ABC commit to 'Charlie's Angels' & 'Pan Am'; 'No Ordinary Family' definitely dead; NBC nix 'The 17th Precinct' & 'Wonder Woman' pilots

ABC have decided to give their TV remake of '70s hit Charlie's Angels a whirl, with Minka Kelly, Annie Ilonzeh and Rachael Taylor in the leading roles. They've also opted to take '60s jet set drama pilot Pan Am to series, which stars Christina Ricci and is viewed as a network reaction to AMC's award-winning Mad Men. But isn't anything set in the '60s perceived as being inspired by Mad Men?

ABC also confirmed the demise of likable superhero drama No Ordinary Family, after just one season, as everyone with half a brain expected them to. It was a fun show, in a throwaway kind of way, but the ratings just weren't there.

There's also bad news for anyone looking forward to Ronald D. Moore's The 17th Precinct, which reunited some of Battlestar Galactica's actors for a series about a world where magic's real. NBC weren't confident enough in the pilot to commit to a series, so it's dead in the water. Likewise, David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman hasn't been picked up, perhaps not helped by the negative buzz online regarding reviews of Kelley's dumb script and the central character's stupid costume. Both pilots will hopefully leak online and become curios. I'm particularly disappointed 17th Precinct didn't make the cut, because the premise and talent assembled had me believing it was certain to air.

What do you make of these pickups and cancellations?

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.20 - "No Ordinary Beginning"

The chances of No Ordinary Family getting a second season are the same as Michael Chiklis waking up with a full head of hair. "No Ordinary Beginning" was a curiously flat finale in some ways, even inept at times, despite doing many of the things we've wanted to see from the start (the Powells working together as a super-team, Dr King's defeat.) My general disappointment came from the lack of surprises to the storyline, some awkward staging of scenes (was this episode rushed?), and some developments that just didn't sit right.

The story was very basic: JJ (Jimmy Bennett) was kidnapped by Mrs X/Helen Burton (Lucy Lawless) and taken to a secret GlobalTech "super-prison", where he's pressured to use his ability to solve the issue of trilsettum permanence, so Burton can bestow super-powers without the need to keep subjects dosed with further injections. So it was down to Jim (Chiklis), Stephanie (Julie Benz) and Daphne (Kay Panabaker) to rescue JJ, having learned what's going on from Dr King (Stephen Collins), whom it's revealed is dying of cancer now his remedial trilsettum jabs are wearing off. Elsewhere, Katie (Autumn Reeser) was overjoyed to see Joshua (Josh Stewart) return, revealing he's going to be a father, before George (Romany Malco) discovered "Joshua" is really shapeshifter Victoria (Rebecca Mader.)

There just wasn't much to the story that grabbed me, beyond the occasional moment, like Dr King shooting a de-powered Jim dead and blaming it on the guards. But even that genuine shock was undone with a feeble excuse, when Jim returned and claimed he survived because his powers had actually returned. If that's true, why was there blood? If there was blood, he was definitely shot. Does he regenerate from life-threatening injuries now, too? Even the basic thrill of seeing the Powells joining forces was fairly subdued, perhaps because the budget wouldn't stretch to them doing much together, and the impregnable super-prison proved to be a joke. What exactly were the defenses to keep supers under control in there? Men with guns and locked doors, like any normal prison? I was expecting a penitentiary full of super-guards, at the very least.

Just in general terms, I began questioning details of the show. Why does Helen want to give people permanent powers? It makes sense that Dr King needs that breakthrough, for his own health reasons, but why is Helen risking giving Death Row inmates permanent powers? Surely it makes more sense to ensure their obedience with the current process of top-up injections?

The subplot with Katie was kind of weird, because it wasn't really clear what Victoria's plan was. I assume she was intending to pose as Joshua until Katie gave birth, then steal the baby? It just felt like a way to give Katie and George something to do, really, and the manner in which Katie's waters broke was pretty laughable. If you replay the scene, she just walks straight into a chair. Still, it was surprisingly brave of the show to have Katie give birth prematurely (um, don't call for an ambulance?) and for her baby to die. They even showed a quick glimpse of the stillborn child, which was pretty grisly for a show like this, before lightening the mood when the super-baby miraculously recovered. So, um, the baby's super-power is immortality? And while it was quite sweet to use a powerless Joshua reunited with Katie, it feels like the show's swept most of Joshua's misdemeanors under the carpet. He was a callous assassin when the season began, and a large part of his success with Katie has been down to mind-games.

The only moment that truly worked in this finale, for me, was seeing Stephen Collins tackle the material with scenery-chewing delight -- especially in the scene where he went crazy, gave himself super-powers, and attempted to take on all of the Powells single-handed. Collins really unleashed his inner ham and it was marvelous; particularly when he was turned into a prune-like corpse, after JJ threw an anti-serum needle into his eyeball. That entire scene was so ludicrously OTT that it actually worked, because the intention was clearly to be very silly.

The denouement setup a second season that will never happen, barring a miracle, but I'm not actually very upset about that. Having discovered that the key to permanence is inhaling trilsettum while under incredible stress, Helen loaded a plane full of bad guys and intentionally crashed it. This sets up two ideas Heroes covered in its third season: super-villains unleashed into the world, and a plane crash where "supers" are now going to be hunted by the US government. Indeed, the Powells' secret is apparently known to the NSA, who arrived to request their help in capturing these supers. It sounds like a neat development, until you realize the Powells have been capturing and defeating supers all season, so the only difference is they'll be doing it for Uncle Sam now. Oh, and George was aboard the plane, so undoubtedly has a power of his own, but we'll never know what it is.

Maybe I'm being too harsh on "No Ordinary Beginning." The finale was entertaining, but I just expected something grander and cleverer, given the months of buildup. A few moments were effectively handled, but it was mostly a very safe and predictable climax. It wasn't a horrific mess that made me question by loyalty to a show most viewers had ditched halfway through, but I think fans deserved something more emotionally involving, unexpected, and less frenetic. Although I blame ABC for the pacing issues, having cut the season order down to 20 episodes.

What did you make of this finale and No Ordinary Family as a whole? Do you want to see a second season of the Powells chasing supervillains for the government? Or was this a good place to leave it, because we've seen everything the series is capable of?

Asides

• Joshua was last seen leaving town on a coach, so when did he get captured by Dr King and thrown into jail? And why, considering he has no powers now? I'm guessing this would have been explained better, if ABC hadn't curtailed the season.
• Victoria makes a habit of shape-changing in clear view of people outside, doesn't she!
• So what was all that phosphorescence in the Amazon River, if it wasn't responsible for giving the Powells powers?

written by Zack Estrin & Ali Adler (story by Jon Harmon Feldman) / directed by Paul Edwards / 5 April 2011 / ABC

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.19 – "No Ordinary Future"

Just prior to its first season finale, Heroes did an episode that leaped into the future to show viewers exactly why its characters must stop a city-wide explosion in New York. It was a clever idea, although its existence signaled the characters would triumph in the end, as the writers just wanted an hour to speculate on the road untraveled. No Ordinary Family attempted something similar with "No Ordinary Future", but because its own season arc is small-scale and hazy (a mysterious company are trying to develop super-powers is all we have) it was forced to attach things to a standalone story.

