shot happened so fast it couldn't be avoided), thinking fast, the 'controller' sent Dan to Aeden's childhood to see if he could make a 'fix on the fly' there, which he suceeded in doing (and since Dan changed Aeden's future last week, the controller might have had to make decisions off the grid because the history revisions were happening concurrently). I wonder if we will ever meet the controller...
Obviously, the 'FBI guy' was not FBI, but part of a shadow group aware of the time travelling - most likely present-day, maybe affilliated with the government, maybe not. Even though the agent bit the dust, I am sure there will be more coming Dan's way. At least Jack finally is on board now!
I still think Livia is not giving Dan or us the full story, yet. Maybe Dan is in a time travelling training boot camp for now, while he learns the ropes, with Livia as his TA!
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Nov 27, 2007 1:23 PM
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Did anyone else freak with the FBI guy mentioning that money was "their" biggest problem. It almost seemed like he wasn't himself at the moment. If there is someone contolling everything - it was no accident that the FBI ended up in Dan's house at the same time as some crazy killer.
Very good episode! I can't wait to see Dan, Katie and Jack working together!
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Nov 27, 2007 1:35 PM
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Yes, I caught the "money is always their biggest problem" line. Remember earlier in the episode when Livia asked Dan if he still had any of that past money? And she was annoyed that he didn't.
So I think the FBI guy and probably some other people are aware of these time-travelers. They can't always put the pieces together, but the biggest mistake/clues that they leave is the money. Either using current money in the past or past money in the present.
Dr. Langley definitely needs to come back and we need to find out why Dan's father and Dr. Langley knew each other beyond the obvious.
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Nov 27, 2007 1:47 PM
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I was peeved when I went to bed thinking if Dan could have been sent back to Aeden's childhood last week instead of to his adulthood (after kidnapping girls), then all of this would have been averted that way. So I thought at that point it was a stupid episode.
After sleeping on it, I think (just my opinion) that this was all orchestrated to get the "FBI" guy killed. It had to be this way, that crazy psycho Aeden would be the home intruder and would shoot the agent who was investigating the time travelers. If Dan had changed history back in Aeden's childhood, we'd still have the FBI guy snooping around, and the "controller" needed to get rid of him. Too bad Dan had to take a bullet in the process.
I'm not sure Livia knows too much more than she's saying. She knows from lessons learned what can and can't be done, but I'm not sure that she knows much more than Dan at this point.
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Nov 27, 2007 2:06 PM
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Did enjoy this one a lot and believe the end was quite a twist (with the bad guy still remaining bad even though apparently removed from his abusive father). Thought it would all smooth out and the FBI guy would never have been shot and would still be on the trail...
May have been mentioned by someone else before (don't always catch the show's comment's) but is it me or is the house where the family resides right beside the house that use to be used for Charmed???? The street and the yards and the houses all look like those used in that series....
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Nov 27, 2007 2:42 PM
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Did enjoy this one a lot and believe the end was quite a twist (with the bad guy still remaining bad even though apparently removed from his abusive father). Thought it would all smooth out and the FBI guy would never have been shot and would still be on the trail...
May have been mentioned by someone else before (don't always catch the show's comment's) but is it me or is the house where the family resides right beside the house that use to be used for Charmed???? The street and the yards and the houses all look like those used in that series....
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Nov 27, 2007 2:42 PM
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I've enjoyed the progression of this series. The producers/writers has taken a great approach of not telegraphing the overall story arc. Rather, they have let it unfold, bringing us back to discover . . . just as Dan discovers.
What a great show!
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Nov 27, 2007 2:48 PM
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First of all i just have to say wow what an episode. I personally was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I knew from the previews of last week that this was going to be a good episode but i had no idea it was going to be this good. Journeyman in constatly getting better and i would hate to see them cancle it. So everyone needs to go to the save journeyman sight and sign the petition to save journeyman. Also there are 8 days left to vote for the people's choice awards. so i recomend that everyone sign the petition and vote for Journeyman for their favorite new show on television. We need to fight to keep this show going it is too good to stop after one season.
Ok back to the show. like i said before wow what an episode. to start it off with Dan being shot right away then disapearing like he did it gave me goose bumps. The kidnapper looked so confused when he left and i thought that it was well written that he continued to look for Dan until he finally gave up the search and focused in on Katie. Knowing that if Dan was still in the house that he would definately come out to save his wife.
