S01.E01: Pilot

[Bort]

Quote

On his first day as an intern, an idealistic DR. DEVON PRAVESH faces the harsh realities of medical care, as third year resident DR. CONRAD HAWKINS takes him under his wing and teaches his unconventional ways for treating patients. Meanwhile, Conrad goes head-to-head with Chief of Surgery DR. SOLOMON BELL, who uses power and intimidation to cover up his mistakes.

[Guest]

If this show doesn't convince people to try to live healthier, nothing ever will.

[Miss Slay]

Nope. Not watching this again. I love Matt Czuchry. I love Emily Vancamp. But no.

Dr's killing patients during surgery because they are listening to trap music? Yeah, no...

[Lady Calypso]

You know, I wasn't entirely excited for the pilot. I'm kind of worn out on medical dramas as of recently. Especially with The Good Doctor this season being enjoyable enough, I simply wasn't sure about this one, but decided to tune in for the actors. And...you know what? I actually really, really enjoyed it. Ok, so half the characters are assholes, and the other half are too nice for their own good, but man, I came out of the pilot pretty satisfied, even with several issues here and there (for example, WAY too much Conrad; he had to have been in 70% of the scenes). 

My favourite character by far is Devon. I thought Manish Dayal did a pretty good job with his character, and I came out of it really rooting for him. I also thoroughly enjoyed Nic. Emily Van Camp is one of my favourite TV actresses, and she did not disappoint. Neither did the other female lead, Dr. Okafor. I thought both women were fairly likable, even though they seem to be stuck with asshole doctors. I also enjoyed Devon/Nicolette's scenes. Man, if Devon wasn't already in a relationship, I'd be rooting for those two. Mostly because then there'd be less of a chance for Nic and Conrad to be together. I'm already annoyed at those two as a will-they-won't-they couple. 

Conrad's a pretty irritating character and he was in this pilot way too much for my liking. I get it; the actor's popular and all that. I still don't care about Conrad. The only thing I liked about him was the message he was trying to teach Devon. Ok, yes, the way he taught him was completely frustrating, and some of the message was wrong ("Do exactly as I say, even when I'm being a complete jackass") but I understood what he was going for, at least. I kind of like that the pilot was trying to deliver the message that this line of work is messy at times and it's not perfect. But yeah, still not likable for me. Also, Dr. Solomon Bell? A completely annoying character who really shouldn't have a job at all. I guess there's always some sort of villain in these shows, though if the show expects to attempt to redeem this guy, they really have another thing coming. He'll never be likable for me not only the moment he tried to get some other guy fired in the opening scene before the nurses came up with a better idea, but threatening to deport Okafor for simply not wanting to kill the patient. 

Even despite some of those factors, I still enjoyed it enough to tune in tomorrow night for the second episode. Hey, I don't have anything else to watch in that timeslot on Mondays so why not? It also comes before The Good Doctor, so I can still have a palate cleanse afterward. 

[missyb]

I enjoyed this first episode. A sort of "behind the scenes" look at a hospital. I try not to think too hard about most shows I watch. I want to be entertained. Not to much thought provoking tax on my brain. Thats fine with me. But, I did start thinking about the arrogance or compassion of Conrad wanting to turn off the life sustaining equipment on the brain dead girl . Its just not his call to make. I know he may be saving the parents from a difficult decision and costly event. And, I think if I was lying in that bed I wold be sending "do it" brain waves as hard as I could. But, it is still not his call. The fact he could tell Bell hi ego was getting ion the way and then his ego was making decisions for someone else, just rubbed me the wrong. Conflicted about it being the "right thing to do" but not his call to do it.

I liked the characters and want to see more.

[Happy Harpy]

Finally, a medical show that isn't a tearjerker. I truly enjoyed it and I think it has some potential.

I agree with some critics that it was a fresh take on medical shows.The general setting and the cases aren't particularly ground-breaking, I don't think the writers try to pretend they are, but the tone is definitely different. Making due allowances, it reminded me a bit of how NYPD Blue showed cops who weren't perfect heroes in the early 90s.

