Medium 2.20: "The Darkness is Light Enough"

Written by Nicolas Wauters and Analisa Brouet
Directed by Aaron Lipstadt


A lot was made of Molly Ringwald’s guest appearance in this episode, but frankly, I didn’t see what all the fanfare was about. Sure, she did a good job with the part, and the promotion wasn’t really her fault, but why couldn’t the producers let the performance speak for itself? It was all a bit much, especially since Molly’s character was only in a few scenes. (I have the same worry over Kesley Grammer’s upcoming appearance.)

Anyway, this episode had a solid plot, even if it was easy to figure out that Kathleen was blind. But as usual, there was something that bugged me, and it was amplified by Scanlon’s reactions. Allison has been working for Devalos for almost two years. How often has she been proven wrong? And this was a relatively straightforward scenario. Given how useful Allison has been in terms of getting to the truth of a matter, why question her instincts so adamantly?

For that matter, Scanlon acts like an idiot in this episode. Even if Kathleen’s complaints are hard to understand, he can’t be so unaware of the issues raised by the circumstances. Kathleen said enough to be convincing (especially since she clearly indicated unwanted physical contact), and he should have been able to wrap his brain around the feelings of violation that Kathleen had to be feeling. I found his protestations to be rather weak and out of character.

On the other hand, I liked Joe’s little subplot, because who hasn’t been in that kind of position at work before? Especially in the engineering world, this sort of thing is all too routine. When push comes to shove and people need to be let go, the competition can be fierce. I only have one particular quibble with how this is presented. If Joe was already a senior VP in an engineering firm, it’s highly unlikely that he would be the one burning the midnight oil. He could simply be the kind of person who prefers to do things himself when his job is on the line, but in my engineering experience, people at that level will force their direct reports to work 24/7, rather than did it themselves. (If they are there so late, it’s more about documentation and presentation, or more likely, the review thereof prior to the actual meeting.)

Overall, it was a good enough episode, but something felt like it was missing. As usual, I like the portrayal of a couple with a healthy sex life (even if they are still more affectionate and active than most couples I know), but to be honest, the final scene bugged me. I hate it when I can tell how the actors are jumping into a scene; it’s better when the editor has a little more to work with, so the scene is more natural from the beginning. But who knows? Maybe that was a quick pick-up at the end of a very long shoot!

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

Final Rating: 6/10