Nowhere Man (1995–1996) User Reviews

Far too good for UPN

[NightTrekker · 9/10 · 30 August 2004]

I started watching Nowhere Man, like many people here, because it came on after Star Trek: Voyager, and my interest in the former soon began to eclipse my interest in the latter. I didn't catch every episode (given its obvious quality I assumed I would have ample opportunity to watch it in reruns) but the ones I did see had a huge impact on me and I was lucky enough to see the final episode.

Nowhere Man is the kind of show you need to discuss with other viewers, but I can count on one hand the number of people I've met who remember it and inexplicably none of them cared for it. I was totally nuts for the show when it was on the air but I was much younger at the time. Truthfully, over the years I had worried that it would not live up to my memories.

Finally, Nowhere Man's single season has been released in a great 9-disc DVD set, and after 10 years I've truly enjoyed the chance to rediscover each of the 25 episodes. It's just as good as I remembered (and even better in some cases), with only a few episodes that don't quite measure up to the rest. Bruce Greenwood's performance is incredible. There is literally nobody else who could have made Thomas Veil more human. He makes even the silent moments a fascinating pleasure and basically carries the entire series. That's not to suggest that there aren't great performances from other actors, but Greenwood is the keystone of the show and he handles the weight effortlessly. You don't see acting of this quality on television very often. The writing is consistently solid and smart (though as I mentioned there are some "off" episodes), and Mark Snow (of The X-Files and Millennium fame) provides a wonderfully varied, appropriately moody soundtrack.

The bottom line: if you're a fan of The Prisoner (which strongly influenced the creator of the series) and/or The X-Files, you owe it to yourself to give Nowhere Man a chance. It's hard to believe that a show this good was canceled and it's harder to believe it graced a channel like UPN. At least we got one great season out of it.

Truly Remarkable

[grokuk-317-949769 · 9/10 · 14 March 2012]

This show manages to pull off a truly amazing trick. It begins with a premise that seems silly and far-fetched but is none-the-less interesting and hopefully you stick with it out of that interest.

I hope you do because as you get towards the final episodes it becomes apparent that the there is a truly remarkable and brilliant explanation (take note Chris Carter!) and once it's revealed (or you guess it) the silly and far-fetched idea is not only perfectly plausible, it is a subtle and cunning plot that rocks your view of the entire series.

The themes of social control and manipulation are built up in layers of seemingly episodic importance but only in the closing stages does it become apparent that there is a grand plan and that it not only makes sense, but is chillingly resonant.

One of the few, truly under-rated shows or our time. Watch it!

Television brilliance not to be forgotten.

[Cedri · 9/10 · 19 December 2001]

After looking around the archive at different shows from yesteryear, I remembered Nowhere Man. When I saw the show, it had a strange soothing quality while also offering up a healthy dose of intrigue. Most episodes delivered a fair amount of serious additions to the story arch while also entertaining the lighter side with an odd low-key quirkiness that never tainted the plot. All characters were interesting, even down to the bit and episodic characters.

As of now, I have no real feedback on why this show was canceled, but it was definitely not because of quality. Even the guest stars were top-notch. As UPN was a new network, they weren't afraid to try slightly experimental concepts which gave us this pleasantly rough gem. Unfortunately, they went the way of CBS and amputated their own ingenuity - replacing it with quick sells while searching for the next "hit." More than half a decade later, no show has since matched the genuine and original mystery and intrigue of Nowhere Man.

WAS One of the best series on TV

[LouBlake · 16 February 2002]

This series sticks out as one of the best sci - fi mystery series ever aired. Unfortunately it aired on the UPN network during it's early years, and died in the ratings.

Not since THE PRISONER has a series left me saying "What the F..." every time I saw it. Imagine a world where you're identity, career, family, and finances disappear in the time it takes to go to the bathroom. Then imagine there's no one in the world you can never truly trust. (Especially if they smoked cigars).

