Season One Episode Reviews

Season Retrospective
Well THE OTHERS has been cancelled.  I was pretty surprized, since the ratings seemed to be holding their own, particularly with the rest of the shows on NBC's Saturday Night 'Thrillogy'.  Then again they cancelled The Pretender as well...  Looking back at the series as a whole, I wouldn't call it an excellent series but it certainly held my interest, and for a first season it was very good.  I'm the series would have vastly improved in the second season, when The Wongs had more oppurtunity and control over the show.  But as it is, the series did manage to put out a few classics, "Luciferous" and "The Ones That Lie In Wait" standing out most of all.  At times the show managed to be nice and spooky, but unfortunately at other times it lasped into 'feel-good' life-beyond-death stories which just sicken and disgust me.  I feel very sorry The Wongs at this point, everytime they make a good show (Space Above and Beyond, Millenium Season Two, The Magnificent Seven, The Wonder Cabinet) it gets killed after one season.  Will they ever find something to last more than a year?!

1X13    Mora 
Plot:  Mark's hospital is infested with the Mora, East European folk creatures.

A decent episode, not the monster-horror piece I expected but still good.  The Mora were very creepy, and the ending twist about their true nature was very neat.  For a hospital-based show, this episode avoids the typical annoying aspects pretty well.  It's interesting to see Mark works in his estranged father's hospital, there was good interaction there.  And for surreal scenes, nothing beats Warren calmly running into a floating dead guy and telling him to head for the light.  This scene really sums up Warren well!  I also like Elmer's confrontation with the old lady, and then Marian sharing her family history with her as a ghost.

1X12    Life is For the Living 
Plot:  Elmer's near-death sparks a series of good fortunes for The Others, engineered by the Rabisu.

Somewhat disappointing for a season finale but a neat cliffhanger.  I was expecting another horror episode but instead got "It's A Wonderful Life", which is still interesting just less so.  The gang's wishes were all understandable except for Warren's, but maybe that's just because he's wierd.  I figured he would want to be sane/normal/smart or something, but oh well.  Also, I really don't see Albert's lady love as his type, I figured he would want someone was bitter and sarcastic as he was.  And if Marian's wish in the previous episode was to be special, why did a superior roommate become her wish fullfillment in this episode?  I also don't get why the Rabisu kept saying "life is for the living", since this seems to be the antithesis of what they are (was this perhaps Elmer trying to prove the illusions false?).  The best bit was learning more about the Rabisu and Allison.  I particularly like the flashbacks showing Elmer and the Others in the early '70s, Allison is a college student like Marian (and, I somewhat suspect, Elmer's lover) with a great deal of ability (only Marian has more) who was killed by the Rabisu.  I wonder if the Allison/Rabisu we see today is simply an impersonation or the actually Allison spirit who defected to the Rabisu.  I like the idea that the figures the Others met were just Rabisu apparatitions who can't interact with anyone else.  The ending cliffhanger was very impressive; Allison stands on the brink of victory over Elmer when he reveals that he is the one putting an illusion on her- we then see the Others die in a variety of ways.  I assume Elmer did this to bring them out of the illusion.  Cool!  And it also makes for an ironic ending since this is the series finale...

1X11    $4.95 a Minute 
Plot: Satori encounters a fake psychic who begins predicting deaths and who can contact her dead father.

A pretty entertaining episode with some nice ideas, but things start to drag a bit.  Great to see James Morrison, especially as a phoney psychic who wants to be a clown- Morrison doing a clown routine is one of the most surreal things I've ever seen!  Satori manages to not be annoying, and I am looking forward to the return to this idea of her elusive dead father.  A cool idea like visions of killer klowns unfortuanately doesn't go anywhere, but the "Final Destination" (the Wongs' recent movie) esque accidental murders were cool.  I also wished that there was more interaction from the rest of the Others; Warren and Albert don't even appear and the rest get bit roles.  This series' main strength is in its group interaction, so these one-character-focus episodes suffer as a result.

1X10    Till Then 
Plot:  Elmer is troubled by a lost WWII bomber pilot who refused his help to the other side.

A decent episode with a few great bits; I was expecting more.  I did like Elmer's past and present military involvement, and Marian becoming an inadvertant protigee to him in that field.  I liked seeing the WWII flashbacks with Elmer.  I liked seeing Space Above and Beyond's Commodore Ross (in an unfortunately small role alas).  What I didn't like was the feel-good 'spiritual' bits which unfortunatley came to dominate the show.  I much prefer dark demonic forces; at first the episode looked like it would take this route but unfortunately no.  Also I couldn't understand why his younger self was there to meet him, or why Vicar is the ONLY person of thousands not to accept Elmer's help (there should have at least been several).  Still, I hope to see more of Elmer's military involvement, and perhaps Marian's beginnings of one as well.

1X9    The Ones That Lie in Wait 
Plot:  The Others are terroized by the Rabisu, entrance demons seeking their secrets.

