Friday, December 10, 2010

What I’m Watching: No Ordinary Family

No Ordinary Family: Season 1, Episode 10 “No Ordinary Sidekick” (D)

As if this show didn’t have enough issues already, now we have two entirely ridiculous plot developments that I simply can’t defend. The first has to do with Detective Cordero’s sudden 180-degree character transformation. It’s a heinously unbelievable shift on par with, though hardly as weight as, Luke’s sudden change from huge jerk to nicest guy on the planet midway through the first season of “The O.C.” Even if Jim did save Cordero’s life, that doesn’t mean that Cordero completely goes from being a grumpy, obnoxious commander to a sap willing to wait hand and foot on the sketch artist. The second unconscionable twist is the Watcher’s revelation to Katie that he wasn’t actually her date but just saw her sitting alone and went up to her. That in itself isn’t problematic. What is far more disturbing is that Katie doesn’t seem to take issue with the fact that he was using a fake name for the entirety of their relationship thus far, making him ridiculously untrustworthy. He seems to have made his own mistake, however, by wiping all of Daphne’s memories since she got her powers rather than selectively taking out her memories of him. I guess his powers are more like the device in “Men in Black” that just takes everything. Dr. Chiles’ demise is more of a relief than anything, and I will commend one performer – and a surprising one at that – for his appropriately chilling and effective performance, and that’s Stephen Collins as Dr. King. One strong performance does not a show make, however, and I’m hopeful that this series can really improve when it returns in 2011.

6 comments:

Richter Scale said...

Ok, I have a feeling you should stop watching the show, since it seems to have chosen a tone that simply doesn't suit you. That's fine, it happens. I'm still really enjoying the show, and thought this last episode was really good (except for some on-the-nose dialogue thatstill drives me nuts). I'm enjoying the relationships between the families and their respective sidekicks, and I like what they did with J.J. this week. Unlike you, I really like that they're keeping Daphne and J.J. as teenagers with superpowers, making mistakes and learning from them. Neither of them has the power of super-maturity, and that plays out really well. I'm also enjoying Stephanie more since she stopped ngging Jim about fighting crime (I didn't commet last week, but them teaming up was so much fun). And the bowling scene, those are the kind of things I love about this show. It's a family with superpowers, and as much as they're trying to deal with them, it's great to see them having fun with them too.

Greg Boyd said...

I'm with Richter. At some point, you have to accept the fact that the show isn't going to get any better. It's different if it's a show you've loved in the past that's going through a bad patch (the best example I can find would be "Angel" season 4). But this one... different matter. So many other great shows out there that you could be spending your time on (like "FNL" or "The Wire"). Although it is YOUR time, so to each his own.

Movies with Abe said...

Good points from both of you. I'm not convinced that this show won't get better, and at this point it's still something I'm interested in plot-wise. It's not nearly as bad as, say, "Heroes" or "Prison Break," two shows I stuck with throughout their entire runs for reasons unknown to anyone. I'll reevaluate whether I'm going to continue with this show in the spring when it returns from hiatus, and since I'm covering it for TVTango.com on a weekly basis anyway and I feel I have enough to say about it, I'll probably continue blogging about it here too.

Greg Boyd said...

Checked out TV Tango (nice job, by the way), and have a completely unrelated question: does doing web write-ups like the ones you do on that site pay any kind of decent money? I only ask because I'm going away to a four-year college the Summer after next, and plan on majoring in cinema studies too (with possibly a minor or double major in journalism). Regardless, I'm insanely curious what sort of opportunities there are for employment for people with that degree.

Don't answer if you don't want to. I'm just curious.

Movies with Abe said...

That's probably something better discussed privately. You can feel free to e-mail me at abe@movieswithabe.com (couldn't find your e-mail on your site) and we can continue the conversation.

Greg Boyd said...

Thanks. I will do that when I get the chance.