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Allison DuBois has prophetic dreams, can speak to the dead, read minds, etc (the precise details depending on the plot requirements), and uses these powers to help the local DA fight crime. Initially skeptical, he comes to believe in her powers, calling her in to help on difficult case. Also initially, her scientist husband Joe finds it difficult to come to terms with her abilities, but eventually manages. And then they discover their eldest daughter Ariel might also have similar powers.

This is fluff, but rather engaging fluff. It makes a very pleasant change to see a protagonist with a healthy happy home life. The actors who play the two oldest children are brilliant – they don’t appear to be acting at all, but just being kids. The cases Allison investigates are a wide variety, not always (but often!) grisly murders, and the tension is, will she figure out her cryptic dreams in time? She doesn’t always succeed, so there is real tension. And there are real moral dilemmas – how much weight should Allison give to her dreams of things that haven’t yet happened over events that have already taken place?

We moved to watching this on DVD. The BBC decided to show the episodes in its customary random order, with total disregard for the (admittedly small amount of) continuity and arc (mostly concerning the daughter’s powers). We also haven’t yet watched the end of season cliffhanger episode. I hate these: you are left in limbo for ages waiting for the next season denouement, and by the time it comes round, have mostly forgotten what actually happened at the end of the previous one. We’ll watch it at the beginning of the next season. It will be interesting to see how the story-lines go, now that Allison has convinced the DA, and a detective, of her powers.

reviewed 24 September 2006

Allison DuBois continues using her prophetic dreams to help solve, and sometimes prevent, crimes. This season is much the same as last, except with less skepticism from her boss and husband (except where the plot demands it), and more trying to interpret the sometimes annoyingly cryptic, or even downright misleading, dreams. And now not only her eldest daughter Ariel, but also her next daughter Bridgette, are manifesting their own powers.

This remains rather engaging fluff. There is a decent variety of plot lines, with new wrinkles, some blindingly obvious, some genuine surprises. And still, the best acting honours go to the two children, who are so naturalistic it’s amazing.

reviewed 26 May 2008

Allison DuBois, with a new shorter haircut, continues her psychic investigations as assistant to the Phoenix DA.

I’ve upped the rating on this season, which is consistently good. It never repeats itself, but never gets ridiculous (apart from the main premis, of course). There are genuine puzzles, genuine twists in the tale, and some very funny moments, and some very fraught episodes. The one where another spirit inhabits Allison’s body [ 3.12. The One Behind the Wheel ] is possibly the best, showcasing the acting skills of both Patricia Arquette as not Allison DuBois, and of Jake Weber, as her distraught husband.

reviewed 22 February 2009

Allison DuBois continues her dreams and conversations with dead people, but life is much harder this season. She no longer has her official position in the DA’s office, and her husband Jake is also out of a job. But the dreams still keep coming, demanding attention.

This remains interesting, with continual variations on the underlying theme, and a little bit of arc. Although occasionally I do get a bit irritated by Allison’s continued perplexity in the middle of a case: “oh, just shut up and go back to sleep: you know the next dream will make everything clear!” Sometimes the twist is obvious (given you know there is a twist), but often it is surprising.

The whole season is tied up in a nice big pink bow of a happy ending, as it was thought it was going to be cancelled (a much nicer approach than the alternative “let’s leave a whopping great cliff hanger, that’ll show ’em”). However, it was renewed, so let’s see what season 5 brings.

reviewed 16 October 2010

The nice big pink bow of a happy ending to season 4 didn’t last too long. Okay, Allison has her job back, and their money worries are over, but the plot twists keep twisting. I am quite impressed at how the writers keep coming up with surprising variations on a theme. There are trips to the past, and to the future. The kids are growing up, and having their own dreams. There is a lot more moral ambiguity in this season, too: people getting away with their crimes, people being let off their crimes. The writers also have a good way around the “getting a new (super) power until you are just ridiculously powerful”: each new ability only lasts as long as is needed to solve the case.

My irritation this season is mostly with Joe, who believes in his wife’s powers, but usually only enough to get irritated by her wanting to act on them. And the end of season cliffhanger isn’t really a cliffhanger, given we know there is another season (unless the writers do something very unexpected, of course...) But all in all, still varied and interesting enough to be watchable.

reviewed 4 April 2011

Well, I have to hand it to the writers. it did take Allison several episodes to get over the brain tumour, major surgery, and massive stroke that was the end of season 5 cliffhanger.

Actually, I really do have to hand it to the writers. They are still managing to come up with inventive, non-repetitive story lines, some even with a non-obvious twist (this given that one is expecting a twist). The main repetition is actually Allison being exasperated that the DA won’t arrest people based solely on her dream evidence: given the prevalence of the twist ending, she should be grateful!

reviewed 23 December 2011

The final season, only half a season really, is mostly the usual single episode detection stories, with just a bit of a nod to the fact that things are changing: Allison deciding to try for a law degree, the DA standing for Mayor. As usual, the individual episodes manage to be different and interesting. But you would think that by now that Allison would know that her dreams only incrementally reveal the truth, and that she shouldn’t go haring off after only the first one.

All in all, I’ve been impressed by the way the writers have managed to keep having so many interesting twists on the theme, without having to stray too far from the core (ridiculous) concept. The final episode, though, wrapping everything up, is a ghastly attempt to combine a terrible tragedy with a soppy happy ending. Season 4 did a much better “and they all lived happily ever after” ending.

reviewed 30 December 2012

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