No Ordinary Family returned to the airwaves with an all-new episode tonight. The episode dealt with loneliness among the elder Powells, especially Stephanie. The super powers the family gained through the plane crash have perks as we've seen in various episodes. Jim can play the role of a cop while continuing to be paid as a sketch artist for the police while Stephanie gained the time she lost as a result of her profession. Unfortunately for Jim and Stephanie, the powers do not create friends the duo can share their secrets with (which is the number one thing Stephanie and Jim want in the episode). The themes of friendship, loneliness and secrets dominates the A story. While the idea of Stephanie's search for friendship and connection appeals to me, the episode's execution derails the potential of the story.
Any show about superheros will inevitably produce an episode about loneliness for the superhero(es) because superheros are outsiders. George brought up Batman and Spiderman as he argued the above sentence to Jim. Bruce Wayne separates Batman. One wouldn't expect Bruce to reveal himself as Batman unless absolutely necessary. Each party that Bruce Wayne attends, and each woman he meets and friend he meets will never know Bruce Wayne entirely. Stephanie wants to destroy the wall that separates her super self from her normal self. Unfortunately, in the world of these shows, some evil company wants to immediately kidnap someone with these powers/abilities. I digress. The problem with Stephanie's desire to reveal her entire self to friends is, the show barely showed this desire before. In fact, the episode before the hiatus revolved around the breakdown between she and Katie, and the two were better friends by episode's end. Perhaps Stephanie felt lingering bitterness towards Katie. Perhaps she decided to pursue a new friend after Katie compared her sex life to The Matrix. The show didn't bother explaining Stephanie's sudden need for a new friend in who she could confide in.
A new family arrives in their neighborhood, conviently enough, when Stephanie desires new friendships. Luckily, her husband saves the life of the patriarch of the Cotton family. Soon, the two families are eating and bonding in the beautiful California sunshine. Daphne makes friends with the daughter and JJ makes friends with the son while Stephanie and Michelle, the mother, become close enough that they meet up for drinks. Of course, as soon as the Cottons arrive in town, a mysterious robber begins robbing museums. Conviently enough, Jim soon learns that the robber last robbed places in Boston and Seattle--the same two cities the Cottons previously lived. Stephanie resists the notion that one of their new friends would rob museums, and she wonders if Jim would accuse any of their other friends of being robbers.
Thankfully, No Ordinary Family clearly shows that one of the Cottons is guilty, and that family member is the mother, which allows Stephanie the rare opportunity to play righteous hero that Jim loves to play weekly. The episode attempts to form a meaningful relationship between the two females in the 41 minutes of the episode but it's not enough time between the B and C story of the episode to get the audience to care about this woman or her family. Michelle confesses that she only wanted to help support her family while her husband looked for job, and that she fell into this criminal ring accidentally. The husband tells Jim simply that he changed his life, which I doubt was a thank you to Jim considering he mostly helped destroy the Cotton family or MAYBE the husband actually felt grateful to Jim. Who knows.
Most of the problems in the A story were a result of Stephanie though. Throughout the series, she remained the character who insisted that the superpowers remain a secret. Suddenly, a couple of glasses of wine changes her philosophy completely. By episode's end, she remembers that she has Katie who she can share everything with. Nothing changed for Jim and Stephanie in the A story because they realized they had what they wanted all along. And that makes a bland A story, friends and well-wishers.
Meanwhile, the Cotton son helped JJ retain the heart of the smart blond girl he met in "No Ordinary Sidekick" while Daphne ran for Student Body President but I already forget if she won or not, or if the episode bothered to resolve that story at all. The greatest student body election race in television history belongs to Arrested Development.
Also, Sylar II does not want to be Sylar II any longer because he developed feelings for Katie. Unfortunately, she found Stephanie's journal in his pant's pocket. One wonders why he didn't leave the journal at his home. He told Dr. King about his desire to be free of his duties even if it means he'll lose his super powers. This particular plot continues to move like a snail.
Overall, "No Ordinary Friends" was completely average. It was on par with most of the other episodes of the season. I understand what kind of show No Ordinary Family is. It was a harmless episode, with some interesting but poorly executed ideas.
Ali Adler and Marc Guggenheim wrote the episode. Terry McDonough directed it.
Tomorrow, I'll be writing about another Classic TV Episode. If anyone reading has suggestions for a classic TV episode, please leave a comment.
PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.noordinaryfamilyabc.net/
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
No comments:
Post a Comment