S01.E01: Pilot

[DanaK]

Quote

"PILOT" - Series premiere

09/23/2024 (10:00PM - 11:00PM) (Monday) : Dr. Oliver Wolf reluctantly accepts a job at Bronx General Hospital where he's forced to work with a team of interns as they treat a mother who can no longer recognize her children.

 

[AnimeMania]

Kira Guloien as Hanna Peters

David Kohlsmith as Ellis Peters

Tom Hulshof as Gus Peters 

Amy Stewart as Child Protective Agent

André DeShields as Harold

Quenton Rose as the Groom

Getenesh Berhe as the Bride

[shapeshifter]

The medical aspects seemed plausible.

I liked the side plot of André DeShields as Harold, the Alzheimer’s patient who comes alive through music, which is not unusual. Tony Bennett was a recent real-life example.

And I thought the explanation of how the surgery effected the woman’s brain made sense.
But don’t they do brain surgery under a local anesthetic so they can touch areas of the brain before cutting and ascertain what the impact will be? 

The main character being a doctor with a neurological condition and having a father with a different neurological condition was a bit much. But then they added the alienated mother. 
 

[NeenerNeener]

My eyes are still puddle-y after the wedding scene.

[gail56]

I wanted to watch this show for Zachary Quinto. I love him in everything I see him in, and it is no different in this! The first time I saw him was on Heroes.

Thoughts on the episode.

The flashback to his mother telling him to keep things secret and not talk about certain things were a bit triggering. IOW, she was saying to not embarrass her. I am autistic and behaved in ways  as a child that perplexed people and embarrassed my mother. Whenever people pointed it out to her, or I behaved in a way in public that was "wrong", she would get angry with me and scold me why I wouldn't act "normal." Of course I was confused as I had no idea what I was doing wrong, and no one would enlighten me.

Back then autistic children were thought to be non-verbal and I could talk [most of the time], so that was not on anyone's radar back then. Teachers and others just knew I was different.  Some thought I was simple minded. My mother told everyone that the only thing wrong with me was being "shy". I came to hate that word because I am anything but.  My best friend once told me "You are quiet but you do and say the boldest things!" Yeah, cause I am not timid!

Moving on, he is face blind! I am also to a degree. I don't recognize people unless I know them really well, and even then I can be thrown by people who look similar or see them in a different context. One example is a girl I worked with years ago at McDonalds. I saw her almost everyday at work. One day I saw her on the street and had no idea who she was. She had to tell me she was Debby from work before I recognized her. I only ever saw her in uniform so seeing her in regular clothes threw me off. I could not tell who she was by her face at all.

As for people who look similar, on TV I can mistake one actor for another if they have similar hair color, body type, etc. I find I mostly recognize people by voice. On a personal level there are many times I would see someone who looked like my husband. Same height, same bushy white hair, similar body build. I would think for sure it was him but then notice that he is a wearing a shirt I know my husband does not own or something else would give me pause. So I would stand back and take a much closer look. My husband has a distinctive nose and that is how I would know it was not him!

If I meet someone new I would not recognize them if I saw then a second time. Maybe not even after a third or fourth time!

Ok, back to the episode! I like it so far and how he figured out how to make the mother recognize her children. I am happy he told the interns he is face blind. And of course his mother is the big boss. Eeek.

[Featherhat]

Ok, I gave this a chance for Zach Quinto and because I'm recovering from an operation and for once have time to watch a lot of pilots. 

I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to because I'm quite burned out on the "genius, maverick, asshole with a heart of gold" doctor but I thought he made it work. It helped that he actually came clean to everyone at the end and this isn't just some long running secret. I knew someone with face blindness growing up but I wasn't aware it was a neurological condition. The interns were okay, I'll wait and see how they develop.

I knew the COM was going to be his mother when the kept emphasising how she was a doctor who couldn't do anything for her husband vs how he works and how he just couldn't work at the Bronx. It could go either way on that one, I said on another show that I'm a bit tired of these overly angsty family melodrama plots for this type of show but I guess it's part of the formula. His friend/colleague was fine, they have a pretty good rapport. 

The beginning where he took the grandfather to play at his granddaughter's wedding was beautiful, I loved the band joining in. I'm not surprised he got fired though and it was good to show a character like this doesn't operate entirely without consequences some of the time. 

Patient storyline was fine, I was a little annoyed that CPS lady was cast as an antagonist though because she was doing her job. It wasn't their mother's fault but she was endangering those boys and couldn't look after them properly right then, her doctors didn't even know what was wrong at the time.

I will definitely give it another shot next week, it was better than I expected although it does have a lot of the tropes for "genius doctor" shows it also subverted a couple as well. 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Featherhat said:

I'm a bit tired of these overly angsty family melodrama plots

Ugh. You 'n' me both.
Already got an infinite number of real life such stories.

[cameron]

Felt like I was watching a rehashing of Max and New Amsterdam.

 

[chediavolo]

This one’s a no go for me. Love the opening sequence otherwise just the same ol crap. 