Part of the story revolved around a photograph Thomas veil took as a war photographer. The picture of 4 men, executed by hanging, was about to be displayed to the public as part of Veil's first major photo exhibit. The photo had a lot of hidden meaning. It's origins weren't ever what Veil thought they were - Even though he took the photo himself. (Or did he?)

The pilot movie was directed by Tobe Hooper, and was considered by many reviewers to be a minor classic.

The series had an ending of sorts - Which I won't reveal that made some sense. But all in all the series could have lasted longer than the one season it ran. I, for one, miss it.

too good to be allowed to remain on TV

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 5 July 2005]

This was one of the most brilliantly written shows of the 1990s. Unlike the vast majority of shows, it did NOT hold the audience in contempt and therefore dumb down the show, but created a captivating and surreal treat for those ready to watch something different. It was similar to the British series The Prisoner (early in season one only--after that, The Prisoner lost it's brilliance and momentum very quickly).

The problem is that in nearly every case like this, this is sure proof that the show will not last! Another excellent case was Brooklyn Bridge. The network also had no faith in this program because once again it was not mind rot--it was exquisitely written and engaging. Years ago, well-written shows for people who think were possible--the original Mission: Impossible is a good example. However, I fear that we are in an age where schlock sells.

PS--This GREAT series is now out on DVD! Get your copy ASAP!

Before 24 and Lost there was Nowhere Man. A masterpiece that never should have been canceled.

[dgranger · 10/10 · 1 May 2009]

This show had it all. Intelligent script, well defined characters, brilliant directing, fine acting, action, suspense that carried you in it's grip from week to week, a clear vision of where it was going to lead to. Each show built on the one before it in a clear storyline with a piece to the puzzle in every episode. Yet each episode was individual and can stand on it's own. This show was well conceived from beginning to end. Bruce Greenwood's acting in this is so fine, I became a fan of him for life. To me, he can act anybody under the table if he wants to. He was the quite common intelligent fast thinking Everyman with something not quite right about him that the character Thomas Veil needed to be.

As we first is it, we see it through Thomas Veil's viewpoint as we see him being the happily married veteran war photographer who was going put on His first major show of his work and made one photograph the centerpiece of it. In the space of a few short hours, his every existence of totally wiped out, marriage and all. And it all centers around that photograph to which he doesn't know why some high powered and well connected covert organization is trying to get their hands on all the copies of it and the negatives. He goes on the run. He starts to investigate every detail he sees in the picture. He eventually learns that what he thought was his real life was nothing but a fraud that involved brainwashing. He slowly starts to realize he had another life. A shadowy life. He starts to question, "Who am I? Who am I really?" And the mystery deepens.

You will get no answers here. Watch the show.

The intrigue, mystery and suspense is so well plotted throughout the episodes that I can rate this on par with an early 60's show that did the same with intelligence, "The Fugitive" and a well qualified succor to it. It is a shame that the UPN network, which aired it didn't see fit, to keep the show running and canceled it while going with the sure cash cows of "Star Trek Voyager". I am not going to belittle Voyager because it makes no sense when there were so many other UPN shows that were far worse than Voyager but they canceled Nowhere Man while they kept shows like "The Sentinel", "Malcolm & Eddie", and "Moesha". Some of them were brain dead series that couldn't reach one quarter of the quality of Voyager, never the less bother to comparing them to Nowhere Man's. But they were low budget, low non-confrontational, safe money makers. In fact, I remember that Nowhere Man was the highest rated show one week. So I ask why was it canceled?????? And yet, I have my answer too.

At least, Nowhere Man had a clear concept and direction from start to finish and did not lose it's direction as "Lost" did or "Twin Peaks" did. "Twin Peaks" was the worst crime because it was a mystery that was made up as it went along. No self-respecting mystery writer today does that. They always write the end goal and solution first and then create the mystery and place the clues throughout. Nowhere Man was clearly constructed like that. Solution first. That is what places it above "Twin Peaks".

What also sets it apart is the in every episode, there was an well drawn conflict and well drawn characters that are unique to those episodes. That was what made everyone of them fresh and individual while being pieces of a larger story.

