S01.E02: Til Death

[thewhiteowl]

 

When a young man claims he's seen the ghost of his recently deceased wife, Dr. Tyler and her team are brought in to investigate an increasingly bizarre case of loss, love and jealousy.

 

[alias1]

I was disappointed in this 2nd episode.  Especially when they went out of their way to suggest it was Elena causing the electricity sparks, especially at the end when Dr. Tyler picked up the photograph.  I could understand the guy thinking he saw his wife, but for him not to know that he caused the bathtub to overflow and that he (apparently) set the fire at the docs house was all a little too unbelievable.  This may not be the series for me.

[slothgirl]

I got so annoyed at the side plot of Dr Tyler asking the millioinaire's assistant to go over surgical files, I nearly changed the channel right there! Does HIPAA not exist in this story's universe? Even if we assume it doesn't, how on earth is it ethical based on even general medical guidelines for someone like that to have access to review patient surgical records? WTH?

 

This just blew my mind because it wasn't even necessary for her to do the review, except as a way to give the assistant some screen time so we could get hammered with the anvil that she's going to be really upset when her boss dies!

 

Also, maybe they covered this in episode 1 and I forgot, but why is it so important for there to be a doctor from sub-saharan Africa involved? It smacks to me of a racist stereotype: black guy from African (read: "tribal") culture wants to be modernized into western medicine but is torn between science and his "superstitious" (read: primitive) upbringing. I'm finding it uncomfortable to watch.

 

Also, I remember that actor from House, but I dont think he had an accent. So they went to extra trouble for this storyline that is making me cringe. Is it just me?

 

JB's is better than I imagined she could be (since I only know her from Flashdance) and I'm enjoying her immensely. MM is always pleasant to look at. I don't care which side of the question they come down on or lean towards... but something about this show is just not working. I doubt it's going to last.

 

And telling a potential suicide, who's standing inches only away from a slight breeze carrying him off a building, to just go ahead and jump?

 

No. That's the one thing you NEVER do. Makes great TV, but ... No.

Edited June 24, 2015 by slothgirl

[topanga]

I agree with your entire post, slothgirl. This episode wasn't as good as the pilot, which wasn't all that great to begin with. I'm going to give the show a few more episodes because I like Jennifer Beals and Joe Morton, but 'Proof' hasn't grabbed me the way other basic cable shows did from their first episode: "The Americans," "Psych," and "Pretty Little Liars"* for example.

 

*Hey. Don't judge.

[Red-headed Aspie]

Why did they make the lead character so unlikeable? I really can't stand her. In every scene, I can barely pay attention to what's happening because I'm so busy thinking about how much I dislike that character. It's 2015. Shouldn't we be past equating a strong, capable woman with a woman who is a total bitch? I would much prefer that she was just matter-of-fact about things, but there is an undercurrent of pouty nastiness to everything she says. Also, what kind of idiot doctor won't even attempt to schmooze a little to get a substantial donation that would likely improve patient care and possibly save lives?

 

I love the subject matter of this show, but I'm giving the main character in this mess one episode to quit working my last nerve. Last night's plot wasn't as compelling as the pilot, but it was having to watch that irritable character in every scene that made me annoyed.

[fauxphysician]

Yes, this episode was a bit of a letdown. I did like the way they let us see what he was seeing, in the kitchen interview, as he recounted how they met and fell in love because it took me a couple of minutes to realize that his wife  wasn't there. As for JB's portrayal, unfortunately it's spot on. In my experience-- with the exception of pediatric oncologists-- few  surgeons show their empathy nor suffer fools easily.

[Madding crowd]

Still trying with this show but the plot line of this episode has been done repeatedly in medical series. I'm too lazy to look up specific episodes but I know i have seen shows where a spouse thinks they see a dead wife/husband only to find out they have a brain tumor. I still don't understand why Jennifer Beals character would be involved in this at all, she is the wrong person for it. 

 

Matthew Modine seems kind of wasted her too. 

[Neurochick]

I'm having a hard time with this show because Dr Tyler is nasty, arrogant and unlikable.

