Two years ago I had the chance to catch up on one of those ‘shows I notoriously missed, but wish I had seen’… “The Pretender.” I was remotely familiar with the series, having heard about it when it first aired on NBC back in 1996. There was a lot of buzz going on about the show as it was being promoted as part of a Saturday night ‘Thrillogy,’ which was also comprised of “Sleepwalkers” and “The Pretender.” “Sleepwalkers” ended pretty quickly, but “Profiler” and “The Pretender” both ended up with fairly successful four season runs, and even included a crossover episode. As much as I heard about these shows, I kept getting tempted to tune in, but was afraid of getting caught up in yet another series, so I passed. In a way, I’m glad I did, because now I’ve had a chance to watch all of the seasons of “Profiler” uncut and commercial free. Now I’m looking forward to doing the same thing with “The Pretender.”

For those of you unfamiliar with the series, “The Pretender” starred Michael T. Weiss as Jarod, a certified genius who was locked up most of his life by an unscrupulous organization who utilized his talents for their own unscrupulous gains. Jarod was a ‘Pretender’, who was able to psychologically assume the identity of just about anyone and could analyze their thoughts, emotions, abilities and motives. He had little to no memory of his parents, and thought that his ‘keepers’ were using his abilities for benevolent purposes. When he learns, as an adult, that the results of the experiments were used for military purposes, Jarod runs away… and so begins our series.

I wasn’t really sure at first if I was going to like the series, because of its “Jarod travels from town to town righting wrongs” plotlines, but found myself almost instantly taken in and enjoying the heck out of it. I’ll grant you that some of it is a bit formulaic, what with him being on the run and chased by agents of ‘The Centre’, but the quality of the series is elevated by Weiss’ likable performance.

I found it totally believable that his intellect would allow him to ‘Pretend’ to be anything from a doctor to a pilot, and Weiss’ approach to the role was refreshing. He was able to temper the seriousness of whatever the situation was with a look of pure joy on his face after he was able to fool someone. I also could appreciate what the writers were trying to do by creating an interesting dichotomy within Jarod’s character. Here was a person who would read a book on quantum physics and totally understand it the first time, only to have him marvel at the wonder of ice cream and silly putty, having been deprived of such pleasures at The Centre.

As the 1st season unfolded, Jarod was being tracked by Syndey (Patrick Bauchau), the doctor who raised him and an agent known as Miss Parker (Andrea Parker). The two would often be in conflict, because of Parker’s determination to catch him and Syndey’s wanting only what was best for him. Caught between the two was Broots (Jonathon Gries), a computer expert who was often called to task as to whom he was loyal to. All three of these actors were as crucial to the show’s success as Weiss was, if for no other reason than their rapport… or rather lack thereof. It was a constant joy to see Syndey knock the wind out of Parker’s sails.

I do wish to call a little extra attention to Bauchau, because he has a very strong onscreen presence. The combination of his interesting appearance and unidentifiable accent makes him a welcome addition to any cast. Most recently we have been seeing him do guest stints on other shows such as “House” and “The Dead Zone.” Even better was his run as the blind Professor Lodz in the ‘too soon cancelled’ “Carnivale” and Goran in the mini-series “Revelations.” Looking into his background, I was very impressed to see that he has had a very long and varied career; I’m surprised that I had not really noticed him prior to seeing “The Pretender.”

Of course, no series of this nature is without its secrets, and there were certainly many here. Over the course of the 1st season, secrets came to light not only about Jarod’s parents, but about those were chasing him. I don’t want to give away any of them here, in case you’ve yet to see the show, but almost all were earth-shattering to the characters and made for many changes once the 2nd Season started.

Fox released the 2nd Season on DVD a few months ago, and I have to say the show got even better. The formula of Jarod’s helping people in need was still firmly in place, but the relationships between he, Sydney and Parker were irrevocably altered. New to the chase were Brigitte (Pamela Gidley), who is more an assassin than a straightforward agent and Mr. Lyle (Jamie Denton), who is far more ruthless than Miss Parker ever seemed to be. The addition of these two characters raised the stakes for the series and brought a stronger element of danger than was present during the 1st season. It’s obvious from the outset, they are as much out to destroy Sydney and Miss Parker as they are to get Jarod.

Fox followed up with the 3rd Season and I had to hand it to the writers for being able to continue show's formula, without becoming too formulaic. They took the central theme and expanded it even further to include the introduction of Jarod's father as well as the subsequent decision by Miss Parker to leave the Centre. Of course as you might imagine, these plot points do nothing but add even more misery and decrepit to the lives of these fascinating characters. I was consistently surprised by the events that transpired, which included the addition of a love interest for Miss Parker, a situation with tragic consequences.

The 4th and final season hits store shelves this week, and we find Jarod back in the possession of the Centre. Fortunately his incarceration is a short one and he is soon back on the run and helping those in need. The mythology of the story gets deeper as more and more of the Centre's secrets are revealed, some of them proving connections between Jarod and Miss Parker that neither had ever expected. These final 20 episode offer closure to most of what was built up over the course of the show's four seasons, but others are left unresolved. The hope is that Fox might still release the pair of 2-hour TV movies that were produced following the series' cancellation.

This 4th season set also offers up some episode commentaries on "Rules of Engagement", "Til Death Do Us Part" and "Cold Dick", by series creators Craig W. Van Sickle, Steven Long Mitchell and the writers of each episode. They are also joined by Michael T Weiss and Andrea Parker, separately, on two of the episodes. The commentaries are well worth listening to Throughout the double-sided 4-disc set, you will also find a 2-part featurette on the mythology surrounding the series and a 'Looking for Chip Greenfelt featurette.

As much as I could go on and on about “The Pretender”, I’ll simply say that after enjoying the 1st, 2nd and 3rd seasons so much, the 4th offered more of the same. I only wish that it included the aforementioned follow-up TV movies..

Episodes:
The World's Changing
Survival
Angel's Flight
Risque Business
Wild Child
Rules of Engagement
Til Death Do Us Part
Spin Doctor
Cold Dick
Lifeline
Ghosts from the Past
The Agent of Year Zero
Junk
School Daze
Meltdown
Corn Man Coming
The Inner Sense, Parts 1 & 2

Starring: Michael T. Weiss, Patrick Bauchau, Andrea Parker, Jonathon Gries
Extras: Audio Commentary on Selected Episodes, 'Jarod's Mythology' Featurettes, Looking for Chip Greenfelt Featurette
Specifications: Widescreen (1.78:1), Dolby Surround
Studio: Fox
Release Date: 7/18/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give The Pretender: Season 4 a B.