Tag: tv series

Dr. Death (2021)|Review| A completely chilling series

Who is Dr. Death? How did he come to be? How did he continue practicing medicine despite hurting a terrifying number of patients? This series unfolded politics with an operating room, hospitals, and law.

A real-life story about a doctor who maimed and killed his patient relentlessly and without guilt.

Plot:

The story revolves around Christopher Duntsch, a former neurosurgeon who “Intentionally” maimed and even killed his patients. His two fellow colleagues and a prosecutor Michelle Shughart’s journey to stop him and bring justice. The drama miniseries is based on the podcast(by Wondery), with the same name, which covered his heinous crime.

Release date: 15 July 2021

No. of episodes: 8

Network: Peacock

Genre: True Crime

Writer(s): Patrick Macmanus

Executive producers: Jason Blumthal, Marshall Lewy, Steve tisch and more.

Running time: 43-60 minutes.

Let’s start with introduction of characters and their stories!

Christopher Duntsch aka DR. Death or Dr. D.

From the start, it is very obvious that he is a very obnoxious, extremely narcissist with God complex ( someone who thinks they has been divinely blessed or has an exceptional talent compared to everyone else, that they can perform risks to save someone’s life because they can’t make mistakes. Even if they do make mistakes they can either miraculously correct them or it is the fault of people around them which they then discard to take action upon) and who is in denial of his abilities.

“I don’t have complications”, “The attending interrupted which distracted me”, “I can leave kindness and become a stone-cold killer, and the way he slammed every doctor’s procedure to prove his way of surgery screams an insane amount of sociopath vibes and terrifying negligence. These were some of the red flags

He has said to have performed 37 surgeries, out of which 33 have intense complications and some dead. A neurosurgeon who brags about educational accomplishment all the time, doesn’t accept the existence of human error

Roles Portrayed:

Each and every actor portrayed their roles excellently. You could feel their irritation and anger radiating through the screens. Patient’s nervousness, excitement, desperation makes you imagine yourself to be in their or their loved one’s situation. The nonchalance of Duntsch ( By Joshua Jackson), his ability to use charm and threats to remain a doctor and get selected in other hospitals infuriates you to the bone. Dr. Robert Henderson’s (Alex Baldwin) immeasurable patience and Dr. Randall Kirby’s (Christian Slater)relatable impatience and anger take you on a rollercoaster ride.

Review:

The show starts with his patients at Dallas Medical. 3 days, 3 patients. One dead, one woken with extreme pain and no mobility in legs, and one is said to be recovering.  Dr. Robert Henderson had to perform a revision surgery on Madeleine Beyer, who woke up with extreme pain. During surgery he found out that there were many holes which were from the attempted attachment of screws, her fragments of bone dispersed and piercing main nerves. He wonders what did Duntsch do to her since her bones were completely shattered.

Through his course in Dallas, his circulating nurse, Josh Baker(Hobert Point-Du) consults and preps his OR. He is concerned about Duntsch as well as his patients. He questions and tries to protect patients. You get to see how nurses and everyone else except the doctor is treated with so little respect. Their voice of concern went not only unheard but also was looked upon as an interruption. Although one can understand that surgery is complex and doubts by people around us is effective, but in this scenario, the patients lost around 1700-2000 CC’s of blood and the nurses decided to voice their opinion. How can this be disregarded and the voices getting unheard? How can continuing to operate while a patient is hemorrhaging be ignored when these issues were brought to the Texas Medical Board? How is aggressively asking for a procedure like a craniotomy in a hospital where craniotomy is not performed (SO, they won’t have any instruments to do that and to counteract if it goes wrong isn’t there) okay when the situation could have been handled by simply transferring the patient to another hospital? It clearly shows that his intent was either to cover up his harm and to show doctorly care by performing a procedure

While writing the plot, I preferred to choose “Intentionally” since trained doesn’t just mean only that a superior/ attending is responsible for imparting knowledge. The learner/ resident has the equal responsibility to learn and practice what they have been taught. It also means that an attending, as well as a resident themselves, recognize what are they capable of and what are their limitations since it is someone’s life we are talking about. Just like Kayla Gibson said, he should have stuck to research.

