(S03E14) I was really looking forward to this week's episode for the simple fact that Eric Stoltz would be the guest star. In the world of TV, I think he counts as a pretty good get. And he didn't disappoint, although, I think the writers did a little bit.Obviously, this is the Allison show. I get that and we know going in that this world revolves around her. My one complaint with the episode was that while they went out of their way to get someone like Eric Stoltz, they didn't really use him a whole lot.
I was pretty happy with the episode overall, but I think it could have been that much better if something had been lost to make room for a little more of the creepy Sonny Troye. The roommate murder would have been a good place for it. We spent an awful lot of time with the wrong roommate. I would have even gone for getting to see Sonny's end of those phone conversations with Allison.
I don't want this to sound like I'm hammering the episode. It's just something that stood out to me. I kept thinking to myself, show us more of Sonny. Moving on, there was still plenty to like about this episode. It's another call back to a previous episode, season two's "S.O.S.," something that Medium does so well. In that regard, I preferred "Apocalypse Push" and "Blood Relations," but this one is solid.
I thought they gave us too much with the first dream. It was obvious as soon as Allison and Devalos got to the prison that it was the site of the plane crash. It put us way ahead of Allison, and there was no reason for us to be there. I would have preferred to just see the plane crash, well done by the way, without the jumpsuits that gave away the prison. Finding out that the entire confession was orchestrated just to keep Sonny at the prison for the plane crash was a nice twist, as was the time zone discrepancy. As soon as I heard the crash on the phone I thought, "Time zone."
The big conspiracy with Scanlon and DiNovi had me going. Maybe it's because I'm not a huge fan of the character, but I was all ready to accept that she was bitchy enough to actually pull the police protection. It did make for an exciting ending. When Scanlon popped up outside the door I was completely surprised. There were all kinds of scenarios running through my head as to how Allison was going to get out of this one. Brigitte's baseball bat? Frying pan?
As much as I liked how it played out in the end, did anyone else think the sudden involvement of DiNovi, or the level of involvement anyway, felt a little forced? She's been used so sparingly this season that it felt like all of a sudden it was just sprung on the show. I'm curious to see if that leads to more DiNovi in the upcoming episodes. The little moment she shared with Scanlon at the end of the show certainly hinted at that possibility.
Overall, I'd call this a good episode. A good one that had potential to be great but fell short because it passed on playing up the creepy killer. Still one that is definitely worth seeing though.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-01-2007 @ 11:12AM
La-di-dah said...
Agreed. Agreed. If they were going to use Eric Stoltz, they ought to have USED him. Lost opportunity there, but maybe he was asking for too much money or something. Who knows?
I did enjoy the little suspense-filled game he was playing with Alison. Also, I think for much of the episode, the audience and Stoltz were way ahead of Alison (the roommate switcheroo too, for example). That feeling of being clearly ahead of Alison and wanting to shout at her, at least for me, heightened the suspense up a bit.
I also enjoyed Scanlon and DiNovi's little side story. (The only confusing thing is this episode might be a little out of order with the last one or the one before that, when she was obviously back in Scanlon's life). I love that Alison knows what going on between them without anyone telling her.
What I LOVED, absolutely, about this episode was Devalos and Scanlon rallying around Alison, believing her and protecting her at lots of cost. She's a valuable friend and employee. (Also Marie's "yeah," "yeah," gave me the chuckles).
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3-01-2007 @ 11:14AM
Christine, Elliott said...
I totally agree with a Medium fan too,but do they also think are the writers being told to wrap this
up boys,for this season.Its starting to loose it spark that had me every Monday nite at 9:00,now wed.
So what is really going on, are they trying to loose
her devoted fans so they been told its not in the
top 10 lately,because of Ghost Whisper,oh I pray no!!
They are pushing that show down our us,luv also a fan
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3-01-2007 @ 12:31PM
Jimmy said...
Medium is having a pretty solid season. Each episode is almost always well-crafted and well-acted. I continue to enjoy the involvement of Joe more and like how they write this very married couple. I agree Eric Stoltz was very underused; the guy needs a series that can really use his talent. However, I did think the ending was a little trite. So, does DiNovi now know Allison's secret?
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3-01-2007 @ 12:33PM
BigTed said...
I hate to keep bringing this up, but Allison was even stupider in this episode than last week! She's having the same dream as the killer, but doesn't realize from the roommates' conversation that the one at home is alone too... and that she gave out her address? Or that the killer was purposely keeping Allison awake so she wouldn't dream more information? It sure doesn't take a criminal genius to outsmart this lady.
