As the season-six premiere, "Heritage," opens, Johnny is making breakfast for his extended family because their kitchen is being remodeled. Sarah (deBoer) is six months pregnant. J.J. tells Johnny about his band, and Walt is getting stuff ready for the Faith Heritage Winter Fest. As they are about to leave, Johnny has a disturbing vision.

At the Winter Fest, Johnny is determined to change the events of his vision, while Walt organizes bingo and Sarah runs her own booth. Johnny's so preoccupied that he doesn't hear Bruce tell him he's been offered a great job. The only problem is that the job is out of state and he can't bring himself to leave Johnny to fight the good fight against Armageddon all alone.

When the new vice president, Greg Stillson, arrives at the festival to "give something back to Faith Heritage," Johnny reluctantly shakes his hand. He has a vision of the Armageddon he knows he must somehow stop.

As Johnny struggles to stop a tragedy at the Winter Fest, the Rev. Gene Purdy (Stiers) is waging his own battle. Janus has come calling, and he wants Purdy to continue raising money for Stillson's future campaign. However, Purdy has had a change of heart and doesn't want anything to do with Janus or Stillson. As the individual conflicts unfold, things will begin to intersect in a way that Johnny never could have imagined, and when the day is over lives will be changed forever.

Old friends face a new direction

With The Dead Zone's sixth season premiere, things will indeed change for the series. While the episode does launch a new direction for the series, it remains to be seen whether those changes are for the best. The episode does move along at a nice pace, and it manages to evoke a spectrum of emotions that serve the characters.

As always, the acting is terrific, especially that of Anthony Michael Hall, who has created a likable and complex hero, and Chris Bruno, who shines as the show's other hero, Sheriff Walt Bannerman. David Ogden Stiers once again chews up the scenery delightfully as Purdy, and Sean Patrick Flanery continues his fascinating turn as Stillson, the man who would be president and perhaps the destroyer of us all.

The only actors who continually get the short end of the meaty material are John Adams, whose role as Johnny's best friend, Bruce, is seldom utilized, and Nichole DeBoer, whose Sarah is left far too often to fret and cry.

As for the script, Dead Zone viewers will, no doubt, find themselves arguing about that new direction. However, the details can't be discussed without giving away too much. What can be said is that this is an important episode for the series. The script, by Ann Lewis Hamilton, is well written, and Johnny's fear for those he loves comes through sharply.

However, in the end, the events should have been bigger than the story that was told, and "Heritage" feels a bit anticlimactic. Perhaps this should have been a two-hour episode or a two-parter. Or perhaps the producers know just what they are doing and they are setting us up for exciting developments to come that will once again change everything.