This inability to deliver something ambitious and relevant to Dr King and Mrs X's (Lucy Lawless) roles as villains on the show was, unfortunately, the big failing of an episode that might otherwise have been excellent. Still, this penultimate hour was brisk, entertaining, and comfortably the most appealing hour No Ordinary Family's given us all season. What a pity the show's started to deliver its most enjoyable episodes now it's almost certainly cancelled.

Continuing from episode 18's cliffhanger, Stephanie (Julie Benz) found herself disintegrating mid-run and appearing a few days into the future, where she witnessed a SWAT team closing on her house. Inside, Jim (Michael Chiklis) was attempting to smuggle JJ (Jimmy Bennett) and Daphne (Kay Panabaker) out of harm's way as the armed men moved in to arrest them, with Stephanie unable to help because she's invisible (conveniently and illogically), before being catapulted back to the present-day after a few minutes. The concept behind the episode was duly established: Stephanie played temporal detective by jumping into the future (at risk to her health) for a few minutes at a time, to deduce why, how, and when her family's secret is exposed to the world.

In the present, Jim was involved with trying to catch dirty cops responsible for gunning down his colleague in cold blood, with the help of George (Romany Malco); Daphne became more uncomfortable over boyfriend Chris's (Luke Kleintank) demands that she use her mind-control for immoral purposes; and Mrs X resurrected shape-shifter Victoria (Rebecca Mader) in order to have her pose as a doctor to get information on Katie's ((Autumn Reeser) super-baby pregnancy.

To be honest, none of the subplots were especially engaging when viewed separately, as the situation with Katie was simply laying groundwork for the finale's events (plus involved the cheat of bringing Victoria back to life), and the situation with Katie's pregnancy has arrived annoyingly late in the year. Elsewhere, Daphne's frustrating situation with Chris has been covered a few times already, so this was just the final go-around before a lasting solution -- which was admittedly rather touching, with Daphne agreeing to erase Chris's memory of her super-power, only to realize she's accidentally expunged their entire relationship. The look on Daphne's face when she saw Chris's affection for her drained from his face, knowing she's sacrificed a relationship and confidant in order to protect her family, was nicely done by Panabaker.

But it's the central time-travel story that demanded the most attention, of course. I really liked how it dovetailed with Jim's investigation into a dirty cop at the precinct, and the way current events merged with Stephanie's glimpsed futures. Sure, it made no sense that Stephanie was invisible whenever she visited the future, and it was awfully convenient that a "Future Stephanie" was always absent (thus avoiding paradoxes – like wouldn't Future Stephanie know about Past Stephanie's existence?), but I don't know anyone who watches No Ordinary Family for water-tight plotting. It's all about the warm family dynamic and playfulness with the superhero genre. So the basic idea of Stephanie trying to solve a mystery backwards did what was intended, and in the process we got to see a special effects highlight of the season: Jim flipping a van into the air, having it somersault a few times, before crashing on the other side of a street. Impressive.

It wasn't the best penultimate episode you could hope for, in terms of how it pushed the pre-existing storylines along, but it managed to deliver a few nuggets of information we'll need for the finale: JJ's duplicitous teacher Mr Litchfield (Jason Antoon) has gone missing from school, and Mrs X has decided to let Victoria steal Katie's unborn super-baby and raise it as her own. I continue to enjoy how the show deals with issues of family (kids, babies, marriage, sibling rivalry) to anchor everything on relatable issues. We all have families, after all.

It's a shame ABC originally gave No Ordinary Family a full season commitment, then trimmed the order down to 20. The show would have been more successful with a 13-episode order, giving the writers a focus, before potentially being given a back-nine. That's how Chuck has often staved off narrative tedium, by essentially have two mini-seasons every year. Instead, No Ordinary Family went down the familiar path of having too much mid-season slack (which didn't help people encouraged to give it a second chance, who tuned in to see filler), thus prompting ABC to reduce their total order. Then, ironically, with less episodes has come tighter focus on a nearer endgame, and a run of great episodes that aren't being seen by many people.

Asides

• If you're not already aware, the finale will air on 5 April.
• When did "zooping" become the verb to describe Stephanie's high-speed movement?

written by Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer / directed by Milan Cheylov / 26 March 2011 / ABC

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.18 - "No Ordinary Animal"

Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz are signing onto other pilots, ABC have announced this show's last clutch of episodes are going to bounce around the schedule, so I think it's safe to say No Ordinary Family has its neck on the chopping block. That's a shame, as it's a harmless and likeable superhero show the whole family can sit down to enjoy, which is actually doing very well in the UK (where it's shown on digital channel Watch, and grabbing solid ratings every week.) If only the same were true of its American performance, but clearly its native audience would prefer something edgier that takes risks. I can understand that, as I often wish No Ordinary Family was slightly less cutesy, too, but it's just nowhere near as disappointing as the ratings would have you believe.

"No Ordinary Animal" was another standard episode in terms of storytelling and construction, but it contained a handful of genuinely exciting and, for this series, fairly radical changes. Cumulatively, this was probably the best episode the show's done. Jim (Chiklis) and George (Romany Malco) were trying to catch a killer who appears to be targeting "supers" and has some kind of animal traits himself, as the police are convinced the murders are vicious dog attacks. Turns out Dr King's (Stephen Collins) recently injected Death Row patient Lucas Winnick (Eric Balfour) has joined his boss Mrs X (Lucy Lawless) in a mission to clean up the city of its itinerant supers, and is playing assassin. Matters are complicated when Lucas discovers the Powell family have powers (as they're not on Mrs X's list of supers), meaning Jim and Stephanie (Benz) must protect their kids from harm.

Meanwhile, there were some functional subplots with JJ (Jimmy Bennett) being pressured by his teacher Mr Litchfield (Jason Antoon) to complete difficult equations, unaware Litchfield is being passed this data by Dr King; while Daphne (Kay Panabaker) was encouraged by her boyfriend Chris (Luke Kleintank) to use her mind-control so they can skip school and go see an outdoor concert. Neither were particularly interesting on their own, but both knitted with the more important stories that are being told -- with JJ's equation revealed to be the secret to ensuring super-power permanency, and Daphne's life being put in danger from Lucas. The latter also prompted a series highlight in terms of special effects, with a Jim vs Lucas super-fight that was surprisingly enjoyable and actually better than most fights Heroes ever gave us.

