John Doe

This is one great show containing all the mystery and intrigue of the X-Files and Characters who actually have character. I got hooked on it when it came out on Sci-Fi without having heard of it before. When I missed an episode and had to download it, I found the whole first season and went ahead and got it. Fox really screwed up when they decided to cut it without actually bringing it to a real end. It was there one day and gone the next. That's what I hated about it. I didn't mind so much about it ending, but it was never really revealed who this mysterious John Doe character is or who Phoenix was. What was this strange staff they were after and why did it matter so much to them? Because of Fox's decision to send it down the tubes we will never know. I like a good mystery, but I want it to be solved. Because this one was never solved, it will leave you disappointed in the end.

John Doe is quite probably the best new TV show that you've never seen. Why? Because of its time slot. I remember when The X-Files was on at the same time, and it struggled for ratings. Now, (at least, at the time I'm writing this) this wonderful drama has been stuck in the same slot, on "date night" when nobody is home to watch it except us geeks.

The basic plot is great: John Doe wakes up and realizes he knows everything except what's important - his identity. He's also colorblind. I got sucked in from the beginning, because I thought the plot sounded like a nifty idea, and I became addicted. Even my mother watches it, and we don't usually have the same taste in tv shows. John Doe, though, has become appointment TV, we make a point to sit down together and have dinner once a week while figuring out this week's mystery.

This is one of the few dramas I like, because it has a mystery to it, and because of the trivia John comes up with each episode. It's not your usual shoot-em-up cop show or blah-blah-my-life-is-so-hard yakfest. I highly recommend watching it, you'll be hooked!

Network: Fox; Genre: Drama/Sci-Fi; Average Content Rating: TV-PG; Classification: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Season Reviewed: Complete series (1 season)

I went into 'John Doe' skeptically. This was, after all, the year after some of the finest shows of the new millennium had lost their heads on the chopping block under the Gail Berman regime over at Fox. So it goes without saying, and it went without saying from minute one of this show, that it was going to be canceled before it's time. This is the Fox network where talking about, after all. As the sun rises and sets so does Fox pull out a great or if not that an extremely promising show before its time. When it's all said and done I would put 'John Doe' firmly in the latter category.

The surrounds an enigma, about a man (Dominic Purcell) who awakens with all the encyclopedic facts of the universe but lacks any memory of his own identity. It sounds a little formula and hockey but stick with it. Despite my skepticism it managed to hook me in the very first episode. After a summer of seeing the over-dramatic scene of nothing more than Doe waking up nude on an island in all of the Fox promos the lighter, more breezy nature of the opening was a good sign. Instead of Doe muddling around trying to find himself the pilot script jump right into reality, having Doe do exactly what anyone would - use his new found knowledge to enrich himself. Soon enough he's got a hot car and a nice apartment on his ability to pick horses at the track. He can do so much that he becomes bored with this life and soon finds himself trying to help others by helping the police solve the usual TV 'unsolvable crime'. It all follows a pretty linear cause-and-effect plot, which is why I feel myself forgiving the show for the more formulaic show it often became. Essentially it became another 'MacGyver' in which Doe uses household items like paper-clips and dish-washing liquid to scientifically get himself out of one absurd jam after another. However, it's jams where pretty good. Such as when Doe tussled with a killer on an airplane or tracked down a Jack the Ripper copycat. Although, the endings are often a cop-out in the usual TV way. The best, by far where the 2 episodes in which Doe went up against his doppelganger - a psychotic serial killer who had the same abilities and would put Doe up to tasks like defusing a bomb before the traffic light turns red.

In that way, and in the way the series is based on a larger premise but takes time away from it - breaking the momentum if you will - to focus on a self contained mystery, 'John Doe' recalled 'the X-Files'. With that show now retired, Fox would have been better advised to keep his one around and see what it could do. It was different but similar enough to make a run at it. This show also calls back to 'The Pretender' and numerous other recent crime dramas where a genius solves the unsolvable cases. The difference here is in the execution. I actually think 'John Doe' is better than most of the shows it recalls. As I said, not only does the premise make the crime elements seem logical, but it also works due to it's crisp direction - often from movie director Mimi Leder. What makes the show fly most of all is the charming lead performance of Purcell. His take on Doe is one of a man without a past or a personality and Purcell strikes that cord, but also keeps him lively, colorful and away from being the face-less wooden hero Doe could have easily been.

While some of the self-contained stories (all of which felt very much like the writers satisfying a network requirement) seemed to grow tired before the hour was up, the driving mystery of the series was a compelling and original one. What where the nature of Doe's powers? What was the Phoenix group? All mysteries that remain unanswered as the series was canceled. The show had a knack for keeping us on the edge of our seat, answering questions only to pose more in an ending twist. And the best shock of them all came in the final second of the series. Hey, if it had to go at least 'John Doe' went out with a bang. You've got to give it that.

* * * / 4

I get the feeling that my wife and I were the only two people watching this show. The characters were very likeable, and Mr. Doe himself Dominic Purcell was great. I hope that at least something good for his career comes out of this show.

A man appears seemingly from nowhere with total amnesia but possessing the total knowledge contained in the Library of Congress, and then some, turns up in Seattle. While he tries to figure out who he is and where he came from, he becomes a private investigator helping the police with its most difficult cases. The running subplot are hints of his past and a cult organization that either created him or is trying to control him.

This makes for a very interesting show with the normal episodic suspense of a detective show, but with the bonus with ongoing suspense about the detective himself. The cast and their roles were great. This show was simply begging you to like it. What failed was the writing. The premise of the series and the plots of each episode were great, but execution was terrible. In every episode there was some completely absurd part that made you cringe. The writers never seemed to figure out what it meant to know everything. Doe not only is smart, but also has instant muscle memory and can learn new physical tasks instantly. In one episode, he even predicts the weather. And sadly, some of Doe's knowledge is totally absurd. For example, in the first episode, Doe recites the entire binary code (in ones and zeros) for the original version of MS DOS in front of a crowd of astonished spectators in a matter of hours (the crowd sticks around to hear it all).

The idea that this guy knows everything is pretty incredible but leaves an huge area to work with, but this concept was totally abused. As much as I would have liked the series to work, I was left only with the impression of the pretentiousness of the writers. It's pretty hard to create an almost omniscient character when you yourself are pretty dumb. I think that under more capable hands, this show could have been great.

This is a pretty exciting TV show from FOX that is about an amnesia-plagued man dubbed John Doe and played by Dominic Purcell, who possesses a wealth of encyclopedia knowledge and is pursued by an obscure and foreign organization called "The Phoenix" to do some sort of mysterious and secret experiment.

Each episode has its own intriguing and unique flavor, not straying from the plot but also not dragging on to make the show pointless and boring. And, each episode gives its own taste of suspense, making you wonder more and more where "John Doe" comes from and what is the truth behind his knowledge and background.

The final episode of Season One ends in a twist and unmasks the main villain. However, the cliffhanger was not elaborated on as the series was canceled after the first season. It is too bad - this show had great potential and is what I think one of the better TV dramas of the 2000s.

Grade B+