Young Bennet:
I think that it was quite ironic that Dan traveled to the younger kidnappers house. I know understand why he turned out like he did. Dad tried everything he could think of to get little Bennet out of his abusive father's house but the kid wouldnt budge.
Livia:
I am really enjoying how they are evolving livia's character. I really enjoyed how in this episode they showed us livia's real mission. Her real mission was to fall in love with dan then to "Die" so Dan could morn and Katie could comfort him and the two would fall in love. Wow what a mission. I love that Katie and Dan were truly meant to be.
It seems to me that Livia is Dan's guardian angel when he is traveling. She always seems to show up just when he needs her but that could be because of some higher power. But good thing livia showed up at the hospital when she did because the docters there seemed to be getting a little mad that he wasnt telling them all of his information. Livia also showed up at younger Bennet's house just when Dan was getting really sick and called 911.
Jack and Livia:
Wow the look on Jack's face when he saw livia was priceless. The expression you look like you just saw a ghost doesnt even compare to the look he gave. Yet again we see Livia as Dan's guardian angel by telling Jack that his brother has been shot and that he needed to find him fast cause he is really hurt.
All in all i think that Jack is a nice guy and that he wants to believe his brother but cant. But now that Livia showed up he has no choice but to believe him. A lot of people have been saying how much they hate Jack but put your self in his shoes. If you had a brother that once had a gambling problem and is now disappearing left and right i would be a little over protective too.
Katie:
Oh my god i felt so bad for Katie. First day back on the job and she gets called away because the plubber is supposedly at her house. But when she gets home she sees blood on the floor. could you imagine. then to turn around and have a gun pointed at her. wowpoor thing. Beeing held hostage and not know where your husband is or even what time he is in and also not knowing how badly he is hurt. Plus older Bennet is a complete phsyco.
Dan and Jack:
I think that the storyline is going to get so much better now that Jack is in the loop.
I think that it was great when Dan asked Jack how he found him and knew he was hurt and Jack replied "livia told me". You could tell by the look on Dan's face that he was relieved that his brother finally knew and understood.
Phone call with Dan and Older Bennet and Katie:
Wow I almost cried. Dan showed so much emotion in this sceene telling Bennet that he better not hurt katie then when bennet shot the gun i thought dan was going to throwup he looked so hurt. which shows how great of an actor he is. But then to have bennet say just testing you Dan and dan to trick Bennet by saying he was still in the house with him. Oh my god what an episode.
It was really touching when Dan and Katie got to talk to each other on the phone. Dan tells her that it will be ok but to mention the ketchup on his sandwich and that she makes a really good pizza sandwich. this was crucial in giving Dan enough time to get there before it was too late.
Dan, Katie, Bennet, and Jack:
When Dan reentered the house just as bennet was counting down again was great writing. you could tell how much dan wanted katie to be ok, suggesting that Bennet let her go and take him instead. It showed a lot of guts and love for Katie to say i am not going anywhere but then Dan to tell her think of Zack. Katie left the house slowly but the look that katie and Dan gave each other showed us how bad the situation was. It was a look of this may be the last time i see you alive so good by my love.
Once katie was out of harms way Dan jumped into action reminding Bennet of the man that tried to help him when he was younger and that he was injured. Bennet slowly gave up and let dan go. I really liked how Jack showed up as Dans back up to protect him.
Set Free:
When Dan ran got outside and finally got to hold Katie was really touching. It showed how much they loved and cared about each other and that after everything had happened they are finally reunited in a sense. Really touching sceen.
This was a fantastic episode. I am still thinking about it. This show just keeps getting better and better. I am glad that Jack finally knows and understands what is going on, and that we know see the purpose of livia and what her mission really is.
Overall this whole episode was really touching and a lot of questions were solved like what is livia's real mission? and what happens if Dan gets off course and helps the wrong people? when will Jack finally be filled in and understand what is going on? why is the FBI agent so set on Dan and what he is doing?
I cant wait until the next episode!!!
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Nov 27, 2007 3:04 PM
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This show continues to rock with each episode. Well worth seeing.
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Nov 27, 2007 3:26 PM
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Another great episode. This show really has improved leaps and bounds.
I really didn't like that the FBI agent was killed off though. I feel like there was a tremendous amount left to that story.
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Nov 27, 2007 3:31 PM
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