This show needs to be made into a movie

[Agent10 · 10/10 · 9 May 2002]

Sadly, this show didn't last long enough to make an impact in the world of science fiction. Sometimes I wish a better network picked this show up instead of the fledgling UPN. If they had given this show a chance, like they did with Star Trek Voyager, it would have eventually rounded into a strong show. Just look what happened with The X-Files! I almost exploded when I found out The X-Files was getting bad ratings. Unfortunately, network executives have about as much guts as a dead fish, and this show went back into anonymity. Bruce Greenwood was excellent as Thomas Veil, and despite some of the really off-beat stories, it was very good overall. However, the ending, no matter how rushed, was still amazing. This series needs to be made into a movie, as opposed to some of the other bad shows which get a second life due to a bad movie. If you ever see this on video or DVD, get it. You won't be disappointed.

Why was this show cancelled!!!

[borg2004 · 9/10 · 9 October 2001]

i can't believe this show was cancelled because it was possibly one of the best shows ever to air on tv .with it's unique character and his sensitivities this show gave me a different feel every week.while the atmosphere was constantly one of harrowing mystery, there were more intimate shows that made this show not only a quest for the truth but also a rewarding inner search.congrats to mr greenwood and larry herzog the producer on giving to the audience at least an equal to the prisoner.

Shadow Man

[hellraiser7 · 10/10 · 8 December 2014]

Our lives and identities are always based on what we've built for ourselves throughout time, however despite how well we live those lives there is always that looming threat that one day we could just lose control or lose the foundation that defined us; where do we go from there and who does that make us now? This is to me one of those great sci-fi shows that no one ever saw (not even me at the time, hell I hardly heard of it) which is why it's an under the radar gem in my book. And it's a real shame because this show really had a lot of potential to go even further with itself. I always love sci-fi mystery shows, both just make a beautiful combination let alone sci-fi by it's nature in a way is a mystery because their based on possibility and exploration of it.

I really would of liked to of seen even more depth into this M.I.B. like organization and how Thomas fit into their plans, let alone a little more what those plans were, sadly most questions you still have only you can answer in your imagination.

I really love the idea, I think it's great and it's actually a pretty terrifying thought when you think about it. Your whole life just gone in just a mere minute, by just simply going to the restroom or heck buying the next video game, that would really suck because it really creates a great sense of disorientation and worst of all great sense of loss. Kinda like with the TV show "The Prisoner" (which was a partial inspiration to this show)since that was about a individual whose whole life and identity was robbed from him in one day and was forced into disorienting circumstances.

Bruce Greenwood (Batman: Under the Red Hood) whom I think is an underrated actor is great in this show this is probably my favorite role from him. Thomas Veil, the last name is sort of ironic since that's sort of his dilemma but also sort of a clue to the reveal. That's what makes him highly sympathetic and it's the same with any protagonist in a suspense thriller because all of them are usually ordinary every day people that have lives but are just gone in an instant because their forced into circumstances they never signed into, which is Thomas's dilemma. I really like how he reacts to his dilemma which makes him easy to emphasize with because we might react the same if God forbid this ever happened to us. His dilemma you can is like that of an amnesiac whom always struggles to reclaim his/her past to life their lives once more.

However what I like is that this guy is in the same boat as we are, just like him we're asking all of the same questions; which gives this show a bit of a sense of participation. Like how the hell is his whole life just gone, is Thomas inadvertently part of some secret experiment from some secret society? And of course there is that photograph of people hanged in Vietnam which is the maguffin of the whole show, why are the people chasing Thomas interested in it could one of the people hanged be one of the members of the secret society? Is this secret society the M.I.B.? I could go on and on with these questions.

I also like the pacing and suspense it's steady, giving us enough time to think but also getting us on the edge of our seat; hoping Thomas will be able to hunt down this shadow organization but also at the same time evading them. It really creates that sense paranoia and dread because the problem with this M.I.B. like organization is that they could be anybody, anywhere and nowhere. That's also a really creepy thought that may'be these M.I.B. agents we might have already seen and passed by but don't know it. It creates as sense of a world where nothing is what it seems and nobody can be trusted, which raises the stakes for Thomas to find the truth because his life might depend on it.

