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Episode Recap: Burn Baby Burn II
There’s only one thing worse than the sound of nails on a blackboard - the dentist drill. That has got to be one of the worse sounds in the entire universe. And we were all lucky enough to hear it in the opening sequence of Medium.
For the second half of a two-part arch, this was a rather lackluster Medium and a let down from the excitement of last week’s episode. I knew last week that Graham hadn’t killed his wife. So why drag it out here? Besides, aren’t most crimes “all about the Benjamins”? Once you knew there was a large insurance policy, (and really, how much is the monthly payment on $7 million?), you had to know that it went farther than the husband.
“Now your mouth is ready for anything,” the dentist quipped before pummeling poor Sally in her newly designed mouth. Tell me something, is this show getting more violent? Or has it always been this way and I just never noticed? It also seems that it is terribly violent towards women. I mean, they’re always beating up some girl, or gagging one and throwing her in the trunk of the car, locking her into a fabricated house.
I was truly proud of Allison when Van Dyke extended his hand to her and she folded her arms and refused him. That’s our girl. Once again, Van Dyke proved his smarminess. But the smarmier a person, the harder they fall. Even though Manny shook his hand earlier, once he knew the DA was charging his client with murder, he commanded Van Dyke to, “Take your hand off my shoulder.” That’s our Manny.
Second in smarminess was the dentist. Blech. He was quick to point out his dalliances with the hooker, Sally. (Somehow forgetting to mention the complete dental overhaul he gave her.) When asked about whether he knew Mary Stacy, he replied, “Lovely lady. Lots of fun.” It was the way he said it that creeped me out. I knew right then he had been in cahoots with her for the $7 mill.
My favorite scene was Scanlon and Devalos in a screaming match. It was kind of fun to see them at each other’s throats. It was probably the most interesting part of the whole show. Later when Lee broke into Manny’s office, I thought they might start getting along until Scanlon said he might hold sway with the DA, and Manny looked him right in the eye and sarcastically commented, “Really, you? Influence?” As if to say, “Ha!”
My second favorite scene was with Joe’s mom, Marjorie, playing with Joe’s hair. It was such a sweet thing. The story she told about Joe’s birth, (which was far from true), told us so much about their relationship; I found it loving. So it wasn’t a stretch that Joe felt his mother was hiding something from him. You could tell it nearly killed Allison not to say anything about what she knew.
It was hard to understand how Allison could keep the news of Joe's mother’s illness from him. When she finally addressed it, she was having trouble holding it in. Keeping secrets is not part of the Dubois family creed. Marjorie had only told her first so she could get a reading from Allison as to the outcome of her surgery. It broke both of their hearts that Allison wasn’t dreaming about her, (this disheartened Allison and she referred to herself as a “psychic schmichic”). However, in an absolute show of selflessness, Allison invented a dream that would comfort Marjorie before the surgery. She also reminded Marjorie that she needed to tell Joe. I think his mom was OK telling him once she thought she was going to be OK. It’s hard not to love that Dubois family. They bend over backwards not to hurt one another.
Devalos delivered one of the best lines of the show responding to the blunt force trauma the burn victim had endured: “In my experience, people don’t often strike themselves before committing suicide.
Cynthia had little to do, but what she did do brought the whole case home and helped Devalos show that nasty Van Dyke just how it’s done. Though I would like to know how she got to Barcelona and back that quickly. (Remember, Allison asked her about her passport.) And even if she just called the authorities in Spain, how did they get Mary back to the states that fast. Did I miss something?
Joe’s dad keeps popping up. It was hilarious that he was sitting up in bed when Allison woke up, smoking his stogy. I cracked up when he referred to having to attend the “orientation,” when he first got to Heaven. They should keep him around. He’s a hoot.
Speaking of Heaven, another new Medium is around the corner. To keep your whistle whet until next Monday, watch some Medium clips in our Online Video Guide.
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Mar 18, 2008 2:04 AM
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This was a big disappointment for me. I, of course, liked Joe's dad being in it at the end. And I liked the fun scene with Mom, Allison and Joe talking about his birth, but really, that's about it.
So predictable and not done all that well. Yes, this season has been terribly violent and involves kids a lot, but that tells me they've lost something when they have to go to shocking lengths to keep interest. Boo.
Good recap, Paula. Yes, indeedy, what must a monthly payment be on a 7 million dollar insurance policy? And, I too, wondered how they got that woman there so fast from Barcelona. It was too unfinished.
Those NBC promos have got to go!!! Ariel had a very very small part in this, psychic-wise, and certainly nothing was a surprise. We were led to believe that Allison and Ariel would really have a large part in solving this together, when that part of it was actually about 5 minutes of the episode.
