No Ordinary Family "No Ordinary Powell" Review

Sometimes new television shows take some time to find their identity. Joss Whedon's one of the best show runners in television history but three of his four shows stumbled out of the gate. ANGEL and Dollhouse relied on procedural storytelling during the majority of their respective first seasons. When each show found their own identity, they become amazing television shows. While I highly doubt that No Ordinary Family becomes amazing (and I doubt the show even receives a second season), NOF is beginning to suck less on a weekly basis. The reason is the newfound interest in serialized storytelling.

This newfound interest in serialized storytelling has temporarily eliminated the weakest part of the show--the procedural stories involving Jim Powell. For the last few weeks, the show hasn't introduced tertiary characters who Jim feels compelled to stop or save. The writers learned that the strongest storytelling comes from the main characters--the ones that the audience cares about. The central arc of the season (Dr. King and his super powered experiments) moved as quickly as the NFL's investigation of Brett Favre and Jenn Sterger. If you're a regular reader of The Foot then you know that I've complained about the snails-pace of the central arc. Imagine my surprise during "No Ordinary Powell" when the show decided to significantly advance the arc.

Victoria, the shape-shifter, returned to the show after a bye week because Dr. King learned that the Powells possess super powers. Intrigued, Dr. King enlisted Victoria to learn more about what Jim and Stephanie were capable of. Now, No Ordinary Family manages to be terrible even during this recent string of average episodes. Victoria's various shape-shifting into members of the Powell family and George are mostly annoying. We're treated to pointless scenes in which one member of the Powell family questions Victoria (who, of course, has shifted her shape into a Powell family member) and actual character relays information that the audience has known about since the "Pilot" to Victoria. The scenes are designed to cause anxiety in the audience since we know that Victoria will use any piece of information she learns to harm the Powell family. Unfortunately, the scenes feel like lazy exposition for any potential new viewers. After all, Dr. King's master plan is to experiment on the Powells so the potential for danger only occurs after we learn that Dr. King lusts after Stephanie. Dr. King wants Victoria to eliminate the man.

Tim Minear, while commenting on his Dollhouse episode "Omega," stated that the evil person in network television usually is defeated by episode's end. Naturally, Victoria doesn't stand a chance on an ABC show airing at 8PM with families watching; however, there is something unsettling about the Jim-Victoria fight. Throughout the episode, Victoria merely looked like people. The episode neither mentioned nor showed Victoria gaining the abilities of the people she decided to look like. As soon as she fights Jim, the writers decided to let the audience know that she possesses the same super strength as Jim because she looks like him. NOF needed to because the idea of a man with super strength finding a woman without any powers is messed up and I don't entirely buy the sudden revelation that Victoria had Jim's abilities because she looked like him. But, of course, Jim lost his powers temporarily after Victoria kissed him with Steph's kryptonite-like lip gloss. Regardless, this wasn't a highlight for NOF in my opinion.

Meanwhile, Joshua became an ally. Katie accidentally told Stephanie about Josh's secret and, soon, the Powells knew his history with Dr. King. Stephanie vowed to create a serum which would return Joshua to normalcy (I won't be surprised if Joshua becomes a tragic figure by season's end though). Joshua revealed that Dr. King barely registers as a powerful figure in the experimentation of this serum. Apparently, the corporation is large and powerful (I knew the show would enter into Heroes territory eventually).

Also, JJ successfully solved a murder case in hopes Natalie would reunite with him once she had closure regarding her mother's murderer. I'd describe the plot as the most absurd JJ story but the kid performed surgery earlier in the season.

Sonny Postiglione & Ali Adler wrote the episode. Terry McDonough directed it.

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