Medium 2.15: "Sweet Child O' Mine"

Written by Moira Kirland
Directed by Perry Lang

In which Allison has dreams related to a son lost to “miscarriage” fifteen years earlier, and the visions intersect with a teenage boy linked to a murder victim she herself found…


Not far into the episode, I began wondering if this little detail of Allison’s history should have come up during “Raising Cain”. In both cases, despite some obvious differences, the story centered on motherhood and what kind of young man a boy might have become. I’m not sure how exactly it would have worked out, but it definitely left an impression. This is especially true since Allison and Joe have dealt with a lot of “growing up” issues when it comes to Ariel and Bridget this season.

The writers used the concept well, especially once the initial discomfort level wore away. Instead of dwelling on Allison’s specific feelings of guilt, those emotions were translated into actions that were painfully out of order. Allison was willing to make excuses for Jessie because she couldn’t help but protect her “son”, even if she didn’t really understand why.

That being the case, I wanted Devalos to challenge her a bit more on the situation. Devalos is a hard guy to get a handle on, because sometimes he can be very open with his praise and criticism, yet reserved when it’s least expected. Given how politically charged the case was, and how Allison acted in front of the deputy mayor, I was waiting for Devalos to take her to task for it. There was the disapproving glare, but not much else.

It was easy enough to tell that Jessie wasn’t the killer, but I was surprised by the direction of the final act. The baby-stealing angle just adds to the moral quandary for Allison, which reinforces her sense of character. When it counted, she stepped back from her emotional attachments to the case and did the right thing. My only real complaint is that she once again confronts a suspect on her own. It’s better that she does it on more secure turf, but wouldn’t there be legal considerations involved?

As far as the subplot with the dog goes, it was interesting to place Joe in a position of emotional loss in parallel to Allison’s emotional state. In a way, if Allison was too open about how her emotions were affected by memories of a lost child, Joe was too guarded and transferred a lot of his regrets onto Bridget regarding the loss of the dog. It’s something we all can understand in our family dynamics, and so it further personalizes the story for the audience. It’s another reason why this series continues to resonate with its fans.

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

Final Rating: 8/10