OK, I see from 'Goofs' that there is a factual error that basically makes this episode tumble down like a house of cards... *if* you take things too seriously. I mean, some acknowledged IMDb Top 250 films have some serious factual errors, but movie lovers don't care about that. In the end, all that matters in *fiction* is that the end result delivers. And boy, does this episode deliver.
Let's start with the premise. Sonny Troyer is a psychic who has a very powerful gift: he sees dreams of women left alone, trapped, and these dreams ALWAYS come true. Also, the dreams ALWAYS leave him enough time to get to the woman's location and kill her if he is able to recognize the woman's surroundings and the time-frame. If not, the dream is wasted (for him). Now, he got caught thanks to Allison "eavesdropping" on his dreams. While in prison, Sonny sees a dream of a small private plane with a man and a woman inside crash down at a specific time in the future. From their accent he is able to tell where they are from and realizes that they have crossed a time zone line after their take-off. At this point, he knows the *correct* time of the crash and the fact that he will be able to get to the woman. So he starts to plan for an escape he knows will succeed. He also knows Allison has seen his dream. He then asks to see Allison and Devalos and promises to disclose the location of the body of one of his victims if they can prevent his transfer to Texas, where a death sentence is waiting for him. He never intends to honor his promise, he just needs to play time to make sure that he is still in the correct prison when the plane will fall and is properly prepared for the escape. Because his dreams ALWAYS come true, he knows circumstances will offer him the chance to escape. The chance, however, does not present itself until on the day of the crash. On the night before the plane crash, Sonny dreams of himself standing next to the plane after it has crashed. Realizing that *now* Allison knows he is about to escape, and the only edge he has is the time difference, he leaves as quickly as possible. And unlike before he was caught, he now knows that Allison sees his dreams. So he starts to use that apparent weakness as an advantage against Allison. And he does it very well. As an added bonus, Sonny gets the DA's office into trouble when people start asking exactly how did they know to warn the prison that he was about to escape. Also, he's just waiting for the dream that has Allison alone and trapped...
How exactly do you catch a serial killer who knows his dreams about his possible future victims ALWAYS come true? You really have to think outside the box. Sonny is quite inventive when fooling Allison, but Scanlon (and/or DiNovi)'s plan to catch him is just brilliant. They not only manage to fool Sonny, but they also manage to fool probably most of the audience, thanks to clever writing and suspenseful directing & scoring. I was surprised, but not bitter because they had me fooled. Whenever a movie or TV program manages to surprise me, and the surprise is *plausible*, that's good writing and directing (often also good acting). Sonny is not laughably omniscient like Jigsaw of the Saw franchise, he's on the same realistic level with Hannibal Lecter and Jack in "Profiler". And Eric Stoltz brings him to chilling life. He's truly unnerving here, scary without having to resort to overacting or unnecessary quirks. Patricia Arquette is great opposite him, really convincing us that Allison is extremely uncomfortable near Sonny. Finally, it was also a great surprise when it was revealed that Scanlon used to be with DiNovi – unless it has been done in some previous episode that I have missed. As for the episodes that I have seen out of the 52 at this point, this is one of the best.
Let's start with the premise. Sonny Troyer is a psychic who has a very powerful gift: he sees dreams of women left alone, trapped, and these dreams ALWAYS come true. Also, the dreams ALWAYS leave him enough time to get to the woman's location and kill her if he is able to recognize the woman's surroundings and the time-frame. If not, the dream is wasted (for him). Now, he got caught thanks to Allison "eavesdropping" on his dreams. While in prison, Sonny sees a dream of a small private plane with a man and a woman inside crash down at a specific time in the future. From their accent he is able to tell where they are from and realizes that they have crossed a time zone line after their take-off. At this point, he knows the *correct* time of the crash and the fact that he will be able to get to the woman. So he starts to plan for an escape he knows will succeed. He also knows Allison has seen his dream. He then asks to see Allison and Devalos and promises to disclose the location of the body of one of his victims if they can prevent his transfer to Texas, where a death sentence is waiting for him. He never intends to honor his promise, he just needs to play time to make sure that he is still in the correct prison when the plane will fall and is properly prepared for the escape. Because his dreams ALWAYS come true, he knows circumstances will offer him the chance to escape. The chance, however, does not present itself until on the day of the crash. On the night before the plane crash, Sonny dreams of himself standing next to the plane after it has crashed. Realizing that *now* Allison knows he is about to escape, and the only edge he has is the time difference, he leaves as quickly as possible. And unlike before he was caught, he now knows that Allison sees his dreams. So he starts to use that apparent weakness as an advantage against Allison. And he does it very well. As an added bonus, Sonny gets the DA's office into trouble when people start asking exactly how did they know to warn the prison that he was about to escape. Also, he's just waiting for the dream that has Allison alone and trapped...
How exactly do you catch a serial killer who knows his dreams about his possible future victims ALWAYS come true? You really have to think outside the box. Sonny is quite inventive when fooling Allison, but Scanlon (and/or DiNovi)'s plan to catch him is just brilliant. They not only manage to fool Sonny, but they also manage to fool probably most of the audience, thanks to clever writing and suspenseful directing & scoring. I was surprised, but not bitter because they had me fooled. Whenever a movie or TV program manages to surprise me, and the surprise is *plausible*, that's good writing and directing (often also good acting). Sonny is not laughably omniscient like Jigsaw of the Saw franchise, he's on the same realistic level with Hannibal Lecter and Jack in "Profiler". And Eric Stoltz brings him to chilling life. He's truly unnerving here, scary without having to resort to overacting or unnecessary quirks. Patricia Arquette is great opposite him, really convincing us that Allison is extremely uncomfortable near Sonny. Finally, it was also a great surprise when it was revealed that Scanlon used to be with DiNovi – unless it has been done in some previous episode that I have missed. As for the episodes that I have seen out of the 52 at this point, this is one of the best.
