S01.E02: Ain't No Bum

[jenrising]

Quote

Henderson and Kirby try to strip Duntsch of his medical license; Duntsch joins the football team.

 

[Mellowyellow]

I really like the balance so far. The show definitely paints a disturbing picture of the medical system but I think they do a great job of balancing Duntsch with Kirby and Henderson.

The competence of Kirby and Henderson leave me less disturbed and rattled than I would otherwise be.

Christian Slater and Alec Baldwin have so much chemistry. I'm really looking forward to more of them. Their characters complement each other so well. Both great doctors but clearly incredibly different in temperament.

I find that Kirby has a certain arrogance and bravado to him but he's actually a good doctor which is a nice contrasting note to Dunstch.

Joshua Jackson is terrific. Combination of awful, hateful and yet charming at the same time. I can't imagine Jamie Dornan doing a better job to be honest.

[Melina22]

I was sort of bored by the football stuff, but I know it was important for establishing his unusual character and his motivations. 

It's upsetting and fascinating to see how hard it is for even a respected doctor to report a terrible one, and almost impossible for a nurse. 

[Scarlett45]

On 7/16/2021 at 7:58 PM, Mellowyellow said:

I find that Kirby has a certain arrogance and bravado to him but he's actually a good doctor which is a nice contrasting note to Dunstch.

Most surgeons are a tad arrogant (says my Mom, a surgeon)- you have to be get through training and half way decent at it; but most surgeons aren’t amoral narcissists like Dunstch. A big part of being excellent at any skill is knowing what you don’t know. 
 

Kirby knows his limitations.    

[RunningMarket]

I've read up on the case, but I'm still torn on if Dunstch is a competent surgeon but complete narcissist who refuses to take feedback, or someone who never should have been accepted to med school. This episode maybe indicates that he's got some learning disabilities? The conversation near the end with his father also alluded to that.

[Elizzikra]

2 hours ago, RunningMarket said:

I've read up on the case, but I'm still torn on if Dunstch is a competent surgeon but complete narcissist who refuses to take feedback, or someone who never should have been accepted to med school. This episode maybe indicates that he's got some learning disabilities? The conversation near the end with his father also alluded to that.

I don't think he was a competent surgeon though I think maybe he could have been? I think he did have a hard time taking constructive feedback and I also think that we was passed along once he was in medical school and residency, even though he didn't have appropriate skills or training. I think he was very smart but his interests and talent were in research. I also thought they alluded to him having some sort of learning disability a couple of times during the miniseries that could have made surgery more difficult for him to learn.

[bettername2come]

My impression from the podcast is that Duntsch didn't realize/truly comprehend just how bad he was at everything. I think he wanted to prove he could do something well, but he utterly utterly failed. I think they did imply a learning disability with him being unsure of left and right and that screwing up his football career. But then there's the dirty, holey scrubs and there's no excuse for that or the way people ended up just broken and smashed. Like I could do surgery better than this guy, and I'm a children's librarian. 

This is Christian Slater's most delightful role ever.