Medium - General Discussion

[Guest]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[Anela]

I wish this forum wasn't empty. I'm watching this again, thanks to Amazon Prime. 

I remember how annoyed by Allison, people over at TWOP would get, almost every week. I didn't understand that: I love the family life, and like Joe, but he annoyed me more than Allison did. 

[CoderLady]

Yay! Another Medium fan! For a little while the show was recently on the Pop network early Sunday afternoons until they decided Ghost Whisperer had more retro chic cachet and stopped running it somewhere around the end of the first season's episodes.

I vaguely remember the annoyance but I also remember that lots of posters appreciated how realistic Allison's family life was compared to many other shows, so we're not alone in that.

What I didn't remember was how annoying Bridget was. Either that or I've changed and no longer see "relentlessly quirky and self-absorbed" as cute. Could go either way...

[Anela]

On 8/1/2017 at 9:07 PM, CoderLady said:

Yay! Another Medium fan! For a little while the show was recently on the Pop network early Sunday afternoons until they decided Ghost Whisperer had more retro chic cachet and stopped running it somewhere around the end of the first season's episodes.

I vaguely remember the annoyance but I also remember that lots of posters appreciated how realistic Allison's family life was compared to many other shows, so we're not alone in that.

What I didn't remember was how annoying Bridget was. Either that or I've changed and no longer see "relentlessly quirky and self-absorbed" as cute. Could go either way...

I think Bridget is my favourite of the kids. :) Maybe because I'm the annoying one at times, in my family. 

[Chance]

I never understood season 4 where Devalos lost his job. That's not possible as he is an elected official. He didn't do anything illegal or unethical. Makes no sense. It also annoys me that no matter how many times Allison is right, people doubt her.  

But I do love the show

[Mystery]

These episodes are running on an OTA station for me. I thought I'd be able to get over the things that bugged the crap out of me the first time around: the child actress Maria Lark (Bridgette)'s inability to say a line without breaking it up for gasping breaths in the middle of it, and Patricia Arquette's inability to say the second "t" in "districT attorney," but nope. Even years later, I can't get past it. Why did they keep writing "district attorney" in Patricia Arquette's lines, when she couldn't say it? It's not "distric-attorney," for goodness' sake. 

Edited September 16, 2018 by Mystery

[Kimmmmmm]

Been watching on StartTV...new network (I think?)...Bridget is fine with me, but the one I do find annoying is Ariel. And it's not her fault...I blame the writers, who almost always make the oldest girl a snarky, sullen little witch.

[Mermaid Under]

On 9/23/2018 at 12:01 PM, Kimmmmmm said:

I blame the writers, who almost always make the oldest girl a snarky, sullen little witch.

In other words, a teenager.   As the oldest, Ariel was most often the babysitter, and the one who picked up the slack at home when her parents where off pushing along the plot points for the episode.  I thought that was a good enough reason for the character to be a little sullen.

I was never a Bridget fan.  That character seemed to be annoying for no good reason.  I remember some interviews with Maria Lark (the kid who played Bridget) when the show was ending, and she said she really had no interest in continuing to act.   Which I thought was a good thing.  

Like most young children on television, the youngest daughter (Marie) was cast with twins, to circumvent child labor laws.  And, as in most cases, the only acting talent she brought to the role was being a twin.  

I remember I liked this show for the realism in the writing of Joe and Allison as a couple.  The issues they faced, their arguments.   I liked Devalos and Scanlon and the way they gradually came to understand what Allison did, but never really lost their skepticism.  I didn't like Lynn DiNovi, since it was so obvious that the role was shoe horned in to give a job to Glenn Caron's wife.

But I'm glad for the reruns.   With all of the stations that show "classic" dramas, I feel like I can time-travel back to the 80s or 90s whenever I want to.

[AwesomO4000]

I really liked this show, too. I just wish I could forget the last episodes and especially the series finale.

