DVD Review: Medium The Fifth Season
Medium (based on experiences of real-world psychic Allison DuBois) premiered in January of 2005 to strong numbers and garnered its star Patricia Arquette a Best Actress in a Drama Series Emmy. It has since survived scheduling chaos, moving from Monday to Wednesday and then back to Monday, And now with the current season, it's jumped to Friday and it's jumped from NBC to CBS, where it's been filmed all along. Fans like us at ComicsOnline are hoping that this will lend some stability and allow Medium to continue for another five seasons.
After five seasons, we've really grown to be a part of the DuBois family. As we've said on the ComicsOnline Podcast, despite the fact that this is about psychics, this is the most real family on television today. They look like real people, not some waifish Hollywood types, and beside the obvious supernatural plots, they have a very real mundane life as well. We've watched Allison (Patricia Arquette - A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors , True Romance), her husband Joe (Jake Weber - Dawn of the Dead 2004, The Haunting of Molly Hartley), raise their three daughters Ariel ( - The Brady Bunch in the White House, My Sister's Keeper), Bridget (Maria Lark - Medium), and Marie (Miranda & Madison Carabello - Medium). We've seen them grow up and discover that they have powers as well. We've gone to work with Allison and her boss District Attorney Manuel Davalos (Miguel Sandoval - Voyagers!, X-Files, Alias) and her police liason Detective Lee Scanlon (David Cubitt - TekWar, X-Files, Outer Limits) and his baby-mama Lynn (Tina DiJoseph - Medium). We've had great returning guest stars like the ghost of Agent Cooper (Kurtwood Smith - X-Files, Star Trek: Voyager, That '70s Show) and Cynthia Keener (Angelica Houston - Captain EO, The Addams Family, Addams Family Values)
Highlights:
Medium Season Five begins strong with "Soul Survivor" whose primary story was satisfactory, but the backup story about Bridget drawing naked pictures of her art teacher was hilarious. Season Five was overall the best yet, thanks in no small part to the creative team knowing their strengths and bringing back fan favorites: Agent Cooper and Cynthia Keener for an episode each. While I'm not at all a fan of episodes where Allison is taken over and is made by some ghost or other impetus to behave unlike herself such as she did in the episodes "...About Last Night" and "A Person of Interest" in Season Five, this season ended strong and left a great cliffhanger into Season Six. Some of my faves in Season Five include:
"Apocalypse... Now?"
Allison dreams about the end of the world, and a man who is protecting a teenage girl (Vanessa Lengies - Waiting) in his underground bunker, or is he?
"A Necessary Evil"
Ghostly Agent Cooper returns to try to help Allison, and possibly wreak some vigilante justice. Good thing he's non-corporeal, otherwise Allison might have to worry about her show becoming an issue of The Punisher. But if he's still a ghost, why is he racking up a body count anyway?
"Then... and Again"
By now plot devices of Allison jumping into her own body should be lame, But even without Cylon Cavil to guide her, her leaps are pretty fun.
"The Devil Inside, Part One and Two"
A psycho thinks Allison is a tool of the devil and God wants him to kill her. He finds her. This was one of the scariest arcs this show has ever had.
"How to Make a Killing in Big Business: Parts 1, 2 and 3"
This arc starts with some wish fulfillment, and then turns out too good to be true, as the cop who tormented Dr. House is too rich for his britches, and tries to use his money to buy psychics and...?
Extras:
- Script to Screen "Apocalypse...Now?"
- Curious Maria
- The Making of Medium : Season 5
- Jake & Patricia Q & A
Medium continues to be awesome and ComicsOnline hopes that it stays on the air for another five seasons. Do your part and watch it Fridays at 8/7 on CBS!
ComicsOnline gives Medium: The Fifth Season 4 out of 5 psychics in the family.