#JioHotstar #HBO
Language – English
Year of release – 2025
Cast – Noah Wyle (Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch), Tracy Ifeachor (Dr. Heather Collins). Patrick Ball (Dr. Frank Langdon), Katherine LaNasa (Dana Evans), Supriya Ganesh (Dr. Samira Mohan), Fiona Dourif (Dr. Cassie McKay), Taylor Dearden (Dr. Melissa “Mel” King), Isa Briones (Dr. Trinity Santos), Gerran Howell (Dennis Whitaker), Shabana Azeez (Victoria Javadi), Sepideh Moafi (Dr. Al-Hashimi)
Trigger warning – Medical emergencies, blood, gore, violence, suicide references, mental health
Plot – This is a 15 episodes series based entirely on that one day in the Pittsburg Trauma Centre headed by Dr Robby with his right hand attending Dr Langdon and the absolutely super-efficient Head Nurse Dana Evans. The episodes are divided into an hour each of the goings on in the ER and the waiting area. The Pittsburg Trauma Centre is an important trauma care centre but with limited funding and a lot of bureaucracy. How Dr Robby navigates through the various individual cases as they come in, deal with his own trauma of losing his mentor to COVID, to managing a large scale disaster, to managing the teams dynamics while remaining calm and composed through it all and in all this, dealing with young interns who are learning important life lessons in the ER along with their professional learning!
While the gist seems simple, this is a show that gave us some brilliant acting, absolutely remarkable sets and prosthetics, brilliant camerawork and a show that was hard-hitting while being sensitive. Dr Robby played by Noah Wyle is the character you root for all through the show. A brilliant doctor who balances his sensibilities and sensitivities to the max capacity that’s possible for any human working under the most trying of circumstances. His sense of fairness, calm and strength of character shines through every episode. And all the while he is battling his own share of trauma and despair. The casting was totally bang on with Noah carrying this role in the best possible way!
The other characters too are absolutely relatable and as a team pull off the show in the most humane manner. The casting has been diverse and its very impressive where people of colour, persons with intellectual and physical disabilities, persons with mental illnesses and addictions are all blended in seamlessly in the script that you see them less for their issues and more for the human behind it.
Every case that comes through the trauma centre is closely followed up and the narration closes all the loops as the story unfolds. All the loops are tied in very well and there are no loose ends left by the last episode. Which is very commendable considering the number of the characters who are introduced through the 15 hour shift!
The camera technique follows a POV as well as a continual shot. So as the patients are coming in, the camera pans from them and the doctors and follows a character out to the next patient and then from there on moves on to the next. So at no point, the camera action is still. It’s in constant motion and with the various angles it covers, you get a complete 360 degree view of the ER and the waiting areas and the ambulance bay where the doctors head out to and head back in with the new patients.
Various social issues are dealt with and addressed in positive tones. There is no preachiness and no black and white aspects to the issues. Everything is real and has real time value. What struck me most was the fact that makers kept so many aspects in mind while creating the show. Very impressive and very mature!
This is a series I binged for two days and left feeling exhausted and exhilarated by the experience! Exhausted because that’s what the show expects of you. Complete undivided attention! Exhilarated because here is a medical show that has plenty of medical jargon but for a non-medical like me, there was so much drama on the side! I would highly recommend every one to please watch the show. There are parts that are gory but that’s expected in a medical drama centred in the ER. Besides that, this is a show that pays homage to the medical profession where, often times we don’t see the doctors as humans and don’t acknowledge them enough.
A 10/10 show for me!
Would love to know what you think!
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