Medium To Well Done

I caught a glimpse of this show on ET one afternoon and I liked what I saw. Even through the heavy ET editing and removal of context the show looked like it had potential. Only seven eps of Medium have aired in the US so far, so it is an excellent turn of events that we are getting it nearly hot off the press.

To start with I like the fact that it is simply called Medium. The lack of 'the' removes the stigma that is automatically assumed by these shows. It makes the audience think about the title. I know people who don't know what a medium is, and for the title to not be universally understood is a positive.

The pilot does an exceptional job of introducing Allison Dubois. It opens with Allison in an interview with a widower who found his wife dead in his house. She wakes up and it's just a dream. Except that her bed is surrounded by people.

I love the fact that everything appears to be totally natural. The majority of camera work is hand-held and it gives the show a reality and immediacy that separates it from other psychic shows. Allison is a mother, she lives with her husband and three daughters. The normalcy of her life is the grounding she and the show need to make the extraordinary more believable.

I won't go into details about how she ends up in Texas to explain why she knows so much about a confidential case, but that entire sequence just made me laugh and appreciate how insane she must feel when put into a situation like that. It was just bizarre. Ten police vehicles meeting you at the plane and escorting you around the countryside would certainly make an impression. As she's not a fake, she recognises what the Sheriff is trying to do and ends up helping the case.

Subtly is the key to the success of the pilot I feel. If you're not paying attention, you'll miss the details. The girl in the bedroom was just a girl, except that she mentioned a dated band and when the female cop looked in the room from up the hall, Allison appeared alone.

I can't explain it, but the feeling of the Dubois house hold and the camera work seem to remind me of the camera work in E.T.. I think it may be the husbands very outdated 70s haircut.

This is a psychic show like no other in, my experience, and I hope it gets better from here.