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'Ghost Whisperer': Jim goes Sam Beckett on us
Previously on Ghost Whisperer, Jim was shot and killed but refused to cross over, instead inhabiting the body of an accident victim named Sam but having no memory of Melinda.
We join Melinda sitting by Jim's bedside in the hospital. When he awakens, he still doesn't know who she is. Eli plays Exposition Fairy, telling Delia that Sam just moved to town so he doesn't have any friends and she's telling people that she hired Sam to remodel her garage. Eli further informs Delia that Melinda thinks Jim "stepped in" to Sam's body and that she'll tell him the whole story once he remembers who she is.
When Jim looks in the mirror, he sees Sam's face and so does everybody around him, except sometimes Melinda sees Jim instead of Sam. How Quantum Leapy of them. As Melinda leaves the hospital, she sees the figure of a surly man in a suit. The next day, Melinda meets Jordan, a person Sam was supposed to meet. Turns out Jordan is a woman, who was so worried when Sam didn't come home last night. As Sam Beckett would say... "Oh boy."
Jordan tells Melinda that she's Sam's sister. Phew! Melinda takes Jordan to the hospital to see Sam. As Sam speaks with Melinda and Eli, we get a ghost-point-of-view shot of them and then the surly suit man tells them Sam will never remember Jordan.
Melinda's House. Creepy suit guy comes into her bedroom, telling her that she and Jim are both thieves. The next day, she goes to Sam's house because he was discharged. His parents are taking him back to their house, 800 miles away.
Eli does some research and says the creepy suit ghost was the driver who caused Sam's accident and was killed on the scene. Melinda says that Alan knows they are thieves because he saw what Jim did to Sam's body. Eli tells her that this "stepping in" phenomenon is usually permanent but that past life memories tend to be lost.
Sam wakes up in his house, listening to his parents and sister yell at each other. He wants to know how old he is and his parents are obviously hell-bent on taking him home and making him their "little boy" again. Sam gets dressed and sneaks out the window.
Melinda's store. Sam shows up and and wants to spend time with Melinda because she's the only person he knows who isn't desperate for him to remember her. Ouch. They head out to eat sandwiches and Melinda remembers a picnic she went on with Jim. She and Sam talk about his family fighting and he thinks maybe the amnesia is a fresh start for him.
That night, she is haunted by Alan the creepy guy again. He accuses Jim of stealing that family's chance to grieve and now they'll never know that Sam is dead. Alan now knows his purpose is to make sure that Sam's family knows the truth and he shatters her bedroom windows in her face.
The next day, Sam comes to Melinda's house and he helps her clean up and repair the windows. He says he doesn't remember much about architecture and therefore has no job and no income, so she offers to let him stay in her garage while he fixes it up. Later, his parents storm into her store, demanding that she back off and yelling that he's coming home with them. Isn't this guy like 30? Those parents are the ones who need to back off.
That night at his apartment, Sam picks up his guitar but cannot remember how to play. Alan the creepy ghost is there and draws Sam's attention to an article in the paper about Jim's shooting death. Sam realizes that Melinda is Jim's widow.
He goes to see Melinda the next day, asking for honesty from her. He wonders what else is up with her besides being one of his "clients." He wants to know why she didn't confide in him about Jim's death. She decides to tell Sam the whole story about Jim, but he jokes about her thinking he's her dead husband reincarnated and she backs down.
That night, Sam and Jordan pack up his things at his apartment. HIs parents crash and he tells them he's staying there and working for Melinda. He tells them he needs to be on his own to figure things out, but he says Jordan should head home to be with their parents.
Melinda's store. She's upset because she couldn't tell Jim the truth because Sam doubted her. Delia tells her that she's just going through the stages of grief, which Melinda takes umbrage to. Delia tells Melinda that this time is different from her usual ghost whisperings because this time she isn't helping anyone. Melinda insists that Jim took a chance to stay with her and that is what love is. Delia wonders if she has to check her common sense at the door in order for them to be friends and both women start crying. Delia storms out. Nice work by both actresses.
At home, Sam is waiting for Melinda on the porch. He tells her that it's weird for him to move in and it's also weird how he feels when they're together. He confesses to her that he's starting to think they were having an affair, which is making him not want his memory back because he doesn't want to be the person who would do that. She reassures him that they were not having an affair and he says being around her makes him crazy. Melinda says she can't tell him the truth, but says that if she feels like a friend to him (he says, "At least") that he has to trust her. He says it's better off if he just goes away. Melinda cries, as creepy Alan urges her to tell him the truth.
