Mix The Incredibles, Heroes, and Modern Family together and what do you get? Arguably, a bloody mess, particularly if you use one of those Magic Bullet blenders. Fortunately, No Ordinary Family escapes this fate. Although the pilot is bit too facile, the adult leads are likable and sympathetic in their roles, and the show has a buoyant energy, which honestly, is more than I expected. The jury's still out on the kids, though.
The Powells are drifting apart -- an all-too-ordinary tale. When scientist-mom Stephanie (Julie Benz: Darla, Angel; Rita, Dexter) has to travel to Belém, Brazil for work, unfulfilled police sketch artist-dad Jim (Michael Chiklis: The Commish and The Shield) decides the whole fam-damnily should go with her. Son JJ (Jimmy Bennett) and daughter Daphne (Kay Panabaker) comply only because they must. Their trip goes as expected, with everyone ignoring everyone else -- especially poor old dad, so he insists they take a prop plane to the rain forest for a little family time. Of course, they then crash into a phosphorescent phlebotinum-rich section of the Amazon River. Their pilot, Mitch, is presumed dead, but the Powells swim safely to shore. We don't see how they get back home from the rainforest, which I found disappointing. It might have been interesting to see their powers emerge while they were lost in the wilderness. Since they're even more lost in suburbia, though, perhaps this way is better.
Their near-death experience inspires the Powells to tighten their family ties, but as soon as they're back home, that dream goes up in smoke, faster than you can say "Tommy Chong." As they go about their daily business, they find things aren't quite back to normal. Jim, who has been struggling with feelings of inferiority, develops super-strength and the ability to leap tall buildings (and other distances of up to 1/4 of a mile) in a single bound. He finds he's also adept at stopping speeding bullets with his hand (his neck -- less so), and is generally invulnerable. Harried and hurried Stephanie now has super-speed, for which any mother would trade her eyeteeth. Virgin Daughter (I know, but the show dearly and clearly cares) Daphne, who has been suspicious of the wrong people, can now read minds, and learning-disabled son JJ turns into Good Will Hunting, just in time for a math test.
Their powers are, for now, a boon to everyone but Daphne. Thanks to her brand-spanking-new telepathy, she learns her "your-love's-worth-the-wait" boyfriend Lucas has been patient because he's been hooking up with her BFF. This results in the expected, including some WHINING that the writers better dial down a notch if they want the audience to stick around.
The whining is balanced out by Stephanie and Jim's respective sidekicks Katie (Autumn Reeser) and George (Romany Malco), who don't waste our time pretending the Powells' super-powers don't exist, and are genuinely delighted and amazed by them, like actual people would be. George even builds Jim a hi-tech lair, with Wi-Fi. Still, even super-powered marriages hit a few bumps, so Jim and Stephanie decide to go for marriage counseling and end up telling the counselor everything. He finds it all hard to swallow. I find it makes the show narration-heavy, and hope the writers will use a lighter touch with voice-overs, now that all the pilot exposition is out of the way.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Mix The Incredibles, Heroes, and Modern Family together and what do you get? Arguably, a bloody mess, particularly if you use one of those Magic Bullet blenders. Fortunately, No Ordinary Family escapes this fate. Although the pilot is bit too facile, the adult leads are likable and sympathetic in their roles (although the jury's still out on the kids) and are blessed with dynamic, pleasant sidekicks. Here, let me show you...
We open with police sketch artist-dad Jim Powell (Michael Chiklis: The Commish and The Shield) giving a talking-head segment about his wife, kids and life. Oh, Ricky Gervais, what hath thou wrought? Have we now forgotten how to do scripted television without this sort of device? It was so fresh when The Office (UK) burst on the scene. It was still fun when the U.S version of The Office debuted, but as that was years ago, I'm still trying to figure out why the sitcom Modern Family is doing it. Now, if you've read any couple of my recaps, you know I'll employ the occasional aside (or parenthetical)...(see). It's not like I don't get the why this is fun. And hey, I'm a child of the 80s. I still get a kick out of Ferris Bueller breaking the fourth wall, but I think I'm ready to watch a show where the characters don't assume someone is paying attention to their lives. Why can't they think they're floundering in obscurity? You know, like the rest of us. In the case of No Ordinary Family, we'll later learn Jim Powell and his wife mostly do think they're floundering in obscurity. They are just giving their backstory to a couples' therapist. Thank goodness for small favors, but I still spent the lion's share of the episode feeling otherwise, and was not at all happy with it, which is why I'm revealing the set-up, right up front for you. I am grateful there's no docudrama premise here, so I'll end this digression, and get back to the Powells. I just want TV to know I'm ready to welcome non-narrated fictional TV back into my life with arms, eyes and ears wide open. Anyhow...
About the Powells: they are drifting apart on the sea of post-modernity. Mom Stephanie (Julie Benz: Darla, Angel; Rita, Dexter) has a successful but demanding career as a scientist. Son JJ (Jimmy Bennett) struggles with a learning disability, when he's not lost in the boob-tube, and the Most Blessed Virgin Daughter Daphne really likes text messaging, her boyfriend Lucas, and holding fast to her virtue while bitching about it. And Jim? He needs to read some Betty Friedan, acknowledge his struggle with The Problem That Has No Name and get a life.