tek's rating:

No Ordinary Family, on ABC
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There's this guy named Jim Powell (Michael Chiklis), a failed artist who is currently working as a police sketch artist, though he feels he's not contributing enough and is not appreciated enough at work. He also feels his family is drifting too far apart, so he and his wife Stephanie (Julie Benz), daughter Daphne (Kay Panabaker), and son JJ go on a vacation to South America. While there, they survive a plane crash into some phosphorescent water. Later, back home, they each begin to realize they've acquired super powers. Jim has super strength and is practically indestructible. Stephanie, a bio-medical research scientist who never has enough time for both her job and her family, has developed super speed, which she hopes will give her enough time to do more. Daphne can read minds, and will eventually learn to influence other people's minds. JJ, normally an academic underachiever, becomes a genius.

Meanwhile, Jim is trying to become a superhero. He's practicing using his powers, making huge leaps to get around the city, trying to stop speeding vehicles, etc. He's assisted in his training by his best friend, Assistant District Attorney George St. Cloud, who is excited to be involved in this, and puts together a high-tech "lair" for Jim. Stephanie, however, would rather the family be more careful about using their powers, at least until she can learn more about how they work and what caused them. She's helped in her studies by her lab assistant, Katie Andrews (Autumn Reeser), who's just as excited to be in on Stephanie's secret as George is about Jim's secret. But Jim learns that there are other super-powered people out there, who are apparently bad guys. He feels the police won't be able to catch them without his help. Anyway, Stephanie hopes to eventually find a way of ridding her family of these new powers. And... unbeknownst to her, her mentor, Dr. Dayton King, one of the top executives at Global Tech, where Stephanie and Katie work, seems to know something about super powers, and apparently is connected to some of the bad guys.

So... there's some interesting mysteries to learn about. And by the end of the first season, some things had been explained, and I was really starting to get interested. For much of the season, I thought it was just sort of okay. However, by the end, when I already knew it hadn't been renewed for a second season, I was just starting to wish there would be another season. I don't really want to give away any more about the plot, except to say that it seems like the second season would have been fundamentally different, and potentially a lot cooler. But, like I said... the first (and only) season was okay.


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