[yourdreamer]

I cried at the beginning because it reminded me so much of my father.  He had Alzheimer's for 12 years and at his day care, dancing was the thing that would get him "back."  And I am engaged, so he missed my wedding too.  It was triggering, but in a good way I think.

The case was interesting; I remember a face blindness storyline on another show, although I can't remember which show (could be Criminal Minds since I recently rewatched the series).  Long-term, I am concerned how the patient will be able to interact with her children without some sort of additional brain surgery. 

I am in it for the long run, unless there is a severe downhill turn from the pilot.

[bros402]

I was laughing my ass off at this pilot. This is exactly the kind of so-bad-it's-good like New Amsterdam that I was hoping it'd be.

Was I the only one yelling "IT'S CAPGRAS DELUSION" right when the mother started saying those weren't her kids? It took until the 30 minute mark (I was watching it on the NBC site, so that's 30/42 minutes) for it to even be mentioned!

I will definitely watch another episode to see if it keeps this quality up. 

although, my god, what person would want to swim in the Hudson? Like holy crap - I saw some people jet skiing in the East River once when I was in the waiting room at my doctor's once and I was like "ew, what the fuck, why are you doing that"

[cameron]

Thought his swimming in the East River was a bit of a stretch.  The only good thing about that was the view looking across the river from Queens.

[PupCal]

Apparently it's not the Hudson, it's the Long Island Sound.

I also yelled out Capgras the second she said those weren't her kids.

[CoyoteBlue]

Heh, the more TV shows I see Capgras in, the more frustrating it is to have the doctors in the show take forever to figure it out. 😄 I really liked that for the first time, I saw what the treatment would be! Triggering their relationship connections first thing in the morning via voice, retraining her visual pathways to work around the damaged area, etc. Kinda cool.

 

[JenLily]

29 minutes ago, CoyoteBlue said:

Heh, the more TV shows I see Capgras in, the more frustrating it is to have the doctors in the show take forever to figure it out. 😄

LOL, it's right up there with the disease that turns carbs into alcohol. Whenever someone turns up acting drunk and with a BAC of anything over zero but they swear they haven't had a drop to drink, I'm like, "Come on, guys. Test for auto-brewery syndrome. Duh." 😄

[possibilities]

I wasn't going to watch because I hated the ads, and I find Zachary Quinto melodramatic in every role. Just wasn't in the mood.

But then someone i respect liked it, I heard it was actually based on Oliver Sachs, and that Our Hero is "openly gay". 

I mean, take the guy to the wedding, but maybe take a taxi and not a motorcycle? I get that the family was freaked out, but I thought they would get over it when Grandpa played and then recognized Sophie, but then I remembered the mototcycle. Take it down a notch, Wolfie!

I was pissed off that the social worker was thinking that if Mom is blind, she can't be a parent. Fuck that. Blind people can be parents. She would need to show she was going to be a reliable caregiver, but if it took her wearing shields over her eyes or some other way of managing the situation, let her do that. Again, the situation was scary with the kids out in the rain, so go ahead and be freaked out. But don't pin it on "if she's going to  be blindfolded...." God forbid that crappy social worker ever gets wind of a case where a parent is actually blind and decides to take the kids away.

I hate Wolf's mom. I suppose we're supposed to hate her so they can later do a big reveal that makes us understand and forgive her, and it's going to be a lesson in not rushing to judgment and just assume she has her reasons.

So far I like the interns, even though they haven't been fully developed.

And I wonder if the hostile surgeon will be the love interest? Somebody's gotta do it, unless Wolf being gay is just marketing to rope in people like me who show up for representation, but they aren't going to give him any actual love.

I really dig the ferns,  but I'm a plant person and I do suspect they think that him having so many is a sign of Something Weird About Him. People on TV never have hobbies they are passionate about, unless it's a plot point.

Edited October 3 by possibilities

[Sandman]

On 9/24/2024 at 2:08 AM, shapeshifter said:

The main character being a doctor with a neurological condition and having a father with a different neurological condition was a bit much. But then they added the alienated mother. 

Yeah, this felt like a pile-on. Although I must say I was really moved by the conclusion of the story of the mother who couldn't recognize her kids. (Full disclosure: my own mother had a severe stroke about 20 years ago, and I was definitely feeling some emotional parallels.)

Not the best pilot I've ever seen but not the clankiest, either; I'll stick with it a while, at least.

[bourbon]

This was OK, but sorry...I was with the CPS lady. I would've taken the kids out of there in a hot minute after locking them out of the house. It wasn't her fault, but she was endangering them. Wasn't buying the argument, "She has an injury! Would you take the kids if she broke her leg?" Umm...if a broken leg meant she couldn't care for them and maybe caused her to lock her children out of the house? Then yeah. I'd take them. 

I liked it all right. Don't like the sanctimonious stuff. Very New Amsterdam-y. 

[kwnyc]

On 9/26/2024 at 1:06 AM, bros402 said:

what person would want to swim in the Hudson? Like holy

What's really annoying is that they showed him to n the East River!

[Driad]

Oliver Wolf is based on Oliver Sacks (whose middle name was Wolf), a British neurologist who practiced in Manhattan, rode a motorcycle, had face blindness, and swam in the water near his home.