Plus, her little kids were awfully blase about the idea of yet another serial killer coming to their house to hurt Mommy. I guess they've seen her in danger so many times that they barely even notice it anymore.
I like the acting and the family drama in this show, but, man... Can't they make the plots just a little bit smarter?
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3-01-2007 @ 12:38PM
BigTed said...
Oh, yeah, or that someone flying a plane might be coming from a different time zone. I forgot that one!
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3-01-2007 @ 2:25PM
getsheila said...
I loved this episode! It was scawy. Could've used more Eric Stoltz face time, though, as you said. And I am not crazy about seeing more of Glenn Gordon Caron's wife in the form of DiNovi. I am torn: let Scanlon be in a relationship and happy or ditch the wooden actress with bad timing. Hm...
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3-01-2007 @ 4:09PM
Gene Cowan said...
A good episode, but I always find myself getting frustrated with Joe. He's seen Allison's abilities for years, he knows that when she has these dreams and premonitions that she is usually right, he knows that she has been instrumental in saving lives and convicting murderers.
And yet, after all this, he STILL pooh-poohs her abilities and in every freakin' episode he dismisses her attempts to warn people and insists on telling her to ignore it and go back to sleep.
If I were Allison, I'd have divorced him LONG ago.
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3-01-2007 @ 4:29PM
Jo said...
Compared to the last couple of episodes, this was not one of their better efforts. It was far too easy to see the escape coming, and as others have said, they underused Stoltz.
I wondered how the actress who plays DiNovi got cast. She really isn't very good, is she?
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3-01-2007 @ 5:09PM
Betty said...
I thought this was a great episode! Very suspenseful! When you have the talent of Eric Stoltz, you don't need tons of screen time to make an impact! The guy had me totally creeped out!
I loved the suspense!
I was bummed at seeing DiNovi in Scanlon's apartment, but I loved the exchange they had (funniest line of the night - "Put your ego back in your pants. I don't want to spend the night.") - I thought the writers handled it pretty well, except for the dumbing down of Scanlon so Di Novi could help him. C'mon people! Di Novi is not that bright of a chick. Scanlon is waaaaay smarter. He and Devalos come up with good solutions to dealing with Allison's gifts (Yes, that was pretty dumb Allison calling Homeland Security - bet she lands on the "no fly" list from now on) Tricking Allison into thinking the security had all left was just mean, but it worked as far as the plot goes.
The other thing that made me angry was at the very end when Scanlon went to tell DiNovi goodbye (too bad it wasn't for good) and she intimated he would not change his lock so she could come see him now and use the key, but when he said "I don't think I would have come to this without you." Huh? Sure you would have, you're a smart cop!
Loved the last scene with Scanlon hugging Allison - YEA! Their first hug! So cute with Scanlon resting his chin on her head. You know he secretly loves Allison and wants her, but he's too much of a gentleman to act on it.
Joe leaving town without concern for Allison? Yep, I would have divorced him too. Remember in Blood Relations when he let Allison leave the house in the middle of the night to meet alone with the descendent of Dr Charles Walker? WHAT was he thinking? I bet if Scanlon was married to Allison he wouldn't leave her. JMHO
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3-02-2007 @ 8:04AM
Lewis said...
nah, the best part of the episode was the early cameo by Legate Damar.
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3-02-2007 @ 6:06PM
scott said...
i thought it was a really good episode, but it wouldn't have hurt to stretch it out into a two parter just so we could have gotten more of stoltz' character in there.
and i agree with everyones assesment of DiNovi's acting... just horrendous. i never noticed it before, but if that character is gonna have more screen time they need to get a new actress - she took me out of it everytime she was in it.
i thought both the other roommate twist and the scanlon outside the door twist ending were great! totally suprised me, which hasn't been happening much this season.
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3-05-2007 @ 9:59PM
Dawn said...
I LOVED this episode. It was suspenseful and twisty and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I think I even forgot to breathe during the last ten minutes. The game of cat-and-mouse between Allison and Troyer was cleverly done, as was the twist with the roommate. But the ending really blew me away. I was all ready to reach through the screen and slap DiNovi for pulling the police protection, and then when I found out it was a setup, I wanted to slap Scanlon for scaring the crap out of Allison, and me, like that. But as someone else said, I would have loved to see this as a two-parter, and see more of the interplay between Troyer and Allison. Eric Stoltz was totally creepy as the bad guy. He scared the bejeesus out of me. All in, this was one of the best eps of the season, and definitely at the top of my list of favorites.
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