The most interesting about the episode, to me, was how the "good" Conrad and the "bad" Bell are actually two sides of the same God complex. I hope they go for the same kind of relationship between Conrad and Devon. They need to tone down the Badass Transgressive Jerk on the former's side,  and define the latter beyond his current status as "The Carter". Of course, it was only a pilot.

I need  "good" characters to root for, though, but I think I have those in Nic and Mina at least. I loved what I saw of them, and I hope they'll be developed more. Looking forward to Melina Kanakaredes' Dr Lane being thrown into the mix. 

[preeya]

Was interested to see how Matt Czuchry (pronounced zoo-crie) would morph Cary Agos into Conrad Hawkins. So far so good. I'll stay with this one for now.

[rho]

I'm a little confused about the title. Based on the promos I thought Conrad was the titular "resident" but that seems like a gamble since he they can't milk him as a senior resident for more than a couple seasons. It would make sense for Devon to be the lead since he's the fish out of water but it felt like he was barely in this episode at all. I wonder if they reduced his role after casting to push Conrad and make it more of an ensemble piece.

I mean, they got me because I don't watch workplace dramas and I only tuned in for the stellar cast. Conrad sucks but I'll never turn down an opportunity to watch Matt Czuchry. It will be interesting to see what they do with tomorrow's episode.

[RickyB]

After spending most of 2016 in the hospital as a patient I can attest that the cellular workings of medicine are not pretty. I have problems with medical dramas that provide unrealistic heroic last minute outcomes because it breeds a medically complacent viewer. This drama seems to be going toward the more realistic approach to portray doctors not as miracle workers but as flawed individuals who believe that they can perform miracles. I enjoyed the episode and I wholeheartedly agreed with the assessment of medicine being a for profit industry. I will most likely be a regular viewer.

[AttackTurtle]

I don’t know if I can get beyond the fact that there are doctors and nurses knowingly standing by while another doctor is negligently killing patients.  My husband defends doctors in lawsuits and he couldn’t watch more than 10 minutes of the show.   I did find it amusing that he was posting his own fake positive reviews of himself.

i really enjoy the actors on this show, but it was a little heavy handed in this episode.

[llewis823]

I loved Matt Czuchry as Logan on Gilmore Girls. Every time I'd see the previews for The Resident, I kept trying to place who that was. (He really reminded me of a younger version of the actor Dale Midkiff who once played Elvis. It never even crossed my mind this was "Logan" - even as I watched it last night. This morning I googled Matt Czuchry and saw it was indeed "Logan" from Gilmore Girls.

That being said - I work in a hospital - not clinical but still you see the realism when you work in a hospital - and I liked the fact this show seems like they are not going to sugar-coat it. 

So far, so good. I'll stick with it for awhile anyway to see how it goes.

Edited January 22, 2018 by llewis823

[Lady Calypso]

9 minutes ago, AttackTurtle said:

I don’t know if I can get beyond the fact that there are doctors and nurses knowingly standing by while another doctor is negligently killing patients.  My husband defends doctors in lawsuits and he couldn’t watch more than 10 minutes of the show.   I did find it amusing that he was posting his own fake positive reviews of himself.

It does suck, but I think they have a reason to be more afraid of speaking up. We've already seen two instances of the Chief of Surgery threatening their jobs if they don't protect him. Because this guy is in a position of power, is clearly well liked among people that only know his reputation, and the fact that he seems to have a lot of money to be able to help the hospital, as well as knowing donors to get them involved, I think that's what is making the nurses and other doctors afraid. I mean, we've seen that the entire hospital is aware that Bell is incapable of performing surgeries, but they can't do a thing to stop it. They can only watch in horror and hope that his next patient doesn't die. I thought they did a decent job in showing why the others don't really speak up. 

See also Conrad, a superior in power, threatening Devon, a resident. 

[StatMom]

I only know hospital/medical stuff from watching TV, but is it realistic that the chief of surgery would be performing a lowly appendectomy? I remember this being portrayed on other shows (Grey's?) as a newbie procedure. Why would he waste his time? Or maybe he knows his limitations and doesn't want to go in for more complicated or delicate stuff.

The "LOLZ" moments when he was practicing on the Titian were ridiculous. Aren't these sudden unplanned movements the type of thing the machine is meant to prevent?

