Bader played around a dozen characters this week, and moreso than just relying on costumes, he took pains to make each one an individual person. When he was in the kitchen with Allison as Joe DuBois, Bader nailed the slightly hunched way Joe walks around the house. When he was sitting at the table, it was weird how he kept on running his fingers through his short hair, but that again is another Joe DuBois mannerism, and is exactly what Jake Weber would have been doing in that scene.

Likewise with Lee, Bader got his mannerisms down (the constant scratching of the back of his head) without resorting to a David Cubitt impression. He managed to make the characters recognizable, and in doing so, created a compelling episode from beginning to end.

I love how the writers used this convention for many reasons: one, it kept the audience as off-balance as Allison must have been. Watching it, we had no idea who the real Fred Rovick was. Was it the city planner? The juror? The guy fixing Manuel’s computer? We knew it wasn’t Joe, or the lady walking her dog across the street, but other than that, it was like a crazy game of “Where’s Waldo?”

Another thing that kind of kept us off-balance was trying to figure out how the Fred Rovick storyline tied into the murder trial. I never guessed that Rovick and Mallory Kessinger were together, and was further surprised that they were having an affair, and buying off the juror is the reason he was fleecing Phoenix residents.

What cracks me up is that it seems as though Devalos sends very few people to jail anymore. They either die, or in Mallory Kessinger’s case, end up free from prison, but with no money. Even Fred Rovick, identity thief, ended up with hundreds of millions of dollars on a tropical island somewhere. Granted, he paid back everyone with interest, but still– Devalos isn’t doing a great job of locking criminals up.

Also hilarious about this episode? Mr. Teefers. Here’s my theory on this entire storyline: While I’ve never been a television writer, I imagine it’s much like any other job, in that sometimes you get punchy (I’m sure that this happens quite often around season 6). When you get punchy, sometimes when you throw out, “how about we just have someone in a giant beaver costume,” it sounds like a good idea, whereas in season 2, it would have been dismissed. In season 6, I would reckon that an entire day was spent just saying the phrase “giant beaver” over and over again while giggling.

That is why sometimes season 6 is great. I loved the Mr. Teefers storyline. It’s nice to see that Ariel had inherited her parents’ sassiness, and had no problem outsmarting the giant beaver. My only complaint is that I would have liked to see more interactions with Ariel and the family, but in an episode that was this packed, it’s understandable that some things had to fall by the wayside.

Medium can be relentlessly dark at times– especially when there are storylines involving violence against children. Because of that, it’s nice to have an episode that is kind of funny, while still maintaining an appropriately dark tone. Alfred Hitchcock Presents did a fantastic with nailing a creepy/funny balance, and this episode of Medium reminded me of that, one of my all-time favorite TV shows.

Image: Michael Yarish/CBS

Post from: Crushable

CBS easily won the night, yet again, with Ghost Whisperer and Medium both earning 2.2 million in the 18-49 demographic. Medium had slightly more total viewers than Ghost Whisperer, with 9.10 vs. Ghost Whisperer’s 8.77 million. Numb3rs didn’t quite score as high in the coveted demographic, but still earned an impressive 2.0. It also once again scored the highest number of total viewers for the night, with 9.18 million. In fact, Numb3rs and Medium were the only two shows to end up with more than 9 million viewers for the night.

Obviously I have absolutely nothing to base this on, but I do have a general feeling that if Medium keeps averaging over a 2.0, it has a high likelihood of being renewed for a seventh season. Ever since Medium returned from its winter hiatus, it has pretty consistently been doing just this. I feel good about these numbers, and with each passing week, I feel better and better about Medium’s chance for renewal.

Image: Michael Yarish/CBS

Post from: Crushable

Post from: Crushable

The boy may have powers kind of like the DuBois women, but instead of blood and guts, he sees… giant beavers? This is what I got from this behind-the-scenes footage, so I’m not really sure. However, I am sure of the fact that saying “giant beaver” over and over again is funny.

