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 Artificial Sweetener
by Will Doig
With the help of the ethereal Patricia Arquette, NBC's new drama Medium has vanquished convention. Reviews have focused on the show's fantastical premise — Arizona soccer mom Allison Dubois sees dead people and helps the police solve crimes — but the most addictive element of Medium is something else entirely: its portrayal of domestic mundanities, the erotic little details of coupledom. The background: Allison was a stay-at-home mom whose visions recently led her to a part-time job in the D.A.'s office. Joe, her sensitive, shaggy-haired husband, is an aerospace engineer who's patient but skeptical. We watch them bicker over the bathroom sink in the a.m. (he's a morning person, she's not). We watch them try to appease their three daughters with three different breakfasts. We watch them kiss each other goodbye as they head off in separate directions. And later that night, we hope like hell she's in the mood for the quickie he's proposed. With their flirtations, mood swings and squabbles, Allison and Joe have become the most empathetic couple on TV in years — at least since ABC’s late, lamented Once and Again.
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