Still from MEDIUM - Drowned World.
© NBC
Mania Grade: B-
Episode: Drowned World
Starring: Patricia Arquette, Jake Weber, Miguel Sandoval
Directed By: Aaron Lipstadt
Written By: Moira Kirland
Episode: Drowned World
Starring: Patricia Arquette, Jake Weber, Miguel Sandoval
Directed By: Aaron Lipstadt
Written By: Moira Kirland
TV Review: MEDIUM - Drowned World
By: Stephen LackeyDate: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
There have definitely been some bumps in the road that is this season of Medium. The season has been far from perfect, but the really great successes far and away outweigh the mistakes. The biggest problem this season-outside of just some bad episodes-is the handling of Manny Devalos. He lost his job as D.A. when the truth about Allison came out and his supposed friend Van Dyke usurped him. He’s just sort of been floating in and out of episodes with no direction for his character. It could be argued that this lack of focus represents his reaction to losing his job but I don’t buy that for a minute. When we do see him, he’s gone back to working as a lawyer until one day, he’s all of a sudden running for District Attorney and leading in the polls.
The Devalos/Van Dyke story ends with this season finale so completely deflated it comes off as an after thought. Van Dyke has been built up all season as such a horrible villain that there should have been some clever over-the-top ending for the character. What the writers choose to do is a cop out. Obviously it’s possible that Van Dyke could return to the series in some unique way and even if he does come back it won’t fix the disappointment that is this season finale. No one completely dies on Medium. Just because a characters physical presence is dead the astral one can always come back and visit Allison.
Aside from Devalos, Joe has been stuck in a rut for most of the season in downtrodden mode because he lost his job and wasn’t able to bring home the bacon for his family. All of that changed recently with his new invention being bought by a sex crazed venture capitalist. It’s fantastic to see that this story arc did not go the way that it seemed to be going. Often when Medium is at its best, it’s misdirecting the audience. The misdirection usually happens as part of the case of the week. This time though, it happens as part of the family story and it was fantastic.
The case of the week really has nothing to do with the character story arcs this week. What it does do is open a new door of opportunity for Allison; investigating haunted houses. Have the creators been watching too much Ghost Hunters on SCIFI? While it feels a little cliché-a little Poltergeist-it could offer some variety to the case of the week scenario that is common with this series. At least Allison doesn’t walk around the house and get all weird:she checks it out, then has a dream.
The close of this episode is the true definition of nice guys finish last. By the end, everyone is literally happy, even some of the villains. This is amusing but at the same time unrealistic for Medium. This would actually be a really solid place for the series to end. While not a typical ending for this series it’s good to see some of these less than interesting story arcs come to an ending and hopefully set the stage for better ones next year.
