Medium Review: Second Opinion
Brett’s review of Second Opinion (MED-050) is up at TVSquad.
EXCERPT – I especially liked his crazy time-twisting argument against the mangled Mr. Snookie being the anchor that proves the clouds of doom are hovering. The great thing about Joe is that he is able to get his side of things across, all the while keeping his concern for Allison in mind. He doesn’t just cave, and he doesn’t just go baby her. It’s a very complex and interesting relationship. Full review
More from me later but I leave you with the quote of the week, which came from Joe:
Everything is fine…until it isn’t. Then you deal with it.
Amen, brother.
Tags: med-050, medium, medium nbc, medium review, second opinion
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7 opinions for Medium Review: Second Opinion
Betty
Feb 22, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Brett wrote another great review! So nice to see “Medium” mentioned elsewhere in a positive light!
Yes, the episode offered another great opportunity for Jake Weber to do a little more, although sometimes, at this point, I wish they would argue more about everyday stuff people argue about like Allison spent too much on a dress for Ariel, or she didn’t write her checks down in the check book or something besides him arguing with Allison about not following her gut. Yes, he made some good points here, but he’s got to know, Allison is gonna do what she’s gonna do, no matter how illogical it sounds to him.
Scanlon was a little subdued in this episode - notice how when he was speaking to the Medical Examiner he made no smart alecky comments back to her, never raised his voice, and even said, “please”. Maybe it was the grief.
I wish they had spent a little less time on the Marie dying thing and spent a little more on Scanlon and what was going on with him. For example, we don’t even know how he knew this Gary and how he came to sponsor him in NA. How did they meet? How did he help him to get clean besides getting him to go to NA? I just would have liked a little more here.
Plus, for me, the scene with Scanlon in the apartment with the roommate was way too dark, at least for me. David Cubitt is such a fine and nuanced actor, you must be able to see his eyes and face for even the smallest changes, and I couldn’t see any of that because it was so dark.
I did like the fact that when Allison was in the conference room by herself, and Scanlon finds her and tells her “you’ve got probably 55 While You Were Out sticky notes on your cubicle. I think you should call your husband.” One of the few humorous notes in tonight’s show. Clever, how Scanlon put the housing people together with the testing. I do like how Scanlon is always concerned about Allison and asking her if she is OK and if it’s OK to ask her a question when she is obviously distracted.
It was a nice touch when Scanlon had Allison at the station to meet the roommate and she tells him she got nothing that has anything to do with his friend and she leaves - did you notice how long Scanlon looks in her direction after she leaves? Maybe it was his instinct telling him she knew more than she thought. She didn’t tell him what was going on, which is unusual for her because she will usually open up, especially to him.
Allison is usually way more compassionate with others than she was in tonight’s episode. She was so consumed with Marie and her dream, she didn’t even try to comfort Scanlon on the loss of his friend.
The writers are being very creative in the way Allison finds out information and it’s also nice to feature other people and their dreams - although I would classify Scanlon’s dream of having DiNovi there to comfort him as a nightmare!
Brett
Feb 23, 2007 at 4:43 pm
That’s a great point about how Scanlon had met the kid. Now that you mention it, I would like more on that story as well.
I’m not sure about the apartment scene being dark though. It seemed fine to me. Maybe differences in our TVs?
Sheila
Feb 23, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Me three, about more Scanlon backstory. In the episode when he first joined the show, Devalos described his as a friend. How did that relationship come about, I wonder.
Holly
Feb 23, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Interesting episode, though I did have it figured out much sooner than Allison (that doesn’t really bother me, though). You have to forgive them sometimes and just look past it, because I enjoyed this episode. It wasn’t as good as “The One Behind the Wheel” last week, but not every episode can. I am not as big of a Scanlon fan as I am a Joe fan, but he’s still a really great character. I like seeing more Scanlon, and I actually kinda like him with DiNovi (don’t attack me). Tina DiJoseph is not the world’s best actress, but I still like the interesting thing she has with Scanlon. I’d like to see more of with them as well as more of his back story. The way they exposed that is was the new house, not the old one, was cleverly done. The acting was superb, as always. Next week’s episode looks good. It’s a continuation of one of my favorite episodes of season 2, “SOS”. I can’t wait!
Betty
Feb 26, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Holly, seriously, you need to rethink that DiNovi/Scanlon thing. He can have something interesting with someone else - preferrably someone who is a better actress. Are we really ready for a “happy” Scanlon? The angst keeps his edge, keeps his occasional snide comments going.
Kidding aside, he seems pretty happy most of the time. Like most people, when he isn’t busy is when he feels the most alone. After all, he spends all this time with Allison and her family, so I think he actually notices more the deficit in his life.
With the job he has and the hours he works, being on call at night, on the weekend - after all, most murders seems to take place after dark and escalate on the weekends, too, so that keeps him tied up. It’s hard to find someone who can understand those kind of hours and the dedication it takes to do that kind of job.
Holly
Feb 26, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Sure, DiNovi would not have been my first choice for Scanlon, but it’s who the writers picked and who they have put all the focus on with Scanlon. I just think it would just feel fake for them to bring someone else in. She needs to get over all of her issues, he needs to get over some of his (there’s some angst for you) and then they can be there to support each other in eventual happiness. I can see a long a heart-filled journey for them, and by that time she might get some more acting skills (you can always hope). You might even be cheering for them. But, yeah, the only real reason I like them together is because that’s who they’ve chosen. Anyone else would feel like cheating. I hope that helps you all understand my opinion a little better :).
Betty
Feb 27, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Holly, I can see where you are coming from, but I still hope he finds someone else. After all, DiNovi has been around 3 years now and still is no better at acting - you know what they say, “Love is blind.” I guess where Caron is concerned, he is blind to her lack of ability.
Give us someone on more equal footing to his ability (David Cubitt). It will be much more pleasant to watch, believe me!
Besides, it’s not cheating on each other, after all, they merely had a rendevous 2 days per week - no ring was ever exchanged. Scanlon was merely contemplating trying an exclusive arrangement by giving Di Novi a key. Up to that point, it had been understood, they were free agents who enjoyed each other’s company. Keep in mind, she was fully prepared to give him the bad news OVER THE PHONE! the only reason she didn’t was because he got another call about another murdered family. She wasn’t even going to come over and tell him in person that he wasn’t important enough to her to risk her run for public office. That is just wrong on so many levels. She completely broke his heart. That’s almost as bad as the guy who broke up with Carrie on “Sex and the City” with a post it note!
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