Medium Dreams

Medium Liveblogging: A Couple of Choices (MED-003)

by Sheila on October 2nd, 2006

Episode Name: A Couple of Choices
Episode Number: 003 (1.03)
MED-003 Summary | All Episodes

A young couple appears to be in the midst of a marital counseling session. The female therapist is encouraging the husband to do something he has wanted to do to his wife for a long time but didn’t because he thought she wouldn’t understand. She tells him to stand up and face his wife.

He does so, which puts her face level with his…er, nether region. He lifts his shirt and it looks like he’s going to undo his jeans. Something he’s wanted to do for a long time but didn’t think his wife would understand? Are they really going to do this on prime-time TV?

Holy crap! He just pulled out a gun and blew his wife’s brains out!

* * *

Allison: I just had the weirdest dream.

Joe: Of course you did. It’s a day that ends in “y.”

As Joe showers, Allison tells him it is foolish to plan a surprise birthday party for someone like her. He takes advantage of this and asks her to pick up the party supplies. How rude!

* * *

Detective Scanlon is on his cell phone at a crime scene. Hey lookie, David Cubitt joins the cast!

Whoops. Looks like Detective Scanlon is out of his jurisdiction. He just hung up on the dispatcher, claiming a bad connection. When she calls back to ask if she can put the lieutenant through, he says “Sure” and promptly hangs up again. Naughty naughty, detective Scanlon.

D.A. Duvalos arrives and wants to know why he has been called since 1) Scanlon is out of his jurisdiction, and 2) this is a murder-suicide with no need for a prosecutor or a detective. Uh-oh, he says Scanlon is on the verge of being suspended. Wonder what that’s all about.

As Duvalos turns to leave, Scanlon holds up a DVD of Bowling for Columbine, “The Gone With The Wind of gun-control movies,” and asks what an anti-NRA couple would be doing with an unregistered, loaded 32 in their apartment.

Scanlon: This is like the other ones, Manny. They’re connected.

Duvalos: Yeah. But why are you the only one who sees it?

What is connected? Who is this Detective Scanlon anyway? And…Manny?

* * *

Tags: episode 3, liveblogging, medium, medium nbc, medium recap, season 1

Duvalos asks Allison to see if she can get anything from the crime scene. His friend Scanlon is pushing him to call the mayor to form a task force to look into a string of deaths, deaths he is obsessed with. It is destroying his career.

Duvalos: He sees a crime where others just see personal turmoil. He sees a pattern where others see only random tragedy.

Scanlon only knows Allison is someone Duvalos trusts and nothing about her psychic abilities. That’s probably a good thing. He doesn’t seem like the type to believe in psychics.

Up in the apartment, the bodies are covered in sheets soaked with blood where the faces would be. Ick! Scanlon tells Allison it is a young married couple found shot to death. The coroner thinks the husband put a bullet in the wife’s head and then shot himself but Scanlon thinks differently. In the past 27 months, there have 3 cases of supposed murder-suicides among couples married little more than a year. He thinks they are related.

He then proceeds to give Allison a buttload of attitude. Just when I decide I officially don’t like him, he says the first couple was his sister and her husband. Aw crap. I can’t hate him, now. Besides, he is kind of cute. If you like them gruff and surly and a big pain in the ass.

Allison asks to be alone with the bodies, so of course one of the blood-stained face outlines starts breathing after Scanlon leaves. Euw. The lights suddenly go out and then the therapist from Allison’s dream is there saying, “Nice to see you again” and going on about what a wonderful job they did. Killing themselves? A wonderful job? Creepy!

The therapist says she isn’t a real person, just energy left behind by the dead couple. (Creepy energy!) Apparently their souls are still in shock or they would speak to Allison themselves. She says it is important to them that Allison understands this happened because each loved the other more than life itself.

The lights return and for some reason Allison feels the need to pull each sheet back so we see all the blood and gore. I DID NOT NEED TO SEE THAT. As she turns from the gruesome sight, she sees the couple’s beautiful wedding portrait hanging on the wall. Sad.

Back at the D.A.’s office, Allison tells Scanlon and Duvalos she agrees there was a third person there, that they did not do that to themselves.

Scanlon is ecstatic: So what’d you pick up, a third set of fingerprints? A hair sample? Maybe something about the wound?

Allison and Duvalos exchange an uncomfortable glance before Duvalos explains Allison’s…unconventional…methods.

Scanlon: Oh crap, shoot me now. Do I have the word Jackass stenciled across my forehead? How is putting me together with Milli Vanilli the Psychic going to get me a task force?

Allison barks back, telling him he is a Jackass without the Jack, and convinces him to at least give her the crime scene photos from the other 3 cases since she is the only task force he’s going to get. Rock on, sista!

Back at the ranch, Allison looks through the gruesome photos and whines to Joe about what a butthead Scanlon is before going to bed and…having another dream, of course! This one takes the form of a series of black and while crime scene photos shown in flashes.

The next day, she tells Duvalos and Scanlon the husband’s photo was always shown first, which tells her the husband was killed first. Duvalos counters that the husband was always found with a gun in his hand covered with blowback and powder residue, so he could not possibly have died first. Scanlon jumps in with several snarky comments and generally behaves in a less than gentleman-like manner.

Duvalos: You two are clearly not meant to work with each other. Lee, she’s right. You are an ass.

