Cynical Cinema

Paramount Home Entertainment releases the fourth season of Medium on DVD today, September 9th. There are many shows right now that explore some kind of mystical, supernatural ability, and this one is the best of them all. Unlike, for example, The Ghost Whisperer, which was released last week, Medium has a considerable amount of substance. Patricia Arquette plays the title character, a psychic who dreams about murder. And not the way I dream about murder, where I wake up and wonder whether or not I did, in fact, kill Steven Seagal during the night. But rather, she dreams about real murders that actually happened. Of course, she never sees the entire murder happen at first, or the show would be very short. As she continues to dream, more and more of the murder becomes clear, until at the end of the show she can put it all together and catch the criminal.

Season four opens with Arquette having lost her job with the office of the district attorney. At the end of the previous season, the DA was forced to resign when it was revealed that he had been using this psychic to help him solve cases. I guess the public wasn’t willing to buy in. Not enough of them watch shows like Medium. Her husband has also lost his job, which means that money is tight and times are tough. An opportunity arises in the form of Anjelica Huston, who is an investigator working with AmeriTips, an organization that helps people resolve crimes on their own, rather than having to resort to the silly police. Huston recruits Arquette to work with her, which means that at least a little bit of money is coming into the house. And while each episode of Medium stands alone, and has a satisfying resolution, Huston herself has a story arc throughout season four that boils down to a very intense conclusion.

Medium has been a good show for a while, but the addition of one of the great actresses in the world for the fourth season, and the story she brings with her, make season four the best of them all. Pick it up on DVD now.