Ghost Whisperer – S3E3 – A Haunted Hero
This was a great episode. I found myself really connecting emotionally with this one. A soldier with a ghost attached to him. Now that’s certainly a new take on PTSD. They also explore two different types of loss in this episode. The first is a physical loss of someone who died serving their country. The second is the emotional loss that comes from living through a traumatic war experience.
I thought that it was an interesting concept to have Matt being haunted by his own inner demons instead of cruel ghosts. They pull in the concept that “truth is the first casualty of war” and play with it in a very literal way. Matt learns that his men are still attached to him not because he did anything wrong, as he initially thought, but because they want him to know that he had been trying to protect them at the risk of his own life. They are brothers looking out for one another in both life and death. This one had me crying. Matt’s proposal with the ring he fashioned from some grass while he was over seas was very sweet. His girlfriend got her happy ending, and it is sort of symbolic of his return to life as a civilian, and the beginning of his healing from the experiences he faced during the war. For me, it was a compelling ghost story.
It is kind of weird though how Melinda and Jim have all these random friends that just pop up for like one episode to fill a certain ghostly quota, and then we never hear about them again. This is something that does frustrate me. I’ve mentioned before that I like character continuity, and having all of these one off characters takes me out of the reality of what is supposed to be a cohesive and continuous world. The people that Melinda helps on a day to day basis are different, as she has no prior relationship to them, and it’s not likely that she would have one after, so when those characters are one-offs, I am totally fine with that. It is when they propose the idea that people have known Melinda and Jim, say, since high school or college. Long term friends at least deserve some previous or future mention, in my opinion. I know. It’s a TV universe. It is what it is. Anyway, there’s my nitpick for the episode.
Delia is really starting to come around with the whole supernatural world idea. She is actively engaging Melinda in conversation about Matt’s ghosts without expressing her feelings of disbelief, at least not that I could see. I don’t know that I’d say there is any evidence to suggest that she actually believes in any of it yet, but she isn’t dismissing it either. I’m curious to see how her relationship with the spirit world develops over the course of the season.
Overall, despite my concerns about character continuity, I really enjoyed this episode. It may be partially due to the fact that I am inclined to love hero stories. They just really hit me emotionally, as evidenced by the tears running down my face by the time the episode ended. Anyway, regardless of that, I think the episode had an interesting take on the concept of PTSD, and explored it in a way that was not disrespectful or offensive to anyone who might actually suffers from the illness. This was a pretty standalone episode, and did not have much connection to the dark spirit story, so it makes for a good casual-viewer episode. As I said, I really enjoyed it, and I look forward to the next episode.
Best Moment:
The discovery that Matt was trying to sacrifice himself to protect his men, and the fact that they insisted on staying by his side until they could tell him that. Brothers in life and death.
Best Quote:
Mel: Your men, they’re here with you, with us, right now.
Matt: Rocky? Why?
Rocky: Because we don’t leave a man behind. Especially when he never left us.
Gina: I've been looking everywhere for you.
Matt: Sorry.
Gina: Don't ever leave me again. What part of "I love you" don't you get? I'm with you.
Matt: I know. This is all I can give you right now. Now, we'll replace it when we...
Gina: Don't you dare.
This was a great episode. I found myself really connecting emotionally with this one. A soldier with a ghost attached to him. Now that’s certainly a new take on PTSD. They also explore two different types of loss in this episode. The first is a physical loss of someone who died serving their country. The second is the emotional loss that comes from living through a traumatic war experience.
I thought that it was an interesting concept to have Matt being haunted by his own inner demons instead of cruel ghosts. They pull in the concept that “truth is the first casualty of war” and play with it in a very literal way. Matt learns that his men are still attached to him not because he did anything wrong, as he initially thought, but because they want him to know that he had been trying to protect them at the risk of his own life. They are brothers looking out for one another in both life and death. This one had me crying. Matt’s proposal with the ring he fashioned from some grass while he was over seas was very sweet. His girlfriend got her happy ending, and it is sort of symbolic of his return to life as a civilian, and the beginning of his healing from the experiences he faced during the war. For me, it was a compelling ghost story.
It is kind of weird though how Melinda and Jim have all these random friends that just pop up for like one episode to fill a certain ghostly quota, and then we never hear about them again. This is something that does frustrate me. I’ve mentioned before that I like character continuity, and having all of these one off characters takes me out of the reality of what is supposed to be a cohesive and continuous world. The people that Melinda helps on a day to day basis are different, as she has no prior relationship to them, and it’s not likely that she would have one after, so when those characters are one-offs, I am totally fine with that. It is when they propose the idea that people have known Melinda and Jim, say, since high school or college. Long term friends at least deserve some previous or future mention, in my opinion. I know. It’s a TV universe. It is what it is. Anyway, there’s my nitpick for the episode.
Delia is really starting to come around with the whole supernatural world idea. She is actively engaging Melinda in conversation about Matt’s ghosts without expressing her feelings of disbelief, at least not that I could see. I don’t know that I’d say there is any evidence to suggest that she actually believes in any of it yet, but she isn’t dismissing it either. I’m curious to see how her relationship with the spirit world develops over the course of the season.
Overall, despite my concerns about character continuity, I really enjoyed this episode. It may be partially due to the fact that I am inclined to love hero stories. They just really hit me emotionally, as evidenced by the tears running down my face by the time the episode ended. Anyway, regardless of that, I think the episode had an interesting take on the concept of PTSD, and explored it in a way that was not disrespectful or offensive to anyone who might actually suffers from the illness. This was a pretty standalone episode, and did not have much connection to the dark spirit story, so it makes for a good casual-viewer episode. As I said, I really enjoyed it, and I look forward to the next episode.
Best Moment:
The discovery that Matt was trying to sacrifice himself to protect his men, and the fact that they insisted on staying by his side until they could tell him that. Brothers in life and death.
Best Quote:
Mel: Your men, they’re here with you, with us, right now.
Matt: Rocky? Why?
Rocky: Because we don’t leave a man behind. Especially when he never left us.
Gina: I've been looking everywhere for you.
Matt: Sorry.
Gina: Don't ever leave me again. What part of "I love you" don't you get? I'm with you.
Matt: I know. This is all I can give you right now. Now, we'll replace it when we...
Gina: Don't you dare.