Cat's Claw #211 (repeat) (6 July 2007)
This week, we get to see a repeat of episode 211, "Cat's Claw." In the first scene Melinda and Jim have just come in after a cold night shopping only to discover their upstairs bedroom has turned into a tropical rain forrest. But that's only the beginning as Melinda gets swept away to the in several visions -- or perhaps astral travels -- to discover Rick himself may have a ghost. Click here for the MelindaVerse information on this episode.
The Bears will meet you on chat after the show.
Here are some comments members entered about this episode on HoGW:
CaptainKundalini:
This was an outstanding episode, in my considered opinion.
Once again, I noticed that different lens techniques were used in certain scenes.
Prof. Paine's scenes were normal while scenes with Melinda by herslef had a softness about them.
The Ghost Sequences were fuzzy as is the consciousness when someone leaves this Physical Plane, especially when taken by a sudden illness.
Scenses with Jim and Melinda together were normal.
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thebears:
The Bears think you have a good eye captain. Ours were looking somewhere else (notice we gave this episode a T&L rating of 3). We thought it was a great episode as well. Lots of scares and weird ghosts. And Melinda was in really fine form, great outfits and wonderful hair -- no baby bump on her! :beer:
But we think that without a doubt, professor Payne now knows about Melinda's gift. Whether or not he is willing to accept what she told him, well that's a story for another episode. :coffee2:
BTW, we think the main reason Mel found it so difficult to tell Rick was that she really likes him, despite his rude and crude behavior. After all, as we have said, professor Payne is her chosen tutor -- a sort of Giles in the Buffy sense.
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tnghost:
It was a good episode.Iam glad they are showing more of the professor.
I think he might have it for Mel
TalonKarrde:
I threw this out for general discussion on the chat last night:
Professor Payne's wife...Alive or Dead??
Also:
What did Payne see at the top of his stairs that caused him to "consume mass quantities" of alcohol and DWI himself over to Melinda's house???
The teleporting statue and book didn't cause him to turn into instant alcoholic...but some thing in his house did.
Also:
My gut says Martin's ghost had un-finished business with his girlfriend and not Payne, so who really did take Payne's keys Martin or someone else? (ie: the dead wife ghost)
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BrieSearching2:
I had forgotten about the statue laying on it's side during the one scene. I'm wondering if that was Martin's way to "open Payne's mind" to the unconceivable (Payne being such a skeptic), and the final portion of "opening Payne's mind" was the incident on Melinda's front lawn. With all those factors, Payne couldn't deny that something was going on. When they sat in front of Melinda's house she began to talk to him and he stopped her, telling her to hold on he was basically putting something in check (I can't remember his exact wording). I think it was his way of saying he was trying to be open to understand, while putting the scientific portion of his brain to the side. Could be wrong, just is what I'm thinking.
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Re:"what did Payne see" that caused him to consume alcohol? I had to leave the show for a bit to tend to some other business, but wasn't there a scene there, where Payne sees something on his fridge? a note or something? I remember that note was instrumental in my uncertainty whether Mrs. Payne was in this life or in the next.(Darn! wished I had been able to have seen that part again!)
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When Rick comes home and gets a beer, there is a note on the refrigerator saying "K" will be back in an hour. Here are two screen captures showing this.
We think that Rick was upset and started drinking because of the stuff that happened in his office: lost keys, Martin's book moves, the manikin moves, and at home because his satchel falls off the small table and he hears a noise upstairs.
(Click on the images for a larger version.)
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Hmmmmm. In the very last scene of "Cats Claw," there's that all - white outfit that Melinda was wearing, when she arrives home to find Rick Payne on her doorstep. We saw it again in the laat scene of Season 2 Finale, when she briefly "dies" (out-of- body experience) and meets her father. Rick Payne and belief in Melinda, figure in both scenes.
My tired little brain is spinning its wheels here. The white outfit seems to be a precurser, or somehow symbolic of something, which relates to Melinda's experience at the close of the Season 2 finale? Anyone, who cares to take this further, is welcome.
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Melinda does wear white outfits in both scenes but we do not think they are they same one. In "Cat's Cradle" the outfit has a pull-over top and she has a white jacket over it. In "The Gathering" Mel is wearing a white dress which buttons in the front and she has a purple jacket and leggings. Here are captures from the two episodes (Click image for a larger version.)
As to the symbolism, we think in the first case Melinda is in her "angelic" mode so that she can forgive Payne for coming over drunk (something for which she bears more than a little responsibility since she had taken a lot of advantage of him). In the the finale, Melinda is dressed as a "pure child" with the white dress and leggings to show she is one with the other children. That's our two-cents worth, anyway -- your mileage may vary.
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Re my observations / speculations about Melinda wearing white at the close of this episode and the season finale.
I recall I used Melinda's clothes as an example of a topic to re-focus forum discussion, as needed. This was responding to The Bears question about forums.
My repetition of that subject re this episode was purely coincidental... I actually am intriqued by the appearance of this all - in- white look on two occasions!
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I was so pleased to see this episode again! It was a huge breakthrough for Professor Payne, whom I believe was haunted by two different spirits, his wife Kate (certainly the one responsible for his "lost" keys and the dumped-out briefcase) and his colleague Martin, who moved book and manikin to get his attention, and later attached himself to Rick to be able to speak to Melinda so he could get help for his partner. And Melinda has to deal with telling Rick her "secret", something she does very coolly (although she is clearly scared).
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