But while this episode wasn't really anything special, it involved a handful of developments that made it standout from the crowd. Katie (Autumn Reeser) suddenly demonstrated telekinesis, coming to the later conclusion that she's inherited some of ex-boyfriend Joshua's powers because she's pregnant (a surprise that, frankly, was so predictably it was irritating they didn't reveal it until the end), and the show actually endangered the Powells in a credible way. In fact, the moment when Lucas managed to punch his claws into Stephanie's stomach and leave her dying on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood made for a a genuinely tense situation. One that enabled Chiklis to shine as his character contemplated losing his wife, and cemented Balfour's villain as someone who's an unmistakable threat instead of a trivial villain-of-the-week.

After receiving some super-serum "miracle cure", Stephanie recovered, but in the final shot it appeared the serum has boosted her ability to an unprecedented level as she literally disintegrated during a late-night run. I assume she's travelled so fast she's jumped forward in time, so hopefully episode 19 will give us an entertaining look at the Powell family's possible future together. Katie as a mother with a super-baby? JJ and Daphne as twentysomethings? There's lots of potential.

Overall, "No Ordinary Animal" was one of the better episodes of this likeable show, if only because it gave the mythology a noticeable shove towards the finish. It's still a very soft show that feels like it should be airing in the afternoons, but it's efficiently done and plays to the strengths of its talented cast. I like this family, I enjoy their mini-adventures, I like how it's refused to become a tangled mess by keeping things fairly grounded. Was a better show possible with this premise and cast? Oh, definitely. But I'm sure a second season would have ironed out some flaws and reassessed a few things.

Asides

• A reminder: in a change to the schedule, the penultimate episode will air on 25 March at 10pm. The finale will actually air on 5 April.
• Unintentional hilarity: check out the crowd watching that outdoors concert, as they each appear to be dancing to a completely different song.
• Katie keeps comparing Joshua to Wolverine, and Lucas is definitely based on Sabretooth. I think the stage is set for those two to fight, don't you think?
• It seems that Chris is becoming a bad influence on Daphne, by encouraging her to abuse her abilities so much. It'll be interesting to see if their relationship fizzles out over this, or if Chris is understandable just excited to have a super-girlfriend.

written by Zack Estrin & Jon Harmon Feldman / directed by Greg Beeman / 22 March 2011 / ABC

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.17 - "No Ordinary Love"

I don't have much to say about No Ordinary Family this week. As a Battlestar Galactica fan it was great to see Tricia Helfer and Lucy Lawless both guest-starring, particularly as the latter is playing Dr King's superior Mrs X. Lawless has proven herself a better actress than I gave her credit for on Spartacus (a show name-checked here), although I'm pretty sure the scripts of No Ordinary Family aren't going to stretch her beyond Xena's level. But we'll see how things progress.

Helfer, predictably, played a super-babe who could seduce men by giving off pheromones, soon enslaving George (Romany Malco) and Jim (Michael Chiklis) with her aroma. A wittier show would have made Helfer's character less of a beauty queen, for added fun and the potential to elicit sympathy about the power's misuse. This isn't that show.

Good to see Daphne (Kay Panabaker) bring her dopey friend Chris (Luke Kleintank) into her confidence about her family's abilities, once she accepted that her ability to "push" his suspicions aside are only a temporary fix. Hopefully this development will last and not get reversed, as it's about time the Powell siblings got confidants to aide storylines at school. It may be a problem that Chris' father is the defeated superhero from last week's episode, though, as that kind of dirties the water.

Dr King also created another supervillain here, with the help of a conflicted Stephanie (whose gift at giving people simple jabs can't be undervalued), but I think we need some clarity about what Dr King's hoping to achieve with all this. His latest subject was a Death Row inmate (24's Eric Balfour), wisely choosing to swap a lethal injection for a super-injection in shades of Terminator Salvation. But why does King want a murderer doing his bidding, with the dull ability to sprout claws from his knuckles? I'm still not sure what King's deal is, creating a stream of super-henchmen, and that's frustrating considering we're nearing the end of this season (and most likely the series).

A very brief review this week, hope you don't mind. It was just a very average episode, buoyed by three familiar guest-stars. Feel free to chip in about anything I missed in the comments below.

written by Kate Barnow & Elisabeth R. Finch / directed by Peter Werner / 1 March 2011 / ABC

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.16 - "No Ordinary Proposal"

The writing's on the wall for ABC's underperforming superhero drama, which means it's a struggle to get enthused about it. As the season finale looms, "No Ordinary Proposal" at least spent time pushing the mytharc along, but the show isn't delivering fireworks from moments I thought would be cataclysmic (like Stephanie discovering Joshua erased her daughter's memory.) I'm therefore losing faith that No Ordinary Family is going to capitalize on the storylines it's juggling.

Joshua (Josh Stewart) proposed to Katie (Autumn Reeser), which inspired an engagement party at the Powell residence, where Daphne's (Kay Panabaker) friend Chris (Luke Kleintank) stole super-serum belonging to Stephanie (Julie Benz) to cure his irascible father Roy's (Anthony Michael Hall) paraplegia. The serum worked, but Roy wasn't content with his restored mobility and, realizing he also has super-strength, decided to rob ATM's across the city -- with his crime spree bringing him to the attention of Jim (Michael Chiklis) and George (Romany Malco). Meanwhile, Stephanie tested her anti-serum on Joshua so he can live a normal life with fiancé Katie; Jim accidentally hospitalized an innocent bystander after deflecting a gunman's bullet; and JJ (Jimmy Bennett) was blackmailed by his teacher Mr Litchfield (Jason Antoon) into joining the school's decathlon team.

I liked the idea of inadvertently creating a supervillain, particularly as Jim had to use his intellect to defeat someone with superior strength to his own. There was also a fun antithetical angle to the warring father's, with Roy being something of an ungrateful bully. The guy threw his own son through a window and didn't even stop to check he was okay, so he can't be expecting Father's Day cards. And having Jim learn boxing moves from George, to avoid Roy's attacks and gradually tire him out to gain the upper-hand, worked really well. It's always appreciated when a superhero has to use special tactics to defeat the week's villain.

Dr King (Stephen Collins) is also becoming good fun as the big bad, now he's forced to take matters into his own hands as there are no henchmen left to do his dirty work, and there was promise in the final scene when it was revealed he paid Mr Litchfield to have JJ solve a special equation. I predict the equation is something that will enable the permanency of Dr King's super-serum, as the show is hopefully edging towards Super-King vs the Powell clan.

Overall, "No Ordinary Proposal" had many flaws but it wasn't too bad. The breakup of Katie and Joshua (after she discovered he erased her memory) was rather muted given how long they've spent setting up this relationship, but that's partly because Stewart's hardly the most emotive of actors. When he smiles you wish he hadn't bothered trying. Still, seeing Joshua leave town on a coach, now without his super-powers because of the anti-serum's delayed reaction, makes me think he'll be back to help his ex-girlfriend when Dr King becomes a real threat.

A briefer review this week, which in itself summarized my feelings. What did you think?