Intentionally, because it is no wonder he knew he doesn’t know how to operate and yet he went on to shut everyone off and to continue operating the way he thought was right, i.e. recklessly treating his patients as mere Guinea pigs with little to no regard to human anatomy.

The series had me completely hooked till the end. Waiting for someone to listen to them, wanting to help them even it took place long back, feeling for each character since they seemed so genuine. I hated Duntsch and how calmly he dealt with everything. I hated how he easily went up the food chain and be unscathed. Joshua’s acting got me for real.

Well, let’s look at it objectively. Before, During and After. ( Spoilers ahead, if you haven’t seen the series completely)

He “compassionately” tells his patient about how not getting done a surgery could lead to what-nots, boats about degrees to nervous family members, wears the same scrubs with holes to operations. Then, during surgery, he erratically operates, slices through a vertebral artery takes a piece out of the esophagus, damaged vocal cords, intends to remove a disc but in the end, doesn’t even go near it, and perform surgery around the disc. Keeps asking for more follow-up to perform surgeries. But, would never check up on a patient, ignore their calls, and completely abandon them. He even operates on his best friend leaving him quadriplegia, blames others, and abandons him.

Dr. Kirby and his childlike behavior gets me since that’s how most of us would feel in the moment. The face of disbelief he carried all the way is remarkable.

To imagine that he would be still practicing medicine if his colleagues hadn’t reported and taken every measure to stop him, it is truly horrifying to imagine how many more lives he would have destroyed.

Note:

I applaud each and everyone who took a step against him and try to mend the system which is so broken. This series was so well made. The storyline was continuous, his behavioral relation between present and past, coldness, and the lives he affected out of surgery world; everything was so well thought and executed.

Seeing the series, might help you understand the world of surgery.

Although, the negativity of Dr. D is the main focus, we can always believe that there good doctors out there and we can ourselves support good ones and protect ourselves from Dr. D by asking questions regarding procedures and not being afraid to listen to our hesitation. Don’t let people like Duntsch affect other doctors whose only intention to save lives and help people. Do not get discouraged to reach out to medical care and do everything in our power to treat ourselves and our loved ones. Just remember to ask, have an open mind to all kinds of people, and be mentally prepped to go for treatments.

REALITY SHOWS

Reality shows have now become the latest end. Their initial popularity with the masses, helped in the number of such shows produced today. Reality shows take the form of various competitions and challenges where celebrities or the common man participate. There is or essentially no script involved and the interest of the show lies inherently in the personality of the audiences and the tasks. Many of these competitions are judged by eminent personalities within the field. There was a need for a change in the television industry from the onslaught of the various soaps that were telecasted.

However, the question that emerges today is…how real are these reality shows? May critics believe that there isn’t even a modicum of reality in any of these shows. They are often scripted and only aim at high TRP’s. The shows have a planned course and the masses are simply captivated. Though they provide raw drama and an undisputable display of anger, love, guilt and jealousy, these are often tactics used to keep the audiences fastened rather than a genuine display of emotion. There are many others, who are loyal supporters of reality shows and believe that they have indeed provided a platform for the common man to exhibit his talent and gain success. Various dance and singing reality shows as well as quiz shows for children and adults provide them with a means through which provide, they can showcase their talent and intelligence Through these shows they often gain various opportunities to prove their courage. But sadly, one cannot deny that the USP of many of these shows is emotion and melodrama and as a result the purpose of the show is often side-lined. The recent crop of reality shows have come up with themes that tends to belittle important social institutions. In spite of the fact that it has its own pros and cons various channels and producers are misusing the originality of these shows by introducing new themes and shows to keep the masses entertained. Some of the most popular Indian reality shows include ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, ‘Big Boss’ and ‘Indian Idol’. Many movie icons are also willingly accepting the task of anchoring these shows so as to connect with people and exploit the scope of T.V as a medium of maintaining one’s popularity.

