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High schoolers and the Internet make everything more interesting on the 'Ghost Whisperer'
A new episode! We're so lucky! Ned is back from TV's infamous Hurry Up and Age Camp and slam books have gone high tech. I'm always amazed that the Ghost Whisperer can always teach me something else about the Internet that I don't already know.
Spoilers ahead...
I may as well address it now, but while you were busy watching re-runs of everything, Ned went through puberty. That will make the following make more sense, but only a little.
Melinda and Delia attend Ned's high school baseketball game and while there, Melinda sees a spirit who seems to have it out for one of Ned's teammates, Brad, and his girlfriend Krista. Just after Brad hits a basket, the scoreboard freaks out and reads "Slammers be slammed" and the bleachers come to life and start trying to slam - har har - Krista up into them. Delia asks Ned if it has anything to do with the Internet slam book that's all the rage at the school, and since that is an Internet-based plot point in the first three minutes, Melinda's quest is off and running. How conveeenient.
Lucy, one of Ned's classmates, is the scoreboard operator, and it seems she's just lost her brother Thomas in a freak skateboarding accident. Thomas only has one slam book entry, calling him Guano Boy, while Lucy has quite a few. Ned explains that people are blaming Lucy for the scoreboard banner, but Melinda knows better. Ned takes Melinda to see Lucy, and says that while she may not have written "slammers be slammed," someone obviously blames Brad and Krista for something. In the few things Lucy does say to Melinda, she mentions that there was chalk on Thomas' jacket just before he died. Again, conveeeenient.
But the spirit continues to wreak havoc on Krista, who finds a bat in her car. Moments later, Lucy is approached by the police, who say they have some questions for her, and Krista, blaming Lucy for the bat, yells that she was the only person who was ever nice to her brother. Melinda sees Thomas appear between Krista and Brad, and ominously say that he died because of them, and now they're both going to pay.
Then, for the first time ever, Melinda takes a backseat, and enlists Ned to help. Ned tells Lucy that he believes in ghosts, and Lucy bolts again. While sleuthing online, Melinda finds a picture of Krista modeling with her bat house, and the next day, the entire high school gets a broadcast text from "Krista" professing her love for someone other than Brad. Melinda, not able to stay away any longer, goes to talk to Brad. While there, she sees a vision of Thomas and Brad fighting in a classroom, and Brad cracking Thomas' head against a chalk-covered board. Brad confesses that he thought Krista was cheating on him, and he read her email. She'd been emailing someone, and Brad, wanting to face his competition, sent an email from Krista's Blackberry, asking the mystery emailer to meet and the fight occured.
Armed with Brad's story and the vision, Melinda then finds Thomas, and explains everyone is blaming Lucy for the incidents he's causing. Thomas warns her to stay away from Lucy, that he's protecting her, that he's "got her six", and Melinda better leave her alone. Not one to stand down or leave, Melinda confronts Lucy, and repeats Thomas' line about having Lucy's six. She asks Lucy what Thomas is protecting her from, and Lucy, not yet willing to open up, continues to bolt.
All of a sudden, Justin from Shame the Devil is back! He warns Melinda that he received a video of her arguing with thin air, and combining that what he knew about her before from the files he stole off of Dr. Payne's computer, he puts two and two together, and realizes that she sees ghosts. He warns her that someone wants her to stop.
Melinda, momentarily angry, confronts Rick about his library of files on her, but is interrupted by Ned calling to say that Lucy has confessed to all of Thomas' ghostly activity. Melinda the Busybody then approaches Krista, who reveals that she's still emailing whoever she was emailing before Thomas died, and while they haven't responded, they are opening the messages. Using the broadcasted text on Ned's phone, Melinda gets Rick to track down the very computer which sent the text message about Krista, and finds Lucy at the other end. Not Thomas! Lucy!
Lucy's parents invite Melinda in, and Lucy explains that she had been the one emailing Krista, and that Thomas, angry and worried about her high school lesbian flirtation, decided to go to meet Brad, to protect Lucy from the eventual fallout. When he returned, he didn't tell her that it was Brad who'd arranged the meeting, but that the whole thing was a set-up and a joke. Melinda explains that Thomas is there, and that he's worried about what the high school slammers will do when they find out Lucy is a lesbian. But moreover, he loves her for who she is.
In the end, Thomas makes the scoreboard and bleachers go berserk again, making it look like an accident, getting Lucy off the hook, and sends another email to Krista, outing Lucy... but Krista seems okay with that. Justin makes one last appearance, looking for confirmation of his hunch, and securing a few more episodes for him.