Asides

• I barely recognized Anthony Michael Hall as Roy. When Hall was appearing in TV's The Dead Zone he looked considerably different to his teenage '80s heyday in movies like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Weird Science, but it looks like he changes his appearance every five years!

written by Andrew Major & Emily Silver / directed by Stephen Surjik / 22 February 2011 / ABC

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.15 - "No Ordinary Powell"

Most episodes of No Ordinary Family tend to elicit the same response from me: entertained but craving something more substantial. But I do enjoy watching these likeable actors play superheroes for an hour, with just enough continuing mytharc to keep me on the hook. "No Ordinary Powell" saw Dr King (Stephen Collins) dispatch shape-shifter Victoria (Rebecca Mader) to snoop on the Powell family and kill one of them, resulting in an hour of false identity mischief as Victoria was mistaken for Stephanie (Julie Benz), George (Romany Malco) and Daphne (Kay Panabaker) as she gathered intel on the Powell's powers.

Meanwhile, JJ (Jimmy Bennett) took it upon himself to solve the cold case murder of his ex-girlfriend Natalie's mother, utilizing Daphne's mind-reading and his own ability to become an instant expert in criminal psychology. His sister's newfound knack of planting thoughts in people's minds also came in handy when forcing the truth from the tightlipped, although that evolution of her power has me worried Daphne's becoming too powerful. While the subplots the kids have are often trivial distractions to fill time, this story took a more serious turn once JJ and Daphne got into trouble after finding the killer (the wife of a carpenter, who killed Natalie's mother because she slept with her husband.) It's just a shame I never accepted the idea JJ would want to find whoever killed his ex's mother, and be brave enough to follow through on it.

Frankly, a huge amount of time was dedicated to just watching Victoria sneak around pretending to be members of the Powell family, with the usual rug-pulling tricks we've come to expect from "supers" with this power. The switcheroo's worked in a few instances -- although once it became clear Victoria was involved in this episode, the teaser's flashforward to Stephanie discovering Jim's dead body at home was easily solved, while also spoiling the climactic "Jim vs Jim" fight. (A show like No Ordinary Family will never kill its leading man, let's be honest.)

But I'm glad a few veils have slipped for everyone now. In particular, Stephanie knows Dr King is a dangerous man and, having cleverly posed as a shape-changed Victoria, manipulated him into bringing herself into his confidence. We may therefore start to get answers about King's back-story and motivation for his super-serum, if Stephanie enters his circle of trust. It was also good to see Stephanie and Jim made aware that Joshua has powers, finally -- although they're frustratingly unforthcoming about questioning him about it. Wouldn't you want to know more about why he was given the super-serum, or speculate about the coincidence that someone like Joshua just happened to walk into their friend Katie's (Autumn Reeser) life? A reticence of characters to ask questions on the lips of the audience has become a hallmark of this show.

Overall, "No Ordinary Powell" was an above-average installment; engaging yet undemanding, with some irritations. There was a lot to enjoy in watching Victoria creep around posing as various people, I liked the allusion from Joshua that Dr King's just a small cog in a larger machine (to be explored in the increasingly unlikely second season?), and the balance of comedy and action was great. I just hope the show will stop pussyfooting around and start building to what I want to see in the finale: the Powell family, united as one, fighting Dr King and some supervillains.

written by Ali Adler & Sonny Postiglione / directed by Terry McDonough / 15 February 2011 / ABC

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.14 - "No Ordinary Double Standard"

The word on the street says No Ordinary Family is doomed because of low ratings for ABC, which is a shame. It's lost half its audience since last September's premiere, with this episode marking a nadir of 5.3m. But while I agree it's hardly a revolutionary or particularly inventive series, I have a consistent amount of carefree fun watching it every week. The awkwardly-titled "No Ordinary Double Standard" was a curious hour, though; the first half was quite flat and throwaway, but the second half introduced unanticipated developments to the mytharc. It was ultimately an episode where important information was imparted amidst a fairly dreary storyline, but it had its moments,.

This week, Stephanie's (Julie Benz) lab friend Nina (Betsy Brandt) was attacked in her home by an unseen assailant and Jim (Michael Chiklis) resolve to find the culprit, initially unaware that his wife's keen to prove that she's just as capable when it comes to bringing criminals to justice using super-powers. The Powell's, each helped by their trusty sidekicks George (Romany Malco) and Katie (Autumn Reeser), essentially found themselves competing to find the perpetrator, Tom Seeley (Ethan Suplee), who it transpired can turn his physical body into mist.

Meanwhile, Daphne (Kay Panabaker) and JJ (Jimmy Bennett) were both asked out on dates by seniors; but while Jim's happy to let JJ go have fun with the older Bailey (Katrina Begin), he was less inclined to let his more vulnerable daughter spend time with a mature teen like Chris (Luke Kleintank). Elsewhere, Katie became aware of her boyfriend Joshua's (Josh Stewart) involvement with Dr Chiles' original research into super-powers and heard Dr King (Stephen Collins) insinuate he's involved in nefarious deeds, only to have her memory erased by Joshua after she confronted him to demand the truth.

There isn't much to say about this episode's storyline, really. There was some lighthearted rivalry between Stephanie and Jim, before they inevitably realized they can achieve more if they combine forces, and the titular "double standards" storyline over how they treated their loved-up kids. It's only really worth mentioning the sudden information-dump of realizing Nina worked in a penitentiary affiliated with Dr King, who has apparently been experimenting on inmates with his super-serum. Many of this year's super-villains are therefore former prisoners, who appear incapable of using their powers against King, which retroactively explains their often angry vibe.

Overall, "No Ordinary Double Standard" benefited from seeing Jim and Stephanie together as a crime-fighting married couple (more, please), the supervillain's power was an effective visual that threw up uncertainties over how he'd be defeated, I appreciated the insight into Dr King's back-story (was he telling the truth about only experimenting on disabled people, like the allegedly paralyzed Tom?), it feels like a notable turning point now Stephanie's aware her boss can't be trusted (and he knows she knows this), and Daphne's storyline presented us with a fun evolution of her mind-reading to encompass mind control.

A somewhat brief review this week, owing to real-world pressures -- but what did you think of this fourteenth episode?

written by Sallie Patrick / directed by Paul Edwards / 8 February 2011 / ABC

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.13 - "No Ordinary Detention"

There was a tweak to the usual format of No Ordinary Family this week, as three separate stories were told that all involved members of the Powell family being detained/trapped in some way. Jim (Michael Chiklis) found himself entangled in a hostage crisis at the police department with George (Romany Malco); Daphne (Kay Panabaker) and JJ (Jimmy Bennett) were held back at school for detention; and Stephanie (Julie Benz) had to deal with an emergency lockdown at the laboratory after Katie (Autumn Reeser) tricked her sick boyfriend Joshua (Josh Stewart) into work for medical treatment.