However, there is a need to ensure that this genre does not deteriorate like the previous trends. The shows must always be well researched and fresh in its approach rather than look at reality T.V as a formula and launching shows that have little creativity and uniqueness.

BETTER CALL SAUL: THE PERFECT SHOW

BETTER CALL SAUL

Premiering on AMC this crime drama created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould is a prequel to the hit T.V. series Breaking Bad. Starring Bob Odenkirk with a fantastic supporting cast the series begins six years prior to the events of Breaking Bad and follows a con-man turned small time lawyer Jimmy McGill as he transforms into criminal attorney Saul Goodman.

Cobra Kai: That 80s nostalgia

Cobra Kai: That 80s nostalgia

Cobra Kai continues the Karate Kid franchise with a blend of pleasantly corny nostalgia and teen angst, elevated by a cast of well-written characters.

Decades after the tournament that changed their lives, the rivalry between Johnny and Daniel reignites in this sequel to the “Karate Kid” films.

Genre:Drama

Network:YouTube Premium (Seasons 1-2); Netflix

Premiere Date:May 2, 2018

Creators: Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg

Exec. Producers: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, Josh Heald, James Lassiter, Caleeb Pinkett

Lucifer: love it or hate it but definitely don’t ignore it

Lucifer: love it or hate it but definitely don’t ignore it

When the devil tires of life in Hell, he materialises in the City of Angels, where he aids the LAPD in rounding up and punishing evildoers in this TV-adaptation of the comic book.

Creator: Tom Kapinos

Starring: Tom Ellis, Lina Esco, Lesley-Ann Brandt

SERVANT- HORROR AND THRILLER AT IT’S BEST

There’s much to admire in “Servant” — for instance, the show’s painterly compositions, if at times underlit, isolate Free’s character in the far background, as if to say that her soft-spoken, perhaps malignant caretaker character has the ability to literally blend into the background. Ambrose, a welcome presence underseen on big-ticket television since the “Six Feet Under” finale in 2005, makes big and risky choices in constructing her character. She combines brittleness with a bitter sense of humor such that our understanding of Dorothy evolves over the series’s run. As we learn more about her and Sean’s marriage (one in which he, a chef, is often physically absent and yet more frequently disengaged), we shift, eventually, from seeing her as the source of tension to someone bearing its brunt.

And yet for all this, and for all that “Servant” is the most watchable show yet in Apple’s vexed rollout, the series’ somewhat loopy pacing is punishing. Leanne seems as the show runs on to represent far less than meets the eye; episode after episode unfolds without her doing much of anything but seeming threatening in her inaction. (We know she’s going to have to do something eventually, but the wait grows less tantalizing than stultifying.) And to get to a new understanding of Dorothy, one has to trudge fairly deep into the series’s run, long after some viewers may have written her off. And Sean’s willingness to keep her in the dark comes to read less as benevolence than a somewhat uninteresting, uncomplicated sort of villainy. Their behavior raises the question of whether these two can have credibly loved one another in the first place — a twist this story can’t bear. If they are content to torment each other and themselves unremittingly — if, in other words, they truly do not care about each other — then why should we? “Servant” is fascinating to look at and, at first, contemplate. But its slithering, reversing structure elides the fact that it must move the plot forward only infinitesimally each episode in order to conserve it, and that this is a shortish feature in the costume of a ten-episode drama. That’s its biggest, and least welcome, twist of all.

resident Alien: The hidden gem of a series

Resident Alien: The hidden gem of a series

Based on the Dark Horse comic, Resident Alien follows Harry, an alien that crash lands on Earth and passes himself off as a small-town human doctor. Arriving with a secret mission to kill all humans, Harry starts off living a simple life… but things get a bit rocky when he’s roped into solving a local murder and realizes he needs to assimilate into his new world. As he does so, he begins to wrestle with the moral dilemma of his mission and asking the big life questions like: “Are human beings worth saving?” and “Why do they fold their pizza before eating it?”

Genre:Drama

Network: SYFY

Premiere Date:Jan 27, 2021