I should have known that when the show moved over to CBS that I wasn't going to like it as much. For some reason, I have generally preferred shows on ABC and especially NBC to shows on CBS. It's some kind of vibe or style or the kind of characters, but it's almost always the other network shows I like better. Crossing Jordan (loved that show) over CSI, Law and Order over NCIS, and Siberia (obscure reference, I know) and Lost over Under the Dome.

I'm not sure what the goal of the finale was, but it annoyed me that it changed the entire history of the show - there had been previous mentions to things that would happen in the future - just to have some sappy plot about how Joe waited in heaven for Allison for years... and somehow this was supposed to be uplifting rather than sad that Allison - and their children - had to spend much of their lives without their husband and father.

I really wish I could go back to watching this show now that it is in reruns, but that annoying finale left a bad impression I have a hard time shaking.

[Kimmmmmm]

On 10/3/2018 at 11:03 AM, Mermaid Under said:

In other words, a teenager.   As the oldest, Ariel was most often the babysitter, and the one who picked up the slack at home when her parents where off pushing along the plot points for the episode.  I thought that was a good enough reason for the character to be a little sullen.

I was never a Bridget fan.  That character seemed to be annoying for no good reason.  I remember some interviews with Maria Lark (the kid who played Bridget) when the show was ending, and she said she really had no interest in continuing to act.   Which I thought was a good thing.  

Like most young children on television, the youngest daughter (Marie) was cast with twins, to circumvent child labor laws.  And, as in most cases, the only acting talent she brought to the role was being a twin.  

I remember I liked this show for the realism in the writing of Joe and Allison as a couple.  The issues they faced, their arguments.   I liked Devalos and Scanlon and the way they gradually came to understand what Allison did, but never really lost their skepticism.  I didn't like Lynn DiNovi, since it was so obvious that the role was shoe horned in to give a job to Glenn Caron's wife.

But I'm glad for the reruns.   With all of the stations that show "classic" dramas, I feel like I can time-travel back to the 80s or 90s whenever I want to.

YES..to what you said about the Lynn DiNovi character...i can think of few, if any actors with less charisma...besides the marriage connection,  i can think of no other reason for her presence on this show

[bettername2come]

On 10/3/2018 at 2:39 PM, AwesomO4000 said:

I'm not sure what the goal of the finale was, but it annoyed me that it changed the entire history of the show - there had been previous mentions to things that would happen in the future - just to have some sappy plot about how Joe waited in heaven for Allison for years... and somehow this was supposed to be uplifting rather than sad that Allison - and their children - had to spend much of their lives without their husband and father.

I really wish I could go back to watching this show now that it is in reruns, but that annoying finale left a bad impression I have a hard time shaking.

For me what bothers me so much about this is that the real Allison's Joe is alive. Where do you get off killing the fictional equivalent when the real guy's alive? That's so screwed up. Fortunately, I am capable of covering my ears and just pretending the finale never happened. Which I did yesterday when the series finale came on yesterday and I turned it off the second I saw Joe wearing a lei on a plane. 

[AwesomO4000]

8 hours ago, bettername2come said:

Which I did yesterday when the series finale came on yesterday and I turned it off the second I saw Joe wearing a lei on a plane. 

Excellent choice!

Seeing that episode once was more than enough.

8 hours ago, bettername2come said:

For me what bothers me so much about this is that the real Allison's Joe is alive. Where do you get off killing the fictional equivalent when the real guy's alive? That's so screwed up.

Agreed. That's completely screwed up. I can't imagine what the real Joe might've thought when that episode aired.

[auntiemel]

I'm doing a rewatch on Prime - maybe it's in CBS AllAccess? - and I'm coming up on the dreaded finale. Honestly, the knowledge that Joe dies in the not-too-distant future has been coloring my entire rewatch, every single episode. I really wish they hadn't done that. It's freaking depressing.

Different subject. The one plot hole that really gets to me - it did on first watch, and it bugged me just as much this time around - is the whole "Big Business" arc, when Allison gets hired by the company and "can't" report the crimes that her boss has flat-out told her about because of the iron-clad NDA she signed.