A lot of cliches on display here in the pilot, but I'm willing to put the show on DVR for now.

[notcreative enough]

I missed the first few minutes because I had Fox Philly on and they were all about the Eagles. I was about to say screw it but I remembered Fox NY won't care about football.

I tuned in when Devon's girlfriend gave him a watch.

I feel like Conrad is about 15-20 years from turning into Bell. His I'm always right and always do as I say can say is going to get real unpleasant unless he gets a huge serving of humble pie or something.

I could do without the romance. If they were an established couple fine. If they were a slow burn couple that's ok too but I don't want the push pull every episode. 

Loved the black doctor (need more then 1 episode for names to stick.) I love straight forward no BS people. 

[sadie]

I thought the black surgeon was horrible. The way she walked up to those people and said “he’s dead” and stormed off was awful and no way any hospital would allow. Other than that I really liked this, I love the main cast! I am a hospital show junkie and watch them all but this one really kept me engaged! 

[AttackTurtle]

6 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

It does suck, but I think they have a reason to be more afraid of speaking up. We've already seen two instances of the Chief of Surgery threatening their jobs if they don't protect him. Because this guy is in a position of power, is clearly well liked among people that only know his reputation, and the fact that he seems to have a lot of money to be able to help the hospital, as well as knowing donors to get them involved, I think that's what is making the nurses and other doctors afraid. I mean, we've seen that the entire hospital is aware that Bell is incapable of performing surgeries, but they can't do a thing to stop it. They can only watch in horror and hope that his next patient doesn't die. I thought they did a decent job in showing why the others don't really speak up. 

See also Conrad, a superior in power, threatening Devon, a resident. 

I get the excuse that the storyline is pursuing (the co-workers feel they have no choice); however the doctor knowingly performing surgeries when he’s impaired is simply criminal.  By helping him cover it up, they’re all accessories.  This isn’t simple civil negligence, but manslaughter.  There is just no way that this happens.    For a fictional show it’s entertaining, but it’s just s little much.  

[windsprints]

I'm a fan of hospital shows in general and I liked this quite a bit. I think the pilot showed us the definiing points of each of their personalities & I'm hoping as the episodes go on that they will all become more rounded and fleshed out.  I'm also hoping they give Emily VanCamp more to do than be a love interest (she's one of the reasons I tuned in).

Edited January 22, 2018 by windsprints

[Love]

As someone who works in the medical profession, I was cringing throughout. Throwing ice water on a patient to wake them to up, in 15 years of ICU nursing I have never seen that.  Also that is not how you put in a central line.  No sterility, no ultrasound, randomly cutting into neck with a scalpel.....I get that the show is pressed for time, but please at least try a little bit.

[EyewatchTV211]

1 hour ago, AttackTurtle said:

I get the excuse that the storyline is pursuing (the co-workers feel they have no choice); however the doctor knowingly performing surgeries when he’s impaired is simply criminal.  By helping him cover it up, they’re all accessories.  This isn’t simple civil negligence, but manslaughter.  There is just no way that this happens.    For a fictional show it’s entertaining, but it’s just s little much.  

I won't say this show is realistic in every way, as none of these medical shows seem to be (or really any show about any profession, I find). However, doctors like Dr. Bell apparently do exist in high frequency. The idea for the show came from a book written by a a real life John Hopkins surgeon. I forget the original article where I saw it mentioned, but this article references it as well:  https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-tv-series-hospital-ceos-dont-want-you-to-see_us_5a5f7e57e4b01203d809778d  

Specific relevant section: 

Quote

It’s clear that The Resident is based on the book that I recommend more than any other for those wanting to understand the dynamics of the clinical side of hospitals — Unaccountable by Johns Hopkins surgeon, Dr. Marty Makary. In Unaccountable, Makary introduces “Dr. HODAD” a person who he learned existed in every hospital when he was in his residency. Confused, as he had never met a Dr. HODAD, a colleague explained that HODAD was an acronym standing for “hands of death and destruction” — in other words, no one you would want operating on you. In The Resident, Bruce Greenwood plays Dr. Randolph Bell who is the Dr. HODAD. As Chief of Surgery, he uses his position to bully and intimidate those standing in his way.

