Nowhere Man—
The Complete Series DVD

A photojournalist finds his identity suddenly erased when he takes the wrong picture at the wrong time

Nowhere Man—The Complete Series DVD Starring Bruce Greenwood Created by Lawrence Hertzog Image Entertainment Nine-disc set MSRP: $49.99

homas Veil (Greenwood) has it all, a beautiful wife, friends, a comfortable home and a successful career as a photojournalist. Until one day, suddenly, it all disappears. His wife, friends and family don't recognize him; his ATM and credit cards stop working; his key doesn't fit the lock to his own house. His only clue to the mystery is a missing photograph from his latest exhibit. The photo, titled "Hidden Agenda," depicts an execution of four unknown figures while members of the U.S. military look on. Tom soon realizes that the group behind his erasure is still after his negatives and will stop at nothing to get them.

Tom's only hope of getting his life back is uncovering the secrets behind the picture and his importance to the shadowy organization following his every move. Each time he gets close to someone who can help him, they are eliminated, erased or revealed to be part of the conspiracy. Even his wife turns on him, though her true motives remain mysterious. Does she really love him? Is she trying to protect him? Or has she been working for his pursuers the entire time?

As Tom travels around the country, he finds other victims of the organization who have been put through mind conditioning and other extreme experiments. He becomes an unwitting hero to those who suffer at the hands of the same people who erased his own life. Each step brings him closer to the truth, ultimately leading him to an operative code-named Gemini, who seems to have all the answers he's been looking for. But is he ready for the revelations that await him?

A show with identity issues

Even now, 10 years after its initial run, the concept behind Nowhere Man remains an intriguing and interesting idea. To focus on a single character with no ties to any single person or location is a bold choice for a series, and it opens the door to a wide array of story possibilities. Unfortunately, the show too often pulls the rug out from under the viewer so that no character is ever above suspicion, no story can be taken at face value, and paranoia reigns. It's one thing to get inside the character's head and understand his situation, but for the purposes of storytelling, it undermines the viewer's confidence in what they are seeing and prevents any true investment in the show or the characters.

An uneven tone is another one of the show's flaws. The inconsistency seems even more pronounced when one watches the episodes all together in a set like this. Though the show was presented as a psychological thriller, it varies from episode to episode, becoming alternately romance, horror or science fiction.

As the only main character, Greenwood was put in the difficult position of having to carry the show all on his own. He is clearly up to the task and was a great choice for the role, though he admits he had a difficult time finding a through line for the character from one week to the next. Backing him up are some talented and surprising guest stars, including Carrie-Anne Moss, Maria Bello, Dean Stockwell, Dwight Shultz and Hal Linden.

While it was on, the show had a loyal fan base, but it was canceled when then-fledgling netlet UPN decided to go in a different direction. The level of participation in the DVD set by the show's producers, directors, writers and stars is a tribute to the show's continued popularity. The nine-disc set includes all 25 episodes, with commentary on nine of them and interviews on each disc. The only pointless extra is an interview in which an anonymous ex-CIA operative talks about real-world conspiracies but sounds more like a fictional character than an actual person (according to him, the government uses television to induce violence and controls the American public with sugar). The technical quality of the episodes themselves could be better, but that shouldn't be a major problem for the fans who have been anxiously awaiting this series for some time.

Hertzog says that he looked to the classic British series The Prisoner for inspiration, and the best parts of Nowhere Man indeed seem to be shaped from that mold. In particular, the final moments of the last episode are quite Prisoner-esque. —Cindy