*** This review may contain spoilers *** I was intrigued by the first episode, right up until the point when I realized that the doctor's ex-wife was going to remain a regular character. After the second episode, I was confirmed in my belief that that the show would end up being nothing more than a tired re-hash of the Topper theme, where not much happens week-to-week except for some nice moral messages. (Don't get me wrong, I loved Topper. It handled the theme far better.) All of this has been done before, and there isn't anything to grab you or make you want to watch the next episode.
Even the writing around the doctor's personality is handled poorly. He starts off being somewhat arrogant, he doesn't treat his staff well, and he doesn't really seem to connect with people much. But then we have other scenes, later on, where he gets along just fine with family members (dead or otherwise) and he also suddenly switches into having a good bedside manner with patients of his that he's already treated. So, the way he acts doesn't really have any consistency, and there's no kind of story arc that would let us see his personality slowly change for the better as the series progresses - or have us care about the transition.
Here are some things I would have liked to have seen happen - any one of them would be an improvement.
1. He doesn't just keep seeing his wife over and over again. Each episode should be about him seeing somebody different. The episodes should focus on the investigation of those issues that keep them around, and his practice should be a backdrop. Not the other way around. As it is, there's no reason for the premise of the show in the first place - the fact that he sees his wife is just a silly gimmick - a MacGuffin - for getting a grumpy doctor to gradually humanize himself.
2. In some episodes the dead should leave on their own, but in others he should have the other character come in to help "extract" them. He needs to feel put upon and very upset by the fact that he's having this happen to him - and he should want to get rid of them. That would add an additional emotional element whereby it's shown that if they don't want to leave, forcing them out causes them grief. So, he needs to weigh his own well-being against theirs.
3. He should have a brain tumour himself and it should be diagnosed as inoperable and terminal. While that may not be what's causing his visions, it would at least offer a possible explanation. It would also add a lot of dramatic weight to the fact that he's a brilliant brain surgeon who's unable to save himself. As the series progresses, and he gradually gains more empathy for the people who haunt him, it would also set up a tension between him thinking of his being able to see and help them as a gift, and his terminal illness as a curse. At some point later on, he would be given the option between being able to cure himself after all (and at least believing that would get rid of the visions) - or continuing to help others in need at the cost of his own life.
I don't mind the shows production values, or the acting, but I feel the writing to be severely lacking. It's as if the scripts are just being "called in" and there's nothing of any value to keep anybody continuing to watch the show as something unique and different. Even the fact that he's actually seeing his dead wife is being treated as almost inconsequential and nothing to worry about - it's all handled in a light-hearted, comedic way. If they'd wanted to make a comedy (like Topper) then they should have done it right; if they'd wanted to make a serious drama then they should have done *that* right. Instead, it's a strange hybrid between the two that can't make up its mind and neither the funny nor the serious scenes pay off.
In short it was an intriguing premise, but it fell flat and there was no pay-off.
Even the writing around the doctor's personality is handled poorly. He starts off being somewhat arrogant, he doesn't treat his staff well, and he doesn't really seem to connect with people much. But then we have other scenes, later on, where he gets along just fine with family members (dead or otherwise) and he also suddenly switches into having a good bedside manner with patients of his that he's already treated. So, the way he acts doesn't really have any consistency, and there's no kind of story arc that would let us see his personality slowly change for the better as the series progresses - or have us care about the transition.
Here are some things I would have liked to have seen happen - any one of them would be an improvement.
1. He doesn't just keep seeing his wife over and over again. Each episode should be about him seeing somebody different. The episodes should focus on the investigation of those issues that keep them around, and his practice should be a backdrop. Not the other way around. As it is, there's no reason for the premise of the show in the first place - the fact that he sees his wife is just a silly gimmick - a MacGuffin - for getting a grumpy doctor to gradually humanize himself.
2. In some episodes the dead should leave on their own, but in others he should have the other character come in to help "extract" them. He needs to feel put upon and very upset by the fact that he's having this happen to him - and he should want to get rid of them. That would add an additional emotional element whereby it's shown that if they don't want to leave, forcing them out causes them grief. So, he needs to weigh his own well-being against theirs.
3. He should have a brain tumour himself and it should be diagnosed as inoperable and terminal. While that may not be what's causing his visions, it would at least offer a possible explanation. It would also add a lot of dramatic weight to the fact that he's a brilliant brain surgeon who's unable to save himself. As the series progresses, and he gradually gains more empathy for the people who haunt him, it would also set up a tension between him thinking of his being able to see and help them as a gift, and his terminal illness as a curse. At some point later on, he would be given the option between being able to cure himself after all (and at least believing that would get rid of the visions) - or continuing to help others in need at the cost of his own life.
I don't mind the shows production values, or the acting, but I feel the writing to be severely lacking. It's as if the scripts are just being "called in" and there's nothing of any value to keep anybody continuing to watch the show as something unique and different. Even the fact that he's actually seeing his dead wife is being treated as almost inconsequential and nothing to worry about - it's all handled in a light-hearted, comedic way. If they'd wanted to make a comedy (like Topper) then they should have done it right; if they'd wanted to make a serious drama then they should have done *that* right. Instead, it's a strange hybrid between the two that can't make up its mind and neither the funny nor the serious scenes pay off.
In short it was an intriguing premise, but it fell flat and there was no pay-off.
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