Lower Decks

Ghost Whisperer
“The Book of Changes”
Originally Broadcast Friday, May 15th, 2009

I apologize for the lateness of this review. It has nothing to do with how I felt about the episode; I just didn’t get around to writing it. Anyway, this was the fourth season finale of Ghost Whisperer. And it was a pretty good finale. I don’t think it’s fair to judge this one episode on the basis of the season as a whole. Maybe in a few weeks I’ll write about what worked and what didn’t during this past season. Right now, though, I’m going to discuss “The Book of Changes.”

First things first. There wasn’t much of a wedding. I am pretty sure Melinda and Jim were married (again) by the end of the episode. It wasn’t the huge event Melinda’s mother had wanted. It was just Melinda and Jim and a few of their friends and a minister. But it was enough. They’re officially back together and they have a little one on the way. What more could they ask for? Aside from Jim looking like Jim, that is.

This was a surprisingly happy season finale. True, there was a death and some very ominous threats about the future. But Melinda and Jim are back together. Yay. I was sad to see Zoe die. I think she was first introducede in “Stage Fright” as an old friend and former girlfriend of Eli’s. At first I thought she was just going to be a one-off character introduced to help move the plot along. But then she showed up in another episode and then this one.

And now she’s dead. It was very creepy the way Eli found her body in her house while she stood next to him in ghost form, having begged him not to come into the house. But she was able to help him get his hands on the mysterious Book of Changes. Melinda wasn’t supposed to see it but Eli can’t help but show her scans of the important pages. And then he brings her the actual book.

It is filled with dates connected to events in Melinda’s life: Andrea’s death, Eli almost dying, Jim being shot, that sort of thing. And it includes one date that hasn’t taken place yet. The birth of Melinda’s baby boy. That’s disturbing. While talking with one of the ghostly watchers she asks if he’ll have her ability to whisper to ghosts. He says no. And then, just as I predicted only seconds earlier, the watcher said her son will be able to do more.

Gasp.

So although Melinda and Jim are happily married again they don’t have much time to go on a honeymoon. Their powerful spawn will be born in no time and who knows what mischief he’ll get into as an infant. Maybe he’ll be able to blink at dead people and bring them back to life. Or perhaps he’ll be able to throw up and somehow sense impending doom.

Whatever his creepy ability turns out to be I’m sure it will be at least a little annoying. Adding babies to television shows rarely, if ever, works out. And coming on the heels of a season in which the status quo was turned upside down and then righted, in a sense, I can’t help but think it isn’t going to sit all that well with fans.