No Ordinary Family "No Ordinary Love" Review

Well, it was bound to happen eventually. "No Ordinary Love" literally put me to sleep. I even awoke with a slightly stiff neck due to the awkward angle in which I suddenly dozed off. Not even the presence of Lucy Lawless could prevent my brief nap. The episode itself was as riveting as a spring training game in the later innings (coincidentally, the later innings of a certain spring training game knocked me out for 3-4 minutes this afternoon). Even though the episode earned such words as "boring" and "sleep-inducing," it wasn't a complete waste of time. The woman behind the curtain emerged just in time for the final six episodes of the series as well as tertiary Big Bad that Stephanie became Frankenstein for so, uh, there's that.

The writers felt especially lazy for episode seventeen of their first season. The show delved into one of the oldest genre stories for "No Ordinary Love." In fact, the same story occurred in the terrible 1997 movie Batman & Robin with Bruce Wayne and Poison Ivy. A beautiful blonde woman with an overpowering effect on males arrived in town and turned our heroes into lovestruck fools. This woman, Sophie, used enhanced pheromones to control Jim and George's behavior. She instructed the two, at separate times, to steal various items for a mysterious reason. Later, JJ figures out that the beautiful bombshell is a beautiful bomb maker (oh these writers!) and Jim's entirely under the woman's thrall.

Now, I don't have any huge issues with the story itself even though it's been done to death in genre television; however, It's a tad frustrating to watch Stephanie act impulsively based on one isolated incident though, and it's inconsistent with her character. Upon witnessing Jim and Sophie kiss, she immediately kicks the man out of her house, her life and her family. Despite the influx of super-powered people in her life, Stephanie doesn't even consider the possibility that Jim's influenced by a super-powered person. Even though Dr. King clearly knows about the Powell family, Stephanie doesn't hesitate to question Jim's commitment to her and the family. The series continues to have identity issues. In the middle of an episode that was completely genre-oriented, the show suddenly became stereotypical family drama for 2-3 scenes. The show relied on its genre-ness to break Jim's spell as well. The power of Stephanie's kiss was the only thing Jim needed to be free of Sophie.

The Sophie story tied directly into the season-long arc involving Dr. King. I mentioned earlier that the woman behind the curtain emerged. She is Mrs. X--someone with a lot more control than Dr. King and someone concerned about the sudden population of super-powered people. Mrs. X wanted Sophie to blow something up...for some reason but, again, the episode DID put me to sleep and when I awoke the situation was resolved, Jim and Stephanie were as happy as ever and Mrs. X blew Sophie's car up. Lucy Lawless immediately brought more intrigue and depth to the villain role than Stephen Collins has all season (maybe I just can't take Collins seriously after his ten year run as Reverend Camden on 7th Heaven) so the her presence could very well salvage the main arc of the season.

Meanwhile, Dr. King decided to test Stephanie's loyalty to the company. Stephanie injected a serum into a man with stage IV Lymphoma. Sure enough, the man developed powers and became a muscle for King and X to use for their own evil deeds. Stephanie's involvement in the enhancement of this person gives Stephanie actual incentive in perfecting the anecdote that she's been working on because the blood this man spills will sort of be on her hands. Sooner or later, the show would've had to introduce a personal tie between one of the Powells and one of the super-powered villains because every genre show does that.

The C story involved Chris attempting to find out the truth about Daphne and her family. The truth brought the two closer together and Daphne learned a valuable lesson about lying in a relationship.

Overall, "No Ordinary Love" was as ordinary as any NOF episode. It didn't irritate me as much as last week's episode. The final six episodes should be decent. Again, Lucy Lawless is the reason for the hope that the endgame of the season will be decent.

Other thoughts:

-Julie Benz and Eric Balfour were in the same episode for the first time since the second episode of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer. In fact, if I recall correctly, Benz' Darla murdered Balfour's Jesse. Also, Benz and Balfour once guest-starred in the beloved late 90s sitcom Boy Meets World but they didn't appear in the same episode. Actually, "No Ordinary Love" reminded me of a season 1 Buffy episode with its love storyline (season 1 of Buffy is the weakest Whedon season though).

-Kate Barnow & Elisabeth R. Finch wrote the episode and Peter Werner directed it.

-NOF, like every other show on TV, will return in April with new episodes. The lack of new episodes for shows I write about means the return of the Best Buffy Teaser is imminent. It's more exciting than March Madness.

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