(S04E07) "It's kind of like Sanford & Son except with females." - Joe Dubois

I remember when the season started, many of you were disturbed by the visage of the dead child, so I'm wondering how you feel about the self-immolation of an adult.

When I heard that Joe's mom was coming to visit, it reminded me how much I enjoyed seeing Joe's dead father when he visited Alison before. I was delighted to see him again in this episode. The strength of a show like Medium is really in it's characters and relatives (be they dead or alive) are always interesting characters. Moreover, Allison finally got to see a dead person outside of one of her dreams.

This episode contained two of my favorite things about Medium. The first is Lee Scanlon. In a world where most tough TV cops are identical, Scanlon manages to be typical and distinctive at the same time. He works a case just like any other cop but while he's doing it, he brings a great deal of style to the character. I love watching David Cubitt and was very glad to see him featured so prominently.

My other favorite part is the inclusion of the Dubois girls. It only makes sense that Ariel would start having more visions and watching Allison and Joe try to deal with them just like they would any other teen crisis is really interesting. As for Bridgette, that kid is hilarious.

Nice to see Grant Shaud working again. Too bad, he's playing the typical creepy dentist. Maybe I'm just to experienced but as soon as I saw that he was a dentist, it was clear to me what was going on. Burned body, faked dental remains, evil dentist, blah, blah, blah. It really saddens me when even the real weird storylines have been done to death.

Even though, I'm not a fan of Anjelica Houston's character, I really enjoy the purpose she serves on the show. The Dubois family had an idyllic life for awhile and that just doesn't last forever. It would be nice if we all got to do what we loved every day of our life but it simply doesn't work that way. I really enjoyed Allison's change in attitude when Devalos called her. It was almost as if they were flirting with each other. I'm sure Allison will be back working for him soon but it will be good to see her being a little more thankful for the work she's doing.

Watching Allison, Manny and Scanlon in this episode was fascinating. It was bound to happen but I just didn't see it coming. The way they all interacted while at cross-purposes was awesome.

It never occurred to me that Joe & Allison's relatives didn't know about her gift but I guess it makes sense. Why would you tell someone something like that unless you had to. Although Kathy Baker was underused in this episode, I'm sure we'll see more of her in part two. In any event, I just hope I don't have to see a sleeveless Anjelica Houston again.