A key theme of the first episode was the fancy new surgical robot that Dr. Bell raised millions for from eager hospital patrons The Resident stayed true to one of the the themes of Unaccountable, and highlighted the stark distinction between hospital marketing and actual health outcomes. For example, robotic surgery has proven to cost far more but little evidence it improves outcomes. In The CEO’s Guide to Restoring the American Dream in the chapter entitled “American has gone to war for less,” I point out that the public is beginning to appreciate the trade-offs when we overspend without commensurate benefit. For example, in the Washington DC area, there will be four proton beam therapy machines for particular types of cancers when there might be a need for one in the entire Mid-Atlantic region. At $150 million a pop, that’s at least $450 million of unnecessary spending. That could provide 450,000 people with outstanding primary care for a year and have dramatically better health outcomes improvement. Or, it could provide funding for schools that have had their budgets pilfered by health care’s hyperinflation.

 

I guess we shouldn't really be surprised with what goes on in the country today, seeing what incompetence has been allowed to continue and even lead in various sectors - won't bother going into specifics and risk any sort of political territory. 

[thuganomics85]

Oh, Bruce Greenwood!  I don't care if your character is pretty much an evil tyrant to the core, I will always enjoy you on screen!

Other then that, I'm kind of two minds right now.  If the show ends up mainly being about Devon and his discovery over what truly goes on in a hospital and the obstacles, corruption, and politics that come with it, I think I will enjoy it.  But if they focus more on Conrad being a "dick who gets results" and always being in the right, I'm going to get tired out real quick.  Matt Czuchry did what he could at least, but I just found the Conrad character be an unlikable bore.  I had to resist turning the TV off when he lazily started making racist and affirmative action jokes when he first met Devon, because it just felt like a cheap "You, see!  He's so un-PC, guys!"  Ugh, hope it's just typical pilot cobwebs.

I'm going to assume Emily VanCamp will have more to do later on, because this really felt like a big step down for her.

Liked the Nigerian doctor, except for the time she dismissively told the one family that their one patient died.  I know they were going for humorous, but that's kind of hard to pull of there.

Like with most shows, I suspect Devon won't last long with his current girlfriend, which is too bad because she's gorgeous!

Hey, that was Jesse Quick from The Flash as the cancer patient!

We'll see how the second episode goes later tonight.

[magdalene]

I knew somebody in real life who died during a "routine" appendectomy. So this hit all my cynical buttons.  My grandmother used to say to me "stay out of hospitals they will kill you there".   She never spent any time in hospital, gave birth to all her children at home, until her Eighties when she broke a leg and died in a hospital a few days later.  I have a morbid fear of hospitals and this show is certainly fueling it.

I like Matt Czuchry's character the best so far.  The new resident is kind of blah in a goody two shoes kind of way so far.  He better wise up quick or the sharks will eat him alive.

Edited January 23, 2018 by magdalene

[Adeejay]

I don't tune into medical shows to watch doctors kill patients.  Not to mention that most of them seem like raging aholes.  I am out for now.  Will give it a second chance when Warren Christie shows up.  Hopefully, by then it would have improved.

[Bridake]

I just can’t handle Czuchry’s tattoos, leather cuff watch, bottle opener ring and his super fitted scrubs. Other than that I’ll watch one more episode as the characters are generally interesting.

[mehtotheworld]

8 minutes ago, Bridake said:

I just can’t handle Czuchry’s tattoos, leather cuff watch, bottle opener ring and his super fitted scrubs. Other than that I’ll watch one more episode as the characters are generally interesting.

I was waiting for someone to mention his awful tattoos! My god, they were just way too on the nose. 

Bit of an interesting concept but dumb execution kind of deal, though I’ll probably keep watching. I like Matt Czuchry, if not his character.

[hookedontv]

12 hours ago, Love said:

As someone who works in the medical profession, I was cringing throughout. Throwing ice water on a patient to wake them to up, in 15 years of ICU nursing I have never seen that.

