Lower Decks

The following review contains spoilers for Ghost Whisperer through the current episode, “Firestarter,” originally broadcast October 3rd, 2008.

When Ghost Whisperer was first announced, I had no intention whatsoever of watching it. I was a big fan of Joan of Arcadia and Ghost Whisperer was its replacement when CBS canned it following the 2004-2005 season. Joan of Arcadia, you will recall, was about a girl who spoke to God. And Ghost Whisperer is about a woman who talks to ghosts. At the time, it seemed to me that CBS was making a huge mistake by getting rid of Joan of Arcadia (which, admittedly, went downhill during its second season) only to replace it with a new drama that was a new take on the same theme.

Having nothing else to watch one Friday evening in October of 2005, I tuned into an episode of Ghost Whisperer. It was about some kids who died in a fire. I kept watching and was able to catch up on the first few episodes, including the pilot, thanks to repeats. Jennifer Love Hewitt, as “ghost whisperer” Melinda Gordon, made for a wonderful protagonist and there was just enough ongoing mystery mixed in with the ghost-of-the-week episodes to keep me watching. When Melinda’s friend and business partner (played by Aisha Tyler) was killed off at the end of the first season, I thought it was a jump-the-shark moment. But Camryn Manheim (as Delia Banks) made a fine replacement and although Jay Mohr’s character of Professor Payne took a while to get used to, the expanding mythology kept me tuning in.

At the end of the third season finale, after once again saving the day, Melinda, her husband Jim, her mother Beth, Professor Payne, Delia and Delia’s son Ned are walking. Payne notices that there are six of them but only five shadows. On that ominous note, the episode ended. It was a wonderful cliffhanger and I was very excited for the Season Four premiere to see what it meant. Unfortunately, the episode failed to deliver. Rather than picking up right where the Season Three finale left off, “Firestarter” opened with a brief scene in which Melinda and Jim renewed their desire to have a child.

Before things could heat up at home, Jim was called to a fire at the university. Melinda, worried about Professor Payne, goes with her husband and frantically looks all over the place for Payne. She finds him, perfectly alive, and he suggests that Melinda is simply worrying that the whole “six people, five shadows” thing is a bad omen. Melinda watches as Jim and other EMTs furiously try to save a man’s life. His ghost leaves his body, looks around a while, and then is shocked back inside by a defibrillator. Obviously, this is going to play a key part in the episode.

And it does. The man turns out to be one Eli James, a professor of psychology at the university. He is taken to Mercy Hospital for smoke inhalation and some eye inflammation. Melinda has to slowly tell him that the woman he has been so animatedly chatting with, a young woman named Fiona, is dead. Not surprisingly, Eli doesn’t believe her. But then he takes the bandages off his eyes and discovers that Fiona isn’t in the room. That’s got to be a shocker. Eli, however, thinks Melinda is crazy and offers to help her with her problems. Eventually, it is revealed that Eli only hears ghosts (like Melinda’s mother) but doesn’t see them.

Professor Payne suggests that Eli’s new ability to hear ghosts comes from his Near Death Experience (or NDE). Payne is preparing for a sabbatical (Jay Mohr has his own sitcom, Gary Unmarried, on CBS) but plans on leaving Melinda all the paranormal books she could ever need. He also tells her that Professor James isn’t universally liked in his own department. After a painfully embarrassing scene in which Eli is tormented by a contingent of ghosts and has to send for Melinda to help, Eli reveals that he doesn’t like the idea of spending the rest of his life listening to and helping ghosts. Melinda approaches things differently and calls it a gift. Fiona (the ghost) pops in again and tells James she doesn’t blame him.

A detective arrives and tells Eli he is wanted for questioning in connection with the fire, which started in his office and began after an argument between Eli and Fiona took place. Eli explains that he was helping Fiona get over a boyfriend and she was coming down with a classic case of transference, falling in love with James. He told her he couldn’t treat her anymore. They argued. And then the fire started. This was where the episode started to get a little slow for me. It seemed obvious that Professor James was being introduced solely to replace Professor Payne as Melinda’s partner in crime.

Eventually, as the episode plays out, Melinda uncovers the truth: Fiona’s boyfriend problems were actually with her foster brother turned roommate, Christian, who started the fire at the university to scare off Eli and inadvertently killed Fiona. Melinda and Christian are nearly killed when he sets fire to the archives and traps them both inside. Melinda sends Fiona to get Eli while she tries to get into the tunnel entrance (recall that Grandview has a whole tunnel system below it) behind a row of metal bookcases. But the shelves are bolted to the floor. Just when things look darkest, a female ghost appears and knocks over the bookcase. Once inside the tunnel, a whole bunch of ghosts show up. They are watchers. And they saved Melinda to return a favor (what favor is never revealed). The lead ghost warns Melinda: she has to understand the price of her ability to see and hear ghosts. She moves between the world of life and death. She has been touched by death. And it might brush off on what she touches. Ooh, chilling.

Fiona eventually crosses over after Eli admits that he was in love with her. That night, Melinda, Jim and Delia go out to dinner at the restaurant where Ned is now employed. Melinda and Jim come close to revealing to Delia that they are seriously trying to get pregnant. Melinda and Professor Payne say goodbye in a touching scene in which Melinda cries and the two hug. Melinda is worried about Payne’s safety and tells him time and time again to be careful, to be safe.  She sent him an e-mail telling him to meet her before he leaves or be careful. They have a moment. Melinda cries and they hug. She tells him to be safe. He promises to come back and drives off.

In sum, “Firestarter” did what it had to do: it wrote out Jay Mohr and Professor Payne while introducing Jamie Kennedy and Professor James. It was disappointing to say goodbye to Professor Payne and after this episode I am not sure Professor James is going to be any sort of replacement. Obviously, he is not an expert in the occult, so he cannot be as helpful to Melinda. But because he can hear ghosts, he can be involved in other ways, so there is that. I am doing everything I can to stay away from spoilers for this season, so all I know is that the CBS promos are making it look like something big is going to happen. Will it be a game changer? That remains to be seen.