[Clanstarling]

Why did they make the lead character so unlikeable? I really can't stand her. In every scene, I can barely pay attention to what's happening because I'm so busy thinking about how much I dislike that character. It's 2015. Shouldn't we be past equating a strong, capable woman with a woman who is a total bitch? I would much prefer that she was just matter-of-fact about things, but there is an undercurrent of pouty nastiness to everything she says. Also, what kind of idiot doctor won't even attempt to schmooze a little to get a substantial donation that would likely improve patient care and possibly save lives?

 

 

I'm having a hard time with this show because Dr Tyler is nasty, arrogant and unlikable.

I agree to with these. I am finding her grating. Though I understand, as fauxphysician said earlier, that this arrogance is common amongst real world surgeons.

 

But I wonder  - isn't this how the House character was played? I haven't watched House, so this is a real question. The few things I saw regarding the House character were very much in this nature, and is part of the reason I didn't watch the show. A lot of people loved his character. So I wonder do even women (like me), have  different standard for women?

Edited June 28, 2015 by clanstarling

[alias1]

Interesting comments about Dr. Tyler, a female.  I don't mind her personality (I'm a female) (I'm just not sure I like the show).  I hated House and couldn't understand why people liked him so much..  I found him arrogant and unlikable.  She is nowhere near as abrasive.  I think maybe there is a different standard of bitchiness for men and for women.

[slothgirl]

I loved House. I especially loved him in the 1st couple of seasons. I adored his snark. It seemed to me that he just said things that many people might be thinking in the cirdumstance but wouldn't say because of social rules and manners. Many of the people he spoke really harshly to NEEDED to be either taken down a peg or have a hard truth put forward to them in a way that they couldn't dodge it... like the divorcing couple so busy trying to each "win" and blame the other, that their child might pay the price with her life.

 

Or one of my favorite lines in the whole series: "You're ORANGE you moron!" (in reply to the potential rich donor who asks how House would know the donor's wife has obviously been cheating on him. His over-consumption of carotine has changed his skin color and she's never mentioned it to him or shown any concern for him, which any happy loving wife would have done)

 

Early in the series, he focused his snark mostly on deserving recipients, and occasionally had moments where his harsh truths actually hepled people. In one episode, he spends a whole day with a rape victim exploring the meaning (or lack thereof) of what happened to her. One Day, One Room was one of the series' best episodes.

 

And on topic... I don't find the doctor all that abrasive. Surgeons have a reputation that is far worse than what this surgeon shows us.

Edited June 29, 2015 by slothgirl

[mbutterfly]

Interesting comments about Dr. Tyler, a female.  I don't mind her personality (I'm a female) (I'm just not sure I like the show).  I hated House and couldn't understand why people liked him so much..  I found him arrogant and unlikable.  She is nowhere near as abrasive.  I think maybe there is a different standard of bitchiness for men and for women.

I just watched and I was coming on to say I'm pretty much going to watch because I'm enjoying JB. She has her unbitchy moments, too. And somehow she makes bitchy look kind of fun -- let's me have being bitchy fantasies. 

[Kromm]

JB's is better than I imagined she could be (since I only know her from Flashdance) and I'm enjoying her immensely. 

She turned out (after Flashdance) to be a very good actress, and still is. She's got an ability to make this character, for example, something of a real bitch, but also kind of likable. Even Hugh Laurie didn't even really succeed at that.

 

It's a shame this show isn't likely to be elevated enough by her acting ability to overcome how silly a lot of it is probably going to be.

[walnutqueen]

And on topic... I don't find the doctor all that abrasive. Surgeons have a reputation that is far worse than what this surgeon shows us.

 

That reminds me of this old joke :

Do you know the difference between a surgeon and God?

God doesn't think he's a surgeon.

[Netfoot]

Why did they make the lead character so unlikeable?

 

I'm having a hard time with this show because Dr Tyler is nasty, arrogant and unlikable.

 

Because it is the fashionable trope now (and for some time), to have the hero or other characters of the show to be an asshole.  Everybody from Sherlock Homes to Tony Stark.

[lucindabelle]

I like her a lot, she says what shemeans nd wts to the point. She is in a hurry. But I don't think she's cruel.

I liked he ambiguity actually. Evause im on the fence. There are scientific explanations for he nde but people who thnk it's real point out that it still doesn't "explain" it... I don't know. Which came first the visions or the lesion? In other words, if his makes sense, could a ghost somehow ahve created that if she can make sparks fly?

Wh knows?