It's actually a common vagal maneuver when someone has SVT (which the Dr. said the woman was experiencing. SVT is an extremely high heart rate.) I was in the ER for SVT and they gave me IV drugs but had a container of ice water on standby for me to dunk my head in if the drugs didn't work. The patient on the show was passed out so she couldn't dunk, so throwing it in her face was the way to go! I have to do some vagal maneuvers myself when my SVT acts up! 

[needschocolate]

I thought it was a little heavy handed. Then again, it was the pilot and things often get toned down in later episodes.

On a personal note, I like that they didn't try to make it realistic by having a bunch of background noise - my ears are now old enough that I have trouble tuning out background noise.    

On 1/22/2018 at 7:12 AM, StatMom said:

I only know hospital/medical stuff from watching TV, but is it realistic that the chief of surgery would be performing a lowly appendectomy?

He wasn't planning on it by the patient really wanted him to and the patient was a big donor.  Plus, they wanted to show off the new equipment.  Besides, the chief of surgery probably knew he would not really be doing the surgery.  

20 hours ago, sadie said:

I thought the black surgeon was horrible. The way she walked up to those people and said “he’s dead” and stormed off was awful and no way any hospital would allow. 

Then again, this hospital allows a guy who can't cut a nectarine to perform surgery.  :-)

[wilnil]

32 minutes ago, needschocolate said:

On ‎1‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 10:12 AM, StatMom said:

I only know hospital/medical stuff from watching TV, but is it realistic that the chief of surgery would be performing a lowly appendectomy?

He wasn't planning on it by the patient really wanted him to and the patient was a big donor.  Plus, they wanted to show off the new equipment.  Besides, the chief of surgery probably knew he would not really be doing the surgery.  

That was a different surgery. The appendectomy was the procedure in the beginning where Bell's hand tremor and the patient's waking up led to Bell nicking the patient's artery and killing him.

[llewis823]

1 hour ago, wilnil said:

That was a different surgery. The appendectomy was the procedure in the beginning where Bell's hand tremor and the patient's waking up led to Bell nicking the patient's artery and killing him.

The operation with the robotic machine was a prostate removal. I paid special attention because my husband had his robotic radical prostectomy (sp?) 2 years ago in April. He has those exact 3 scars where they went in with the cameras and machine. It is NOT a simple surgery - especially when you throw the robotics into the mix.

[holly4755]

oK, I am going to be the negative nelly, but the good news is I won't be sticking around posting on more of this show, a little is to show me what it is. I just found it too 80 rote. the bad boy rebel doctor who is never wrong even when he is not doing normal things. 

guess what we jsut had the womans march and the me too thing, bad boy doctors should not grab women and kiss them against their will, not considered good form anymore. too much rape fantasy stuff.  Oh and bullying is going out of style, so bullying the guy working for you is not funny and showing you have a sense of humor.  I don't expect people who are central characters to always be a hero, but the hero worship of this bad boy was not something I enjoyed. I don't want to go back to the 50's where guys can do or say anything and women had to gush at them. 

 

And the bad doctor was so unrelentingly evil, too much. I have had bad doctors (to my great regret) they were not all evil 100%.  I remember the doctor I rejected from doing my surgery just because he seemed to be oblivious and neither him or anyone working for him never asked what medication I was on or what weight I was or anything that you might think was important before surgery. Since I was going to walk they got me another doctor that actually asked me those things voluntarily, I got through fine, but the woman next to me ended up with my doctor and she died.  this is a true story. Normally I am pretty easy going with the "experts" but it was my first surgery and I got really bad feeling about that doctor, he seemed high, and that nice young woman next to me was having optional surgery and they could not wake her up, I was thrown out of recovery where I was supposed to be for an hour, but they were making so much noise they woke me up.  She was so happy going in. I Guess my personal experience makes me judge doctor shows differently.  I am not sold on the good doctor, story lines, but at least they do know that times are changing.  it is that the writing on this show is so out of date in attitudes. 

[needschocolate]

3 hours ago, wilnil said:

That was a different surgery. The appendectomy was the procedure in the beginning where Bell's hand tremor and the patient's waking up led to Bell nicking the patient's artery and killing him.

Oops!  Thanks for the correction.

