**Note: the following recap may contain a few spoliers**

As the untimely demise of Sheriff Walt Bannerman is still felt among family members, John Smith (ANTHONY MICHAEL HALL) decides to help out Sarah by getting some of her late husbands things at Cleaves Mills Sheriff’s department. Upon arriving, he meets Bannerman’s replacement, an extremely skeptical Anna Turner. There also appears to be an investigation into Bannerman’s personal and professional history. More on that in a minute.

Smith gets a flash of the new Sheriff gunning down a woman, and sets out his investigation into who she is, as the shootout could have been avoided, and it appears the new sheriff shoots first, asks questions later. He finds out that the mystery woman is psychiatrist Nina Jorgensen (Deborah Odell), who likes the interest in her, but like Turner, seems to be unaware, or at least dismissive, of John’s abilities. John later deduces that a number of people are after her, but then who he “sees” are different parts of a disturbed artist with multiple personality disorder. It also turns out Nina’s ex is after her as well, a man who abused and stalked her to the point where she changed her name and residence.

Turner and Smith arrive in time to solve the case, although she doesn’t like him using himself as a shield for people she may be aiming at. In addition, she thinks he’s more in her way more than anything else.

*****

This episode introduces new cast member Cara Buono, as Anna Turner, a talented actress, although it should be noted that her best TV work has been where the series in question was in its final season (The Sorpanos, Third Watch); hopefully this won’t be the case. While I liked Deborah as the guest shrink, I don’t know if the character is being set up for a recurring role as a possible love interest for John Smith. It does seem that way. Nice…but that could be an error, unless John is strongly attracted to women psychologists (Sarah Wynter, who played Rebecca Caldwaell who left in season 3) and there’s also some small hint that John may get back together with Sara- which also would be bizarre, considering that JJ is Smith’s biological son and Bannerman raised him. If John were to get with his lost love, he might wind up raising Bannerman’s child with Sarah. Did you follow all that?

Anyway, the series promotions over at USA Network are now hyping up a online ‘game’ of sorts for fans to solve the mystery as to what, if anything, is (or was) on the late Sheriff Bannerman’s hard drive computer. What was he hiding, if anything? Did he find out something he wasn’t supposed to? Is Turner up to something else a bit more sinister?

This post was Authored by Darren J Seeley, Our Resident Authority on all things Dead Zone