Next week looks interesting. I'm hanging in there, but my interest is definitely waning.
Oh.....and the worst scene, in my opinion? When the dentist set the fire and the music that played was ridiculous. What should have been a horrific scene actually was so hokey that I snickered.
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Mar 18, 2008 3:35 AM
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I didn't think it was such a bad episode at all--perhaps not a classic, but I'm very rarely disappointed by "Medium", and I was fine with this episode.
My only confusion concerning Cynthia (whom I'll never like, and wish they'd write her out of the show) is how she managed to find exactly where Mary was in Barcelona. It's a big city, no?
Perhaps the resolution was a bit quick and tidy, but I did like the final courtroom scene.
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Mar 18, 2008 8:27 AM
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I kinda liked this episode. Did anybody busted out laughing when Allison decided to go to Cynthia's at 4 in the morn, and telling her daughter, "Yeah, she loves it when I do that." Sorry for the misquote.
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Mar 18, 2008 8:58 AM
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This show usually keeps me guessing but, as soon as I heard about the $7 million and saw the dentist in Mary's house, I figured it out...didn't take much effort...LOL! The music during the burning suquence was over the top...made the scene "light" when it should have been "dark"...they could have used Nip/Tuck's or Supernatural's music team for that sequence. I think they said something about court reconvening in 30 hours, so that would have given Cynthia time to fly R/T. I also seem to remember that the postcard was from a hotel (I could be wrong, of course), which would lead them right to Mary and her dentist. A weak episode, but I still love this show!
Terrific recap, Paula...thanks!
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Mar 18, 2008 9:16 AM
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My only disappointment with the episode was how long it took Allison to put the pieces together, well that and the fact that my DVR dropped this ep from it's schedule and I noticed after the show had been on 15 minutes. I thought at least when Joe reminded her about the work the dentist did on the street walker would have made the lightbulb go off.
On to what I found interesting or liked. This episode showed the 2 types of psychic dreams. The litteral one with the dentist and Ariels symbolic one. The dream wasn't that she committed suicide so much as that she was responsible for her son thinking that she burned to death. Because of these 2 types it makes things much more difficult when telling others. Had to love the Perry Mason type of court scene. Not only did Manny get his client off, but he also hand delivered the guilty parties. I agree about the un-reality of the fast turnaround flying to Spain, finding her and returning her under arrest seems strange (extradition usually takes days or weeks). It would have been better to have had her in Mexico, so she could have been driven over the boarder after being caught. Cynthia should get some reward from the insurance company seeing as how she saved them 7 million dollars.
I havent found anything to confirm this, but I still feel that some of this seasons episodes have been shown out of order. This one feels more like it should have been before the one from a couple weeks ago when Manny decided to run for DA again. This would be the type of case that would attract the attention of someone powerful. There have been other things too, anyone else get the same feeling?
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Mar 18, 2008 9:59 AM
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Ugh, how ridiculously disappointing.
First, I find it odd that a dentist could alter a woman's teeth, immediately kill her (thus no healing time), and she'd pass for a much older woman somehow. Then the final stupidity where Cynthia miraculously flies to Barcelona, immediately locates Mary, and somehow manages to get her instantly extradited to the US WITHOUT THE DA'S INVOLVEMENT. Love to know how that works. Then that ridiculous Ta-Da scene where the evil dentist and Mary are paraded into the courtroom. Uh, exactly how does the legal system work in Allison's AZ? You can apparently arrest/extradite suspects without the DA or the chief detective knowing about it; then you get to pull them out of jail in order to make a dramatic entrance in a courtroom.
Stupid, utterly, hopelessly stupid.
I loved that Lee and Manny were in this ep. I loved that Grant Shaud gave a uber-creepy performance. I remain hopelessly devoted to Joe, my imaginary TV husband. The story, though, was beyond absurd.
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Mar 18, 2008 10:06 AM
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I was fine with the whole episode. I thought that it was very entertaining even though I had the dentist pegged about 15 minutes into the show.
The part I loved was just how bad Mannny made the current DA look when he brought the presumed dead woman into court. There is no way that the DA will be able to win an election after thqt boneheaded move!
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Mar 18, 2008 11:19 AM
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I actually figured out what happened last week. The insurance just let me know I was right. I did think Ariel would have a bigger part this week. I was also hoping the acting DA would be made to look so bad he would have to quit. I want Devalos back as the DA. The last episode was more interesting.
I did wonder how they got the woman back from Barcelona but figured I missed something.
