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This week, we had our first rerun of the season, episode 5×16, “Man in the Mirror.” While I didn’t write here when this episode originally aired, I was helping review Medium over at CliqueClack TV. Since we had a little blast from the past, I thought it would be fun to post my original review of this episode.
I had some problems with the second half of season 5, namely the fact that every other episode seemed to be a “To Be Continued” ep, and most of them were unnecessary. However, I was a fan of “Man in the Mirror,” and especially of Jeffrey Tambor’s guest stint. Plus, this is the episode where Marie was a peapod. That’s adorable!
Here’s an excerpt of my review:
It’s been so long since I’ve seen Patricia Arquette in anything but Medium, so I can’t remember if she always has this subdued, out-of-breath murmuring thing going on, or if it’s just a character choice. Either way, Tambor nailed it. I’m sure part of what made it so good is that we’re used to the way Allison Dubois is written, so Tambor was saying some very familiar lines. Regardless, I could imagine Patricia Arquette saying every single thing he was, and it was fascinating.
For her part, Arquette didn’t do quite as good of a job playing Tambor. While Tambor just matched the cadence and the tone of her voice, she actually deepened hers, making her sound sort of like a drunken pirate. An older dude inhabited her body, but it didn’t make her walk like an old man, or pee standing up, so why would it make her speak in a deeper voice? Luckily that part of the episode didn’t last very long, because it just wasn’t working for me.
You can read the entire review over at CliqueClack TV.
You can read Katelyn’s original Medium Dreams recap of the episode as well.
Purchase Medium: The Complete Fifth Season
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Image: Danny Feld/NBC
279 days ago
I was kind of disappointed that out of all the episodes they had to show, they chose to air this one. This wasn’t one of my favorites either, but for different reasons. The main one being that I really enjoy the character of Allison and the way she deals with her ability and how it affects her relationships with her family. I like Jeffrey Tambor and I thought he did a pretty good job, but I was fairly underwhelmed by this episode. I agree that the dialogue that was written by him sounded for all the world like Allison, but as it was written, practically anyone could have delivered the same performance. It didn’t strike me as anything outstanding. And for Arquette, there really was very little for her to do either. There wasn’t anything she could do to differentiate her performance from that of Allison. I thought she did an okay job, given what she had to work with. The one performance that I really loved in this episode (aside from Marie as a “peapod”) was Joe and his reaction to Todd and to seeing his wife in another person’s body. I loved Jake Weber’s performance in this one.
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279 days ago
I disagree with Kona: i hate this episode. Originally the story was very interesting, but the ending result was out of my expetancies. Jeffrey Tambor, for me, was a wrong choice: he has always the same expression, when is happy, when is sad….
About the coma: Allison had a brain tumor, so why the doctor didn’t found it when they do the exams??
” While Tambor just matched the cadence and the tone of her voice, she actually deepened hers, making her sound sort of like a drunken pirate. ”
ahaha! it’s true!
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279 days ago
I was out last night so I couldn’t watch, but I agree out of all the episodes they could show as a repeat, Why pick this one? I saw it when it originally aired. It was okay but definitely not one of the best. It was more mellow and funny to watch Joe react to Allison being a man. No real mystery or suspense to get excited about .
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279 days ago
I also thought it was odd that they picked this episode to show as the repeat. There were so many better ones they could have chose. My only guess is that it was heavy on the family. Scanlon wasn’t even in it and Devolis only had a small scene. I guess they figured a family centered episode would be good for the Holiday. That is the only reason I could think they would pick this one. Kind of boring for Medium!
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278 days ago
I was out with family and didn’t get to watch. Thought it was an odd choice. Not my favorite ep either. I’d rather they have picked Four Dreams which just aired on Lifetime last week. If they are going to do another repeat, since it’s a two-parter, it would have been a good choice. Ratings were down, but not awful considering it was the holidays.
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278 days ago
I really liked this episode when I first watched it, it was a nice change of pace, lighter than the three parter before which personally dragged on a little for me. I figured at Thanksgiving (I hope you all had lovely ones), people might like ‘lighter’ episodes. I know at Christmas, I indulge in television I might not usually watch because we get two public holidays to celebrate.
Yes, it was stretching the reality a bit for even Medium’s standards, but I love the family dynamic and the final Joe/Allison scene as well as Marie’s first dream (she was only one not to have one before this episode!) made my heart melt. I was also thrilled that her first dream did not include grizzly visions. Bless her cotton socks.
I thought Jeffrey Tambor nailed Allison’s mannerisms (bathtub, the crying, and how he wasn’t angry at Ariel). We got to see assertive and angry Joe, I’m all for seeing more Joe. There was Ariel being protective of her little sisters. And Bridgette’s surprise that they were going out for pancakes on a school day.
And we got to hear that Joe’s mom was still alive and presumbly well after her illness in season 4.
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277 days ago
[...] Arrested Development’s Jeffrey Tambor (whom I love). Overall, I enjoyed the episode, but many of you commented that it wasn’t a strong choice to re-air. However, while the Friday night audience really just wanted to sit in front of the TV and watch a [...]
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277 days ago
Thanksgiving had me so busy, I didn’t recover until Saturday and realized I had missed whatever episode they chose to rerun. Just finding out now which one it was, I don’t mind so much. I did not like this episode either. I found it very annoying. I like Jeffrey Tambor and think he’s a good actor, but, yeah, the main word that comes to mind when I recall this episode is annoying.
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277 days ago
I forgot to mention that my Mom loved this episode. It just depends on your taste, I guess!
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276 days ago
Personally, I disagree with all of you actually. I loved season five, it’s my second favourite behind Season Three with the Recapitator and Debra. This episode was one of my least favourite in season five, but it still worked magic that Medium continues to bring to networks. I thought season five had such new realms open up for the creator to explore his show. My favourite in the season had to be “The Devil Inside”, the episode when Lucus Harvey tried to kill Allison. It was a lot darker and I liked it.
Season six (present season) is really intelligent and awesome. Last year was a lot on Ariel out of the daughters, this year, they are focusing on not so much Ariel, but Bridgette now. I think it’s great that her powers are becomming more efficient for Allison, more so Joe. What I would like to see is something that will break into new mythology in Medium this season. I’m hoping there is a season seven because is such a light in CBS and they acknowledged that when taking them from NBC’s disposal.
I love this show and I can’t wait for Scanlon to propose to Lynn. It actually shows that he has a heart somewhere in him. Also, I would like to see more of Allison’s issues after the brainstem removal. How about some more interesting effects, like the one they used when she was getting visions by means of Deja Vu.
See you all on Friday for the next episode, “You Give Me Fever”!
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