Ghostwhisperererwatch
Our Jenny had a bit of a shock this week. A bump on the head means she has a near-death experience of her very own! Granny urges JLH to join her in ‘the light’ but at the last minute Miss Perkypants looks down and sees paramedic hubby sobbing at her bedside. “It’s not my time!” she pleads to Gran, and suddenly wakes up good as new. OR DOES SHE?
At the end of last week’s gobsmackingly unsubtle racism episode (Judge: “I think we’ve all learned something here Timmy - twenty years ago your grandfather was a victim of MY PREJUDICE but I’ve made a public apology now so you have no excuse to tattoo black power slogans on your forehead and beat up Ed Norton etc”), one of the ghosts warned of DOOM on the horizon. The appeal of Ghost Whisperer currently hinges on its encapsulated plots and instantly accessible 2-dimensional characters*, and most episodes indeed end with the mandatory camera-pan across to some form of Unspeakable Menace lurking behind a bush, giving Jenny evils. No mention is made of this a week later (possibly to allow episodes to be broadcast in any order the channel chooses) and our Jen can get on with cheerily annoying people who would rather rest in peace.
But what’s this! After waking up from her head injury, JLH doesn’t see a ghost for days! Where could they have gone to? Has she LOST HER POWERS? Of course she hasn’t. A quick chat with mummy dearest (who for those who haven’t been following a handy update is written into the script: “I know you suppress your visions and get awful migranes as a result which is why we never BONDED properly isn’t it MOTHER”) reveals she no longer has headaches and grudgingly admits she can’t see any dead people either. So what’s happened to them? Jen (with bandage still hanging over one eye) manages to help a schoolgirl say goodbye to her recently deceased footballer boyfriend, who has “escaped the evil wind” that is sucking away all the spirits because he is Young And Strong. After the usual Patrick Swayze/Whoopi Goldberg social worker business is completed Jen is still clueless about what’s happened to her ghostly chums. Maybe they all reside in the finite space between her ears and the swelling from her head injury has shoved them all out? If so clearly the way to restore the status quo is to give Jenny another bash on the head with a mallet in true Tex Avery style.
Could this be the first sign of pan-episodic plot progression in GW? In all probability the ghosts will be back next week without a single reference to the evil wind (beans for tea again, Jen?). I can’t remember watching a programme before where I’ve wanted to tune into the next episode hoping that a plot resolution won’t appear.
*I watched said morality-heavy episode in the company of a GW-newcomer who a) latched on to what was going on immediately b) neither felt compelled to change channel nor watch another episode ever again. I rest my case.
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FT's Pete Baran on November 23rd, 2006
“neither felt compelled to change channel nor watch another episode ever again” I can see the programme makers being worried by this bit…
FT's Tim on November 24th, 2006
I am fascinated by the insanely slow pace of TGW meta story arc. Which means I’m simultaneously enjoying each (identikit) story, enjoying the tiny crumbs of narrative arc they dole out, and enjoying thinking about how slowly they’re grinding through the overarching story.
They’ve got me!
It occurred to me during this episode that we might be heading for a massive ghostly battle royale as a season finale, where Perky Jen finally gets to be Buffy. I think that’s too much to hope for.
Pete on November 24th, 2006
Oh, just admit it, you fancy the perkypants of JLH. There is nothing wrong with that.
Kat on November 24th, 2006
Wooooo, there’s a ghost in my house.
FT's Tim on November 24th, 2006
I don’t think I do, Pete. Certainly it’s not “just” that. She’s a bit icky, I think. The whole show’s a bit icky. I love icky TV but I’m not sure I fancy icky.
Kat on November 24th, 2006
Besides, she’s a MARRIED WUMMAN. You’d have no chance, Tim - she’d wave her ring at you going “close but no cigar” or some other chirpy remark…
FT's Tim on November 24th, 2006
Yes! Like the ghost doctor who was trying it on the other week. Dougie Spectre MD.