Medium 2.8: "Too Close to Call"

Written by Rene Echevarria
Directed by Steve Robman

In which Allison has a dream regarding a crippling blow to Devalos’ re-election campaign, but when she tries to take proactive measures, the situation gets out of her control…


This series seldom fails to deliver, and this is another strong episode. I was expecting the whole re-election question to stretch out a bit longer, but the writers must not have wanted to introduce long-term arcs. That’s usually something I prefer, but in this case, it may not be necessary yet. There’s still quite a bit of character work that can be done independently of an arc structure.

A good chunk of this episode was another look at the Allison/Joe dynamic, which is easily my favorite aspect of the series. I really liked the way that Joe stood up for his marriage; there wasn’t even a vague hint of extra-curricular temptation. As usual, his method of shutting down a potential problem was rational and complete. In fact, it’s increasingly clear that his emotions are reserved largely for his family, and even then, he tries to balance out Allison’s more unusual point of view.

On the other side of the equation, I once again found Allison’s point of view hard to accept. This episode reminds us that Allison knows far more about Joe and his activities than he could ever know about hers. In a lot of ways, it’s beyond unfair, and it brings up a personal example of what the episode highlights: how Allison’s visions are, in essence, a massive invasion of privacy.

Under the best of circumstances, even if things turn out well, Allison and her work with the DA could be perceived as a violation of civil rights. It’s come up before, but for all that Allison can prevent situations from getting out of control or crimes from being unsolved, her visions aren’t nearly clear enough to justify some actions. This episode is a perfect example: someone almost gets killed because of an ill-considered, pre-emptive action, and one that was not legally advisable.

Does Allison’s ability constitute an abuse of power? Or more correctly, when does the response to one of her visions constitute such an abuse? Allison points out that she can stray into “Minority Report” territory rather quickly, and sometimes, she can act a bit too proactively. From her point of view, can she just let something happen, just because she can’t prove her conclusions with solid evidence? Can she fail to act? Maybe not, but from an outside point of view, where does she draw the line?

All of these concepts are mixed well with the murder mystery at hand, and as usual, the pieces all come together in unexpected ways. One thing, however, is rather perplexing. Perhaps it happens more than I realize, but this episode seemed to be overflowing with product placements. Two movie references, a comment about TV Guide...it was more than a little fishy. It wasn’t as bad as some “Alias” episodes, but it was still pretty bad. Thankfully the episode itself overshadowed that annoyance.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4

Final Rating: 8/10