Heritage (17 Jun. 2007)
"The Dead Zone" Heritage (original title)

Johnny views visions of his friends in danger at a festival. He believes he has averted the disaster, but a fire later claims two people - changing Johnny's life and the world's fate.

Director:

James Head

Writers:

Michael Piller (creator), Shawn Piller (creator),

Stars:

Anthony Michael Hall, Nicole de Boer, Chris Bruno

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Johnny Smith
Nicole de Boer	...	Sarah Bracknell Bannerman
Chris Bruno	...	Sheriff Walt Bannerman
John L. Adams	...	Bruce Lewis
Connor Price	...	J.J. Bannerman
Sean Patrick Flanery	...	Vice President Greg Stillson
David Ogden Stiers	...	Reverend Eugene 'Gene' Purdy
Martin Donovan	...	Malcolm Janus
Nancy Helms	...	Old Woman
Bobby Brown	...	Security Guard
Patrick Kerton	...	Leather Jacket Guy
Nancy-Ann Michaud	...	Booth Woman
Héléna Laliberté	...	Woman that gets pushed
Naomi Frenette	...	Child that gets pushed
Jason Cavalier	...	Deputy at police station

Storyline

Johnny has a vision of Walt's funeral and tries to prevent danger from happening at the town's winter festival. Walt meanwhile, is hiding something from the very pregnant Sarah, while Bruce considers moving from town to accept a job elsewhere, while Greg Stillson, now the Vice President of the USA, arrives in town to partake in the festivities at the Faith Heritage, despite Janus' opposition. Just when Johnny believes he has averted the disaster, a fire at Faith Heritage later claims two people, Malcolm Janus and Walt himself, changing Johnny's life... and the world's fate.

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 June 2007 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Piller Squared/The Segan Company, CBS Paramount Network Television, Lionsgate Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

41 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

User Reviews

A new age to begin?

It has been almost a year. I was not sure if I was going to continue writing like I had previously but, hey, that is what TDZ season premieres and finales always brought out of me: feeling, emotion, the need to share what I absorbed from the episode with the world.

It was a goodbye episode. I think. The creators of the show expressed all summer long on the Dead Zone's website that we were in for drastic changes, but to think that not only were major half-decade long story lines to be wrapped up, but most of the cast were saying goodbye, and all this in one episode, in the first episode, that is quite the surprising move. But after carefully dissecting the past hour of this show, I can tell you right now, this was not the plan all along.

I know this because the cliffhanger last season was whether Johnny was going to join Janus and Stillson, there was no mention of that tonight. The reason is because this was not a storyline concluding, it was a storyline being dropped. It could be considered anticlimactic in a way, but I still give this show a high rating because it did what a show is supposed to do, entertain. The fact that it did stick with the storyline, that it didn't forget important elements (unless I have) crucial to ending the arc the way they did, and presented a show that had me anticipating what was going to happen next is good enough for me. Whatever went on behind the scenes that had the men in charge decide to move this show into a new direction does not change the fact that the episode was a good one. It does bother me that all these years they had standalone episodes all this time they could have been continuing the Stillson saga, which although I've been griping about this for years now, I always figured the reason was because they wanted to keep the storyline going strong and long for many years so they were stretching it out. The fact that they weren't even doing that is disappointing.

Also interesting was the shift in pacing. The show always had a fast-paced high-energy feel to it. Take a look at the previous four seasons, everyone always seemed like their coffee was spiked with, well, more coffee. This show broke from that formatting. It seemed a step slower, like everyone was exhausted and tired from something. Working on the show, I hope not. The same storyline for five years, maybe. I'm assuming that it is merely a director's call, to slow things down a bit this season, and this new style may be entertaining in it's own right so I welcome it.

All in all, I am intrigued to see where they will go now that they have less cast to work with and no arcs. Will there be new arcs, new mainstay characters, new reasons to be hooked on this show? Or will we go back to regular standalones forever and ever. It's a scary thought but before we find the answer I bid fare thee well to TDZ's old story lines. Its time was up...