Chances are that you’ve noticed the Leno/Conan shenanigans going on at NBC over the past couple days. There are a host of interesting sides to that story, but as I sat down to watch the new Medium Friday night, one stood out. As executives try to hammer out a plan for what they’re going to do with the 10PM hour when they pull Leno, you know one of them had to think, “Damn, it sure would be nice to have Medium in our back pocket for mid-season.” The decision to cancel Medium was a curious one last spring, and it’s only looking worse as the season moves along. As the NBC suits watch Heroes fail to reach 5 million viewers, Medium just keeps cruising right along, steady as ever, even on Friday night. Of course, much of that is owed to the fact that the show is still very good, as we saw with quite a twist in the 2010 premiere.
It’s funny, but halfway through “An Everlasting Love” I was sure that Joe and Keith were going to be my favorite part of the show, thanks to their awkward and fumbling friendship. The case of the week certainly started out well enough, with an interesting spin on the classic “The call is coming from inside the house” bit. But it seemed to lose a little steam once Jeremy (Pablo Schreiber) was dead. Ah, but seemed is the operative word there. For a moment, it looked like clingy-boyfriend-Jeremy was going to serve as an annoyance to Allison, more than anything else. That all changed with the big reveal when Mandy (Jess Weixler) opened the hat box. I totally didn’t see that one coming.
That level of OMG surprise is an increasingly hard thing to find on television these days. Watch enough crime-time and even when you don’t know whodunit, more often than not they are on your radar. That was not the case this week. The writers completely sold me on Jeremy’s innocence by killing him, and I never even suspected Mandy. Well done. Their story also offered up two more fascinating moments. First, that weird as could be music video montage with Jeremy and Mandy being so happy together. And also Allison’s trap that paid off so well, as we saw in her “good dream.” I was also excited to see Alexie Gilmore, because as short-lived as it was, I really liked New Amsterdam.
Now, back to Joe and Keith. They were eventually overshadowed by Mandy’s reveal, but I just can’t say enough good things about the two of them together. Keith is just so weird, and so socially awkward. He’s the perfect contrast for “regular” Joe. That one came as a bit of a surprise for me as well. I was sure that Joe was going to hate the book, but thought the rub would be in Keith trying to get the honest critique out of Joe, not his reaction to actually receiving it. The highlight of the whole thing was the look on Joe’s face during the performance review as he read the word back, “Diffuse.” Ha! I’ll look forward to seeing more of Keith, and am hopeful that we’ll get to see him over at the house, dealing with the girls.
So, with that, we welcome Medium to 2010. NBC’s loss is our, and CBS’s, gain. Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season will bring.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Jan 09, 2010 @ 09:11 EST5EDT
I have a feeling that within 2 years CBS will cancel Medium to make room for another spinoff and that the show will move back to NBC. lol
ROFL, I’m betting MEDIUM is looking pretty good to NBC right now and they are just kicking themselves with how things turned out for them. Suckers. Nevertheless, even if they still had this show, chances are they probably still would’ve been neglecting it. That aside, last night’s episode was fantastic! The perfect balance of humor and misdirection.
I didnt had a oh wow moment at all, I guess they were a killer team when the dead guy show her the dream of his “perfect” relationship.
since last year plots are so often predictable but oh well the show has run so many years that its not surprising.