This takes the place of "Luciferous" for best episode yet!  What an incredible spooky horror bit, with major storyline advancements, and an appearance by the lovely Kristen Cloke (Space Above and Beyond, Millenium), who manages to come off as very demonic with just red eyes!  Things start off wonderfully with a silent and spooky teaser where Elmer immeadiately knows what's going on and salts his house.  Just every bit of this episode was wonderful- I even liked Satori stuck in the car and whatnot!  I also like that the Others failed miserably to defeat the Rabisu; Marian, Mark, Elmer, Miles, and Warren all told them what they want.  Only Elmer resisted, and they will be coming back... Cool!  I also am very gratified to finally get it in writing that the Raibsu, Marian's wallpaper demons, and the Unnamed are all the same entity.  Thank you!  Thank you!  I can't wait to learn more about what happened to Elmer 30 years ago and who he lost, and for the Raibsu (and Kristen Cloke!) to return.  Another great scene was Marian on the phone thinking her mother was dead; handled great even though I knew it was a Rabisu trick.  I also liked learning she wants to live a special life unlike her mother, which is why she came to a far-away college.  This is great character devealopment, same for Mark wanting to be normal and Albert needing the Others as his family.  I wonder Miles and Warren want...

1X8    Don't Dream It's Over 
Plot: Mark pursues a mysterious woman who appears only in his dreams.

This is episode is surprizingly good; from it premise and first few acts I was expecting to despise it almost as much as "1112" but in the end it avoided the 'feelgood' crap and delivered an excellent (tragic) ending.  Unfortunately this episode is pretty slow paced, but I guess that's neccessary.  The opening bits with Warren not fearing death and trying to talk to God were very strange and out of place; is this going anywhere or they just establishing that Warren is out of his mind or something?  Anywho, there are two main reasons why this episode despite being a cheesy love story of star-crossed lovers.  One; the scene where Mark explains the future to Mary, summing everything up as boxes then saying his whole life is in a box (ie constrained).  I love this scene!  Two; the ending when we find out she's Jack the Ripper's final victim.  Whoah!  This is such a cool plot twist!  And the climax when we powerlessly watch Mary run into Jack then get killed was awsome; plus we got Babylon 5's Neroon playing Jack wonderfully.  Though I'm on the border or either liking or despising Mark, this was a good episode for him, and it dealt with the Mark-Satori-Marian love triangle well, essentially dismissing it (it was starting to get a little annoying).  I also like how the characters have very established powers and now a power of the week deal, like Marian is a channeler and a channeler only, etc.

1X7    Theta 
Plot: Marian and The Others help a sorority girl haunted with telepathic powers.

Pretty decent episode, manages to avoid the godawful 'feel good' aspects of shows like "1112".  The mystery surrounding the girl was very interesting and the twist with the father was interesting; I like the misleads about haunted dorms and telekinesis.  I particularly liked the caring Marian showed for Jenny, it reminded me of Willow and Tara on "Buffy" (without the lesbianism that is!), in fact I wished Jenny was a telekinetic and became a recurring character and friend of Marian.  It's pretty stupid that we get two episodes in a row of Marian moving into a new place, especially after last episode seeming to set up her new apartment as a recurring theme with a demon presence.  One last thing; the actress who played Jenny seemed to really dip into overacting sometimes, especially when sobbing and yelling.  Here's hoping we'll see her again, and that she won't be sobbing and yelling...

1X6    Luciferous 
Plot: Marian moves into a new apartment occupied by a dark spirit and grows suspicious of The Others.

The best episode yet, nothing stellar yet but very good.  I think this was another arc episode continuing from "Unnamed"... I think this evil was the Unnamed but I'm not sure (this isn't good, we need some clarity here).  Marian getting suspicious of being stalked by the rest was good material, too bad it didn't last very long.  I was hoping for a dark psychological suspense as Marian gets more and more detached from reality and turns against the group, but Marian quickly came to her senses again, and we got some more great stuff with Marian and Elmer, plus more exposition on the storyline.  Maybe the climax was a tad disappointing, but man did I love those little demons in the wallpaper!  They were so cool, and they looked incredible too!  I wish more was done with them.  We get more clarification on the Mark situation, medical doctor in denial about his abilities and his situation with Satori, who by the way continues to annoy me.

1X5    1112 
Plot:  The Others help a wife who just lost her husband and child.

This is exactly the kind of thing I fear this series would do, unfortunately they did it.  This kind of emotionally manipulative crap, and it has no distinguishing features to make it even remotely interesting.  It was just painful to watch, and not in a good way.  I can't believe the Wongs wrote this.  Even the heretofore seen humor among the group was unfortunately absent, as was the connections between them.  They were essentially cyphers in a bad story.  Dear god let it never get this bad again!

1X4    Souls on Board 
Plot:  The Others take an airplane on the same flight of an earlier crash, and wierd things happen...