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Mar 18, 2008 1:03 PM
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I'll grant that Cynthia being able to get to Barcelona, track down and bring back the evil unmurdered wife in less than 30 hours was pretty ridiculous. Particularly so, when you consider the expense involved in that sort of caper and that doing so would get her no closer to proving that Sally was dead. Does her organization get something if they find a corpse anyway? I loved Allison telling Ariel that Cynthia LOVES when she goes there early. And I was glad to hear that Joe doesn't like her. I don't like her either, but there hasn't been any indication that Alison or anyone else didn't like her so I've always felt like I should be looking for something to really like in her. Haven't found it yet regardless of the fact that she's looking for lost kids. Hopefully next week we'll find her kid [the real reason she's looking for lost kids] and she can ride off into the sunset never to sully our sweet Alison again.
Otherwise I thought the episode was about the same as all the others. The mystery is never hard to figure out, its the resolution that's fun.
I hope Joe's Mom doesn't die, but I hope she doesn't become even semi-regular. I usually like that actress but there was just something rather pathetic about her. Plus the way Alison spoke to her was a little strange, like they were practically strangers or perhaps like she was talking to a child. Not sure exactly what vibe I was getting, just that it didn't ring natural to the relationship of mother/daughter-in-law.
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Mar 18, 2008 4:32 PM
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Thanks CSLeTree, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who figured it out LAST week and had it confirmed as soon as the insurance policy was mentioned. What a let down for a 2-parter, to figure it out inside of the first 30 minutes. Then have it end with that ridiculous courtroom scene with the "dead" wife being brought back from Barcelona inside of 30 hours!!! Definitely NOT up to Medium's standards. This epi must have been finished in a BIG HURRY immediately prior to the writers' strike because that kind of sloppiness should not be allowed in any show, let alone a show usually as good as Medium.
Here's hoping next weeks epi is MUCH better.
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Mar 18, 2008 4:47 PM
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Someone posted the spoiler last week.
My question is why would the dentist have told the police, yeah I was out trolling for prostitutes, when he had murdered one.
Dumb move.
My favorite part of the episode was Allison telling a 'white lie' to her mother in law since she did not have a dream, and her father in law explaining, to Allison that in the training they didn't work magic to get the family safe as a guardian angel.
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Mar 18, 2008 4:48 PM
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I give 3.5 (out of 4) stars to Part I because there has been better episodes of Medium in prior seasons. Since this episode was such a disappointment, I give 1.5 stars to Part II for being so predictable and not well made.
Also, how could Scanlon and the DA pin the blame on the husband with the life insurance policy, when beneficiaries and terms are always listed on such policies???
How does a private investigator get a suspect from a foreign country without extradition papers signed by a judge and/or legal authority and without the trial judge knowing???
The best scene was Allison waking up with Joe's dad sitting on her bed.
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Mar 18, 2008 5:59 PM
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Definitely weak, especially for a two parter. And I agree that the whole bring them back from Spain in secret was far fetched.
OTOH, am very glad that we are back to catching the bad guys and seeing them punished. Those shows where Allison figured out "who done it" but they walked away were starting to really get to me.
Allison's white lie was a cheap save, but I had been expecting one of the girls to have a dream for real with similar content. Would have been a great way to give Bridgette some air time, or even bring the littlest one in as having the gift as well.
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Mar 18, 2008 6:06 PM
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I doubt Ms Keener actually WENT to Spain, I think Allison was being facetious. All Cynthia would have to do is send a photo of the supposedly dead woman to the Barcelona police, and tell them that she's wanted for murder and faking her death. The police would send out investigators with her picture and since she wouldn't be hiding (since everyone thinks she died in Phoenix) it probably wouldn't take too long to track her down.
At 4am, Allison was told she had 30 hours. Let's say she got to Cynthia's at 6am, and Cynthia got everything to Barcelona in 2 hours (I'm not sure on the time difference, but I think it'd be like 11 hours ahead there.) The Barcelona police got investigators on it after another 2 hours. Let's say it took them 8 hours to track her down (again, she wouldn't be hiding so finding her probably wouldn't be that tough.) The flight would be about 10 hours. That still allows 6 hours to process her to be immediately expedited to the US.
So, I don't have an issue with the time, but wouldn't the DA have been informed that she was to be expedited to the US? Unless Cynthia's group could have done it without involving the local police force and only using the FBI (which would probably be in charge of such an international transfer.)
The rest of the episode was ok, only because we had all figured it out last week. I really liked the mom's hair playing and the father's comments though. Good stuff there!
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Mar 18, 2008 6:26 PM
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