Happy
Wappy E.R. Wannabe TV Show That Unfortunately
Has Characters You Want To Scalpel (And
Not In A Good Way)...
While
"New Amsterdam" isn't quite the tripe some are saying it is (there is
some good stuff in it) - unfortunately I can understand completely why so many
are infuriated with it.
The
scenarios are often laughably hammy, the punchline dialogue feels forced at
almost every turn, the tangled relationships and faux tears, the Spanish dialogue
that isn't subtitled so you can understand what's being said, and most of all,
the staggeringly unhygienic scenes where people literally dance voodoo rituals
as they cut a patient's skin and stick dirt in just before an open-heart
procedure (because that's their cultural belief man). These things are
completely at odds with the sterile environments of modern operating rooms (the
doctor watches and is ok with a woman ranting like a banshee, smearing and
spitting over the sedated patient – yeah right).
The
sorry state that US medicine is in (dominated by money and nursing staff under
siege from exploitive malpractice lawsuits) is addressed at times, as is the
horrendous legally binding overmedication of most American youth - a health
ticking time bomb if ever there was one. But it's always with a falsely upbeat
outcome and never the reality of how the US government simply panders to big
pharmaceutical cash cows while patients of all ages get hooked, damaged,
destroyed and even get dead. Throw in a leading man that's a Matthew Fox
wannabe dispensing hippy medicine and cures for broken internal hospital rules
in his sneakers and perfectly sculpted morning stubble that never grows or
changes - complete with a pregnant wife who always seems to have perfect hair
after a labour emergency and a sloppy, rotund but loving therapist who looks
like a friendly lion straight out Good Will Hunting goodness school – and you
begin to get the level of cheese you're being ask to swallow.
In
these days of too much darkness, I love hopeful (who doesn't) and "New
Amsterdam" clearly seems to think it has something enlightening to show us
at the centre of its saccharine-clogged aorta (positivity will cure everything
including corporate greed), but IMO it just fails on too many fronts, offering
up too many unrealistic set pieces to remain believable and therefore truly
touch you.
What
a shame. I've watched only two episodes and its already irritating me too much.
And after Amazon's triumph with the stunning and award winning "The Marvelous
Mrs. Maisel" across two whole seasons and the sheer energy and hutzpah of
their "Sex and The City" meets "Girls" Indian take on young
lives in "Four More Shots Please!" – that's a real disappointment.
Give it a go for sure, but be warned, I have facial stubble and I will diagnose
you with it...
