Medium – The biohazard boogeyman

This episode was strangely well timed for me. I spent the last week battling a particularly nasty bug, and practicing my cough just like Joe. That all served to make the biohazard angle all the more creepy. It was helped along by the fact that the story behind it was rather clever, even if the real bad guy was obvious from jump street. And if all of that wasn’t enough, the writers delivered a really good Lee & Lynn scene as a bonus, complete with an adorable baby. It was a good way to head into the holiday break.

Starting with the biohazard story, I really liked the setup. I didn’t think much of it when Allison turned down the invitation to go to the briefing on FV39, but that carried a lot of weight as it muddled her reaction to the dream and prolonged the suspense. We all knew what she saw, but she had no frame of reference. Had she been to the briefing, the story would have taken a decidedly different path.

Matt Letscher, as Erik Westphal, was a fun bit of casting. I couldn’t help thinking of him as the evil Nathan Stone. And it was obvious from the beginning that he was evil, right? If he didn’t give you the wiggins at the briefing, then the long shot down the DuBois hallway looking at him in his hazmat suit had to throw up a few flags. I assumed that he was just cashing out and retiring by selling the FV39 to those unsavory customers. Using it as a scare to get government funding for his company was a nice twist.

The one bit of the story that gave me pause was Allison’s confrontation with Westphal. I get so nervous for her when she goes off on her own like that. She knows this guy is a murderer. I’m of the belief that putting your head in the lion’s mouth is better left to the experts. Is it such a wild thought to think someone capable of murdering their lover/coworker might also keep a handgun handy? Still, crazy as that was, the wrap-up to the story was very good as things ‘worked out’ just like Joe said they would.

Elsewhere, I really liked the Lee & Lynn story. Bridgette’s dream set it up very well, and the phone call that caught Lynn in a lie made the situation really look dire. The eventual confrontation, with the dueling engagement rings, was very well done, and made for a very sweet moment. If I could change one thing about Medium it would be to give more screen time to Lee. At this point, the character has really earned it. That’ll do it for Medium in 2009. See you back here in 2010.

Clacked by Brett Love
on Dec 05, 2009 @ 15:55 EST5EDT