No Ordinary Family 1-16: No Ordinary Proposal

What do you know, two good episodes of the show back to back. They dealt with a plot thread they left hanging months ago. And it really feels like they are building toward something.

It all starts with a proposal. “Joshua” proposes to Katie, and she, in her own geeky way, says an enthusiastic yes. The next morning, she tells Stephanie who immediately volunteers to give them an engagement party.

In the middle of that party, Jim and Stephanie take a moment to talk about the vile of healing/power giving serum that she has in the house. See, while Jim was out catching a bad guy, a stray bullet he deflected hit a kid, and that kid is in critical condition. Jim wants to sneak it into the hospital and use it on him, but Stephanie doesn’t want to because it would also give the kid powers. Someone is listening at the door, but we don’t know who it is.

Meanwhile, Dr. King shows up at the party and continues his private threats to Joshua. Still, he does give a toast before the party is over.

The next morning, the Powells discover that the vile is missing. They quickly start brainstorming who might have taken it. Joshua denies it and Dr. King doesn’t make any sense since he has access to it at the lab, so that leaves them with anyone else at the party.

Things heat up when someone robs an ATM by punching it. From the clues, it looks like Chris, Daphne’s boyfriend, who was at the party. Jim goes to confront him, but while he is accusing Chris, George calls to say another ATM is being robbed. Obviously, Chris didn’t do it.

Daphne goes to make sure everything is okay between them. When Chris offers her a hug, she flashes on him giving the serum to his dad, Roy. And his dad, who was once confined to a wheelchair, is not only walking but super strong. Chris tries to talk him out of robbing banks, but his dad just pushes him aside and sets out again. Jim confronts him after a robbery and gets thrown through a stone wall for his efforts.

It’s at this point that the serum starts to wear off, so Roy heads to the lab to get more. He’s almost away when Jim confronts him again. This time, Jim manages to tire him out (thanks to some coaching earlier from George) and get the rest of the serum out of his system, making him once again a weak, paralyzed man who is now on his way to prison for his crimes.

As Chris and Daphne are talking at the end of the episode, Chris thinks “I love you,” Daphne says it back, and they kiss.

Meanwhile, JJ is having some more trouble with the long absent Mr. Litchfield. We haven’t seen this teacher for a while, but he no longer is accusing JJ of cheating. In fact, he’s trying to get JJ to join the academic decathlon. JJ refuses, but Mr. Litchfield overhears Natalie and JJ talking in the hallway. There’s a $10,000 scholarship up for grabs, and Natalie is determined to get it. So Mr. Litchfield makes JJ an offer. Join the decathlon team, and Natalie will get the scholarship. JJ doesn’t say anything, but the next day, Natalie is all excited to tell JJ she got the scholarship. JJ confronts Litchfield, who tells JJ he must join the decathlon team or Natalie will lose that scholarship. He doesn’t even deny that it is blackmail. Litchfield has a problem on the board, and JJ solves it with ease, proving he can be on the team.

Back to the kid Jim accidently hit with a bullet. We find out at the end of the episode that they did surgery to take the bullet out. When they did, they found a small tumor that would have been fatal had it grown large enough to detect. Now, the kid will be fine. So Jim really saved his life.

Meanwhile, Stephanie has been working on an antidote serum for Joshua. She has one that has worked on the lab rat, but when they try it on Joshua, he has a mind quake and still has his powers.

Dr. King is still interfering. He calls Stephanie up to his offer to warn her about how dangerous Joshua can be. He mentions that one of his powers is the ability to erase minds. She immediately puts two and two together and realizes that this is what happened to Daphne way back in December. She tells Jim who goes and confronts Joshua. He gets Joshua to confess, and then Katie walks in and tells him that she can no longer trust him. She gives him back the ring and orders him out of her life. The final shots of them are Katie crying while Stephanie holds her and Joshua alone on a bus leaving town.

But there’s one final scene. Mr. Litchfield is in Dr. King’s office, and Dr. King pays him a bunch of money for getting JJ to solve that equation. Mr. Litchfield asks why that was so important. Dr. King smiles and says that is none of his business before closing the door.

So, Dr. King has now confirmed that JJ has a super mind. At this point, I’m trying to remember if he knows about Daphne’s powers or not, but obviously the family’s secret is pretty much out either way. And to the last person they want to know about it.

I must admit I feel so sorry for Joshua and Katie. You knew it was coming. In fact, I would have been very upset if it hadn’t happened. But I like them together. I really believe he was trying to change for her. And she was so happy with him. I hope we haven’t seen the last of him. Frankly, I could see the story going either way. Either he becomes a villain again and we have to fight him, or he comes back and saves the day, probably dying in the process. That’s what I think will happen, but we’ll have to find out.

What about you? What do you think will happen next? Leave me a comment with your theories.

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