One random Saturday, Carlton Cuse tweeted a link to a New York Times piece he wrote about life after LOST. Cuse, of course, ran the show with Damon Lindelof for six seasons. During his six page story, he mentioned how quickly the LOST offices were emptied for one of ABC's new shows--No Ordinary Family. If I had been drinking a beverage, I would've done a spit-take. The sacred grounds of the LOST offices were replaced by No Ordinary Family? The same offices where the greatest show of all-time was conceived and written got replaced by a show that half-asses each and every episode while holding the audience's hands like their toddlers?
In "No Ordinary Double Standard," the writers decided to introduce their own smoke monster. Yes you read that correctly, friends and well-wishers. No Ordinary Family introduced their own smoke monster and the man behind the smoke is hardly as cool as MIB. I am offended and hurt. Maybe the show wanted to insult me for the five months of complaints I lobbied against the show. Maybe they wanted to provide more fodder for me to rant about. The series enlisted LOST veteran, Paul Edwards, to direct the episode. Maybe Jon Harmon Feldman and the other executive producers in charge of hiring directors wanted the veteran LOST director to helm the episode in which the white smoke monster made its way into their world. The last time Paul Edwards directed an episode with a smoke monster, Smokey tossed Richard Alpert across the yard in New Otherton. NOF's smoke monster, portrayed by Ethan Suplee, received his smokey form from the nefarious Dr. King and his band of misfit scientists.
The series didn't end their blatant borrowing from LOST with the smoke monster. The writers revealed Tom Seeley's back story through Dr. King (who may or may not have been lying). Tom, apparently, broke his back and became paralyzed when he fell to the ground during a prison fight (paralysis and miraculous recovery is straight from John Locke). Dr. King cured him of his paralysis and wiped his memories for his own good. Tom's angry because he can't remember his life. He wants his old life back. He tries to kill Dr. King but fails after Jim and Stephanie intervene.
The criminal-of-the week wasn't a complete failure once I overlook the LOST borrowing (I'm tempted to call it theft) because the A story moved the Dr. King arc forward. Since the series premiered, the Dr. King arc has been trapped in quicksand and the show suffered because the main characters were involved in plots that were wasting time, plots that never advanced the central narrative of the show. It was annoying.
Now that the calendar turned to February, the series must've realized that their season (and quite possibly series) finale looms in May. For the first thirty minutes of "No Ordinary Double Standard," the episode completely sucked. Jim and Stephanie competed to see who solved a crime first, obviously forgetful of how badly that will go. The couple partnered up to stop a person who could turn into flame and then accidentally killed him so they decided not to team up again. If they were terrible as a team, they'd be terrible competing with one another and they are. Their friend, who got assaulted by Tom, lies to them about who she saw. Jim and Steph waste time and engage in hijinks. Eventually, they decide to work together because their powers complement one another (except when it results in the death of someone).
The second half of the episode is much better than the first half because it deals with the major arc of the season. Dr. King tells Katie about the murdering Sylar II's been doing. Sylar II uses his powers to make Katie forget about what she knew (he pulled a Willow on her Tara). Stephanie and Jim learn from Tom about Dr. King and how he might be involved in the existence of super-powered people. Daphne learns she can control minds (like Matt from HEROES) and she uses that newfound ability to her advantage. We also learn that Dr. King's somehow safe from mind-wipes and other things. Nevertheless, he remains a mystery.
Once again, I don't ask for each and every show I watch to be innovative and amazing. I simply want smart, competent storytelling. No Ordinary Family has much more improving but at least the season finally has a sense of purpose and hope for a decent endgame. Jim's no longer solving cases for tertiary characters (though I'm sure he will soon). Dr. King actually knows about Jim and Stephanie's super powers. Further more, more people besides Dr. King is involved including Stephanie's friend (the flashes of Tom's reminded me of The Others in The Arrow hatch during Claire's season two episode).
No Ordinary Family is far from perfect. Again, the first half of the episode sucked but I enjoyed the second half. If I gave out letter grades, it'd receive a C whereas many of the past episodes hovered between D and F so...progress.
Sallie Patrick wrote the episode. The great Paul Edwards directed the episode.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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