Coincidentally, "No Ordinary Detention" is the second TV show this month to take inspiration from the movie Die Hard, following a similar storyline to Human Target's "Imbroglio" recently. As I mentioned before, John McTiernan's '80s hit must rank as one of the biggest influences on modern TV screenwriters, who often riff on Die Hard's core premise because it lends itself brilliantly to comparatively micro-budget productions aiming to save cash by only filming on their standing sets. It may be a clichéd setup, but seeing Jim enact John McClane, using his super-powers to immobilize the criminal gang who've escaped from custody, one by one, was an entertaining use of his character. It helped spice things up that Jim had to keep his everyday identity a secret, not just his powers, in order to keep his cover, because Internal Affairs officer Rachel Jacobs (Joanne Kelly) is investigating her theory there's a vigilante cop in the city.

The least involving storyline was foisted onto the Powell teens, with a storyline for Daphne and JJ that evoked The Breakfast Club. Writers Zack Estrin and Leigh Dana Jackson sure did raid their DVD shelf for pop-culture muses this week, huh? The result was a pleasant but forgettable story, where a group of kids (including JJ's curiously distant girlfriend, the boy Daphne knows lied about possessing drugs, and the "mean girl" Daphne beat to the position of student president) came to better understand each other. I appreciated this storyline making the effort to utilize some supporting players, having recently bemoaned how No Ordinary Family doesn't have many throughlines and seems to use and dispose of its guest stars. I hope this continues and the show starts to build a social group for JJ and Daphne that doesn't feel like it gets rebooted every week.

Finally, in terms of the mytharc, Stephanie's storyline offered the biggest thrills for fans. Joshua became a quivering wreck as he went cold turkey from Dr King's super-serum, and after being taken to Katie's workplace under false pretenses, came under attack from shapeshifter Victoria (Rebecca Mader), Dr King's wily new henchman. It wasn't the most plausible of subplots (why did Joshua agree to accompany Katie to work if he's so ill?) and the lockdown was an awkward way to avoid the problem Stephanie's workplace would ordinarily be crawling with scientists the show can't allow to witness super-antics, but otherwise I appreciated the steps forward it ultimately achieved.

Katie now knows that Joshua has super-powers (although she didn't press Joshua for details on how he obtained them?!), and Stephanie knows Victoria is a shapeshifter who may return in a different guise -- but was this reveal done too early, considering Victoria was only introduced last week? I think it would have been nicer to play around with Victoria awhile, and the fact Stephanie appeared to disregard so much of the weirdness was a little annoying. In the denouement, it was played for laughs that every character was reticent about going into the details of their day, but it felt very strange that Stephanie wouldn't be gossiping about a shapeshifter having an unexplained interest in herself and Katie.

Overall, I'm probably too soft on No Ordinary Family, but for what the show's intended to be I think this was a very good episode. Some firm developments told within three entertaining storylines, together with an improved performance from Josh Stewart (who isn't a dynamic actor, but plays victimized well), and an impressive turn from Mader as the boo-hiss villain. I often find myself making a list of nitpicks and issues as I watch No Ordinary Family, but the show's a pleasant viewing experience and the fact it's so unpretentious makes me forgive its holes.

WRITERS: Zack Estrin & Leigh Dana Jackson
DIRECTOR: David Petrarca
TRANSMISSION: 18 January 2011, ABC, 8/7c

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.12 - "No Ordinary Brother"

As fond as I am of this series, I acknowledge its faults and irritations. "No Ordinary Brother" started on a frustrating note, with a very lazy way to move past last week's cliffhanger, where Katie (Autumn Reeser) discovered her boyfriend Joshua (Josh Stewart) has best friend Stephanie's (Julie Benz) journal of her family's super-powers. We were poised for fireworks when Katie confronted him over this, but instead we got a fizzling splutter, as Joshua's own super-powers apparently stretch to manipulating pen ink so the journal was rendered innocuous. Did Katie question her own sanity, having spent the night pouring over the journal and wondering why her boyfriend has it in his possession? No. It was a very annoying way to dodge the issue, made worse because it's hot-on-the-heels of a similar moment in episode 11, when Daphne's (Kay Panabaker) lost memory was restored within minutes of the show's return post-hiatus, thanks to a family group hug.

Fortunately, the bulk of this episode was good fun and, in a few instances, surprisingly emotional and well-acted. As the title suggests, this episode saw the arrival of Jim's (Michael Chiklis) wayward younger brother Mike (Jason Wiles), the "black sheep" of the Powell family. It transpired that Mike owes thousands of dollars to a gangster notorious for making debtors "disappear", and when Mike discovered his brother's family all have superpowers (after witnessing Jim survive a rooftop fall), it seems like the answer to his prayers. In particular, JJ's (Jimmy Bennett) super-IQ comes in handy as the horse racing track, as he's able to calculate the probabilities and predict enough winners to solve Uncle Mike's cash flow problem.

Elsewhere, the evil Dr King (Stephen Collins) tried to draw Joshua back under his wing, by giving his girlfriend Katie a promotion and transfer to run her own laboratory in Miami, attempting to drive a wedge between their relationship. But the intended division only really appeared between Katie and Stephanie, who was both confused her assistant's being given a promotion so early in her career by Human Resources VP Victoria Morrow (Rebecca Mader), and selfishly upset her best friend's leaving town.

And, in largely inconsequential and unnecessary filler, Daphne started to use her mind-reading to assist her judgement of troublemaking students, as part of the school's peer disciplinary committee. However, after realizing one boy caught with drugs was just lying to cover for someone, she took it upon herself to investigate further.

I liked this episode, despite its faults. The show definitely needs to start finding a wider range of story possibilities, as the use of JJ and Daphne has been particularly repetitive. It wouldn't hurt if the show just put a few of the Powell clan to one side for a week, rather than struggle to give every single regular something to do. Daphne's subplot wasn't big enough to become actively annoying, but it could easily have been removed and the time used to improve the more pertinent stories.

I've also started to realize I'm very unclear about Dr King's motivations and long-term goals. He's clearly discovered a serum that can give people super-powers, and in this episode we learn that he's related to Joshua (I'm guessing it's father-and-son), but why is he sending Joshua out into the world to keep the existence of a few super-powered people (ex-guinea pigs?) a secret? Why isn't he cashing in on this discovery, by offering the military access to a serum that would give soldiers super-powers, or something? Maybe it's my memory playing tricks, but I think the writers need to spend some time explaining and strengthening Dr King's role on the show. He's the villain, that much is very clear, but what does he want and why does he want it?

In any case, the real success of "No Ordinary Brother" was the storyline with Mike's brother, which was played very well. Jason Wiles (last seen in last summer's ill-fated Persons Unknown) was plausible as Jim's loser sibling, and there were quite a few moments when the actor's performance raised the material. One scene in particular, with Jim revealing his anguish that Mike never came to support him at their sick father's hospital bedside, was probably No Ordinary Family's best moment in terms of straight acting. Chiklis and Wiles worked well together, creating a real sense of deep-rooted brotherly love. I was especially impressed because Wiles wasn't someone I rated much during Persons Unknown, but he did an admirable job throughout this episode.

