I was really excited to watch this show because I enjoy
watching medical dramas and there hasn't been a good one
that has stayed on the air for a while since ER (which I
still miss very much). "Code Black" left me a bit
disappointed in the pilot episode. The term Code Black
refers to when the ER is so crowded with patients that the
staff is in organized chaos, trying to tend to them all.
This term was explained before the show began, since it is
based on the documentary of the same name, and the show has
the same documentary style to it. I give you this long
explanation to say this: given the meaning of the show's
title, I expected the show to be fast paced, but it wasn't.
It dragged along slowly and just when I got bored, some
action happened, and a trauma was brought in, so then I got
interested again.
The show is set in the fictional Angels Memorial hospital in
Los Angeles and follows a group of interns as they learn how
to be doctors. The show stars Marcia Gay Harden (Dr. Leanne
Rorish) as the head of the residency program at the
hospital. We learned that Dr. Rorish was a compassionate
and dedicated doctor until an unnamed trauma made her harder
on the doctors she teaches and willing to try things that
might bend the rules. Luis Guzman plays Jesse, the senior
ER nurse that guides the young doctors. Hee can be
tough, but he is also compassionate and funny. The show is
great at realistic trauma scenes, and when there is action
in the show, it is very exciting. I think that NBC's summer
show Night Shift is much better because it strikes a
balance between action and trauma of a medical show and the
personal drama that the doctors live each day. (If you have
not seen it, you can watch it on iTunes or Amazon, and a few
episodes on NBC.com) I give Code Black a 3 out of 5 stars.
I will keep watching, hoping it will improve as more
episodes air.
MORE INFORMATION:
CODE BLACK is a heart-pounding medical drama that takes
place in the busiest, most notorious ER in the nation, where
the staggering influx of patients can outweigh the limited
resources available to the extraordinary doctors and nurses
whose job is to treat them all—creating a condition known as
Code Black. At the heart of the ER’s controlled chaos is
Residency Director Dr. Leanne Rorish, renowned for
successfully performing high-risk procedures in Center
Stage, the trauma area reserved for the most critical cases.
Her four new first-year residents are Christa Lorenson,
Malaya Pineda, Mario Savetti and Angus Leighton. Leanne’s
confidante, Jesse Sallander, is an amiable seen-it-all
senior nurse who manages the residents. Also working in the
ER is Dr. Neal Hudson, an excellent physician who sometimes
disagrees with Leanne’s “cowboy” approach, and Dr. Rollie
Guthrie, the energetic, longest-serving attending. In Center
Stage, life is measured in seconds, and these heroic doctors
and nurses operate with speed and skill within an
overwhelmed system to treat the crowds of people who are
often there for one of two reasons: to die or to receive a
life-saving miracle.
Interesting article:
Code Black Has Many Sources Of Inspiration
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