OK, I'm glad to have a new episode. I'm a starving TV dog, but this had to be one of the most disjointed, exhausting episodes ever. I'm tired from just recapping it. You're probably tired from reading it. The pacing was off, and the character development shallow and weird. It was ten pounds of Ghost Whisperer in a five pound bag. And what is with the rapid aging of Ned? He's gone for a few episodes and comes back as a 17 year old? Tweens can't help move an episode along? Yes, Delia, ha ha, it was a second ago that he was a little boy. In fact, it was just a few episodes ago, Delia. And he's a blond now too!
A few points:
- Ghosts don't need IP addresses? If only the spammers could link into THAT network! Is it just me or is the handy miracle plot vehicle of the Internet getting old? Does the Internet always have to be the end-all, be-all of everything?
- Did we have to have all of this to introduce the new Ned, or reintroduce Justin? I hadn't forgotten him. I knew he'd be back.
What about you? Are you tired too? Do you think the teaser for next week's NEW (yay) episode looked better than this whole episode?
I didn't mind the Ned aging, the last time we did see him was in "The Prophet" so it could have been plausible that he'd had hit puberty. If I remember correctly Ned only turned 15/16 in one of the Season 2 eps, so he was already in/entered into H.S. as Delia said "he just transfered in." the Old Ned just didn't look the part imo. I thought the new actor did a remarkable job in replacing the old actor, voice was pretty similar and the overall look was close, just matured lol.
Overall the ep was good. Yes, I agree it did at times feel like a disjointed ep but maybe it was suppose to be since it is ep 11 out of what should have been 22. So take it as an ep to tie up loose ends of previous open plots [Justin Yates selling files from Laptop] and moving forward with the bigger plot [Grandview and what Yates seems to be hiding].
Jeffrey | Jan 11, 2008 9:13:26 PM | #I did mind the aging it just does not make sense. This was a ridiculous episode. The previews for next week scare me. Jim better be all right or Ghost whisperer is not going to be seen on my TV.
Trupen | Jan 12, 2008 12:40:59 PM | #I'm glad they remembered Justin. I don't like the idea of aging Ned so many years. I hope nothing happens to Jim, because I'd rather see him on the show than Professor Payne or Delia if they were going to get rid of another character.
Penny | Jan 12, 2008 10:34:31 PM | #actually if anything Tyler is younger looking then what Ned was suppose to be, a 14/15yr old [freshmen] in Season 2, as in why Ned was a sophomore in this episode. I doubt the Writers/Producers will just replace the actor without a reasonable answer, after all the GW Crew have so far had an amazing track record for continuity [minus the little name change for Kyle McCall from Kevin]. Why would they just through it all away for just for this? Give the Writers and new actor a chance, they know what they are doing. After all, they've done an amazing job at casting other people for guest starring roles.
Jeffrey | Jan 12, 2008 11:39:25 PM | #I agree. The Internet is an overused plot point on television. But I am even more tired of the Internet being portrayed in television and film as naturally nefarious. It reminds me of film classes I've taken where we studied scenes from movies made in the 1950's when people started buying tv's that vilified television or, only slightly more positively, only showed tv's if they were turned off in almost all living room scenes.
The Internet is the new technology to talk about and movies and television seem quick to dramatize it as a new form of pure evil. It's ridiculous.
Slam books don't hurt any more just because people may now be able to access them online or read the words right when they're posted. Immediacy and digital capability don't alter or heighten the social impact of peer pressure and cruelties written by insecure people. These things are destructive in and of themselves.
The Internet is just a tool. People are what make it good or bad. We are individually responsible for how we (and our children) use it.
That having been said, I wasn't too frustrated otherwise by this episode. I did wonder about Ned aging. (Hm.) But I liked the plot since it kept me guessing until the end. I also liked how it portrayed many aspects of love -- platonic and romantic; selfish and sacrificial; destructive and transformative.
Despite its obvious "Insert Joke Here" potential, I also liked when Delia told Ned about how proud she was of him and his sweet neck she used to kiss when he was little. It was a beautiful moment well-played by both actors. I'll admit that I shed a tear or two!
I look forward to next week's ep. Looks good.
Berlin | Jan 13, 2008 2:41:46 AM | #"You're growning up so fast!" No kidding Delia. Good Episode. The strike will make us hang on the cliff a lot longer this year. Did anyone notice that it was Cameryn not JLH wil exposed bossom this episode?
Don | Jan 13, 2008 3:25:50 PM | #whats the guys real name that stars as the ghost Thomas?
mk | May 2, 2008 7:31:12 AM | #this epi sode is so awsome i dont get ned dah is still awsome
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