Melinda tells his parents that Sam is gone and she urges them not to blow it now, not to hold on to their children so tightly that they lose them. Creepy Alan smiles in the background.
Delia tries to show up at Ned's shooting clinic and she calls Ned. He confesses that it was just him and Jim, there was no clinic. Suddenly, Sam is there on the courts. He tells Delia that he has no idea what he's doing there. He says he was driving out of town and then suddenly felt like he had to be at the basketball courts. He was hoping someone would recognize him. Delia says, "It's really you" and I tear up a little. Damn this show. It always makes me cry.
Melinda's house. Delia bursts in and says Sam is outside and she has to figure out what to say to him to get him to stay. Delia says, "He was waiting for Ned... and I finally understood that I was wrong." Sniffle sniffle! Oh my god, this show. In sending her outside, Delia whips off Melinda's sweatshirt, claiming it "had a stain on it" and leaving Melinda in a camisole. Snerk.
Outside, they agree to take babysteps in helping him remember. They move his stuff into the garage, with Delia's help. He tells Melinda that his parents called his sister and apologized and that she went back home with them. He knows she changed their minds and she coyly says, "I have a few talents." Creepy Alan is there and he says to her, "It's a good thing you didn't listen to me." He says he was wrong. He wanted the family to have closure, but she held out for more. She gave them their family back. Awww. Alan goes into the light.
I have to say, I wasn't sure how they were going to handle Jim's death. I figured it for a Show Killer. But honestly? This is a way to keep the Jim/Melinda relationship while spicing it up and keeping it from getting stale. I approve. Well done, Ghost Whisperer.
I have to say, I actually really liked it. The cast does such a good job that I was believing in Melinda and Jim. Even that scene early on in the park bench was just so sweet. Delia made me tear up too.
Cindee | Nov 22, 2008 12:42:22 AM | #this episode was awesome!
Mike | Nov 22, 2008 1:42:20 AM | #What a great episode. A lot of posters last week were upset about the direction of this show but they shouldn't have been. The writing for this show is awesome.
John A | Nov 22, 2008 6:43:54 AM | #I have to admit, I liked this episode! At least Melinda has some 'assets' to gain a guy's attention!! And I liked it that we saw quite a bit more of Dehlia. Usually she's only in one or 2 scenes.
SISSERS | Nov 22, 2008 7:11:00 AM | #I still don't like that they killed Jim, but Yes, I am still willing to give them a chance. I agree finally Camryn Manheim has something to do. Taking off the sweater shows off JLH's best feature. "God I love those Girls!!"
Don | Nov 22, 2008 7:24:24 AM | #The only reason people are
being so "forgiving..." is
because they are "letting" us
see Jim instead of the dweeb
that is actually standing there. Could you really feel
the same way about a complete
(and not very good looking)
stranger? I don't think so.
Why didn't the writers just
give Jim amnesia after the
incident. Have him gradually
get his memory back...and they
can live happily ever after?
Dumb...dumb...dumb
I think GW has totally jumped the shark. So now in effect, Jim and Melinda are immortal? They never have to fear death. Just jump in a body and here we go again. Shades of "The Skeleton Key". A show only goes this route for two reasons: ratings and lack of ideas. In this case, I think it was both. And while this temporarily gives David Conrad more to do, eventually they are back to being the world's most boring couple. I love Hewitt's character but her husband has never worked and don't see why this guy will be any different. The kind of character who would work best with Melinda would be a Prof. Payne type guy, someone with a connection to Melinda's field of work. If not that, then you at least need someone with more of a personality than Jim ever had. For example, Jake Weber's character on Medium. I, for one, am done with this show until Jim is dead once and for all.
Phil | Nov 22, 2008 12:08:37 PM | #I'm going to have to agree with Mokie here. I found this whole body snatching premise to keep Jim around creepy and hardly romantic. Manipulating Jim's face and body on Sam pretty much everytime Melinda looked at Sam obviously worked for some of you out there, but, for me, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get past the fact that this was not Jim's body, but Sam's. I felt like the writers thought it would be okay as long as we always saw Jim on Sam's body even though Jim's body jumping didn't actually turn Sam into Jim. Sorry, I just didn't buy it. And, thus, this show has jumped the shark for me.
