The Ghost Within #204 (repeat) (25 August 2007)
As Ghost Whisperer season 2 winds to its close, we get to watch this week's repeat episode on Saturday night (to make room for preseason football Friday). In "The Ghost Within", Melinda is confused and scared because the spirit won't talk to her. Turns out he didn't talk to anyone much when he was alive, either, because he is autistic. Before she crosses him over, we (along with Mel) get a pretty good short course in what life is like for two people with this disability. (Check out the episode page here.)
This was Rick Payne's second episode and he has two very interesting meetings with Melinda. In the first one, she continues to try to get help from him without saying why she wants it. But it's the second meeting that's really interesting because she lets herself be vulnerable in front of Rick. We think it might mean she is starting to trust the good professor.
On a side note, The Bears have checked the TV Guide site two weeks ahead and reluctantly accept that Futon Critic must be correct that all that we have left after tomorrow of the summer repeats is the two part season finale. The first part, "The Prophet", airs August 31 and the second, "The Gathering", airs September 21. A "Jericho" repeat will be shown in GW's time-slot on September 7 and we don't know what on September 14. Oh, well, it was nice to think for a while that we would get to see the last four episodes of season 2 consecutively as a bang-up lead-in to season 3. Even so, The Bears are happy for what ever GW they can get.
Cheers!
Watching this episode again, we wondered why the powers-that-be decided to repeat “The Ghost Within” for a second time? Our preference would have been to see “Delia’s First Ghost”, “Children of Ghosts”, or “The Walk-In” which are important episodes that have not been repeated. Well, that’s water under the bridge (we’ve been having some flooding here so that seemed a good expression to use) so let’s get back to the original question.
The visions that Dennis Hightower sends Melinda because he cannot speak may be the big reason. These visions – perhaps even astral travel in some cases – seem to completely overtake her. She even blacks out with Jim in their kitchen and may have done so too in Rick Payne’s office. The effect is quite profound for Mel and allows for some very interesting visual effects. But more importantly, Melinda gets visions again and again throughout season two. Granted there were a few visions in season one but mostly she had dreams that did this sort of thing. We think this ushered in a new method for spirits to communicate in season two.
The other thing that seemed important from the long-term perspective was the difficulty Melinda had figuring out what Dennis needed to accomplish in order to cross over. Several times during the show Mel wondered out loud why Dennis was still here. This same difficulty came up for other spirits in season two. In season one, by contrast, most of Melinda’s difficulties involved getting the parties involved to trust her or arranging the needed event.
Maybe this will become clearer as we watch the finale again.
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