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No Ordinary Family season 1 thread (1 Viewer)

NeilO

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkMel That's why they all have different powers.



That's partially okay. So Jim and the plant have the same DNA structure. Now will she can find plants similar to the other three?
 

Mikah Cerucco

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Right. If only JJ were super smart, he might have put that together. Especially given his sister just told him the guy blocked her attempt to read his mind.


I know they're just kids and their parents want them to have as normal a life as possible, but I can't help thinking... super intellect and the ability to read minds, and the most they've contributed to society is winning poker and impressing dates. JJ offers the assistant to do all her outstanding lab work in exchange for silence. Good idea. How about helping your mom figure out what she's been working on for the last few episodes? In fact, how about trying to figure out cold fusion? Or a clean non-combustible engine? Or an efficient cheap process to convert sea water to fresh water. The list goes on. Heady things for a kid to be involved in? Maybe, but he doesn't have to do it and take the credit. He can explain it to his mom once he figures it out, or post the information anonymously on the internet.


It was nice to see Jim and Stephanie as a dynamic duo, though I'm not sure how Pyro caught up with her. She tells us she can run faster than fire, we see her dodge fireballs a few times, then we see Pyro catch her. I may have blinked at the wrong time. Still, as light fare, I enjoy the show.
 

NeilO

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The kids' plot just didn't work for me again. Even though he was counting cards, I refuse to believe he could do that well in the stud portion of the poker game. And then when he had his sister help him, it should have been obvious to the other players that she was signaling him somehow. Now if she was playing it would have been another matter.

We'll have to see where they go with "Will". The kids have their suspicions about him. Now the next time they see him, he might not have his powers and that could be interesting. That's another aspect that will need to be investigated - why the Powells have long term powers, while those receiving injections appear to need periodic booster shots. Then at the end we see the fired guy pick up some of the leaked fluid. Where is he going to go with that?


As far as JJ figuring out extremely difficult scientific problems - at the moment I don't think his power allows him to make the intellectual leap to do that. That is a different skill set. Though I don't think the writers have been particularly consistent on just what he can do.


I did like the parents working together. As far as Pyro catching up with her - she had limited room to run. She wanted to try to contain him somehow which meant that she couldn't just run off to another state.
 

Vaughan Odendaal

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Still didn't make sense that Pyro was moving so fast behind her. She was looking over her shoulder all the time, I mean, she couldn't shrug the guy off. She's weak. Are we to seriously assume that Pyro can move at speeds that even humans can't see ? Because even in slow mo, he was catching up to her and she was surprised. He should have flayed her alive. That would have made for good tv !
 

Mikah Cerucco

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Originally Posted by NeilO

As far as JJ figuring out extremely difficult scientific problems - at the moment I don't think his power allows him to make the intellectual leap to do that. That is a different skill set. Though I don't think the writers have been particularly consistent on just what he can do.


I was more making a general point about doing something significant with a power like that, but since you brough it up, exactly what do you find about solving extremely difficult scientific problems that's inconsistent ("requires a different skill set") from JJ's power? Because as far as I'm concerned, he could be the most accurate meterologist available (including computers) and should be able to handle string theory. Essentially, there's nothing put in front of JJ that he hasn't been able to learn -- and even better yet, understand.


There are "problems" today that will be the technology of tomorrow. The difference is when some researcher makes a breakthrough. Such was it for the combustible engine, electricity/light, X-Rays and MRI's, nuclear energy, vacuum tube, transistor, microprocessor, and the list goes on. JJ could be that person. There have been no limits established as to what JJ could accomplish, and while it has little to do with my enjoyment of the show, I do think about it. I'm not suggesting lock the guy up in an underground basement and siphon his brain power (ala Minority Report), but there's a huge gap between that and what they're currently doing. Yes, it's a light show, but I do think he should be doing something more significant, even if he's just part-time helping his mom and her assitant in their jobs. It's certainly better than the part-time McDonald's jobs many other students have.
 

NeilO

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I think it is still quite early since JJ started using his powers, for his parents to decide that he should start applying them in a scientific internship. First of all, they don't want his powers to be known yet beyond their family. As shown already, he doesn't have the maturity yet to handle everything that he could do. Within those limits, they could bring him in during winter or summer break, but credit most of his work to his mother or her assistant to make it not look too strange.
 

Peter Rohlfs

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I'm puzzled that


1) The solid marble statue fell in the first place. There wasn't a "Risky Business" style party going on, just people at a table playing power. And it had a good stand.

2) No one heard it fall.


3) It broke into alot of pieces as if it was a hollow ceramic.


4) How easy it was to repair with no signs of damage.


5) Why she gave away ALL the poker earnings to the school gaurd.

6) That the gaurd was bribable.


It looked like an entire plot contrivance so little kiddies would get the message that abusing their powers doesn't work out. Even though they did keep the car the son won using his powers gambling the other week.


Peter
 

NeilO

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Originally Posted by Peter Rohlfs

I'm puzzled that

...

