Based on the characters and story from the best-selling novel by Stephen King, The Dead Zone is a unique psychological thriller that combines a rich mix of action, romance, the paranormal, and a continuing quest for justice.

Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall) once led an idyllic small-town life. Employed as a science teacher, Johnny took great pleasure in showing his students the wonders of the natural world. He was engaged to a loving fiancée named Sarah (Nicole deBoer), a fellow teacher he'd known since childhood, and was a good son to his widowed mother. Johnny's life was nearly perfect... until the day his life was interrupted by a near-fatal car crash that left him in a deep coma for six years.

It's been three years since Johnny regained consciousness and discovered that life as he once knew it has completely changed forever. His mother has long since passed away, Sarah has married someone else - and he has a son who doesn't know him. Even Johnny is no longer the same person he once was: he now possesses amazing psychic powers which allow him to see into the past and future through visions triggered by touch.

Since his recovery from the coma, Johnny has struggled to reacquaint himself with a life which had changed radically. It has been a difficult quest for Johnny to come to terms with his psychic abilities - abilities that are both a blessing and a curse. Helping Johnny in life's journey are his physical trainer and best friend, Bruce Lewis (John L. Adams); the executor of his mother's estate, Gene Purdy (David Odgen Stiers), who oversees a trust fund for Johnny but may not be looking out for Johnny's best interests; and Sarah, now married to someone else and struggling to include Johnny in her life for the sake of their son, J.J. (Spencer Achtymichuk) without risking her relationship with her husband, Sheriff Walt Bannerman (Chris Bruno).

From Michael Piller, co-creator and executive producer of more than 500 hours of programming from the Star Trek franchise.

Source: THE DEAD ZONE - Official Website

LOGLINE: Johnny (Anthony Michael Hall) fights to stop Rebecca (Sarah Wynter) from killing Greg Stillson (Sean Patrick Flanery), whom she believes is responsible for her sister's murder.

SYNOPSIS: Greg Stillson (Sean Patrick Flanery) becomes distracted during a meeting with his senior staff, recalling one of his many childhood humiliations at the hands of his bible-peddling father, James (Garry Chalk). Snapping back to the present, he considers Truax's (Michael Kopsa) suggestion to bring a senior consultant aboard to make some changes. Across the room, James ends a phone conversation and announces that Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall) is in the hospital about to have brain surgery. Truax adds that if Johnny survives, he's going to find himself up to his neck in federal agents.

In the recovery room at the hospital, a confused Johnny asks Bruce (John L. Adams) to explain what's happened. Testing his psychic abilities, Johnny grabs his cane and is startled when he fails to get a vision. Next, Walt (Chris Bruno) and Sarah (Nicole deBoer) arrive to inform him that Rebecca (Sarah Wynter) has been shot and killed by police after she assassinated Greg Stillson. Johnny suddenly awakens in the surgery prep room and realizes that everything he's just experienced was a vision. Disturbed by what he's seen, he decides not to go through with the operation.

Later, a federal agent named Pendragon (Colin Cunningham) shows up at the hospital to arrest Johnny for kidnapping. But to everyone's surprise, Johnny's room is empty: Johnny is on his way to Washington, D.C., having persuaded Bruce to drive him there in order to prevent Rebecca from shooting Stillson to avenge her sister's murder.

Meanwhile, Rebecca pays a visit to Stillson under the pretext of lending support to his new anti-crime bill, Rachel's Law. As soon as she leaves, James warns his son not to get involved with her. And at the sheriff's office, Walt reluctantly releases all the files associated with the investigation to an insistent Pendragon. He then pays a visit to Reverend Purdy (David Ogden Stiers), who is still in jail, before heading out to find Johnny.

Johnny and Bruce arrive in D.C. and sneak into Rebecca's apartment, where Johnny is hit with a vision of Sonny Elliman (Jim Francis) and James Stillson tapping the phones. Moments later, Johnny is thrown into second vision in which Rebecca is putting a revolver into her handbag before leaving for a press conference that is set to take place that afternoon. Spotting federal agents heading their way, Johnny and Bruce beat a hasty retreat. Bruce heads away from Johnny and creates a diversion by jumping into his SUV and crashing it into a parked car, allowing Johnny to escape.

