Generally speaking, season 2 of Ghost Whisperer was a solid season of television. It was better than season 1 in certain ways, however, it did still struggle with its presentation of the season arc. On a positive note, it really felt like the writers and actors finally reached a point where they knew the characters really well. Even the new characters felt very fleshed out by the end. It almost seemed like they had been there since the show started. There were some fantastic ghost stories this season as well. Even though I really struggle with how episodic this show can be, it has been known to have some exceptional stand alone stories.
So, now to discuss the new characters introduced in this season. These characters, in my opinion, succeeded in adding something fresh to the show. I really like the idea of having this ensemble of characters that are all helping Melinda with her ghost busting duties. With Andrea’s departure, they needed to add some new faces. I mean, I love Melinda and Jim, but they can’t always carry the episodes. The three new faces we got were Delia and Ned Banks, and Professor Rick Payne. I guess the best way to discuss them is individually, so let’s get started.
Probably the most significant introduction was Delia’s. She had a tough role to fill in that she was essentially replacing Andrea’s position on the show. I liked the fact that, while they did integrate her character into the story very quickly, they were subtle enough with it so as to not disrespect the Andrea-Melinda relationship. It also felt like a fairly realistic timeline of events that led to the ultimate friendship between Delia and Melinda. I did find it interesting that they chose to make Delia the opposite of Andrea in almost every way, offering two very different friendships. Andrea was the young, quirky, open-minded, go with the flow kind of girl. Delia is older, has already been in a successful relationship, and has a child. She also tends to be very organized, often seen moving things around in the store, and she prefers structure and logic over free spiritedness. This is especially apparent in differences between how Andrea and Delia react to discovering Melinda’s gift. Delia still does not seem to fully believe in Melinda’s calling, or the concept of the spirit world, so it will be interesting to see how her beliefs, or rather disbeliefs, play out in the coming season.
With Delia, we also got her son, Ned. I’m still not sure how I feel about his character. I mean, he’s a sweet kid when he wants to be, but sometimes it seems like they use his youth to create moments of teenage angst purely for the benefit of the story they are trying to tell. It never quite comes across as a realistic balance between the sweetness and the angst. His character often just seems all over the place. I guess you could argue that’s what being a teenager is, but generally television teens are a tad more constant in character. I do like the idea of him knowing about Melinda’s gift. I think the show could do some really cool episodes with Ned as a teenage ghost buster. I’d like to see more of that from his character next season.
Ah. Professor Rick Payne. What can I say about him? His initial introduction honestly left me a tad skeptical. I mean, yeah, he was funny, but that was really the only thing he had going for him. He seemed like mostly a plot contrivance to incorporate new supernatural theories into the ghost stories. Plus there was the fact that I was still holding a grudge against Jay Mohr for the comments he made about Alyssa Milano, but that’s besides the point. Anyway, since the initial episodes, I have really come to love his character. After learning about Melinda’s gift he became a loyal and valuable member of Melinda’s team, and it was pretty clear that he cared a great deal for her. Jim might argue he cared too much for his own good, but you know, it is what it is. The writers managed to flesh Payne’s character out pretty well across the season. I really hope they bring him back for season 3. One thing I still think would be interesting to learn is how Payne ended up in supernatural studies. He is a self proclaimed cynic, so it seems like an odd choice. Perhaps they will explore this later?
Jim and Melinda were great as usual this season. I love that we finally got to learn how they met, and that anniversary episode was one of my favorites of the season. They continue to address the fact that Jim wants kids, but Melinda doesn’t. She does not seem like she is willing to take that step any time soon, and I’m wondering how much longer Jim will be able to hold out before it becomes a more serious issue between the two of them. This season also did a good job of fleshing out both characters even further, particularly Jim. We discover his love for music and baseball, we have an episode devoted to what he was like in high school (confirming that he’s always been a pretty amazing guy). Jim really proves himself as a valuable asset to Melinda’s ghost busting this season as well. My only complaint is that, while there were a few strong Jim related episodes, he was kind of absent for much of the latter half of the season. He made like one scene appearances in some of the episodes. Given the fact that the Jim and Melinda relationship is the primary reason I watch the show, I hope he gets more air time in season 3.
Generally speaking, the majority of the episodes this season were very good – as standalone episodes. However, I am still upset about the fact that the show cannot seem to give viewers any sort of season arc until, essentially, the season finale. It is beyond frustrating. Any hints they may drop in early episodes get no discussion or explanation from episode to episode. Also, if I’m being honest, as much as I liked the finale for this season, it was not up to par with the season 1 finale. The drama just seemed to fall flat for me. I did, however, appreciate all of the call backs to events from the season 1 finale. At least there was some continuity there.
Overall, this was another decent season of television. It was better than season 1 in many respects, but I still feel like they can do more, and go further with the stories they tell. They have a solid cast of well developed characters now, so I have hopes for some great stories for next season. Hopefully they will also wrap up the Romano story, as it has been dragging on for too long. I look forward to finding out more about Melinda’s father, and finding out if he really is dead. There is plenty of material left over for them to get season 3 off to a strong start, so we’ll see if the writers take full advantage of that. Let’s go find out.