Medium Episode 4.02 But for the Grace of God

A dead buck lies next to an overturned car, containing an unseen young blond, who struggles to reach a cell phone while bleeding. Allison wakes up from her dream, but there's nothing she can do, unable to identify the car or the girl. Joe wants to know why Cynthia Keener is paying Allison $800 per week instead of Ameritips. She explains that it's supposed to be secret; maybe Cynthia wants a leg up in her job.

Allison has the crashed car dream again - this time she recognizes the dying girl as Ariel! She bolts awake crying. Joe tries to talk her down, claiming they can now guarantee that it won't happen, since Ariel won't be able to drive for another two years. At school, Jeremy teases Ariel about her mother. Cute Connor comes to her defense. He asks her on a date to a concert downtown on Saturday.

Cynthia comes by the house. Sixteen-year-old Melanie, a good student, got on the school bus yesterday, but never showed up at school. Cynthia called the parents as soon as the missing child report was filed, but claims she's not an ambulance chaser. Begging Allison's pardon for not knowing how her abilities work, she hands over a box containing the contents of Melanie's locker and asks her to call when she's got something.

Allison closes her eyes, running her hands over Melanie's stuff, but she isn't getting much when Joe bursts in needing her help. Ariel bounds in after him, excited to tell them about her date. Without knowing Connor, who's 16, Joe and Allison think she's too young to go to a concert downtown without them. Allison points out that she's searching for a 16-year-old girl who disappeared on the way to school - it's too dangerous. Ariel offers to stop going to school and huffs out, upset that she can't go to the concert.

Allison tries to comfort Ariel. There will be other boys and other concerts. Allison's mom wouldn't let her go to a concert alone until she was 16, and when she finally did go, she realized her mom was right. That night Ariel dreams that she's back in 1987, and is 14-year-old Allison's best friend, Casey. Allison passes her a note - Jordan Spence asked her to go to Spring Fling! Ariel is surprised to find that Allison is cool and fun to hang with. Allison shows her their picture in the school yearbook.

Ariel wakes up and runs to check Allison's yearbook - this picture shows 14-year-old Allison and the real Casey, dark-haired. Allison wakes up, having dreamt of the car again, frustrated that she's not learning anything new, about the car crash or about Melanie. The next day, Cynthia complains that she thought there would be some level of reliability to Allison's intuition - is Allison playing her?

Allison explains that she's used to going to crime scenes and talking to victims and their families. Cynthia maintains that she's the front man. Allison senses that Cynthia is going to see someone, and asks to go with, advising Cynthia to get her money's worth, since she's already paid for the week. Cynthia admits that she's going to see Melanie's 18-year-old boyfriend, who is the suspect du jour, and promises to think it over.

Ariel shows her friend Hannah the yearbook and tells her about her dream. Hannah advises Ariel to tell Allison about the dream, but Ariel's too mad at her mother. That night, she dreams about 1987. Allison is crying and singing in her room. Jordan dumped her and she hates her parents, who won't allow her to go to concerts until she's 16. Acknowledging that Casey's parents are very strict, she proposes a plan. While pretending they're at the roller rink, they'll take the bus downtown to buy the tickets. Ariel thinks it's a great plan, and wakes up with a crafty smile on her face.

Allison still has nothing on Melanie when Cynthia calls. She agrees to meet with Cynthia and the boyfriend at 7, musing that she'll just pick up the girls at the roller rink a little earlier. When she gets to the roller rink, she only finds Hannah. After several minutes of searching and canceling on Cynthia, Allison spies Ariel getting off the bus. At home, Joe and Allison lay into Ariel for lying, but she points out that Allison lied - she did go to a concert before she was 16! Ariel confesses her dream.

When Ariel stops crying long enough to fall asleep, Allison tells Joe that she never made it to the concert in 1987. An older guy gave them a ride, but before they could go in, a cop realized they were too young to be there without an adult, and drove them home. As for Casey, they haven't spoken since that night. Allison always figured that Casey's parents must have forbid him from seeing her.

Ariel dreams about 1987, the night of the concert. Officer Talmadge drives the girls home. Allison apologizes to Casey, hoping she won't get in bad trouble with her parents. Ariel suggests it's all just a dream. Allison asks Talmadge to drop Casey off with her, but he refuses, then proceeds to demand favors from Casey for not telling her parents. Ariel gets scared and tries several times to wake up. By the time she finally does, she's hysterically screaming. Joe and Allison come running.

After Ariel goes back to sleep, Allison admits that it all happened just like in Ariel's dream. She never knew what happened to Casey, since they never spoke again. She has to talk to Casey, so Joe tracks her down on the internet, only to learn that Casey died in a car crash after hitting a deer. Allison wonders what it all means. Thinking Allison feels guilty about Casey, Joe explains that of course, any 14-year-old girl would trust a cop. Allison finally gets it.

Allison thanks Cynthia for coming so quickly, but Cynthia's just come to fire Allison and collect Melanie's stuff, since the FBI is taking over the case. When she learns that Allison has an idea, she visits Scanlon to collect photo IDs on every police officer working since 1987, and brings them back to Allison and Ariel. Ariel identifies Ben Talmadge. Cynthia and Scanlon accost Talmadge on the street. And that night; Melanie is rescued from his home.