I know I didn't say too much but I didn't want to give away too much, it's one of those shows where you have to get into it for yourself which to me makes the reveals and mystery all the sweeter.

Nowhere Man is a show you'll get somewhere with.

Rating: 4 stars

Top TV Series!

[alcatron2001 · 10/10 · 29 December 2005]

Back in 1996 this series aired in Australia late at night and it was one of the best series which i greatly enjoyed watching. Later on there were no re-runs of the show and I really wanted to watch the episodes again, so its great that the DVD came out which i will be certainly buying. When I heard this TV show got cancelled on the end of season1 I could not believe it, this should of definitely kept on going into season2. I would love to see Bruce Greenwood come back or something into a Season2 of the show though even if it has been 10yrs ago! Overall a top TV series with mystery, suspense, and surprises. Highly Recommended!

Mystery man. (or woman?)

[tipcy65 · 7/10 · 8 March 2023]

Intriguing story I wish was explored more. Like Veil's identity. Thomas Veil seemed very emotional for a man but could be more in line with a woman. After episode Forever Jung I considered it more. No firm answers but much to speak of . The shadow government seems to reflex on our current mysteries about what parts of the government knows as is seen also in the x files series. Reminds me also of the Incredible hulk series from the 1970s. A lone man on the run. But he's running from a mysterious organization not one reporter. Why doesn't the mysterious organization simply call the negative a fake like current debunkers do with ufo evidence?

Fantastic show that ended in its prime...

[kristvoiles · 10/10 · 7 December 2006]

I was gutted to hear that Nowhere Man would not be continued after it's one and only (successful!) season. That season has recently been released on DVD, and I was able to treat my wife to this great series for the first time after mentioning it to her so many times over the past few years. I realized just how much of the show I didn't remember, and it was a real treat to be able to discover the series again after all these years! If you haven't seen Nowhere Man, you owe it to yourself to get the DVD set and watch it. I've been impressed with few other shows like I have been impressed with this one. Top series and top actor (Bruce Greenwood). UPN was foolish to cancel it...

Just couldn't get into it

[cherold · 5/10 · 9 March 2016]

Perhaps I would have liked this show if I'd watched it in the '90s, when there were less quality TV series.

Certainly it started well. The first scene of the first episode, directed by Tobe Hooper, is really striking. And the whole mystery is built up nicely.

But by the end of that first episode I'd already lost interest. The protagonist is bland - his only emotion seems to be frustration - and the interesting characters were one-shot guests. And - and this perhaps would have been less of an issue in the '90s - I feel like I've seen too many of this paranoia mystery series and that this one is weak compared both to earlier ones like The Prisoner and later ones like Wayward Pines.

I was curious enough to read a plot synopsis for the series and then watch the final episode. I feel you could probably cobble a nice little movie out of the series. But my lack of interest in or real empathy for the main character and the slow pace means the two episodes I've seen are all I need.

The best show that was ever cancelled.

[HyperPup · 14 August 2004]

Quite possibly the best show in age of modern television that was cancelled before it could shine. The concept of the "man on the run" and the conspiracy that invariably drives such events has been done before, but what made Nowhere Man a more effective, if not evocative story was the idea that Thomas Vail quite possilby fabricated the events that caused him to go on the run. Everything he was running from, he may have created. This plus the many turns and twists the episodes took made the series irresistable to many, maddening to most and unfortunately fodder for dismissal in the pantheon on UPN. Its really too bad SciFi hasn't sought fit to continue the series or at least pick it up for rerun. They did some good fan service when they picked up other slain series like "Prey" and "Burning Zone" for replay, and you would think this one would come up for the running. Shame really.

Underated masterpiece tv series

[siscasansan · 10/10 · 10 August 2023]

Best tv series i ever watched back on 90's.

