Medium 2.18: "S.O.S."

Written by Rob Pearlstein
Directed by Tim Squyres

In which Allison begins dreaming about young women in need of assistance, later found murdered, and risks exposing her gift to her children and the public in the process…


“Medium” continues to be the kind of show that delivers nearly every time it airs, but it’s not important enough for the network to air it consistently. I haven’t seen too many episodes that have left me unsatisfied. This was another good one, because the situation threatened to expose Allison’s gift in ways that would be non-ideal, to say the least.

Also, this is the first time, if I recall correctly, that Allison spoke to Ariel and Bridget about her abilities and what that really means for her and them. Throughout the process, Joe was very supportive, but it was clearly weighing on him, because once they take that step, there’s really no going back. Other episodes this season, of course, made it clear that the daughters will have to understand what’s happening sooner rather than later.

For a long while, I was under the impression that the killer was tapping into the 911 service to find his victims, so when they brought up the idea that the killer was a psychic, I was a bit taken aback. Not because of the idea itself, but the fact that I hadn’t considered it. It makes a lot of sense in retrospect, since for every upstanding member of the psychic community, there’s probably someone ready to use the gift for immoral purposes.

That said, I still wouldn’t want to live in this version of Arizona. Apparently everyone in the state is a cop, a lawyer, a psychic, a killer, or some combination thereof. The murder rate alone is impossible to believe! It’s little wonder that the DA election was so important. Do they ever get to sleep in that office?

Considering that this is a series without a clear sense of evolution, working without any general arc structure, it’s gratifying when there’s some kind of progress. Now that immoral and even murderous psychics have emerged in the course of the series, it would be interesting to see one of the daughters developing a misuse of the gift. After all, one of the best aspects of the series is the depiction of a normal family with an unusual situation, and one of the hardest parts of the parenting process is teaching right from wrong.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10