As we all know, George W. Bush's America can be one scary place. It's scary to contemplate from the outside and for many in America, it's also a spooky, fright-filled place. Those who disagree with Bush and the policies and attitudes that emanate from his regime are scared by the culture of repression and the breakdown of progressive ideals.
Those who agree with Bush's policies are themselves frightened by others. They're frightened by change, by gays, lesbians and the so-called liberals of every stripe. Other countries frighten them and they're filled with fear about outsiders attacking the United States, again and again.
In this culture of creeping fear and anxiety, there is a resurgent interest in old beliefs, no matter how at odds they are with rationality, modernity and science.
This happens in all cultures when change and danger is constant, and no fear goes unrealized. The paranormal, savants, fundamentalist beliefs and ancient ways are rendered more plausible. They offer solace.
Medium (CTV, 10 p.m.) is a new American network drama (CTV will simulcast with the NBC show starting next week) that's emblematic of a culture searching for old ways to solve problems. It's about a medium named Allison, a woman who sees, hears and talks to the dead. Lest any viewer think it is fanciful fiction, the show opens with an emphatic statement: "There really is an Allison. The things you are about to see really did happen to her. Really." Okay, we get it. This isn't some made-up, wacky nonsense like The X-Files. It really, really happened. It's really true.
When we meet Allison (Patricia Arquette), she's interviewing an ordinary-looking guy who is describing a crime scene. Then he turns creepy.
Then she wakes up. It was all a dream but as she wakes from the dream, a bevy of dead people are standing at the foot of her bed, asking if she's sure that she's okay.
Allison is no flake, that's emphasized. She's a mother of three kids and she's returned to the work force after getting a law degree. She works as an intern at the DA's office. It's important, in the significance and meaning of Medium, that Allison is a hard-working mother. Moms are very important in this America. They know stuff intuitively and, specifically, as we all remember from the recent presidential election, moms know about being safe. These so-called soccer moms morphed into security moms. They know, more than prattling lawyers and politicians, about the fundamentals of law, order and safety.
At work, Allison has to present some crime-scene photos to the lawyers in the DA's office. But she goes too far in suggesting what happened at the scene. That's because she just knows. Her boss is annoyed. Allison asks him, "You don't care what's in my head?" and he answers, "Not if it wasn't in a law book first."
And there you have one of the core beliefs in the show and a core belief among many Americans today: What's in the law books is less authentic than what a person really believes.
Anyway, Allison is dismayed. Her husband is kind of freaked, too. He faxes a bunch of Allison's dream-based theories to some law-enforcement agencies to see what happens. Within hours, it seems, Allison is whisked off to Texas because the Texas Rangers police force is intrigued by the fax because it showed knowledge of a case that nobody other than the Rangers could know.
The Texas Rangers, as portrayed here, are a bizarre bunch. All cowboy hats, chinos and cowboy boots, they travel in large packs and only in black SUVs. There are multiple shots of the Rangers descending on a scene, like a souped-up cavalry, travelling in big gas-guzzling cars. That aspect of the show is so lovingly filmed that you have to wonder if the production is directly sponsored by the car company or an oil and gas outfit.
After many machinations and confrontations with a crusty-but-lovable Ranger, Allison cracks the case. Back home, she has good news, too. She's found her calling: She'll follow her heart and listen to the voices in her head, instead of pursuing conventional legal work. It will even allow her to be a stay-at-home mom who can bustle about the kitchen in her bathrobe, just like you see in mom-centric commercials.
Medium is well-made, slick and, at times, achieves a sense of the macabre. It is a well-crafted crime story. Patricia Arquette is a lovely-looking woman but no model-thing sprite or adolescent airhead, and she's luminous as Allison. Her pale beauty and compact frame are meant to make her an anchored, plausible mom-who-cares.
The show is agreeable entertainment, but far more interesting as an artifact than as a TV fiction. One looks at Medium and sees that it celebrates a mother's intuition. But it's an intuition about the wrongness of rationality. One looks at Allison, as an exemplar of contemporary American beliefs, and thinks, "Oh brave new world that has such people in it."
Also airing tonight: Frontline (PBS, 9 p.m.) is a repeat but it's a fine, coincidental repeat. The program, The Jesus Factor, examines George W. Bush's religious and spiritual beliefs and attempts to ascertain how those beliefs shape the policies of the man and his administration. Go figure.
Committed (NBC, 9:30 p.m.) is a new sitcom about a guy and a gal. He's wacky and she's wacky. Everything is so darn wacky, you want them whacked.