BIG ASIDE WARNING: I don't write these reviews to explain to a non-show-watcher what the shows and episodes are about. Unless you've seen what I'm writing about don't expect to understand it. These are not traditional style reviews. You can find those kinds of reviews in abundance elsewhere.
First: I hate the John Doe web site. Those little Flash pop-ups with small amounts of information in them are annoying. So little info per box. Splurge a little. Use whole pages to show information. Show multiple pictures and more paragraphs.
I think Flash is used because page designers like playing with it and not because it really helps any. Okay, there are probably pages where it adds something to the browsing experience. But I'm more often than not annoyed by it.
When he fell off the island (Horeshoe Island?) into the ocean why did he then immediately start swimming out away from the island? Whatever it takes to get the series going I guess.
When he was picked up by the Cambodian fishermen and was able to speak Khmer and didn't even realize that he was speaking or knew how to speak Khmer that was a nice touch. Pretty cool.
How's he supposed to be able to tell the time from the position of the sun? Unless he also knows the day and the latitude he can't calculate the information. Or does his brain have a running clock in it that he can just access?
Why would he be put onto a stretcher by paramedics but somehow in the next scene be trying to walk into a police station to report himself as a missing person. Why? Wouldn't he have been taken to the hospital with the doctors there deciding that he was an amnesia case?
Do all golf balls have the same number of dimples? I think not. That seemed like a dumb question to answer with such exactitude.
No, he wouldn't have been able to predict which horse would win by such a simple formula. That was another bogus way to demonstrate how much he knew.
The library scene where he starts answering everyone's questions initially showed a crowd gathering a bit too quickly.
Why didn't he shout to the woman on the boat to ask her her name or his full name? Tommy who? Was she mistaken? Ah, the mystery.
"I don't know things I'm supposed to know but I do know things I'm not supposed to know."
Digger. Who is Digger? I missed it. When did the girl Karen get hired as his assistant? Was that shown? I like, missed stuff.
At first it seemed he just had a huge amount of knowledge dumped into his brain before he woke up. But then it began to seem as if his memory is getting updated all of the time.
Why wouldn't he just pay to rent the hotel room to get access to it? After all, at that point he'd done well at the races and in playing currency options.
John Doe sits at a computer and uses "Web Find It" to search on "Jenny Nichols" with a result of "no match". Come on. I just did a Google Seach on Jenny Nichols and it returned over 50,000 hits. What would he be searching for to find out about her? What sort of search engine?
The idea of more manganese building up in the bones of a vegetarian is a clever. Nuts have a lot more manganese in them than meat.
This guy is like a cross between Monk, Jarod from The Pretender and Johnnie from the Dead Zone.
Does he know about things that aren't yet in any book? Like, can he tell is what mutations in genes can cause cancers even more genes that haven't been named yet? Or does he just know the sum total of all the knowledge of what has been discovered so far by all of humanity? If so, does he believe false things that scientists think are true that they will eventually find out that they are wrong about?
Was he placed on the island by aliens for some purpose?
Is his knowledge supernaturally derived?
Is his knowledge constantly updated?
Is he a mutation into a new mind-reading future human?
He's always going to be helping the police in every episode? I hope there are episodes where he just goes out there and runs down some bizarre mystery that does not involve crime. It would be fun if he even got distracted by something that annoyed him and figured out why something in society (even a product that he wants to be able to use that is poorly designed) doesn't work right and he figures out a solution for it purely for personal esthetic satisfaction.
He ought to become sly and not demonstrate to everyone he meets how much he knows. He's better off if most do not know what a freak he is.
Posted by Randall Parker at September 22, 2002 12:28 AM