As a side issue, I'm a little annoyed No Ordinary Family isn't a more cohesive show, week to week. It often feels like every episode is more isolated than it should be, particularly when guest stars appear, leave their mark, then vanish. For instance: what happens to half the kids Daphne and JJ befriend and help out at school? I understand not every guest star's going to be become a semi-recurring character, but it sometimes feels like someone's hitting a big reset button. After all, what happened to that student who was rescued by Jim and seemed likely to guess Jim's identity? It was nice to see the teacher Jim saved from a car accident in this episode, but remember when we thought he'd have a bigger role in the show? Or how about the two Cotton kids from last week? Have they vanished? Is Daphne still running for school president, as she was last week? And are guest stars in seemingly important roles (like Stephanie's parents and now Jim's brother) likely to return, or are they basically one-off deals? I'd just like to see the show keeping a few continuous strands.

Overall, "No Ordinary Brother" worked because of Jason Wiles' character, who brought a slice of realism to the show, and the story did a good job looking at the two brother's relationship. The Katie/Joshua and Daphne storylines were mostly a disappointment, but it was fun to learn that Dr King got himself another "fixer" in Victoria Morrow, who's revealed to be a shapeshifter.

Asides

• You may recognize Rebecca Mader from Lost, where she played Charlotte. Let's hope she does a better job on No Ordinary Family, as she was quite uninspiring on that other ABC show.
• I'm not sure why, but I got the impression Joshua's health when he's not full of super-serum is less than normal. Is it possible Dr King gave Joshua this treatment because he was disabled in some way? Or is the major flaw of the serum the fact you can't stop taking it without incapacitating sickness?

WRITERS: Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer
DIRECTOR: Michael Watkins
TRANSMISSION: 11 January 2011, ABC, 8/7c

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.11 - "No Ordinary Friends"

A man who can stop a moving freight train with his bare hands? Yeah, I'll suspend my disbelief. A woman who can run 100 metres in the blink of an eye? Okay, sure. A girl who can hear people's thoughts? Not a problem. Accepting that Autumn Reeser's a virgin in her thirties? Sorry, but that's a step too far.

No Ordinary Family returns from its mid-season hiatus, with an episode primed to be a clever re-introduction to the show, as the super-Powell's daughter Daphne (Kay Panabaker) has her memories of the previous 10 episodes removed by the sinister Watcher (Josh Stewart) in last year's mid-year climax. The writers could have used Daphne as a clever way to bring any newcomers up to speed, as they learn what's been going on via this amnesiac's rediscovery, so why did the writers simply reverse Daphne's dilemma within a few minutes? It felt like a silly cheat and a missed opportunity, although it gets Daphne back to her old self, but without any knowledge that family friend Katie's (Reeser) boyfriend Joshua is a dangerous supervillain.

"No Ordinary Friends" was tantalizingly close to being a very good episode at times, but missed too many open-goals. This week, Jim (Michael Chiklis) saved a pedestrian called Dave Cotten (24 alumnus Ricky Schroder) from getting hit by a city bus, earning himself the admiration and gratitude of the entire Cotten clan. In fact, the Cottens quickly endeared themselves with the Powells, as the two families began to mix socially. Dave's wife Michelle (Annie Wersching, another 24 alumnus) became a welcome drinking buddy for Stephanie (Julie Benz), son Troy (Billy Unger) helped JJ (Jimmy Bennett) impress a girl at school, and daughter Chloe (Conor Leslie) convinced Daphne to run for student council president against a "mean girl". A role Daphne's sure to excel at, seeing as she can literally hear the thoughts and concerns of her electorate

I really liked the idea of the Cottens being a reflection of the Powells, minus super-powers. It's just a shame the writers didn't push that better, especially in the case of Troy and Chloe, who were both more skilled and adept at handling school life than JJ or Daphne. The episode could have made the point that the Cottens are equally as "super" thanks to simple personality and experience, but it didn't quite come off. And while the later reveal that unassuming Michelle's an art thief Jim's been trying to catch was fun, I'm not sure I accepted it. It just didn't seem all that believable.

In a subplot, we had to swallow the ridiculous notion that Katie's still a virgin, which she's nervous about revealing to her hunky new boyfriend Joshua. And Joshua, predictably, has started to become attached to Katie, so decided to turn his back on Dr. King (Stephen Collins) and the super-injections he's being given, to be with the woman he's fallen for. This actually felt like a more mature storyline than usual, even if the show's removed the sense of danger that peaked in the last episode. Having Katie find Stephanie's journal in Joshua's possession, which he stole from their house, was a fun way to put a dampener on the fact she's lost her virginity... to a man snooping on her friends.

Overall, "No Ordinary Friends" was good but could have been great if the execution of the basic idea had been a bit more imaginative and plausible. But still, there was enough fun and forward momentum to keep me happy, and its flaws were easy to shrug off.

WRITERS: Ali Adler & Marc Guggenheim
DIRECTOR: Terry McDonough
TRANSMISSION: 4 January 2010, ABC, 9/8c

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.10 – "No Ordinary Sidekick"

ABC's family superhero drama heads into winter hiatus with an episode providing the requisite surprises you expect from a mid-season finale. "No Ordinary Sidekick" was another enjoyable episode; one that proves this series is improving steadily as the cast/crew get more comfortable with the world they're creating. It's still not at the level where there's enough drama and excitement to keep you mentally engaged between episodes, but I'm having a reliable amount of fun watching every week.

Given the title, there was an obvious emphasis on the show's two sidekicks: George (Romany Malco) was erroneously credited with preventing a robbery, after arriving at the scene of a crime shortly after Jim (Michael Chiklis) had caught the robbers, resulting in him becoming a local hero, which understandably frustrated Jim; and Katie (Autumn Reeser) fell out with Stephanie (Julie Benz) over her apprehension toward boyfriend Will (Josh Stewart), shortly after JJ (Jimmy Bennett) and Daphne (Kay Panabaker) confided in their mother about their suspicions. Both storylines eventually led to both sidekicks quitting their roles, as tensions became unbearable.

I was glad this episode restored some common sense to how the Will storyline was unfolding, even if it's taken JJ far too long to note the coincidence that Katie's boyfriend goes by the same name as the online bachelor he created to boost Katie's self-confidence. And when Katie questioned Will about Stephanie's concerns, he even managed to improvise a reasonable excuse for his actions, by pretending he had sympathized with her being stood up on a date and slipped into the role. This puts everything on a firmer footing, however belatedly, which is good to see.

JJ had a fun subplot, as it became clear his super-intelligence is affected by his libido, having met an attractive chessmaster (Katelyn Tarver) and realizing his ability short-circuits in her presence. He soon found a way to combat the issue, by distracting his own mind with tedious baseball stats he'd memorized, so I'm not sure if this will become a big problem for JJ in the future. To defeat super-genius JJ, super-villains just need to employ Playboy Bunnies as their minions? There wasn't really much to JJ's story beyond that, as it was really just a fun distraction.