It looked like an entire plot contrivance so little kiddies would get the message that abusing their powers doesn't work out. Even though they did keep the car the son won using his powers gambling the other week.


Peter
Bad writing for the most part, but I think we did see the statue in a precarious position during the poker game. There was definite foreshadowing that something was going to happen to it. They attempted to explain how he could fix it up, but it was a bad plot device.


Doing the trick pool shot was taking things too far the other week.
 

Derek Miner

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Argh!


This is the most frustrating show for me. I like Michael Chiklis. I like Julie Benz. I like Romany Malco. I adore Autumn Reeser. I even like the kids in this show. Everyone's so likable. it's a shame the producers and writers seem to be conspiring to make this the most idiotic thing on TV.


A couple of the dumb things in this week's episode have already been mentioned.

Peter pointed out one of the big ones for me - why give such a huge wad of cash to the security guard? Fifty bucks probably would have done as good and was maybe a small bit of the total.


Greg pointed out that JJ should have noted Katie was dating a guy with the same name as the guy he made up - or just dating a guy period. So are we to believe that two weeks ago, after JJ witnessed Katie waiting at a restaurant for a guy that didn't exist, he never followed up online, asked around to find out how she was taking it, or otherwise tried to get some closure to the lie he started? I hate writers who sacrifice sense for a plot device.


More….


How did Stephanie overhear the guy at the restaurant say he was going to propose? The guy's girl was sitting right behind him, much, much closer.


Why do the producers exaggerate so many of the secondary characters? The lab guy who got fired was so over-the-top sarcastic and angry (even before he got fired). The snobby hostess at the restaurant - never saw that coming! That teacher of JJ's was a rotten caricature of an uptight intellectual as well. And what about the shifty looking guy at the site of the fires? I know they wanted to make him obvious so the audience would recognize him later, but he should have been obvious to the investigators at the scene too.


Following the same path… why did they waste screen time on trying to convince the police to release the arson suspect when it became irrelevant anyway? The police were so obviously right - the suspect was spotted at the scene of four of the fires! George is looking more professionally unsound every week.


How did Jim and Stephanie manage to not be spotted by the police car pulling into the alley? It seemed like the driver should have seen two people running in the corner of his eye.


Back to the poker game - who held on to the money throughout the game and then who counted the chips and distributed the winnings when they were obviously being shut down?


How did Daphne not figure out JJ's ruse in advance? He was sitting right next to her on the couch reading a book about poker and the the thought never once crossed his mind about how much he wanted to beat those guys?


Going back to last week's episode… seriously, the first thing JJ thought of to solve his problem was to hack into the school's computer? AT SCHOOL? He has no problem standing up to his teacher, but he couldn't take the issue to the principal? Oh yeah, the writers needed a plot device. I forgot.


And I really had problems with the whole idea that they could basically hijack a hospital OR and a patient with barely any scrutiny.


I know I'm probably thinking about this too much, and it's probably safer for my sanity if I stop watching. If Autumn Reeser leaves, maybe I will. But for the time being, I guess I'll keep banging my head against the wall and hoping in vain it will get better. About a month back, I thought it was...
 

Adam Lenhardt

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It's funny, I agree with all of the problems that Derek's just listed, but I still think this was the best episode so far. The structural problems that have limited the show from the beginning -- lazy plotting, cartoonish supporting characters, hamfisted dialog -- all still exist, but the world is starting to come together a little more. What I liked about the Daphne and JJ story was that it could happen with any teenage siblings left to their own devices; the superpowers were coating on a very human chain of events. I also think Daphne and JJ play better off each other than any of the other usual pair ups. I was intrigued by the moment between "Will" and Daphne, where "Will" blocks her mind reading attempt. If he can block mind reading, he can probably also himself read minds. And if he can read minds, it's likely Daphne can produce his other powers -- telekinesis, pushing thoughts, etc -- and just hasn't discovered it yet. We've already seen that Jim's power has many aspects to it, and in Tuesday's episode we saw that the powers of both "Will" and the firebug did too. What other aspects are there to Stephanie and JJ's powers? What's "Will"'s real agenda? He could have sold the Powells out to Dr. King several times now, and hasn't. On a couple of occasions, he even cleaned up Jim's dirty laundry so to speak. He's ruthless, but he seems to have a soft spot for this family.
 

DaveF

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This was an oddball episode. As Mikah and Derek detailed, this episode practically reveled in every single weakness in the writing and creativity of NOF. But it was solid on the relational aspects: Jim and Stephanie's marriage, and Steph finally understanding Jim's passion for being a superhero. Daphne and JJ's sibling relationship with simultaneous rivalry and support. And the reality that they are still, immature and not particularly thoughtful teens. (JJ may be a mathematical super wiz after reading a textbook on the topic, but he's still a complete teen, wholly lacking common sense, grace, or tact.)


