No Ordinary Family 1-6: No Ordinary Visitors

Okay, before we move on to the recap, there’s something you need to know about me. I fall for happy, sappy endings every time. So, even though tonight’s episode of No Ordinary Family was predictable and actually did little with any continuing story line at all, I loved it.

Tonight, we found the Powell family in crisis as Stephanie’s parents come for a visit. Of course, there would be no conflict if everyone got along great. So instead of a loving relationship, we find that Allan and Barbara Crane actually look down on every member of the Powell family. They think that Jim still isn’t good enough for Stephanie. Barbara judges Stephanie for working instead of staying home with her family. JJ is a complete failure in their book.

Naturally, the Powells think they can finally prove the Cranes wrong by telling them about their powers. Only Stephanie doesn’t want her parents to know. So the family tries to go about life as a normal family again. Of course, the Cranes would have to be stupid not to notice the holes in the wall and the other things that Jim has accidentally damaged with his super strength. Snooping around, Barbara finds all the shoes that Stephanie is buying and the stash of junk food she keeps by the bed.

And on the crime front, there have been a couple of home invasion robberies recently, and the second victims include a teen boy who goes to school with Daphne. Since the robbers wore masks, the family didn’t see a thing. Or did they? Daphne finds out that her schoolmate saw one of the robbers without a mask on. And when she grabs his arm, she sees what he saw, including a brief glimpse of the robber. Trying it again later, she gets a better look and then has her dad, Jim, draw a sketch. The police immediately put it out on the news, which means the robbers go back to the house to kill the teen. But George has been staking out the house, and he calls Jim who arrives just in the nick of time to save the day.

Meanwhile, back to the main story with Stephanie’s parents. The Powells are getting tired of how Allan and Barbara are treating them. JJ has gone out with Allan and is constantly losing money to him in pool. Obviously, he could win now, but he isn’t to make them think things haven’t changed. Finally, Jim shows up and gives JJ permission to use his powers. He not only wins, but manages to win Allan’s car in the process.

But dinner that night goes downhill fast. The entire family is there (plus Stephanie’s assistant Katie). And Allan finally comes out with his analysis of what is happening, Jim is having an affair. Stephanie is so upset, she runs off, literally. When she finally returns, she makes up with Jim for making him keep the secret while also talking about how important it is for a family to stay close.

The next morning, Stephanie is ready to tell her parents the truth, but the rest of the family rallies around her and they manage to explain everything to the Cranes. And everyone makes up, with Jim finally earning Allan’s respect and Barbara and Stephanie talking about how much they admire each other. Yep, your typical sappy ending where in the course of one hour (in this case) all problems are resolved. So what is it about these endings that I find so satisfying?

About the only development that will come up in later episodes is that Daphne’s power involves being able to see what people are thinking about in addition to what they are thinking. That could certainly come in handy later on. It wouldn’t surprise me if this episode were written by a freelance writer instead of the house writers since it really did very little to advance anything else.

One reason I did like the episode was because of the humor. I laughed several times at the unexpected lines the characters said to each other. Despite the family drama, or maybe because of it, it was a light, fun episode.

How about you? What did you think of the episode? Fun or too light? Let me know in the comments and stop by my blog to see what else is on my mind.