1 hour ago, holly4755 said:

guess what we jsut had the womans march and the me too thing, bad boy doctors should not grab women and kiss them against their will, not considered good form anymore. too much rape fantasy stuff.  Oh and bullying is going out of style, so bullying the guy working for you is not funny and showing you have a sense of humor.  I don't expect people who are central characters to always be a hero, but the hero worship of this bad boy was not something I enjoyed. I don't want to go back to the 50's where guys can do or say anything and women had to gush at them.

Yeah, Conrad was pretty skeevy.  I am hoping that it will be toned down in the future.  Pilots often contain things that get adjusted afterward, probably after the test audience has seen it. 

[torqy]

A friend is an old-school doctor, and he just laughed at the show. His wife said she lasted just 10 minutes and gave up.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Archie Panjabi show up in a limited role, prolly as a hospital administrator.

[pivot]

I watched this because I have a soft spot for the actor from the Good Wife. He was the only redeeming character on the show before I abandoned it. But, I ended up really liking the first episode. I am still in shock that VanCamp is on this show as a supporting character though. She was the star of a successful show and had roles in Marvel movies. Now she's playing love interest/nurse minor character? That's depressing.

[Pink-n-Green]

Ugh; only got through the first 15 minutes.  That Conrad dude; I COULD NOT TAKE him one second more.  He seems to be such a stereotypical a$$ that all he needs is a moustache to twirl.  A third year resident with the power to kick another doctor out of the residency program? 

And this is nitpicky, but at the beginning when they zoomed in on the lead character's Harvard diploma it said he received a "Bachelor of Arts in Medicine".  What does that even mean?  Did they let him skip medical school and come to work with only a Bachelor's degree???????  Shouldn't it read "Doctor of Medicine"?

[starri]

Great.  Conrad and I have very similar tattoos in the exact same place.

[Swartz]

Hit every cliché.  Blah.   

 

And why is VanCamp playing second fiddle to just about everyone else

[mythoughtis]

On 1/22/2018 at 8:42 AM, AttackTurtle said:

I don’t know if I can get beyond the fact that there are doctors and nurses knowingly standing by while another doctor is negligently killing patients.  My husband defends doctors in lawsuits and he couldn’t watch more than 10 minutes of the show.  

I didn’t make it thru 5 tonight when I watched the recording. I then promptly deleted it and episode 2. Got plenty of other shows to watch. 

[candall]

On ‎1‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 4:04 AM, hookedontv said:

It's actually a common vagal maneuver when someone has SVT (which the Dr. said the woman was experiencing. SVT is an extremely high heart rate.) I was in the ER for SVT and they gave me IV drugs but had a container of ice water on standby for me to dunk my head in if the drugs didn't work. The patient on the show was passed out so she couldn't dunk, so throwing it in her face was the way to go! I have to do some vagal maneuvers myself when my SVT acts up! 

Thank you.  I have a pretty new diagnosis of CHF and A-fib (and a deep resentment about all these pills.)  Last month, when my heart started going crazy and jittering around, I did a quick google on smoothing out heartrate.  It said to plunge my face into ice water.  I remember something about "vagus" and deep-sea diving, but I felt a little too anxious right at the moment to study up on all the details.

It worked out fine, no trip to the hospital, but I'll be more knowledgeable about "vagal maneuvers" next time.

Anyway, agree:  ice water is a "thing."

 

ETA  Oh yeah, the show.  Liked it.  Fun to see Bruce Greenwood from St. Elsewhere promoted to Mustache Twirler in Chief!

Edited February 7, 2018 by candall

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On 1/24/2018 at 10:26 AM, Pink-n-Green said:

And this is nitpicky, but at the beginning when they zoomed in on the lead character's Harvard diploma it said he received a "Bachelor of Arts in Medicine".  What does that even mean?  Did they let him skip medical school and come to work with only a Bachelor's degree???????  Shouldn't it read "Doctor of Medicine"?

As long as you're picking nits, I'll throw this one in ... there's a quick shot of Dr. HODAD's either ID card or stationery or something and it says "DR. RANDOPLH" ... It was so quick I had to rewind to double-triple check but while my short-term memory issues are still preventing me from working in my former career, I can still proofread with the best (or okay) of them.

