Saturday, January 1, 2011

No Ordinary Family 1.09: "No Ordinary Anniversary"

Sarah's helping me out a bit with some "No Ordinary Family" as well, since this is another show we both watch. Enjoy her take on "No Ordinary Anniversary."

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“This is what I’ve been missing with my crime fighting. You.”
- Jim

Overall, I found “No Ordinary Anniversary” to be rather entertaining. I especially enjoyed the continuation of the powers conspiracy. Mostly because we get more of Josh Stewart (The Watcher/ “Will”). So, the episode opens with Jim buying roses for Stephanie for their anniversary. Jim says he just wants a night of no kids and no crime fighting. George is with him and as they are leaving the florist, fire engines whiz by. With only minimal prodding by George, Jim goes off to try and see what he can do to help with the fire. Of course, he doesn’t know if he can even survive fire but I guess that’s not all that important when you’re generally invincible. He ends up rescuing a trapped kid and skipping out on getting examined by paramedics. As Jim is leaving the scene, he sees a sufficiently creepy guy watching the fire behind the barricade [ed. note: most obvious TV arsonist EVER!].

Jim gets home to find Stephanie and Daphne arguing about whether Daphne is old enough to supervise when Stephanie and Jim go out overnight for their anniversary. Daphne really doesn’t want the usual babysitter, who is over eighty-years-old. Plus, J.J. wants a new super-fast computer but Stephanie says no. He’ll have to save up the money from his allowance (which leads to the rather annoying Powell junior plot of the episode). They end up deciding that Daphne can be in charge. Jim quickly spills to Stephanie about his flame-retardant abilities and she happily notes it in her little black book of powers, careful to refer to Jim only as “Subject Y.”

The next day at the lab, Stephanie and Katie are examining Jim’s tissue sample when Katie asks Stephanie how she knew Jim was “the one”. Katie really likes “Will” but she thinks he is hard to read sometimes. If only she knew he was working for the bad guy! Anyway, their conversation is interrupted by Dr. Chiles. He’s not happy that Stephanie is once again shutting him out of her research. The poor guy just doesn’t know what’s coming. Meanwhile, we find J.J. at school formulating a plan about how he’s going to get the money for his computer. He overhears some older guys talking about a poker game. He ends up convincing them to have it at the Powell house that night since his parents will be out for their anniversary.

That night, Jim gives Stephanie her anniversary present, a sculpture of their hands he made out of marble. She loves it and it’s a cute scene that shows just how good they are together. In short order, they leave the kids by themselves for the night. Jim gets a call from George as he and Stephanie are heading to the car and Jim is rather insistent that he doesn’t want to know that the fire he helped out with was the fourth major arson in the city that month. Intercut we see the creepy guy from the fire at the beginning of the episode setting a new one in what appears to be an abandoned building using a superpower. It reminded me a little of Pyro (from X-Men).

Jim and Stephanie arrive at the restaurant to find they have a 45-minute wait. Neither is happy about it and, Stephanie calls Katie to go check on the kids. And of course, Katie gets to bring “Will” along because they’ll be stopping before their own dinner date. About the time Stephanie and Jim arrived at the restaurant, J.J.’s poker buddies (well okay so not really buddies but you get the point) show up. After arguing with Daphne, J.J. agrees to cut her in, 50/50 if she allows the game to happen and helps clean up.

Back at the restaurant, Stephanie ends up using her power to switch their name on the list and get a table. It doesn’t last long though, because the name she switched with theirs shows up and the guy is going to propose to his girlfriend. So, Stephanie and Jim give up the table and opt for hot dogs instead. Not quite as romantic as an expensive dinner but whatever floats your boat. As Jim and Stephanie are walking along the street after eating, they come across the latest fire (all put out), and Jim goes to confront the arsonist. Jim tries to beat up the arsonist but ends up getting blasted by lots of fire. Stephanie shows up just in time and uses her speed to knock the guy out. Looks like they could make a pretty good team.

Meanwhile, the nefarious Dr. King calls Dr. Chiles into his office and fires him when Chiles refuses to spy on Stephanie. And thus because the slow demise of one Dr. Frances Chiles. But more on that in the next post. Jim and Stephanie end up at George’s house in the “lair.” They want to get the arsonist out of the hospital so he doesn’t hurt anyone. Stephanie also believes she can find a way to neutralize his powers. They pop by the lab so Stephanie can make a compound to neutralize the bad guy when Chiles comes to the lab to collect his stuff and gives a vague warning that they’re all expendable.

Back at the Powell Estate (sorry, couldn’t resist the Doctor Who play on words), JJ is wiping the floor with the other guys. They end up switching the game to 5 card draw where J.J. can’t see the cards. Things aren’t going well until J.J. enlists Daphne to read the guys’ minds. The lucky streak doesn’t last for long, though. Katie and “Will” have show up and things go downhill fast. They end up finding the poker game and Katie throws the guys out, or so she thinks. It’s really “Will” using his telepathy on one of the guys. Katie does, however, promise not to say anything about it to Stephanie in exchange for Daphne reading “Will’s” mind. Perhaps the most important thing is that Daphne can’t read “Will’s” mind- she just hears static. “Will” does some snooping and finds Stephanie’s journal, shoes and food. As they are cleaning up the mess, Daphne and J.J. discover Jim’s sculpture has been broken. Between now and the end of the episode they make a daring trip to the school art department (which involves bribing a night guard) and fixing it.

At the hospital, George is trying to convince Det. Cordero to let the arsonist go but fails. He’s released into police custody which eventually does allow Jim and Stephanie to save the day. “Will” ends up getting the guy out of the van, but not before flipping it and leaving Cordero and the driver for dead. Jim ends up saving Cordero before one final showdown where Stephanie ends up engulfing pyro-guy in what looks like some kind of flame retardant substance. In any case, he’s not alive anymore. Jim and Stephanie get home to find J.J. and Daphne (and the sculpture) in one piece. If only they knew what kind of trouble lay lurking ahead of them.

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