Date of airing: March 20, 1999 (CBS)
Nielsen ratings information: 9.45 million viewers, 6.5/12 in Households
written by: Carla Kettner
directed by: Gary Nelson
Hello Lucius Snow, welcome to the world of the supernatural. Thank you very much for saving Gary's life, because without him, the series would have ended right here, and that may or may not have been a good idea. Most likely the former, at least for me, because the show has gotten a bit annoying lately, with all the absurd storylines it decided to create, and a romantic story arc it decided to not focus on at all.But more to that later in this text.
I figured quite quickly that the old man in the hat was involved with the paper somehow, similar to the woman with the red hair during the second season finale (whose hair was blonde in a first-season episode), but that he was identified as Lucius Snow was pretty interesting. It makes you wonder if you become a guardian for the next recipient of the paper, because that is part of the job of getting tomorrow's paper today – you become the guide and "guardian angel" of sorts for your successor. Your job does not end just because you died – no, it continues in the afterlife. It makes me wonder if, during the 2022 reboot show starring Alice Eve that CBS canceled after looking at the Vancouver-produced pilot episode, a premise like this would have found an extension, and whether or not the existence of tomorrow's paper today was not just stopping here. Plus, if you deal with some light supernatural themes (do you remember the witches from this season's Halloween episode?), you are certainly allowed to go even deeper and depict ghosts.
 |
| Check out those dirty hands! |
This episode reminded me of the only good and emotional episode of SEVEN DAYS, which was the season-two offering “Buried.” In that show, time traveler and action hero Frank Parker was dealing with his mortality while stuck inside a mountain – it was a flashback episode, a character-focused episode, and one with emotions that the show never delivered before and after that episode. After almost three years, EARLY EDITION has not really gotten into that with their main characters either, and Gary has never faced true mortality by literally facing death, looking at the person standing in the light (that is kind of what Lucius was at the moment... a God-like figure, allowing Gary to make a choice whether to live or die, because rules do not apply to the person who receives tomorrow's paper). Seeing him facing his own faults and his death very much reminded me of Parker’s story in the aforementioned episode of SEVEN DAYS, simply because the writers decided to get around the usual premise for an hour and tell a different story. An emotional story. One that convinces the actor to deliver a more memorable performance, which Kyle Chandler definitely did.
It was only a question of time until the writers had Gary deal with real death for a change. After more than two and a half years of getting the paper and saving people from dying, it seems like a miracle that Jeremiah turned out to be the first person Gary could not save. While it brings understanding to Gary’s heartbreak and emotional whirlwind after seeing someone die like that, I find it a bit implausible that Jeremiah turned out to be the first and only person Gary failed to save. But then again, the paper always played tricks on Gary – by helping one person, he also helped dozens of others ("The Choice" in season one, "Collision" at the beginning of this season).
Besides that, the story of Gary's faults and Jeremiah's death still led to some nice storytelling that the writers could bring some more attention to if they desired so. Detective Paul Armstrong was asking Gary a few too many questions, making me believe that the Chicago police force has someone on the job to figure out what Gary is always doing at the site of many accidents. Questioning Gary about what he was doing in that building before it went up in smoke made it all look like Gary was about to turn into an arson suspect, which is also a premise that the series should make an episode out of (even if Gary was already the suspect a few times, most notably in the "The Wall" two-part episode from season one). However, I did not like how that story concluded: Just because Gay was trapped inside a building that was about to fall in on itself, Detective Armstrong suddenly decided that Gary was not a suspect any longer and deserved a pat on the shoulders after his rescue. Seriously, if Detective Armstrong believes that Gary might be a suspect in certain unresolved cases, he better look into it more often, make himself a recurring character in the series, and put a story into this world that could see Gary in something resembling a police procedural.
 |
| Gary finds his name in the paper again. |
And finally, a few words have to be said about Gary and Erica again: I still do not fully believe that the two are together. They were on a date at the planetarium, but the only romance they showed was her giving him a kiss on the cheek. When Gary was all desperate and sad and emotional, it was not Erica who tried talking him off the ledge, it was Marissa, his best friend. When Gary was saved from the building, it was not Erica whom he hugged and kissed and was happy to see again, it was Marissa. If this is the only episode of the series you watch, you would be excused in believing that Gary either has no girlfriend, or two very affectionate friends who love him above everything else. Again, I believe that there was some tension behind the cameras between the two actors, and the writers had to significantly cut down on the Gary/Erica scenes, because otherwise, I cannot explain to myself why the two are never properly depicted as a romantic couple in this show.