A great bottle show!  Maybe it's just because I love airports and airplanes, but I was on the edge of my seat the whole episode, though the ending peters out a little bit.  I like the focus on Miles here as well the feeling of camraderie the group is starting to feel with each other.  However I don't like the Marian-Mark romance hint, I just don't think its necessary to the series.  There were a couple spooky scenes like Marian in the bathroom, too bad they were so derivitive (the hands through the wall was done in 'The Frighteners' and something else recently).  Elmer used some kind of hypotizing power here, interesting!  I also like what appeared to be a slight evolution in Marian's powers, rather than being possessed by the ghost she merely channels him and remains in control of herself.  Other bad bit; horribly cheesy CGI showing the plane taking off and landing, don't they have stock footage for this?!  Ugh!

1X3    Eyes 
Plot:  After lazer eye surgery a man is terrorized by demons; Marian learns about Albert.

Decent episode, nice character bits and really neat monsters, a bit light on plot.  This corporate smartass is a classic character from Wong shows, nice semi-comic relief.  Those demons, and background behind them, were extremely interesting.  Seems we already have an 'Others' mythology now concerning the beyond.  I'm glad to see the series taking a horror turn rather than feel-good stuff (thank you Wongs!).  Maybe the ending was a tad too easy.  I really enjoyed the Marian-Albert subplot, it was very touching how Marian befriended him, Albert is a great character.  I particularly like the scene at the movies where he tells the truth to Marian.  Albert's backstory was really interesting, and I liked the 'Blair Witch' style the flashbacks were filmed in.  Also some neat little character bits; Mark is a Scully he believes in science over mysticism, this is a really interesting contrast to the group.  Miles runs an Others website (hilarious!) and enjoys 'net porn.  Particularly funny was Elmer's super cool reaction to finding this out, he's awsome!  Those demons looked awsome!  Hope to see a future episode where we learn if there really was an evil to the fog that led to Albert's ambush and blindness.  Why was Warren gone really?  Guess he just wasn't needed.

1X2    Unnamed 
Plot: The Others search for a missing boy connected to earlier slayings and a dark power.

This was much better than the pilot, it had an actual villain plus lots more hints of an storyline.  I am extremely interested in "The Unnamed" as well as more information about Elmer and the origans of the group.  He says the first darkness was World War Two; how can this Unnamed possibly be as bad as WWII on a television budget I wonder?  The missing kid plot was a tad uninteresting, but the mysterious hobo was VERY interesting.  The ending was a tad disappointing though; the Others didn't defeat the hobo the kid did.  Also it's really nice to see Marian having such a warm relationship with Elmer (and Warren too to a lesser extent).  This episode reminded me strongly of Millenium's second episode "Gehenna" which involved a hobo connected to a dark power, which would go on to become Lucy Butler/Legion.  A few changes from the pilot: Albert is nowhere to be seen (but he's in the credits!), Marian got freckles, and Satori dropped that stupid forehead crystal.

1X1    Marian 
Plot:  Marian joins the group when a girl who committed suicide channels through her; the rest help an elderly widow.

A damn good pilot, extremely layered and at lot going on yet very easy to follow.  While I didn't catch most of their names, I know and understand all 6 characters.  That they fit in 6 character introductions, a series introduction, and TWO premises in one hour is absolutely amazing, especially that it remains intelligible. I wonder if Marian is the lead character or that was just for the pilot (she's the new character, the excuse for all the introductory exposition).  I like all of the characters who each have distinctive personalities; my favorites are Elmer (the old black guy), the grouchy blind guy, and the nutso guy (Benny from THE MUMMY!).  The early glimpses of the dead girl were genuinely scary, and very few things can give me a start (dead girl popping out of the bathtub did it!).  The makeup on the girl was very good.  I also really like the 'afterworld' effect, essentially throwing the characters in water wearing drapes.  It looked really great and ephermal.  Also, it looked like the boyfriend would turn out to be the murderer, but no they twisted it so he was nice.  I like.  The subplot was also nice mainly for the curious movements of Benny/nutso.  I like the bond made between Marian and Elmer, and to a lesser extent with the blonde empath (who was way to 'cutesy' for my tastes).  Also the blond girl was really annoying with her new age crap, and the crystal on her forehead looked kinda stupid.  There were a few interesting hints to an arc; blind guy senses a great darkness attacking Elmer (he sees things in negative which is a very intersting concept) and that tunnel where some people were murdered (the murderer/monster we glimpse is also in next week's promo, hmmm...).  I like the way Marian comes to join the group, and the warm family environment it shows.  I really like this concept of people with horrible gifts bonding together and finding happiness in each other.  The one thing missing was humor, but when the Wongs come on board next ep (they were brought on after the pilot) I'm sure it'll appear.  Without humor this show could be so dark and depressing it could hardly be worth watching.  Also, both plots involved a grieving widow.  Hopefully this won't be a recurring trend, it's just too dark!  Incidently a fully expect this series to go the way of all other Wong series and get cancelled after their first year!  It's a shame when they advertised for this they didn't play up the fact that Steven Speilberg is the head cheese on the show.  Why not call it Steven Speilberg's The Others?  Make it popular!  In any case, like Millenium, this is too dark for the public to enjoy and it won't be a big hit, plus its on 10pm on Saturday nights!