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

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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:

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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:

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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

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According to the video, Stand Up To Cancer has raised over 100 million dollars in just under two years of existence. You can watch Vassilieva’s interview, as well as another PSA featuring such stars as Renee Zellwegger and Rob Lowe, below.

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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.

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The spot was filmed recently, as Vassilieva has the short bob she’s been sporting lately. It’s only a 15-second spot, but it’s quite well-done, and it’s always nice to see celebrities, especially young ones, working with charitable organizations.

You can watch the spot below:

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Sofia Vassilieva began playing Ariel DuBois when she was just 12 years old, so we’ve really seen her grow up and change onscreen. So I thoiught it would be fun to take a look at photos from her first events that she attended on behalf of Medium: the Summer 2005 and the Winter 2006 TCA press tours.

Plus, it gives me the opportunity to test out our sweet new gallery feature. Let me know what you think!

Images: Zuma Press, INF

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ALLISON’S VISIONS COULD LEAD HER TO THE SOURCE OF A POSSIBLE VIRAL BIO-TERROR ATTACK, ON “MEDIUM,” FRIDAY, DEC. 4

Guest Stars Include Matt Letscher (“Entourage,” “Eli Stone”) as Bio-Pathologist Dr. Erik Westphal, Who Has Been Working with the Virus; William Allen Young (“District 9″) as FEMA Official Wesley Judson; and CBS2 Los Angeles Anchor Kent Shocknek as a Newscaster.

“You Give Me Fever” – When samples of a deadly viral disease go missing, Allison’s visions could help prevent a massive bio-terror attack.  Also, Scanlon is ready to propose to Lynn, but Bridgette’s dreams could foreshadow problems on the horizon, on MEDIUM, Friday, Dec. 4 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.  Guest stars include Matt Letscher (“Entourage,” “Eli Stone”) as bio-pathologist Dr. Erik Westphal, who has been working with the virus; William Allen Young (“District 9″) as FEMA official Wesley Judson; and CBS2 Los Angeles Anchor Kent Shocknek as a newscaster.

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………………… Madison Carabello

GUEST CAST:

Lynn DiNovi………………………… Tina DiJoseph

Dr. Erik Westphal…………………. Matt Letscher

Wesley Judson…………….. William Allen Young

Mitchell Lomis………………………. Gregory Sims

Newscaster……………………….. Kent Shocknek

Doctor……………………………… Dariush Kashani

WRITTEN BY:  Jordan Rosenberg

DIRECTED BY:  Aaron Lipstadt

Matt Letscher/Image: Zuma Press

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Though he ends up trying meditation in the end, he treats it as though its a secret drug problem or bizarre sex fetish that he needs to make up elaborate stories about in order to hide. In the end though, I like how his story, which really seemed to be tied up in the main plot of Allison being able to see how long people have left to live, ended up being much lighter. Rather than a portent of an early demise, Joe’s dad was merely giving him a much-needed leg up in the corporate world.

As for the main plot, it was a pretty solid episode. Lee has been relegated to a background player for the majority of the episodes so far this season, so it was nice to see him front-and-center for a change. We all saw the promo for the episode that shows Lee with a “1″ on his head, so when he shows up at the beginning with a much larger number, I was taken by surprise. Having numbers on peoples’ heads that indicate how long they have left to live is much more interesting to me when it’s fluid and dependent on circumstances.

The plot of this episode was also very fluid, which really works for this show. Suspects and motives changed throughout, but in a much more interesting way than the typical police procedural. When the Littleton brothers end up dead, everyone has to pretty much start from scratch, theory-wise. While I enjoyed the way this played out, Carver was introduced too late.

Part of the fun of watching a show like Medium is trying to guess who the killer is. If Carver had been around earlier, perhaps helping with the investigation, it would have been much more interesting when Allison has her vision about him. Again, if we had gotten to know him better, then the final scene with Allison seeing the “1″ on his forehead would have had a greater impact.

I was also disappointed in how the family aspect of Allison’s temporary gift was just glossed over with a simple, “I could never look at you or the girls.” Would it really be that easy of a decision? We don’t see Allison interacting with her kids at all during the episode, and Ariel doesn’t make an appearance anywhere. The episode would have been better served by Allison having to deal with the internal struggle of wanting to know her children are going to be okay and not wanting to find out anything bad.

Overall, it was a strong episode, but there were too many things that just sat in the back of my head and bugged me for me to be able to call it “great.” However, the opening scene with Joe’s dad scoffing at hybrid vehicles and extolling the virtues of American-made gas-guzzling SUVs, is especially hilarious given Allison’s newest purchase.

Image: CBS

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