What I’m Watching: No Ordinary Family

No Ordinary Family: Season 1, Episode 18 “No Ordinary Animal” (F)

I want to be into this show, especially with fun ideas like Katie having powers and Jim and Stephanie being efficient at crime scenes together. Unfortunately, the plot and especially the heinous dialogue are particularly unbearable. Mrs. X’s use of the term “non-idiot” was what really set me off, and then every single thing that Eric Balfour uttered made me mad. Balfour is not a good actor, that’s something most people can agree on, and having him play a wolfman was not a smart idea (was Benicio unavailable?). His disappearing accent wasn’t even the worst of it. His attempts at mimicking David Caruso’s “CSI: Miami” style of speaking failed miserably. The creepy tracking shots as Balfour’s Lucas stalks someone were strange and didn’t jive with the rest of the show. When Balfour gets to hog most of the episode, why does Roberto Picardo, the onetime Emergency Medical Hologram from “Star Trek: Voyager,” get relegated to a one-scene part? Chris’ blatant desire to abuse Daphne’s powers is a shame since the character had been built to be somewhat three-dimensional, and even if he’s just a teenager, Daphne should realize that she doesn’t need to be manipulated by him. Stephanie’s survival was way too easily explained: “I’m fine, my metabolism, I’m a fast healer, I think I stained the floor.” I’m curious whether Jim’s game-changing decision to bring her to Dr. King will have repercussions, besides her apparent disappearance at the end of the episode. Katie being pregnant is an interesting development, if not unsurprising, but I can’t imagine that’s going to go anywhere productive or good.