More pertinent to the mytharc was the unexpected progression with the Dr Chiles (Reggie Lee) storyline, as he's aware Dr King's (Stephen Collins) been working on a strange serum, and managed to get Stephanie on-side by giving her a stolen sample of King's drug to analyze. As Chiles is becoming a thorn in Dr King's side, Will (using his new alias of Joshua) was tasked to eliminate the irritant, by forcing Chiles to commit suicide with a drug overdose, using his "puppetting" ability.

It also became clearer that Joshua's only loyal to King because he desperately wants to keep the super-powers King can bestow him with. I'm positive this means there's a good person beneath the surface, ready to be redeemed by sweet Katie later in the season. It's just a matter of time, right? King and Joshua's interest in the Powell 's was also made more overt: the family don't need to be given regular injections of King's serum to maintain their abilities, which is an advantage Joshua is particularly jealous of.

"No Ordinary Sidekick" packed in some eye-catching sequences, too; from Jim stopping a "money train" by digging his heels into the track and becoming its front brake, to a sequence (very reminiscent of Sylar/Clair confrontations in Heroes) when Joshua realized Daphne's managed to break through his mental firewall and knows he killed Dr Chiles. This prompted him to erase her memories of the past three months, effectively resetting her character to the status of the pilot. The Daphne/Joshua altercation was especially good because Panabaker's reactions to Joshua's taunts (as he sent furniture skidding around the house to scare her) felt very realistic, and Daphne's consequent amnesia will hopefully tip-off Jim and Stephanie that danger's lurking close by. Put it this way -- I'll be sorely disappointed if the following episodes don't involve Stephanie suspecting Joshua and trying to investigate his background, despite whatever assurances Katie gives her that he's innocent.

Overall, there's still much to enjoy about No Ordinary Family, if you're in the right mindset. It's definitely one of those shows you feel getting better as its confidence grows every week, and while it's cumulatively rather predictable and middle-of-the-road, I find the performances and premise of the show appealing and fun.

Aside

• I appreciated the fact Jim is starting to be taken seriously at the precinct now, as Detective Cordero (Guillermo Diaz) discovered Jim was the guy who saved his life after his recent car accident. This will hopefully cut down on the digs Jim has to take on the chin, and perhaps even lead to his hunches being taken more seriously. It remains to be seen if No Ordinary Family will keep Jim as a sketch artist. On the positive side, Jim's time is freed up to be a vigilante while technically on duty, without arousing too much suspicion; but it also means it's tough for him to get really hands-on with the cop show element of this series. Maybe Cordero will be taken into Jim and George's confidence soon?

WRITERS: Zack Estrin & Jon Harmon Feldman
DIRECTOR: Wendey Stanzler
TRANSMISSION: 7 December 2010, ABC, 9/8c

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.9 – "No Ordinary Anniversary"

A writing duo from True Blood penned "No Ordinary Anniversary" (the first hour to air in a later 9pm timeslot), and the result was a really fun episode revolving around two partnerships, with a slightly more adult material. I'm not sure if this was intentional, or a quirk of staffing and scheduling, but it was a pleasant surprise and another sign No Ordinary Family is beginning to rise above its middle-of-the-road basis...

Of course, the majority of this episode still covered old ground in a familiar way, broadly speaking: Jim (Michael Chiklis) was busy investigating a creepy serial arsonist who's torching random buildings using his pyrokinesis; while JJ (Jimmy Bennett) and Daphne (Kay Panabaker) combined their powers to ensure a gang of insufferable boys lost in a high-stakes game of poker. Both were very typical storylines for this series, but fortunately they were contextually fun and developed the series mytharc in the subplots.

Primarily, Jim and Stephanie (Julie Benz) spent the evening celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary together, which eventually resulted in Stephanie getting a taste of her husband's life as a vigilante... and realizing it thrills her just as much. Stephanie was in danger of becoming quite a buzz kill on this show, so this was a wise move by the writers. It also delivered the show's best "super-fight" so far, with Stephanie and Jim pooling their abilities to defeat the twisted firestarter. It was a pity the show's fondness for slo-mo sequences of Stephanie running killed a lot of the brawl's pacing, but the special-effects were decent, and it was enjoyable seeing a married super-duo working together like this. It felt like the first step on the way to the inevitable super-family action sequences.

The episode was essentially about partnerships, so while Jim and Stephanie celebrated their marriage by fighting crime together, the lighthearted stuff was handled by JJ and Daphne. The show often presents the kids with cute ways to use their powers, leaving the dangerous aspects of superheroism to their parents, and this continued here. There's a chance it's going to become very tedious, but so far it's still a pleasant way to fill some time. It's also easier to imagine using super-powers to win at cards than it is fighting a crazy man with fists of flame, which helpst. That said, I could have done without the additional story of JJ and Daphne sneaking into school to fix their parent's damaged anniversary present, as it felt unnecessary.

In-between these two stories, the wider mytharc received some detailing. Katie (Autumn Reeser) and her boyfriend Will (Josh Stewart) swung by to check on the Powell kids, leading to Daphne realizing Will was somehow able to block her mindreading by thinking "white noise". She's now suspicious of him, which is great, although I'm puzzled that JJ hasn't noticed that some creepy guy calling himself Will stole the date he arranged for Katie online. I think the idea is that JJ doesn't know Will's last name, so doesn't yet realize he's pretending to be the "character" he created online, but it's not really very clear. It makes JJ look very stupid, which it the one thing's not supposed to be! JJ should be far more suspicious of Will, given the evidence and coincidences staring him in the face.

It was also confirmed that Stephanie's boss Dr King (Stephen Collins) is actually able to give normal people super-powers by injecting them with a serum, and he's using that fact as a means to control Will (aka The Watcher). But Dr King was also responsible for giving the arsonist his abilities and letting him run around the city burning down buildings. To what end? His motivations are still unclear. Interestingly, it seems that Dr Chiles (Reggie Lee), freshly fired for not agreeing to spy on Stephanie for Dr King, is now investigating his former employer and takes a sample of King's green serum to test.

Overall, "No Ordinary Anniversary" continued this show's basic formula and it's still a pleasant experience to watch, because of the chemistry between the family and a mythology that's beginning to take shape. I can't see it becoming a truly thrilling or exciting series that's going to appeal to the broader audience who made Heroes a huge hit... but as far as cute and entertaining family fare goes, it does its job nicely, and this episode had some darker elements that appealed to me.

WRITERS: Elisabeth R. Finch & Kate Barnow
DIRECTOR: David Semel
TRANSMISSION: 30 November 2010, ABC, 9/8c

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.8 – "No Ordinary Accident"

After the preceding highpoint, it was inevitable "No Ordinary Accident" wouldn't be able to compete, but I was glad it didn't ignore the issue with Katie (Autumn Reeser) now dating the show's roaming villain "Will" (Josh Stewart). The rest of the episode was the customary assortment of gentle subplots for the Powells: Jim (Michael Chiklis) was chasing violent carjackers, while struggling with "outages" that rendered him occasionally powerless; Stephanie (Julie Benz) investigated her husband's strange problem at the lab; Daphne (Kay Panabaker) again used her mind-reading to try and impress Bret (Jean-Luc Bilodeau) at a Japanese restaurant; and JJ (Jimmy Bennett) was caught hacking the school computer system by Mr Litchfield (Jason Antoon), who was later hospitalized in a car accident JJ blamed himself for.