Well, NDAs can't be used to keep people from reporting a crime, answering questions about a crime, or testifying about a crime. There's criminal law and civil law, and criminal trumps civil. No civil contract, including NDAs, can override the criminal justice system. Also, no civil contract can require the signatory to commit a crime themselves. That would invalidate the contract.

NDAs can prevent you from talking about peripheral topics around a criminal investigation that don't have direct bearing on the crime itself...but NOT actual crimes!

For instance, say you signed an NDA as a domestic worker for a prominent family, but then you saw that they were hiding their fugitive relative who was on the run from the cops. The NDA can't compel you not to report that - in fact, it's a crime to know and not report it, so no contract would be valid that required you to commit that crime by keeping silent about it.

So, basically, once Allison's boss started spouting off about the murderous activities of his serial killer spawn, the contract was history.

Sure, he could still intimidate her by saying what he said - that he had unlimited resources and could destroy her with court costs and take everything she owned. True enough. But that has nothing to do with the fucking NDA, it would be true if she'd never signed anything, and was still true, worthless NDA notwithstanding. But they all kept giving her that, "BUT YOU SIGNED, ALLISON! YOU SIGNED!" speech like it actually meant something, and it drove me up the freaking wall! LOL.

Especially, since, you know...Allison went to law school.

ETA: I finished my re-watch last night with the finale. I've decided to retcon it for myself and add an additional scene immediately after the ghost kiss where she does one of her classic Allison gasp-awakes. In my mind, the whole finale episode was a dream. That way I can appreciate it as a nice little piece of emotional storytelling, showcasing some solid dramatic acting by the principals, without having it affect my view of the whole series, should I ever choose to watch it again. Or, like...remember it. LOL.

Edited May 17, 2020 by auntiemel

[Anela]

I'm so happy that I found this on Hulu. I haven't watched since it was on Prime, four/five years ago.

[Anela]

And I’d forgotten what a dick Joe could be to Alison.  

[Anela]

Okay, I take it back. With the amount of times he's sweet and considerate, versus those times, he's a lot nicer than the times that he isn't. There are a few episodes that bug me, because he's just plain mean, over something she can't help. 

 

[susanfrom]

I love medium as much as an show in history!  There is one episode where the secondary story line to me is as important as the main one. Cannot remember what the main story is.  Allison is driving her car and ends up on dirt road where her car breaks down. Suddenly when she gets out and is walking towards a building down the road, a plane crashes! First time scared the hell out of me.  Towards end of episode after deciding to drive instead of fly especially after Bridgette refuses to go unless they drive. Ends up finding place where girl is trapped below barn. Does anybody know which episode this is?  After printing out entire episode guide, none had any more detail saying anything about this. Thank you!

[krankydoodle]

On 6/30/2023 at 9:11 PM, susanfrom said:

Does anybody know which episode this is?

It sounds like it could be The Song Remains the Same, episode 2 in season 2.

[Johannah]

On 8/18/2018 at 12:24 PM, Chance said:

...  It also annoys me that no matter how many times Allison is right, people doubt her.  

But I do love the show

I know this comment was from years ago, but since I still catch an ep here and there and still enjoy watching it, I decided to check out this thread...

Anyway, yes, Allison is usually right, but it seems even she doesn't acknowledge that sometimes her dreams/visions aren't literal.  They may be more abstract and need to be interpreted, but she expects others to act immediately and directly to all her dreams/visions.  I can see where sometimes they would want to proceed cautiously - as long as they don't just dismiss what she tells them.

[Laura R]

I wouldn't say Joe was a dick per say, and he did redeme himself a lot of times, but I didn't like his skepticism after everything and the fact that he was her husband. And Bridget's actress was annoying, with an unpleasant and NOT cute appearance, and with no acting talent WHATSOEVER!  When she cried it drove me nuts she was so freaking annoying and just plain stupid!! Yes, sometimes Ariel's character was snarky but as people pointed out she was a teenager she the actress and character were overall pleasant additios to the show, but Bridget's character was written to be annoying (and with no purpose, as someone else stated) other than I think maybe to match the annoying personality of the damned actress.

[Anela]

I liked Bridget.