Mysterious Ways

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For the U2 song, see Mysterious Ways (song).

The Cast of Mysterious Ways

Mysterious Ways was a Canadian/American television drama series that first aired in 2000. It was created by Peter O'Fallon, but was written and directed by a number of people. It was cancelled in 2002 after just two seasons.

The series focuses on the search for explanations of, and evidence for, seemingly miraculous phenomena. This search is carried out by the protagonist Declan Dunn (Adrian Pasdar). Dunn is a professor of anthropology at the Northern University of Oregon and is often compared with Indiana Jones due to his energetic enthusiasm for solving a mystery. His passion for miraculous events has its roots in a self-experienced mischance of him being buried under an avalanche and getting out alive. He considers this to be miraculous and attributes it as the turning point in his life. In several episodes he makes references to this event and the impact it had on his life.

Always ready to help out with the research, though sometimes they appear slightly reluctant, are Dunn's close friends Dr. Peggy Fowler (Rae Dawn Chong), a psychiatrist at a nearby hospital, and Miranda Feigelsteen (Alisen Down), a physics graduate student and Dunn's research assistant. Fowler is the most levelheaded of the three and is generally the one presenting the mundane alternatives to Dunn's theories.

Often being assigned to carry out tests of various substances, or operating a range of instruments, is Feigelsteen. She is the second skeptic besides Fowler, with a somber and introvert personality, sometimes with moments of joking banter or sarcastic comments. However, in the episodes "The Ties That Bind" (1.08) and "Free Spirit" (2.14) another, more open side of her is shown before her social peers, if only temporarily. Being the quiet personality, Feigelsteen is sometimes somewhat of a mystery even to her best friends. When Fowler said she didn't understand her, Dunn suggested that doubling one's own IQ and adding black velvet was a good start.

In many cases the episodes conclude with a rational explanation being seemingly validated, then disproven at the last minute; thus leaving the question of paranormal activity open once more.

Despite many fans pushing for it, the series has as of November 2006 not been released on DVD.