CP | Nov 22, 2008 3:20:29 PM | #Mokie and CP, I'm with both of you. Don't pediphiles convince themselves that their victims are really willing? It is really creepy that they are plastering Jim's face on Sam's body. That suit-ghost-guy had the right idea. They did the wrong thing. They stole a body and someone else's life! I hated it that the ghost rolled over at the end. "You gave them back their family." Baloney. And how much younger is the guy who plays Sam than David Conrad? He looks like a kid. Which makes the whole thing yuck-ier! Brainwashing AND kidnapping.
Please, ABC, move Super Nanny to 8:00.
Morisot | Nov 22, 2008 3:55:04 PM | #Kenneth Mitchell is 35 years old, which makes him still 6 years older than JLH and only 6 years younger than David Conrad.
Mari | Nov 22, 2008 6:18:32 PM | #As I have been saying--lighten up guys, this is just a show!! If you don't like it, don't watch it!! Thought this was a good episode--like the direction it is going--alot of really good parts in it!! IMO I for one think this will work out good--& I WILL be along for the ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michele | Nov 22, 2008 6:48:04 PM | #This is an awesome show for the family and for people to say that it's creepy what they are doind is creepy. Remember you guys it is a SUPERNATURAL show none of it is based on facts or what some people would called real to began with, talking and seeing spirits come on. Anyway it is an amazing show and also romantic. That scene with Delia and Melinda was really powerful and emmy worthy (even though emmy season is over but still). My grandmother and two sisters (that is teenagers) and I all sit every Friday and watch this show. We was worried about killing Jim off at first but the way they are doing it is like we're seeing Jim (but actually Sam)met for the first time and seeing what made them fall in love from the begining. I do Believe he will remember more of hisself as Jim more than Sam. Love It.
dayday | Nov 22, 2008 9:11:56 PM | #I loved the show. I would have lost interest without Jim. I think they did an amazing job with this last epi. As heartbreaking as last week was, this week created a better mood. I loved their scene on the bench. I am SO GLAD they didn't pair her up with one of those who are in the same profession - too much like a pair of ghostbusters. IT is much more rewarding having Jim not be in the profession but supporting it nevertheless. This is going to be interesting. I love the romance between jim and melinda.
tess | Nov 22, 2008 9:22:52 PM | #The writers are doing a good job, but I still completely disagree with the decision to kill Jim. I don't want Melinda to start a new relationship with notJim. Either kill Jim or don't, but don't have this weird limbo. I always liked the dicotomy between Jim saving lives and Melinda saving spirits. How will a carpenter have that same relationship? Not to mention Jim's complete faith in Melinda, which Sam seems not to have.
I've posted long enough. I enjoy reading others opinions on the matter, but I for one will not enjoy the show as much. Keep up the discussion.
Bryan | Nov 23, 2008 1:29:35 AM | #My son said it best. "The show was like this awesome car, and then someone parked it on the train tracks."
Bring Jim back and lets get on with the Ghosts!
I would've liked this episode a lot- if it were a chick flick or a romcom. But it wasn't- it was a show that we've come to know and love for years. If this was what they did in the very beginning I might've been more on board but I LIKED the chemistry Jim and Melinda had and didn't feel the need for the mix-up. If they writer's felt that David Conrad needed to do more (as I did) then they just needed to write better storied for JIM the way he was. I LIKED that Jim was a paramedic I LIKED the way he openly accepted Melinda and trusted her. Now she has to reestablish all of that trust and stuff. How is that a good thing?
genniel | Nov 23, 2008 10:06:44 AM | #Because I was, er, bribed into watching the last three episodes, I've only got them to base an opinion on, but here goes: as a sweeps stunt, it worked, because it got buzz, the ratings went up a skosh and it showed how much people like the show and the characters. As drama, I thought the writers took the easy way out. I won't be watching the show past this point, not because it's a bad show (it isn't), but because ghosts and vampires and such don't interest me much. The idea of re-falling in love with somebody who is essentially two people in one is a little weird though. If Jim and Melinda decide to renew their vows, will they be committing bigamy? :P
Kara Mel Apples | Nov 23, 2008 10:10:01 AM | #Didn't see it. When they killed Jim, this show went permanently off my VCR record list. Looks like I'm alone in that decision, but I'm sticking with it.
Nadine | Nov 23, 2008 12:30:36 PM | #Gee, Phil, you took everything I've been thinking about this and condensed it into one lovely paragraph (including the show comparisons, believe it or not). I'm so with you on this. The only thing I would add is that the writers have completely negated everything they'd established in this mythology: nobody really has to die; they can just pop into another person's dead body. Personally I'd be teed off if I were Delia and my dear friend Melinda didn't mention that my undead husband could just have popped into another body. But then I guess he didn't love her as much as Jim loved Melinda. Idiotic and insulting.