Bruce greenwood play the act so well.

The plot is just so catchy and intense to make the audience will never know what next.

The story just mixed feeling between "the truman show" ; "12 monkeys" ; "24 hours" and if you searching for high suspense this series giving out their best.

Im not sure why this series never catches high audience back there, but in my country (indonesia) they put the broadcast time awkwardly.

When i watched it back there, there was a bery prominent feeling that i had. "Betrayed" this series talked about betrayal and survive through it. At the end i feel so much betrayed that they cancel the 2nd season!

Overall i love this series and recommended people to see this.

Could have been a good Prisoner clone

[Angel_Peter · 2/10 · 9 April 2010]

The series started interesting. I was indeed enjoying the first few episodes. But from episode around 4 to 20 every episode is more or less the same without any developing storyline. Just different friends/enemies and surroundings. Worst part was there was some good episodes they could have used things from later but they never did. So each episode became a bit like there is something top secret going on in every episode, but we have less security than they have at the local supermarket, just in case Tom drops by so he can sneak in destroy the operation. Last 5 episodes finally started to move a bit along but they never really lifted it to make a good ending. you got a bit the ending you had expected since the start of the show just in a lame version. I am not a big fan of the Tom Veil actor either. See the prisoner instead. That is my recommendation.

the greatest TV show never seen

[Money_is_Flesh · 30 March 2004]

Nowhere Man has to be one of the best "unknown" television programs of recent memory. If there were martians, it would have been a hit. Actually, X-Files fans would (and probably did) love this program. It's dark. It's all about a conspiracy. No one can be trusted. Like the X-Files, some shows were crucial to the main storyline, and others were somewhat more light-hearted. Somewhat.

The story goes like this: Thomas Veil is "unveiling" some of his photographs at a local art gallery. A particularly interesting one features a US soldier hanging several people. Afterward, he celebrates with his wife at a restaurant. He briefly goes for a smoke in the washroom, and upon returning to his table discovers that his wife is gone, and the owner acts as if he doesn't know who Tom is. And that's where the series takes off. It seems that his photo of the military man hit a nerve. Every episode sees Tom either running from people who want him dead, or trying to re-establish contact with his friends and family. Of course, they all act as if he is a stranger, or worse yet, if they do side with him, it is only in the interest of later double-crossing him. Basically, The Fugitive, but with a twist. My fellow countryman, Bruce Greenwood, is always excellent in the lead role.

Unfortunately, the show lasted only one season, making the final episode seem somewhat rushed, with some ends needing to be tied up (or so I think).

If the series is, or becomes available on DVD, I highly recommend you pick it up!

An Emmy for Greenwood

[skoyles · 17 June 2005]

While all of us who were hooked by this series probably still mourn its passing almost all the plaudits are, directly or otherwise, in reference to the concept or the writing. Both of these were indeed superb; however one aspect seems to have been overlooked. I doubt if there is another actor alive who could have brought to the character of Thomas Veil the precise qualities brought by Bruce Greenwood. He was simply perfect for the role. Combining appeal, intelligence and a certain "je ne sais quoi" of seeming a quarter of a bubble off, a semi-tone out, a tiny percentage off the beat and yet also perfectly normal. While everything else was terrifying, strange and unfathomable Greenwood was the sympathetic Everyman caught up in peculiar events and yet he himself is also peculiar. The audience can thus identify with Thomas Veil both as just like us and also as like us when we feel slightly bent. Greenwood conveyed this as probably no one else could. Should he not have won a Best Actor Emmy?

Class Act

[shellemk · 10 January 2004]

I was lucky enough to be able to get the whole series on VCD and am utterly hooked. More than halfway through the series and every episode has a different flavour. Like everyone else whose comments appear on this site, I really don't understand why it was cancelled - it's one of the best shows I've ever watched.

A worthy successor to "The Prisoner"

[Mulliga · 7 July 2003]

Tom Veil has the opposite problem of Number Six on "The Prisoner." Instead of being placed in a world which suppresses his individuality, he is placed in a world that doesn't even acknowledge his existence.

