“Winterland”

“Winterland” is really the opposite of the previous episode.  The Leap of the week has almost no connection with the present events which are really more important in the scheme of things.  Thus there tends to be a feeling of filler which happens now and again on a show, but it certainly makes the episode less important in the grand scheme of things.

Getting the less important stuff out of the way first.  Dan’s leap this episode brings him back to the 70s where he encounters a troubled young teen named Abby who discovers her parents hosting a swinging party…yeah that would be disturbing.

Throughout their journies Dan and Livia discover that she gets hooked up with the wrong people, specifically a controlling hippie with a message of changing the world though he wants the cash in reality.  Due to him, Abby shoots a liquor store clerk and goes to prison for thirty years.

Dan and Livia eventually come back to the exact moment in time and is able to convince her to walk away, saving her life and of course fixing her future.

It’s pretty ho-hum to be honest.

As I said before the more important portions of the tale happen in the present time.  We finally get some information about Livia this week as Katie finds a picture of her from the 1940s.  Livia had told Jack before that the picture of her aunt, but knowing what he knoews now, he is able to put 2 and 2 together.  So Livia travels from the past while Dan comes from the present.

Another interesting tidbit occurred when we got another apperance by Dr. Langley.  Langley wants to know if anyone has become interested in his novel.  After a vew vague statements Dr. Langley cuts the conversation off.  Meanwhile, Dan disappears to no surprise from Dr. Langley.

Finally there’s Jack and the FBI.  The FBI has ransacked the Vassar house looking for evidence, all the while Jack’s character is eminently more likable at least behind the scenes as he does his best to thwart the FBI investigation….including at the end taking the counterfeit $20 bill out of evidence and putting it into circulation.   You can see Jack beginning to put two and two together even though he doesn’t want to admit it.  It makes him more intriguing and more likable. Most importantly they are handling it right.  Jack is slowly coming around.

All in all a mediocre epsiode.  Nothing was really wrong, but it just wasn’t as engaging as it could have been.

C+

Previous - 1.07

Next - 1.09