The thing I'm enjoying more than I expected to about No Ordinary Family is that every week's problem impacts the family. I was worried the show wouldn't be able to sustain this, but so far it's doing a great job. Having JJ realize only his super-fast mother could perform life-saving surgery on Mr Litchfield was a great example, as they both saved someone's life that actually meant something to the characters and was something the audience could buy into. There may come a time when the show starts struggling to find things for the Powells to do every week, or uses up all the friends/family they can save, but that's a problem for another day. Plus, we have Jim going after the more traditional villains, so the show still has access to bigger stories that affect the whole city, and maybe one day the entire country.

It was also fun to see how much Jim's super-strength means to him now, and how much he'll miss his abilities if they're taken away. The story revealed a chemical found in lip gloss that acts as temporary "kryptonite" on Jim, which was a predictable but welcome wrinkle. JJ's storyline with Mr Litchfield was the strongest component of this week's episode, ignoring the unlikelihood that his teacher would be hit by the carjackers his dad's after, and the silly moment when JJ's super-genius was somehow able to see into Litchfield's chest to survey the damage. How does that work? Daphne's storyline was also just a variation on the art gallery ruse from before, which was a shame.

Overall, "No Ordinary Accident" was averagely entertaining; not particularly good or bad, just run-of-the-mill with a few good moments. I enjoyed seeing Jim defeat those carjackers at the junkyard (especially with his tyre toss), while JJ and Stephanie's two-man surgery made for a tense little scene. It's also great to see Katie more involved, now that she's dating the villain who's actually providing reconnaissance on Stephanie for her creepy boss, but I hope George's (Romany Malco) relationship with his work colleague Amanda (Amy Acker) becomes more interesting than it is currently. Acker's a good actress, so it would be a shame to waste her in a trivial girlfriend role.

Hardly a remarkable episode; just innocuous family viewing that passed the hour quite nicely.

WRITERS: Leigh Dana Jackson & Sonny Postiglione
DIRECTOR: Tom Verica
TRANSMISSION: 23 November 2010, ABC, 8/7

moreless

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.7 – "No Ordinary Mobster"

Unquestionably, "No Ordinary Mobster" was this show's finest episode to date. I've been warming to No Ordinary Family in recent weeks, actually; the cast are so effortlessly likeable, it clearly has its heart in the right place, and there's a real sense of potential whenever they add a grittier component. Writer Marc Guggenheim (Eli Stone, FlashForward) managed to include everything that's worked about the show up until now, and drew it together to give us a clearer focus going forward...

This week, District Attorney George (Romany Malco) lost a court case that would have seen city mobster Lukan (Jon Sklaroff) finally jailed, leading the victorious Lukan to twist the knife by shooting Amanda Grayson (Amy Acker), the Assistant D.A who George has feelings for; Jim (Michael Chiklis) resolved to help George get justice using his powers, but accidentally exposed his identity and thus gave Lukan some leverage to avoid jail again (with Lukan insisting he'll blow the lid on the police department's apparent "super-cop"); Stephanie (Julie Benz) continued her investigation into Dr Volson's pioneering research, tracing the scientist's wife to Mexico, only to learn that Volson died and his wife's paraplegic as a consequence of the super-powers they gave themselves; Daphne (Kay Panabaker) tried to impress a boy at school with the help of JJ (Jimmy Bennet), who accompanied them on a date to a modern art gallery to telepathically feed her trivia; and JJ himself decided to help Kate (Autumn Reeser), by pretending to be her "ideal man" on an internet dating site -- intending to boost her confidence, but succeeding in getting a face-to-face date he can't possible attend...

What I appreciated about this episode was how it pushed the mythology onwards, and also found a way to use its cast in a more interesting way. We learned that the Powell family's powers may be slowly killing then, which adds some urgency and point to Stephanie investigating them, as she'll likely be after a cure now. There was also the return of The Watcher (Josh Stewart), whose motivations are unclear but intriguing. He once again turned up to surreptitiously help Jim, by eliminating the problem that Lukan knows his identity, which makes you think The Watcher is a "cleaner" whose job is to keep super-people a secret. And maybe that's true, but as he's working for Stephanie's boss, Dr. King (Stephen Collins), you're given the impression his actions aren't righteous, but perhaps just helping Jim cover his mistakes as a by-product of what his main priority is.

It was also good to see Kate brought into the fold more, as she became JJ's home tutor and, in the episode's climactic scene, the likely girlfriend of The Watcher, who's been tasked by Dr. King to ingratiate himself with Stephanie's family. This in turn means that The Watcher is now involved with the family directly, with the assumed complication that JJ will know he's a fraud of some kind – especially as The Watcher's made the mistake of using the fake name "Will P. Jerome" that JJ came up with as an anagram of "Jim Powell Jr". That should be a simple and effective way of proving to Kate that Will's a fraud, so it'll be interesting to see how the next episode deals with that issue.

Overall, there was much to enjoy about this episode. I like the fact the subplots, while usually lighthearted diversions involving Daphne and JJ, are nevertheless quite engaging or fun to watch, so they don't become irritating when we keep returning to them. The episode also piqued my interest quite a few times (especially with the connection between Dr King and Volson's widow, who fed Stephanie a story on his behalf), and for once I was a little disappointed I couldn't dive straight into the next hour to see what happens next. Which is how every TV episode should leave you feeling.

For all its creative issues and middle-of-the-road feel (especially now the anarchic and compelling Misfits is back on television), I think No Ordinary Family is beginning to take shape as a family-friendly piece of superhero fun...

Asides

• The quality of special effects appeared to be much improved throughout this episode; especially for Jim's super-jumps. I also like the sand storm Stephanie kicked up while stopping her super-run in Mexico.
• Interesting to note the additional information that JJ's super-intellect has a weakness: he can only retain whatever facts he learns for six hours. I don't recall that being mentioned before, so it's a wise rethink. After a few months, JJ would otherwise be the brainiest person on the planet.
• If I was still a teenager, I want that bookcase/door Daphne has.
• Even for the la-la land that is US network drama, I'm having a tough time believing Autumn Reeser is (a) a serious geek, and (b) unable to get dates whenever she wants. I'm not saying they should have cast someone who fits a stereotype, but why not insist Reeser plays Kate with less outgoing panache? Or simply accept that she doesn't fit the criteria and drop the "dateless wonder" idea.

WRITER: Marc Guggenheim
DIRECTOR: John Polson
TRANSMISSION: 16 November 2010, ABC, 8/7c

moreless