My two biggest gripes then fall into the middle:


Why isn't Jim wearing a mask? They've devoted an entire episode to the dangers of his identity being revealed. His family was put at risk. And he still takes no steps to guard his identity?


George is becoming seriously annoying, constantly pushing Jim to pursue bad guys to to the detriment of Jim's life, family, marriage. There's some interesting character elements to plumb here, with George living vicariously through Jim; George pursuing the justice that he can't always get as a DA; George sublimating his jealousy of Jim's powers into irrational and unfair expectations of Jim's greater purposes in life. But I fear the show won't explore this, and will just make George an increasing annoyance -- a cranky Jiminy Cricket.


But it's a fun show. The family is amusing. The disparate threads still provoke interest -- what's "Will"'s greater interest in the family? (My wife thinks he hopes to find a way to no longer be reliant on the injections through Steph's family). Will Katie's heart be broken? So my wife and I will keep watching.
 

NeilO

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Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

It's funny, I agree with all of the problems that Derek's just listed, but I still think this was the best episode so far. The structural problems that have limited the show from the beginning -- lazy plotting, cartoonish supporting characters, hamfisted dialog -- all still exist, but the world is starting to come together a little more....


What's "Will"'s real agenda? He could have sold the Powells out to Dr. King several times now, and hasn't. On a couple of occasions, he even cleaned up Jim's dirty laundry so to speak. He's ruthless, but he seems to have a soft spot for this family.
My frustration with the show is that if just a little more care was taken with the writing it could be so much better. They take too many shortcuts.


As for "Will", I think the scene at the end of the episode show a lot of what might be behind his actions. He enjoys having his powers, but they are subject to Dr. King's whim. Somehow the Powells have longer-term powers than he does. If he can learn how they accomplished this, he might be able to do the same and not be subject to Dr. King. So, it serves his best interests to learn as much as he can about them and keep them free from any interference from Dr. King, the police, blackmailing thugs, or anyone else. He also seems to be developing some genuine feelings as well.
 

Mikah Cerucco

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Originally Posted by NeilO
As for "Will", I think the scene at the end of the episode show a lot of what might be behind his actions. He enjoys having his powers, but they are subject to Dr. King's whim.

I keep waiting for them to show Dr. King has a power. If an injection could give powers like that with no side effects, could a power hungry man resist? Even if he could, why would he? If he ended up with a power he doesn't like or that has adverse side effects, he can just stop taking the formula and it'll wear off. Without the explanation of Dr. King having powers, how in the world does he stop Will from just taking what he wants?
 

DaveF

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Originally Posted by Mikah Cerucco
As for "Will", I think the scene at the end of the episode show a lot of what might be behind his actions. He enjoys having his powers, but they are subject to Dr. King's whim.

I keep waiting for them to show Dr. King has a power. If an injection could give powers like that with no side effects, could a power hungry man resist? Even if he could, why would he? If he ended up with a power he doesn't like or that has adverse side effects, he can just stop taking the formula and it'll wear off. Without the explanation of Dr. King having powers, how in the world does he stop Will from just taking what he wants?


[/QUOTE]

He's doing the research to understand the effects. I can see him not using it until he believes it's fully understood.


What I don't understand is the value of having sociopaths with superpowers roaming uncontrolled, committing serious crimes that could be connected back to him.
 

Mikah Cerucco

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I don't believe a group of super-powered "sociopaths" would respond this way when threatened with the withholding of their drug. Also, I believe a power hungry man who has administered the injection to an unknown number of people with no adverse side effects that we've seen (unless it's the injection itself that's driving them to the dark side) would be able to resist the temptation. I'd understand Dr. King's patience to administer the drug to himself a bit more if we'd seen some adverse affects of taking his drug, but we haven't.


If Will can push thoughts, what's to keep him from forcing Dr. King to make the drug, administer it to him, and continue his research to make it better? Meh. Truth be told, I don't really care one way or the other, but I enjoy it better when people holding all the cards are shown to hold all the cards, as opposed to expecting us to just accept they hold all the cards with no explanation. Especially when there is evidence to the contrary suggesting they don't hold all the cards.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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Based on his story to Katie, it sounds like Dr. King took "Will" under his wing from a fairly young age, and groomed him to be his man in the field. If that's the case, it would make sense that his loyalty to King for "rescuing" him would outweigh his desire to hold on to his power by force. Even if that's not the case, forcing King to give him the dose now raising the likelihood of losing out on doses later, since King would presumably protect himself against further manipulation later on.

More curious to me is the number of psychos he has roaming the streets. Given the danger of exposure, you'd think he'd be happy Jim tied up a loose end for him with pyro man.
 

Parker Clack

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I like to set back and watch this show with my 11 year old daughter. Lots of fun. I do wonder though why there wasn't any mention of the lady cop friend of Jim that was shot by "Will". She was prominent in a couple of episodes, gets killed and nobody says anything about it in subsequent episodes. Why was she killed off in the first place? I saw her being built into a friend of the force that knew he had powers but kept his secret like George does.
 

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