Meanwhile, Stillson flashes back to another stinging memory of his cruel and manipulative father meddling in his life. He is 21 years old and is furious to learn that his father has bribed his girlfriend to get an abortion and leave town. Back in the present, Stillson decides to listen to his staff and hire a new management consultant. Elliman heads over to Rebecca's to de-bug the apartment before the federal agents can discover the wire taps and Stillson and James take off in their limo. Watching from a parked car, Walt decides to follow Elliman.

Outside the courthouse where the press conference is scheduled, Johnny searches for Rebecca but runs into Pendragon instead. Desperate to escape him, Johnny commandeers a taxi idling nearby, but Pendragon pursues him in a frantic car chase, which ends when Johnny's cab gets boxed in on a bridge by several government vehicles. Johnny leaps out of the car and jumps off the bridge, cane in hand.

Back at the courthouse, Stillson greets Rebecca, who is nervously clutching her purse. Meanwhile, downstream at a homeless encampment by the riverbank, Johnny dries off and puts on some tattered clothes before heading back to the courthouse. The conference is about to begin when Johnny dials Rebecca's cell phone. It rings just as she's reaching for the gun in her purse. She answers and tells Johnny she must stop Stillson, no matter what it takes. Just then, Pendragon spots Johnny and several agents hustle Stillson away, causing Rebecca to miss her chance. As Johnny makes his way through the crowd dodging the agents, he is hit with a vision that reveals he didn't stop Rebecca after all - he just delayed her.

Outside Rebecca's apartment, Walt watches from a parked car as Elliman enters the building. Meanwhile, Malcolm Janus (Martin Donovan), the new addition to Stillson's management team, visits Purdy in jail. After posting his bail, he tells the Reverend he represents a group of powerful people who are eager for change and have confidence in Purdy's ability to create a global power base. He offers Purdy financial backing and Purdy accepts, believing this to be an affirmation of his own special destiny.

Back at Rebecca's apartment, Walt catches Elliman removing phone taps and accuses him of killing Mike Kennedy. Elliman claims his evidence is inadmissible in court and continues to antagonize him, prompting Walt to punch him. Later, when Johnny touches the dried blood on Walt's knuckles, he's hit with a vision of Elliman and James burying Rachel.

At the hotel where the post-conference reception is being held, Rebecca, still determined to take Stillson down, lures him up to his hotel suite where they can be alone. Meanwhile, Pendragon realizes things are not adding up and wants to question Johnny to get to the bottom of the case. Elsewhere, Johnny gets a vision of his future self in which he asks for answers to stop Armageddon. The response is that Rebecca must kill Stillson.

Back at the hotel, Stillson begins to put the moves on Rebecca while Walt creates a ruckus at the hotel's front door and Johnny sneaks past James and a guard. Johnny uses his abilities to point him towards Stillson's room, but James stops him, grabbing him by the arm. The contact triggers a vision of James killing Rachel. Johnny announces that he knows James killed her just as the elevator doors close, separating them. Back in Stillson's suite, Rebecca finally shows her true feelings and lashes out at him. Johnny bursts through the door, shouting that Stillson didn't kill Rachel - his father did. Stillson looks utterly stunned as Johnny leads Rebecca out of the room.

Moments later, James arrives at Greg's suite and during a heated exchange, confesses he killed Rachel in order protect his son. When Greg starts to react, James slaps him hard across the face, just as he did when he was a child. Greg snaps and totally loses control, choking his father to death. Stunned and overwhelmed by this turn of events, Stillson becomes disoriented and unresponsive, refusing to move. Only Janus' arrival forces him out of his reverie. Janus aggressively feeds him a cover-up story and demands that he memorize the details on the spot: James had come to his son's suite after drinking heavily, couldn't locate the light switch, stumbled, and struck his throat on the corner of a dresser, killing him.

Later at Faith Heritage, Purdy delivers a live broadcast from his office focusing on destiny and forgiveness. Rebecca leaves Johnny, telling him she needs time away to digest everything - but before parting, gently kisses him and professes her love. Johnny briefly flashes on his future self, but ends up throwing his cane into the river, resolving to face the future on his own.

Source: THE DEAD ZONE - Official Website
 

Johnny goes to great lengths to try and stop Rebecca from killing Greg Stillson, placing his own life in jeopardy by avoiding major brain surgery.

Source: GateWorld
 

Source: Paramount Television - The Dead Zone