This is an excellent show. I am thankful to have seen it. How UPN cancelled this and kept "Voyager" (especially when Voyager started getting bad with Seven-of-Nine-a-thons and The Rock) is a mystery to me. A combination of "X-Files" and "The Prisoner" mixed in with "The Fugitive," and stuffed into the "Traveling Angel" format of shows like "Quantum Leap" and "The Incredible Hulk."

A minor classic.

I weep to think of what might have been...

[Krakn3Dfx · 5 May 2002]

Thomas Veil was a masterpiece of television characterization. A man who, in the blink of an eye, had lost everything that meant anything to him, a statistic is a cunning game played by unseen puppetmasters. Whether or not the gruesome photograph of 4 men being hanged in Vietnam was the true reason behind his situation, we will probably never know. What we do know is that by limiting this show to one season, UPN has deprived us of something magical, something thought provoking. In a world of yuppie trash shows like Cops and Seventh Heaven, few can appreciate, or even remember Nowhere Man and the mark it made on those of us who followed Mr. Veil from one waypoint to another in search of the truth.

Never missed an episode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jinjes · 15 July 2004]

This was an awesome show!!! I had always liked Bruce Greenwood,but I adored him as Thomas Veil!!!My friend & I could not wait for Mon. nights,then we would discuss it at work the next day.I would even watch the second running at midnight on Sun. just to be sure I did not miss anything(like maybe a hidden clue or hint).Never was I so addicted to one show or one actor.Even my then husband would be sure he was home to watch,we never talked during the show, just watched & analyzed.I did have all episodes on recorded VHS, but we all know how well those last. Would love for it to come out on DVD!!!! It has been gone almost 10 yrs.,but I swear I remember every episode & would recommend it HIGHLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

over too soon (spoilers included in 2nd part!)

[LordElfstone · 19 April 2003]

Yes, this was one of the very few shows I tried to watch every episode of. I missed one or two, though. Tom Veil's search for truth was a perfect mystery. Some episodes were somehow creepy, the mysterious force behind the scenes appeared to be alien or supernatural...and then again, it did not. Nothing was clear until the very end, which was a rashed-up conclusion. But it makes sense and here's why (some of you mentioned parts, but not the whole picture):

***SPOILER*** Tom Veil is not a real person. His whole identity is faked and was brainwashed into his mind. Some of you speculated who he had been before the brainwash. My simple answer is: he has never been someone from the start. Remember that episode in which people were manufactured in a company? I think that's the origin of Tom Veil. He has been produced. They can produce adults, never mess with childhood. After this they gave him an identity, set up some conspiracies and simply tested their object. How intelligent can a clone get? How much of an identification can he achieve? Is he able to develop feelings or a conscience apart from what has been brainwashed? I think that's the solution. I'm pretty sure the picture would have become larger if there had been another season, but after all it makes sense as it is. And since we will never see more than this we should accept Gemini to be the truth of Veil's existence. Meaning the agenda was a setup, sort of a treasure hunt. And I can't help but like this solution. It matches the overall mood of the series.

Some UPN execs should be "erased" for canceling this one!

[Asteri-Atypical · 14 September 2001]

One of the real tributes to the mediocrity of the TV industry.

Not for the creation of this show but the cancellation thereof.

It was one of the most interesting and captivating shows I'd seen in years. It should, at the very least, have had a second season to see where it was headed. Yet this show was pulled and we saw shows like "Home Boys from Outer Space" and other tripe given a shot.

The show was not perfect but it had elements clearly beyond most other shows. A true crime against our culture that it was canceled so soon.

Perhaps it reminded too many UPN execs of themselves. Sigh.

Perfection

[JMcClane02 · 29 September 2002]

This show was one of the few shows that I made a point to see every episode. The acting was scrumtralesent. One could totally get lost in any one of the episodes. To cancel it was a terrible choice. It saddened me when is was taken from my weekly viewing schedule.