Check out the video, below:

Post from: Crushable

But, beyond haircuts, the episode looks pretty awesome: Allison keeps seeing a killer’s face, and even sees it in place of Joe. My only hope is that this doesn’t means that we’ll be having an episode that’s light on Jake Weber, because that would be a crime.

Check out the promo below:

Post from: Crushable

I know I’m being a little flip, but I’m actually serious. Maria Lark is a fantastic actress, and she could do an incredible job with such heavy subject matter. When Bridgette was crying to Ariel about how happy she was when she thought she liked Finn because it made her feel normal “for once,” my heart broke for her. Lark is great at portraying a quirky little girl, and I’d love to see her take the emotion she displayed in this episode a little further; to really discover why she feels so alienated and why she wasn’t sure she had feelings for Finn.

One of the things that Ugly Betty (RIP) has done exceedingly well, is write for the character of Betty’s nephew, Justin. The subject of Justin’s sexuality as a middle-schooler was something that was touched on, but not directly addressed until this season, when he entered high school. Mark Indelicato does an amazing job portraying a boy, who, even though he is in a perfectly loving and understanding family who would embrace him no matter what his sexual orientation, still denies that he’s gay to everyone– including himself.

Ugly Betty, while serious at times, is a campy comedy show. Medium, on the other hand, is more of a traditional family drama. I would love to see how they would deal with Bridgette questioning her sexuality at a time when she’s first discovering it for herself. I’d also love to see a portrayal of a young lesbian on television, as many people, including the media, seem to believe that lesbianism is either a product of college experimentation, or a result of middle-aged women giving up on men.

Medium has an opportunity here that few other shows on television do: It’s a long-running show, somewhat in danger of cancellation, and in desperate need of buzz, and it has a child actor who is capable of handling a wide range of subject matter. Medium could get people talking about it again, by portraying this issue not in a salacious way, but in a thoughtful, caring way that nobody else on television is really doing right now. While I don’t think they’re going to take this opportunity, I’d love it if they would.

Image: CBS

Post from: Crushable

Anyhoo, we also get an Ariel storyline, as she ends up babysitting someone other than her sisters this week. Something tells me it’s not going to be easy (it’s the press release. The press release tells me it’s not going to be easy). See for yourself!

ALLISON WONDERS WHY SHE KEEPS SEEING THE FACE OF ONE MAN IN THE FACES OF PEOPLE SHE ENCOUNTERS IN HER DAILY LIFE, ON “MEDIUM,” FRIDAY, FEB. 5

Diedrich Bader (“Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” “The Drew Carey Show”)Guest Stars as Fred Rovick, the Man Whose Face Allison Keeps Seeing in Other People

“Will the Real Fred Rovick Please Stand Up?” – A perplexed Allison must figure out why she keeps seeing the face of one man in the faces of other people in her daily life, including that of her husband, Joe.  Also, Ariel makes an interesting acquaintance while babysitting a challenging young boy, on MEDIUM, Friday, Feb. 5 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

SERIES REGULARS:

Allison Dubois…………………… Patricia Arquette

Joe Dubois……………………………… Jake Weber

District Attorney Devalos…….. Miguel Sandoval

Ariel Dubois………………………. Sofia Vassilieva

Bridgette Dubois………………………. Maria Lark

Detective Lee Scanlon……………… David Cubitt

Marie Dubois…………………. Miranda Carabello

GUEST CAST:

Fred Rovick……………………….. Diedrich Bader

Mister Teefers…………………… Ian Reed Kesler

Mallory Kessinger………………….. Ellen Hollman

Gerald Prosser………………………. John Vickery

Jeb Behrends……………………….. Connor Rosen

J. Donald Kessinger…………… William Schallert

Patty Staley…………………………….. Eve Gordon

Bailiff…………………………………. Johnny Chavez

WRITTEN BY:  Craig Sweeny and Robert Doherty

DIRECTED BY:  Larry Reibman

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: Crushable

While ideally, Allison would be around, I like the fact that Medium shows what becomes a typical event in a household in which either both parents work, or when the kids are being raised by a single parent. I may not have counseled my younger sister on her first crush, but I taught her how to ride a bike. It’s nice to see that even though Bridgette bugs the crap out of Ariel (as little sisters are prone to do), that Ariel can still be there for her when she needs her.

