Mania Grade: D

3 Comments | Add

 

Rate & Share:

 

Related Links:

 

Info:

• TV Series: No Ordinary Family
• Episode: No Ordinary Love
• Starring: Julie Benz, Michael Chiklis, Stephen Collins, Kay Panabaker, Jimmy Bennett
• Written by: Kate Barnow and Elizabeth R. Finch
• Directed by: Peter Werner
• Network: ABC
• Series:

No Ordinary Family: No Ordinary Love

No Ordinary Family: No Ordinary Love
© ABC/Robert Trate

It’s a Battlestar Galactica (the reimagined version, of course) mini-reunion as Tricia Helfer and Lucy Lawless guest star as super seductress Sophie and the mysterious Mrs. X (such an original name), respectively.

24 alumnus Eric Balfour also guest-stars as a hardened criminal who gets injected with Dr. King’s (Stephen Collins) serum that gives people super-powers… by Stephanie (Julie Benz), no less. Stephanie compromises her principles to get into King’s good graces by doing this. Notice how King hasn’t asked about the shape-shifter, whom Jim (Michael Chiklis) and Stephanie want him to believe she’s still alive? He’s got to know that she’s dead.

Sophie seduces Jim and George (Romany Malco) to do her bidding by emitting a pheromone to make them fall head-over-heels in love with her. Wasn’t George dating a fellow attorney who was played by Angel alumna Amy Acker? What happened to that relationship?

Jim’s behavior while under Sophie’s thrall elicits the comment that he’s behaving like Charlie Sheen in what seemed to be a blatant plug for a 20/20 special on Sheen that appeared two hours after this episode aired, pre-empting Detroit 1-8-7.

What hurts this show is that it has too many plots going on in one episode, which cater to the “family-friendliness” of the show, as well as the overall ongoing mythology. This results in many things falling by the wayside, such as George’s love interest and the shape-shifter. Odds are that these plots won’t be resolved or they will in a very rushed fashion (especially the shape-shifter). The concept of this series is good in theory but it’s so clumsy in practice.

Jump to the No Ordinary Family Forum!