Pater Familias (''Ghost Whisperer'')

"Pater Familias" is the third season finale of Ghost Whisperer, it originally aired on May 16, 2008 on CBS in United States. All main cast appears in the final episode of season three. This episode marked John Gray's departure from the series as executive producer, although he continued to write and direct episodes for the rest of the run.

Plot

Continued from the previous episode, Melinda bursts into Tom Gordon’s hotel room, where it appears that he has attempted to take his own life. Tom is rushed to the hospital in critical condition, but survives. Melinda, still working under the assumption that Paul Eastman is seeking revenge for being wrongly convicted of murder, figures that Tom had been possessed by Paul during the suicide attempt. However, when she confronts Paul and asks him to leave Tom alone, Paul leads Melinda to his own body, which is buried in the house Melinda grew up in. This leads to even more questions about Tom’s involvement with Paul and as Melinda peels away the layers of lies Tom has told her she finally learns the horrible truth. It turns out that Melinda’s mother had been madly in love and engaged to Paul when he was accused of murder, which was how she met Tom. After Paul was convicted, she explained to Tom that she and Paul could see ghosts, and that’s how he had found the little boy’s body. Tom, who turns out to be a total sociopath, promised to help get Paul out of prison, but secretly did nothing to help Paul so he could endear himself to Melinda’s mother and eventually marry her. When Paul finally escaped and confronted Tom at his house, Tom killed him and buried him in his basement. Topping it all off, Melinda discovers that Tom isn’t even her father, but that Paul Eastman is. In the end Tom tries to kill Melinda but Paul saves her by killing Tom. In the very last scene Melinda and her mother, Jim, Delia, Ned and Professor Payne wait to cross the road and they realize that there are only 5 shadows for the 6 of them, which we later learn is a sign from the Watchers for someone's death.

Acting

Trivia

• The Latin phrase "pater familias" refers to the head of a Roman family. The pater familias was the oldest living male in a household, and he had complete control of all family members.
• This is the last episode in the series in which Anne Archer appears as Beth Gordon, Melinda's mother.

References