The case that Allison was so absorbed in this week is quite a bizarre one: A psychiatric patient who killed her parents when she was 13, seems perfectly well-adjusted now, but her roommate at the hospital has gone missing. First off, I want to say how impressed I was with Alexandra Krosney, who played Keelin, the missing roommate.

We only saw her on video,  and even then, not for long, but she had the dead-eyed thing down, and was really convincing as someone who was coming out of a catatonic state. Danielle Panabaker also did a very good job as Summer. She was sweet and innocent, but there was a certain edge to her that belied the act, even before it was revealed that she was totally evil.

It was pretty easy to guess that Summer always knew that her brother had killed her parents, but at first, I thought she was keeping quiet because she was being released soon, and that if she started saying she didn’t do it, they would think she was still crazy, and may not let her out. From the promo, we knew that she killed somebody; I just assumed that she got released and then exacted her revenge on her brother.

My problem with the actual story, that she and her brother were in on it together the whole time, is the “why.” I understand that 13-year-olds aren’t good at thinking about the future, and that money seems super-awesome, but to not only collude with your brother to kill them, but to take the fall for it and spend five years in a mental institution? That doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever.

Why did summer take the fall while her brother roamed free? Was it decided that she would do it just because she’s a really good actress? Because, she obviously is, but damn. I get how that conversation happened, because I have a variation of it every day: “No, honey, why don’t you put the baby down for his nap? You’re better at it.” But even in that benign situation, it is universally understood that someone is getting screwed because they are better at something, which is weird.

Obviously though, I’m applying rational thought to irrational behavior. Summer is a deeply disturbed woman, even if she isn’t disturbed in the way her doctors originally thought. So while I may not completely understand the motivation behind Summer and her brother’s actions, it was still a well-acted and creepy story.

Back to Bridgette for a moment though. It’s been nice to see all three of the girls grow up over the course of the show, but did I miss the episode in which Marie grew up into a calligrapher? Because that was some seriously perfect handwriting for a kid her age. That can’t be typical, can it? And also, why didn’t Bridgette realize it wasn’t her handwriting, instead of thinking she just wrote it while in some sort of fugue state?

This story actually would have worked for me more if it had been couched in the girls’ abilities. They all seem to have psychic tendencies, yet they manifest in different ways. Instead of Marie having a crush on Finn because he plays with her on the playground at lunch, it would have been kind of cool if she had written that stuff as Bridgette. That would have explained both how the handwriting was so advanced, and why Bridgette didn’t recognize it as Marie’s, or at least as not her own. At the end of the day though, there were plenty of things that I liked about this episode, and Medium is definitely continuing the resurgence it’s enjoyed this season.

Image: CBS

Post from: Crushable

Ghost Whisperer’s full ratings were 8.34 million total viewers with 1.9 in the coveted 18-49 demographic. Medium held onto most of Ghost Whisperer’s audience, earning 7.98 million total viewers with 1.8 in the 18-49 demo. Numb3rs, which is the show in the lineup that’s in the most danger of being canceled, also scored a 1.8 in the demo, and interestingly enough, ended up with the most total viewers of the night, with 8.70 million.

Obviously, It’s always better for Medium to be above 2.0 in the 18-49 demographic, but considering that no one got a 2.0 last night, it’s hard to be too worried about the 1.8 that Medium earned. What’s really interesting to me is Numb3rs ratings. With Miami Medical coming in, ostensibly to serve as its replacement next year, it’s going to really have to get some great numbers in order to justify canceling Numb3rs. I still feel pretty comfortable about Medium’s renewal chances, but we’ve still got several episodes left before we get a final decision about season 7.

Image: CBS

Post from: Crushable

Turns out, the song Ariel was listening to was “All The Right Moves” by One Republic. One Republic, if you’ll recall, is the band that had that huge hit, “Apologize,” that was on the radio every five minutes last year.

Here’s the video for “All The Right Moves” by One Republic. Mystery solved.

Post from: Crushable