Scarier, more entertaining and less hokey than Season 1.
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In Season 1, viewers were introduced to spirit communicator Melinda Gordon, who had been able to see and communicate with the recently departed ever since she was a little girl. Now Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt) is all grown up and married to the most understanding and mellow human being on the planet. As a newlywed, her husband, Jim (David Conrad), should have been a lot more creeped-out or scared by the goings on, but he treats them with the calm understanding of a guy whose wife has to work late at the office. Though her "job" is running an antique store with partner Andrea (Alisha Tyler, who returns briefly this season), her "work" is helping restless spirits and the loved ones they left behind reach a state of peace and closure. Some of the spirits can be damned violent and scary, and you have to wonder why Jim wasn't more worried. Maybe the scoop-necked wardrobe that showcased Hewitt's ample bosom was a palliative of sorts.
Well, that wardrobe is back again for a second season, and so is the ever-patient Jim, who this season gets more directly involved with the spooky phenomena. To the producers' credit, they added a few new faces to the cast this season. Realtor Delia Banks (Camryn Manheim, "The Practice") adds a touch of normalcy to balance all the weird stuff and replace Tyler as the warm-hearted friend, while the ever-acerbic Jay Mohr balances out some of the Saccharine-sweet stuff with his portrayal of a sarcastic (what else?) professor of the paranormal.
Like "Six Feet Under," every episode of "Ghost Whisperer" offers a new ghost and a new reason why he/she can't pass on to the next world. Based in part on the life of spirit communicator Mary Ann Wintkowski, Ghost Whisperer is set in the fictional New England town of Grandview, which this season is on the verge of being taken over by a dark force. No sooner is last season's cliffhanger ending resolved than this new dark-cloud of a plot thread is introduced.
The first season was inconsistent in terms of its tone. Some episodes came closer to "Touched by an Angel" or "Highway to Heaven," with warm-fuzzy emotional moments and an overriding sense of the benevolent. Other episodes came closer to horror, with shock-schlock lurking around every corner, ready to make viewers jump off of their couches. The writing was also, predictably, uneven, with some of the episodes really pushing it into mega-melodrama.
This season is more consistent in its offerings, and more consistently scary en route to those inevitable weekly resolutions. If there's a common theme, it's revenge. These are not nice or confused ghosts. They mean trouble. The show is still going to appeal mostly to Hewitt-lovers and believers, but it's more successfully dramatic this season. Here's how the 22 episodes play out:
1) "Love Never Dies"-Andrea's spirit can't cross over because another ghost won't let her. But Professor Rick Payne (Mohr) may have an answer.
2) "Love Still Won't Die"-Melinda finds a new best friend, realtor Delia Banks (Manheim), and is haunted by the spirit of a guy who broke up with her years before because he couldn't handle her "gift."
3) "Drowned Lives"-A little girl who drowned keeps waiting for her father to return-the one who left her-and Jim and Melinda help the people who've bought the girl's home.
4) "The Ghost Within"-A ghost has the same taste in ornaments as Delia, and Melinda realizes that this ghost has autism.
5) "A Grave Matter"-The ghost of an author visits Melinda on Halloween, claiming he's in the wrong grave. Meanwhile, Delia gets a visit from a ghost who can't find her handbag.
6) "The Woman of His Dreams"-Jim gets involved in the spookiness when a supermodel haunts him, not because she wants him, but because she wants to warn her sister about something.
7) "A Vicious Cycle"-On a camping trip (yep, these folks can't go anywhere without spirits popping up), Melinda meets the ghost of a mother who died in a snowstorm who wants to save her daughter.
8) "The Night We Met"-A ghost who died in a fire may actually be the arsonist who set the blaze. Meanwhile, Melinda is more bothered that Jim may have forgotten their dating anniversary.
9) "The Curse of the Ninth"-A musician is haunted by the ghosts of his critical composer-father and an old band buddy who was killed in a plane crash.
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