How do you end a time travel story? Is there any way to do it successfully? So much of the thrill comes from spending time with characters like Jake Epping/Amberson as he tries not to get caught, or found out, or foiled in his mission (in many ways, 11.22.63 was structured a lot like an espionage thriller). With unbelievable tension wrung out of standout episodes like “Happy Birthday, Lee Harvey Oswald,” it seemed as though a letdown ending was all but inevitable. But I’m happy to report that, despite some sagging in the middle third, “The Day in Question” is the best possible ending for 11.22.63.
The first smart decision the show makes is to get the shooting out of the way early. Of course, since last week’s “Soldier Boy” ended with Lee Harvey Oswald setting up his sniper’s nest, there weren’t a lot of other ways this episode could start, but that’s beside the point. It seems like the lack of a buildup could potentially rob this sequence of tension, but thankfully that’s not an issue. The past is fighting back in a big way, with roads closed where they shouldn’t be, and literal ghosts tripping up Jake and Sadie.
Director James Strong (a veteran of Doctor Who, plus some non-horrible shows like Broadchurch) handles the steady escalation with aplomb, and conjures an image of Dallas that is at once empty and claustrophobic, and looking for all the world like a mausoleum. The past seems to be actively taunting Jake, and Strong makes the most of genuinely creepy imagery like Abraham Zapruder getting ready to make his infamous film, or graffiti reading YOUR THE PATSY (the REDRUM graffiti, while cool, is significantly less subtle). It’s here that the show seems to embrace the trappings of a horror film, and while effective, it’s something that wouldn’t have worked in every episode. So credit is due for restraint.
Jake stops the assassination. It’s a nicely done sequence, and a good juxtaposition to watch something as intimate as a fistfight alter the course of American history. Sadie gets shot by Oswald in the scuffle, which was almost a foregone conclusion, because if 11.22.63 has taught us anything, it’s that Jake is a goddamn wrecking ball. That said, it’s still sad to watch her pass away holding Jake’s hand, because if 11.22.63 has taught us anything else it’s that Sarah Gadon is a magnificent actress.
After the assassination is where “The Day in Question” picks up, but also where it loses focus. Jake is arrested for Oswald’s crime, and for a moment I thought the show was going to pin everything on him, which would have made for a neat twist. Jake even takes a perp walk identical to the one Oswald took out of the Dallas police station. The sequence could be more tense, and I think the reason it didn’t entirely work was the black and white. It didn’t look like old film, it looked like a black and white filter slapped onto a color image.
This is the sagging middle I spoke of earlier. There are a lot of roads that the episode wants to go down, but it doesn’t quite have the runtime to fully explore any of them. The bombed-out apocalyptic 2016 that Jake returns to is a nice touch, made even better when he runs into Harry, who remembers Jake saving his life as a young boy (“Are you an angel?”). Another nice touch here is the partially obscured graffiti reading CAPTAIN, which I’m certain in its entirety says CAPTAIN TRIPS, a nice little Easter egg for longtime fans of The Stand. Leon Rippy sells Harry wonderfully, and it shows that the Deadwood vet is capable of great character work if paired with the right director (looking at you, Under the Dome). Alas, Jake doesn’t spend enough time in the present to see if there’s a Thunderdome or not; he goes back in the rabbit hole to find Sadie, pledging not to change anything.
This is the true heart of 11.22.63: Jake and Sadie. In many ways, Sadie is the main character. It’s smart of “The Day in Question” to introduce this element slowly, because by the time Jake – dirty, disheveled, battered – meets up again with Sadie, you realize exactly how much this relationship means to not only them but to the audience. James Franco is wonderful in this show, and he and Gadon play off of each other magnificently, which makes it that much more heartbreaking when the yellow card man (okay, you think of what to call him) tells Jake that he’s stuck in his own loop, and no matter what he does in the past Sadie will always die.
Now, I like sad endings. I like bleak endings. And the scene described above is the setup for a hell of a bleak ending. Which is probably why I’m so glad that 11.22.63 chose to end things on a happy note. As much as I’ve enjoyed this show, I never expected it to move me to tears, but there I sat, blubbering at the image of Jake and Sadie, separated by several lifetimes, sharing a dance. Hell, I’m choking up right now just writing about it.
And I need to acknowledge Constance Towers, the brilliant actress who played the elderly Sadie. Towers imbues Sadie with all the warmth and verve that we’ve come to recognize, and in only a few short minutes Towers is able to do justice to Gadon’s portrayal of Sadie, while also putting her own stamp on the character. Towers, like most of 11.22.63‘s ensemble, is a casting coup.
That’s probably while I’ll have such warm memories of this show. Because what I’ll remember isn’t Kennedy or Oswald or the CIA or even the fantastical time travel element. I’ll remember the simple beauty of a man and a woman reunited from across time. 11.22.63 wasn’t perfect, but it gave us that shot – and that shot was perfect.
“The Day in Question” score: 4/5
11.22.63 series score: 4/5
About Author
Shouldn’t it have been “You’re the patsy”? Past don’t speak good