"On The Town"
Air Date: October 1, 1999

After proving his prowess against a boxer and martial arts expert to a group of congressmen, former-insurance-exec-now-government-test-subject Michael Wiseman (Eric Close) stages a breakout, but only after apologizing to his "bodyguards". Project director Dr. Morris (Dennis Haybert) manages to keep the Washington suits from putting out an APB on his boy and offers to have the project people find him. Obviously the good doctor knows something they don't.

Once free Michael heads straight for his old buddy Roger Bender (Gerrit Graham). With the threat of death to anyone who finds out about the project hanging over his head, our hero must not only get past the security guards in the building, but also figure out a way to get Roger to take him to Lisa while keeping him in the dark.

A Spiderman flashback and quite yummy view of Michael's new body later and Roger is dragged reluctantly on the quest to see the Wiseman's. It's touching to watch as Michael peeks (not "peeps") into the kitchen window and sighs wistfully at the sight of Lisa and their daughter Heather (Heather Matarazzo) washing dishes. Just then a limo pulls up and who should appear? Well, he's a stranger to Michael, but Roger should recognize him as Lisa's lawyer who is fighting the insurance company on her behalf. It turns out that it has been seven months since Michael's demise and even Heather believes that her mom should start dating again.

Of course Wiseman forces Roger to follow them and in the course of the trip, with little input and a warning from Michael, Bender comes up with his own theory. It's not the truth, but it's wacky enough to be amusing and off center enough to later save Roger's ass when confronted by the ominous (and yet still hilarious) Dr. Morris.

The date hits a snag, causing Lisa to start for home alone. Only, Michael has been sitting outside, dejectedly singing, half hoping that Lisa has gotten on with her life, and half hoping that she hasn't. When she passes the rather scruffy looking man, in a moment of pity, she gives him some money. Unable to just leave it at that, Michael first tries to help her flag down a cab, then escorts her (via the other side of the street) back to Central Station. Their conversation seems so heartbreaking, that when Lisa admits to feeling a sense of familiarity with Michael (whose name she never finds out), you wonder how he can stop himself from confessing who he really is. But of course he can't.

After seeing Lisa off, Michael is summarily recaptured and threatened with death. The timing seems strange though as the good doctor informs Wiseman that they have the boy lojacked with a tracking device located somewhere in the region of his nose and yet he was still able to (or is that allowed to?) complete his conversation with his wife.

Couple that incident with the fact that in "Origins" Michael wasn't killed after using Dr. Morris' cell phone to call Lisa, and you begin to suspect that either the doctor feels genuine compassion for Wiseman's predicament or that he's much too valuable to waste. Time will tell I suppose.

And I believe that I've finally figured out what makes Now And Again work. It has heart.

Michael Wiseman, by the events thrust upon him, is bound to be a hero, but in his soul he remains a very simple man. It is clear that he would gladly trade his glamorous new look for the life he left behind. And yet Michael is no quitter. You get a sense that he knows that as long as there is life, there is hope. And while it's true that he can't go to them now, as long as he is still alive there remains a chance that he can be reunited with his wife and daughter. How very sweet.

Now And Again airs Friday nights on CBS at 9pm EST

-- Linda M. Najera