Review - Medium: Joe Day Afternoon

Joe Day Afternoon was a very stressful and tense episode for me . . .

. . . having said that I thought it was also one of the best. I really love how they have been showing a lot of the family’s interaction and outlining how Allison (Patricia Arquette) gift affects them all. From Joe (Jake Weber) trying to be the cool calm collected husband to a sometimes excitable psychic wife (who at times is unsure of how to interpret her visions) to the children starting to see tiny buds of their own psychic gifts just beginning to open like flowers in the spring.

All of a sudden I feel like walking in a field of daisies with the cool air rushing to my face . . .

. . . but I digress, this as I stated earlier was a very stressful episode for me. With allusions to the famous Al Pacino flick Dog Day Afternoon also about a very tense hostage situation, this episode focuses on not only the hostage situation at Joe’s office but also both Allison and Ariel’s (Sofia Vassilieva) visions surrounding the event. Reminiscent to me of how they showed the pairs separate visions on the Mother’s Little Helper episode.

At the start of this episode Allison wakes from a horrible dream with a feeling of intense dread about Joe’s day at work. As always Joe tries to put her at ease but despite all Allison’s concerns has to go to work anyway. He not only has a big meeting but is also driving fellow worker, Bruce (Adam Goldberg) who turns out to be the center of the bad day that Joe is about to have.

Interestingly enough, Ariel is also having her own problems with her fathers day as she finally coerces her principal to call her mother so that she can tell her about what she knows. Together the duo help bring an end to a very macabre day.

I don’t want to give too much away in case you haven’t seen the episode yet (God bless the DVR) but I have to mention the performance of Adam Goldberg as the somewhat crazed hostage taker and Larry Miller as the smarmy boss who turns out to have a heart after all. Also Katie Kreisler as Melinda Bell a very pregnant architect who looked ready to go into labor at any moment.

Another fine episode that again, provided additional character development while keeping you engaged in a very interesting (and stressful - can’t forget stressful) storyline. Kudos to Medium for a job well done!

Series Directed by
Aaron Lipstadt (11 episodes, 2005-2007)
Vince Misiano (4 episodes, 2005-2007)
Peter Werner (4 episodes, 2005-2006)
Ronald L. Schwary (3 episodes, 2005-2006)
Arliss Howard (2 episodes, 2005-2007)
Duane Clark (2 episodes, 2005)
Artie Mandelberg (2 episodes, 2005)
Bill L. Norton (2 episodes, 2005)
Edwin Sherin (2 episodes, 2006)

Series Writing credits
Glenn Gordon Caron (55 episodes, 2005-2007)
Moira Dekker (9 episodes, 2005-2007)
Robert Doherty (7 episodes, 2005-2007)
René Echevarria (6 episodes, 2005-2006)
Craig Sweeny (4 episodes, 2005-2007)
Chris Dingess (3 episodes, 2005)
Melinda Hsu (3 episodes, 2005)
Diane Ademu-John (3 episodes, 2006-2007)
Javier Grillo-Marxuach (3 episodes, 2007)
Michael Angeli (2 episodes, 2005)
David Folwell (2 episodes, 2005)
Ken Schefler (2 episodes, 2006-2007)
Bernadette McNamara (1 episode, 2006)

Series Cast
Miguel Sandoval ... D.A. Manuel Devalos / ... (60 episodes, 2005-2007)
Patricia Arquette ... Allison Dubois / ... (60 episodes, 2005-2007)
Jake Weber ... Joe Dubois (60 episodes, 2005-2007)
Sofia Vassilieva ... Ariel Dubois / ... (60 episodes, 2005-2007)
Maria Lark ... Bridgette Dubois / ... (60 episodes, 2005-2007)
David Cubitt ... Detective Lee Scanlon (51 episodes, 2005-2007)
Miranda Carabello ... Marie Dubois / ... (20 episodes, 2005-2007)
Tina DiJoseph ... Mayor's Liaison Lynn DiNovi / ... (19 episodes, 2005-2007)
Kendahl King ... Devalos' Assistant / ... (10 episodes, 2005)
Conor O'Farrell ... Larry Watt (5 episodes, 2005-2006)
Jason Thornton ... Troy DuBois (5 episodes, 2005-2006)
Seth T. Walker ... Detective / ... (5 episodes, 2005)
Madison Carabello ... Marie Dubois / ... (5 episodes, 2006-2007)
Arliss Howard ... Captain Kenneth Push / ... (4 episodes, 2005-2007)
Holliston Coleman ... Hannah (4 episodes, 2005-2006)
Kimberly Scott ... Coroner (4 episodes, 2006-2007)
Saida Pagan ... Morning News Anchor / ... (4 episodes, 2005)
Ramon De Ocampo ... Aaron (3 episodes, 2006-2007)
Mark Sheppard ... Dr. Charles Walker / ... (3 episodes, 2005-2006)
Shashawnee Hall ... Principal Phillips (3 episodes, 2006-2007)
Margo Martindale ... Catherine / ... (3 episodes, 2005-2006)
Ryan Hurst ... Michael Benoit / ... (3 episodes, 2005-2007)
Brent Jennings ... Wayne (3 episodes, 2005-2007)
Bruce Gray ... Joe's Dad (3 episodes, 2005)
Mary Strong ... Reporter / ... (3 episodes, 2005-2006)
Lawrence Pressman ... Couples Counselor / ... (2 episodes, 2005)
Randy Mulkey ... Ranger #1 / ... (2 episodes, 2005)
Laurie Burke ... Diedre's Mother / ... (2 episodes, 2005)
Rachel Miner ... Emilia 'Lia' Purcell / ... (2 episodes, 2005-2006)
Jessy Schram ... Young Allison (2 episodes, 2005-2007)
Monnae Michaell ... Clyde's Mother (2 episodes, 2005)
Peter Birkenhead ... Administrator / ... (2 episodes, 2007)
Joe Stevens ... Lieutenant Gleason / ... (2 episodes, 2005-2007)
Neal Matarazzo ... Homicide Detective / ... (2 episodes, 2005)
Sarah Utterback ... Abducted Girl #1 / ... (2 episodes, 2005)
Katie Cecil ... Celeste (2 episodes, 2005-2007)
Elizabeth Payne ... Teacher (2 episodes, 2005-2006)
Ryan Carlberg ... 21-Year Old (2 episodes, 2005)
Tracy Ann Doss ... Wife (2 episodes, 2005)
Harry Groener ... Joe's Boss (2 episodes, 2005)
Elizabeth Lackey ... Kamala (2 episodes, 2005)
Wallace Langham ... Alan (2 episodes, 2005)
Tiger Mendez ... Cafeteria Customer / ... (2 episodes, 2005)
Annabelle Milne ... Cathy Croshaw / ... (2 episodes, 2005)
Oriana Oppice ... Isabel Navarro (2 episodes, 2005)
John Wesley ... Judge (2 episodes, 2005)
Alan Woolf ... Judge / ... (2 episodes, 2005)
Ted Garcia ... Newscaster / ... (2 episodes, 2006-2007)
Thomas Jane ... Clay / ... (2 episodes, 2006)
Michael Klock ... Detective (2 episodes, 2006)
Moira Price ... Judge (2 episodes, 2006)
Stephen Stanton ... Monkeyheads (2 episodes, 2006)
Roxanne Hart ... Lily Devalos (2 episodes, 2006-2007)
Katie Kreisler ... Melinda Bell (2 episodes, 2007)