Lucky for Duvalos, he gets called to the third precinct across town and has to leave. It turns out there was a homicide last night and they have a guy in custody, only they don’t know if he’s a victim or the perpetrator.

Duvalos watches him through two-way glass as he babbles about some guy in his house wearing a ski mask and pointing a gun at his wife. The gunman says he’s a social scientist and tells him to shoot his wife. If he shoots her, he gets to live. Otherwise the gunman will shoot them both. The husband ended up pulling the trigger but nothing happened. The gunman says, “Congratulations, you’re the only one to ever do it.” He then shoots the wife, hands the husband the real gun, and leaves.

Whoa. This sounds familiar. Duvalos calls Allison and Scanlon.

That poor husband! He is one messed up dude. I know it’s a tragedy, but he is hilarious with his babbling. He knows they think he did it. But he didn’t do it. Only he really did, but there were no bullets in the gun. So he knows the cops think he did do it. The real bad guy is pretty smart to set it up that way, isn’t he? Then he finally shuts up.

He doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going, that one.

Scanlon invites Allison to the crime scene. For heaven’s sake why, if she is the anti-christ as he seems to think? Ah, one of the points he belittled Allison for earlier was her comment there were always 3 people at each crime scene except for his sister’s, where there were 4. He tells Allison he remembered later his sister was pregnant. Not a complete convert, perhaps, but coming along nicely.

They enter the crime scene and Scanlon comments on a wedding portrait handing on the wall, saying her really likes those. Hm. Wedding portrait at the earlier crime scene. Allison dreams in photos with flashes. Wedding portrait at this crime scene. And hey, look! Allison sees a bunch of camera flashes when she views the wife’s body in the bedroom. She scampers outside for fresh air, where Scanlon joins her and behaves rather gentleman-like. How refreshing.

Allison tells him about the flashes and dreaming in pictures, at which point Scanlon jumps up and races inside. When Allison catches up with him, he is examining the wedding portrait and following an “instinct.”

* * *

Child-hair-combing drama at home and Allison intercepts an RSVP message from one of Joe’s co-workers about her surprise party. We saw Joe set that call up earlier. I’m confused. Is there a surprise party or isn’t there? Oh nice, he has invited everyone to their house and expects Allison to clean all day to get ready for her own birthday party. The one she’s not supposed to know about. Niiiiice.

Scanlon calls to say the same photographer did the wedding portraits for all of the apparent murder-suicide couples and would Allison like to join him tomorrow to pay him a visit?

Allison: Work? Tomorrow? (Looking at Joe with a grin) Absolutely…(now looking sheepish) as long as I’m home before 8:00.

* * *

Wowser! Some big burly cops just busted down the photographer’s door. There’s no photographer in sight but he has enlarged photos of the dead couples plastered on his walls in giant montages displayed like art. They find files on all the dead couples with hundreds of contact sheets showing their comings and goings. He studied them, the sicko.

Duvalos: He’d give them a year of marriage and then, just after their first anniversaries…

One of the cops interrupts to show them several work-in-progress files. As they wonder which couple is next, Allison walks over and pulls a file out of the stack.

Allison: This one. Tonight.

Scanlon: How the hell do you know that?

Allison: Your sister told me.

* * *

A terrified woman sits in a chair at gunpoint. We see only the gun as the front door opens and a man enters wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase. We don’t see his face.

Gunman: Welcome home. We’ve been waiting for you. Close the door please and step into the room where we can see you. We’re conducting an experiment, a social experiment, and your lovely bride and I would both very much like for you to participate –

Scanlon enters the room.

Gunman: Who are you?

Scanlon, pulling his gun and pointing it at the bad guy: I’m Detective Lee Scanlon with the Phoenix Police and you’re under arrest for the murder of my sister Lorraine. Now drop that gun and I’ll read you your rights. (pause) Or you could try something stupid and we’ll get a priest in here and read you a different set of rights.

Bad guy thinks for a bit as several more cops enter behind Scanlon and raise their weapons. Bad guy finally drops the gun and talks as Scanlon reads him his rights.

Gunman: That was an absolutely fascinating display. You so obviously wanted to kill me, and easily could have, and yet convention and society and a host of other outside forces convinced you that your own survival depended upon your ability to suppress the desire for revenge and let me live…and that’s fascinating. I’m glad I was here to see it.

* * *

Allison foregos celebratory drinks with the boys to go home and pretend to be surprised for her birthday…only to get home to an empty house. Hm. Where are all the party goers? Where are the girls? Where’s Joe? She lies down on her bed looking confused, but then Joe comes in and tells her he is really taking her to Mexico for the weekend for her birthday. SURPRISE!

Allison: I don’t know if I can get ready that fast!

Joe tells her to get a move on because their ride just arrived (beep beep!) and the plane leaves in exactly one hour. As he goes down to make sure the champagne is chilling “and gloat to myself that I finally put one over on you,” Allison…stays prone on the bed?

Allison: I’M PACKING AS FAST AS I CAN. (still lying on the bed)

After a bit, she gets up and pulls an already packed suitcase from under the bed, all the while yelling down to Joe that she can’t believe he did this to her, she hopes she didn’t forget anything, just wait until his birthday comes…

I guess Joe really didn’t put one over on Allison after all, but isn’t it nice that he has no idea?

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