Also, I can't help but wonder if we're supposed to think Dr. Okafor is somewhat "on the spectrum" in the way she deals with patients? These days that seems to be a popular supporting character trait in these kinds of shows. 

Finally, and I didn't quote this, but I'm guessing Emily Van Camp is going to be more than a minor character/love interest since she is second in the credits (I'm only halfway through Episode 2 because I'm just now getting around to watching all the eps I have taped). 

[statsgirl]

On 1/22/2018 at 4:56 PM, Love said:

As someone who works in the medical profession, I was cringing throughout. Throwing ice water on a patient to wake them to up, in 15 years of ICU nursing I have never seen that.  Also that is not how you put in a central line.  No sterility, no ultrasound, randomly cutting into neck with a scalpel.....I get that the show is pressed for time, but please at least try a little bit.

Yeah. The lack of subtlety is just awful.

I was looking forward to this show because I like so many of the actors but I just couldn't get through this episode.  It's so much like a sledge-hammer for shock effect that I just rolled my eyes and left.

A lot of people here seem to like it so maybe I'll give the show another chance.

[Klapaucius]

Quote

As someone who works in the medical profession, I was cringing throughout. Throwing ice water on a patient to wake them to up, in 15 years of ICU nursing I have never seen that. 

As for TV shows that's not the first time I see that procedure. 

 

And that's the description of what's going on and the difference between fiction and reality.

Quote

This is a pretty good depiction of using ice water to stimulate the mammalian diving reflex--a vagal maneuver--for breaking a tachycardia of supraventricular origin. Of course, one should really try NOT to drown one's patients! [rather, stimulate the facial nerves without blocking the airway: icepacks to the face that don't cover the nose and mouth, perhaps] I had remembered seeing this when it originally aired in 1997-98 and have not found another good depiction of this in the context of teaching ACLS and emergency treatments of tachycardic patients. While it may now be a bit outdated compared to current [2010] recommended algorithms and procedures, it remains useful for its depiction of a "worst case" scenario when all other treatments haven't worked.

Context--Episode 15: a toxic chemical release has them evacuating the ER; John Carter is the only one who is in a position to lead and he steps up! ...moving everyone to the cafeteria. As a result, they do not have all the equipment when and where they need it, and this emergency develops. Nice "outside the box" thinking by Carter!

[BTW: more dated depictions--who tries to immediately intubate someone with unstable tachycardia?! They know they need to fix it, so try it and then if it doesn't work you may be dealing with intubation!... Other oldies: Trendelenberg; carotid sinus massage...]

--- I have posted this under a "fair use" rationale given its usefulness for educational purposes; it does not represent the whole work, and it is not otherwise easily viewable for student access. It should not have any adverse effects as to the marketability by the copyright owner of their full original content.

[Chas411]

Finally getting around to binge watching this. Really like Devon and Nic, Conrads ok but Jesus, lay off on the Gary Stuesque writing.

[mythoughtis]

On 1/28/2018 at 7:43 PM, mythoughtis said:

I didn’t make it thru 5 tonight when I watched the recording. I then promptly deleted it and episode 2. Got plenty of other shows to watch. 

Six years later and we are binge watching this. I found my post from six years ago and didn’t remember it. 

[pH-factor]

This pilot almost got me to say bye.  So much unrealistic medical staff,procedures and treatment.  Also, why is the resident so OLD!!!  Granted there are days I felt 20 years older then I am going nonstop, but did Conrad do a 20 year stent in the military before med school?  Also, the title is misleading since docs don't do 5+ years as residents.  So much not to care about I read or do suduko while binging. 

[Paloma]

On 3/14/2024 at 8:23 PM, mythoughtis said:

Six years later and we are binge watching this.

Glad to see we are not the only ones binge watching 6 years later, though we never saw the show when it originally aired. The pilot was somewhat off-putting for the reasons other posters have given, but we decided to give it a couple more episodes and now are most of the way through the first season and enjoying it. It's not perfect but it keeps us engaged. Looking forward to reading comments on the rest of the episodes.