The Others
"Don't Dream It's Over"

Airdate: March 25, 2000

"Don't Dream It's Over" starts off in a hospital ER ward with a serious accident involving that crazy, lovable Warren. He has fallen from a radio tower in his attempts to talk to God. Unfortunately, that's about all we see of him. Another token appearance. And all I can say to that is -- stop taunting us! Especially if, instead, we are subjected to an episode about Dr. Mark Gabriel's not-so-compelling love for some character we don't really get to learn much about, and therefore don't really care about.

Mark is having a recurrent dream of a mysterious English blond chick named Mary Jane (Tushka Bergen) from 19th-century London. He decides to tell Satori (who is in love with him) about his sudden love for this fantasy woman, then later asks Marian (who has a crush on him) to try to channel his would-be lover. Elmer warns him to stop screwing around, both figuratively and literally and as always, his warning of danger turns out to be an accurate one. It turns out that Mark's dream woman carries an ill-famed title in history, as the final victim of notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper!

Herein lies my beef with "Don't Dream It's Over." What is with this Jack the Ripper thing? It comes out of nowhere. I mean, if you're going to use such a famous name as that, use him. This was The Man Without a Face. He struck terror into the hearts of millions. His identity, his motives, and even the number of women he killed are to this day unknown. Instead "Don't Dream It's Over" uses Jack the Ripper as a mere prop. He makes a cameo appearance in the final act, as a man with a funny mustache. There was no air of mystery about him whatsoever, and therefore, no real sense of terror.

Writer/director Mick Garris may argue that his episode isn't meant to be about the serial killer at all; that maybe it was a character-oriented story for Mark. He is, after all, the most sedate and amicable member of the group, which also makes him the most boring. It's time to give him a harder edge; a character flaw of some kind. Unfortunately, and I'm not sure whether to blame the script or Macht's performance (probably both), but I think they went a little too far. Give Mark something to stress about, and suddenly he becomes a total asshole! The way he treats the women in his life to get what he wants is insensitive. In fact, the way he treats everyone, from his indifference towards Warren's condition in the hospital to his irrational demands towards Elmer to put him under hypnosis is absolutely contemptible. No amount of gratuitous bare chest shots will make up for this.

And all for this 19th century woman, who comes off rather confused about the whole thing. From a couple meetings in her dreams, she is able to firmly express her love for this strange man from the future (she takes that news awfully well, by the way), and likewise for him. This all happens too damn fast. There is no real relationship here. And anyway, Jack the Ripper is going to drop by and kill her anyway, so what's the point? Although it is thrown in as an afterthought, Marian does ask this very question at the end of the episode -- "If we couldn't help her, than why was she calling to [Mark] from so far away?" Elmer supplies her with a few theories:

1. Maybe fate draws people together from one lifetime to another.
2. Maybe nobody was calling anybody, it was simply a matter of two souls meeting at the far ends of time -- one empty and one overflowing.
3. Or maybe it doesn't make any sense at all!

Hmm... I think I'll take door number three, Monty! If there was a point at all to any of this, it is probably that love has no boundaries, that the series has showed us -- not in death, but also not even in space or time. But was I comforted with the notion that 18th Century Mary Jane is waiting for the 21st Century Mark on the other side so that when he dies one day, they will be together again? Not really. Frankly, I didn't care. And note how none of The Others bothered to chase after Mark to supply any comfort when he ran off all upset? I don't think any of them cared either.

-- Julie Ng

The Others airs at 9pm EST, Saturdays on NBC.

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