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Medium: The One Behind The Wheel
(S03E12) Well, that came as quite a surprise, and I'm not talking about the double twists to the plot, which we'll get to in a moment. Rather, I'm referring to the fact that this was what I would call a Joe episode. The previews for the episode made it pretty clear that Allison would wake up thinking she was somebody else, but I had no idea that we would be following the whole story through how Joe was dealing with it. It was a nice way to do it, and Jake Weber did a great job in the expanded role. From his character's perspective, it had to be terrifying. He's obviously bought in for the long haul where the dreams, visions, and other psychic bits and pieces of Allison are concerned. But a complete break, turning into another person. He had to be thinking on some level, "What if she doesn't come back?"
Patricia Arquette has to be acknowledged here as well. Her portrayal of Allison as Sandra was excellent. Right from the time she woke up and slapped Joe it was clear that she wasn't herself. The different voice and mannerisms were well done and made for such a great moment in the end when she says "Joe" and you instantly know that this is Allison.
The strange circumstances with Allison also made for a fresh and interesting mystery. I imagine that most viewers reacted just as Joe and Scanlon did, thinking that Sandra (Jessica Lundy) must have died. The first big twist was Allison/Sandra arriving at the hospital to find Sandra very much alive. That had me totally confused. How is she in two places at once?
Of course, the second twist, when we see Tom call Lisa out of the woods, cleared everything up. In one little moment they managed to hand us a murder mystery, and solve it, and it was still good. It's part of what makes Medium so good. There are so many different ways they go about telling the stories.
Really, the best part of the episode was the look at Joe and Allison's relationship. They are one of the great romances on television. When Joe tells Allison/Sandra, "Being with Allison is the party.", it is so genuine and sweet. You just have to feel for the guy. His scene leading up to that, where he leaves the Valentine's voice mail, was also very good. "Where are you?" It was a welcome look at just what it is that Joe puts into their relationship, and why he does it.
It was also fun watching all of the other characters react to Allison/Sandra. I liked how Scanlon and Devalos both jumped right in to do anything they could for her, having no qualms at all with believing Joe's story. Scanlon was very smooth in the interrogation, and led us to one of the really cool moments, when Allison turns to the mirror and the show goes all Quantum Leap on us. That was a nice effect. He also had the funniest line of the night. "At least she didn't wake up as Mr. O'Bannon."
Good stuff from the girls this week too. Ariel is a sharp one. She knew right away that something wasn't right. I think Brigitte was probably too occupied with her seven boyfriends to notice. Allsion/Sandra's continuing butchering of their names, and her nervousness about interacting with them, was funny. "I'm just going to go with girls."
Overall, another very good episode. Great performances from Weber and Arquette in a completely unexpected story. I'd probably slot this as one of the best two or three episodes of the season. Well done all around.
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