Dear heaven, when are Allison and Joe returning? Until then, my tv schedule will remain ghostless.
Isembard | Nov 23, 2008 3:09:23 PM | #For sure this is just a tv show but you need to be true to the audience. I thought the actor that played Jim wanted off the show but since that is not the case, for the life of me I see no logic in the way that have taken the show. Good Writing? Well, that is a matter of opinion and my opinion is different but that does not matter either if the show continues to be a success. I will check every now and then on the write ups and if they have this be a dream of Jim or Melinda, I will watch it again and if not, Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader will get another viewer.
Nan | Nov 23, 2008 5:40:36 PM | #I'm back on board. At first when I heard they were going to kill off Jim, I said I will not watch it again. They came up with a very clever idea and did not let the fans down.So I'll be watching.
Kristy | Nov 24, 2008 4:58:48 AM | #After reading many posts regarding Ghost Whisperer’s recent direction, I would like to share some additional thoughts. The show is a bit unusual in that it covers topics that are quite metaphysical and somewhat controversial. Many differ at least partially with the ideas presented but still find it entertaining.
However, Ghost Whisperer is definitely not for everyone. Open minds are required--not only regarding ghosts, but also about reincarnation--the concept that we all might really be spirits experiencing multiple lives and identities. This is a growing paradigm derived in part from near death research, hypnotic regression and experiences of physic mediums. There is no doubt that some will be offended or simply regard aspects of the show to be stupid.
That isn’t to say that everything is an accurate portrayal. Television tends to oversimplify and exaggerate. On TV we’ve all seen lawyers who try landmark cases weekly, police officers who constantly defy death, people who magically meet their true love at the grocery store, etc. On Ghost Whisperer I’ve been less than thrilled with such things as weekly poltergeists, injured looking ghosts, partly decayed bodies resurrected, or freakishly improbable events like the jetliner crash just outside of town that killed Melinda’s friend.
Their current walk-in scenario is also oversimplified and somewhat unlikely, but for those of us who believe in this sort of thing, not impossible, creepy or unethical. In fact, walk-ins are believed by some to be so common that most of us have probably met one. For example, people with “born again” religious transformations fit the walk-in profile. It is believed to be a form of reincarnation preferred by more advanced souls who wish to come in as adults for a specific purpose.
If Jim was a real life walk-in, he probably would have first crossed into the light. Then his new incarnation as a walk-in would take place over a period of time. Previous posters are quite correct in that spirits can’t just jump into bodies. The “walk-out” soul must have a strong desire to leave, often due to depression or illness. The walk-in soul must be willing to take on the walk-out’s problems. The encounter between the new Sam and his family is a good example. They were surprised that pushing familiar buttons with Sam no longer had any effect. Sam simply went ahead with what he thought to be best for everyone involved. David Conrad can continue to play Sam’s role, because Melinda’s gift allows her to also see him as the old Jim.
To summarize, I would say that television productions are package deals reflecting the vision of their respective creators; and Ghost Whisperer deserves praise for being a uniquely different show, tackling difficult controversial subjects.
I have to admit that the writers managed to wrestle their way out of a messy situation but I am still not happy with the result. Are we going to have to continue with this "she sees him but no one else does business".
I can't believe that Jim's mother or the parents of Jim's new body are going to be happy with this rather quick pair up.
It all just feels very awkward to me and I may not watch it much longer.
Can't they just bring back Moonlight!
Be good to Fluffy -- it might actually be grandma!
Another way of looking at it--I like turkey gravy. I like ice cream. I don't want turkey gravy on my ice cream! (except wait -- I don't believe in reincarnation.)
So yes, you can like where the show is going now -- I'm very disappointed though and I don't like it and I do have the right to voice my opinion.
I agree with Mokie - they should've had Jim have amnesia and not die - that would've created the same result as it is now. But I must admit that the HEAVEN CAN WAIT body-jumping trick sorta saved the kill-Jim catastrophe. And I also agree with Phil - they did all this to up the ratings - shake up the lead characters to bring new life to the show. Anyhow, I'm willing to cut them some slack and wait to see where this is going... BTW-- in an interview with David Conrad, he mentioned going back to the East Coast and looking into other things to do, like Broadway or knitting. Which foreshadowed that he was gonna be gone. Well... I guess this Sam direction takes the wind out of his sails - he's "stuck" here for another lifetime. How's that for a Twist..??
Shanae | Nov 24, 2008 10:01:13 AM | #
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