{"id":36827,"date":"2022-06-04T20:40:47","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T20:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/stream-it-or-skip-it\/"},"modified":"2022-06-04T20:40:47","modified_gmt":"2022-06-04T20:40:47","slug":"stream-it-or-skip-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/stream-it-or-skip-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Stream It Or Skip It?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Most medical dramas have their funny, or at least humorous, moments. That’s mainly because the relentless grind of problems, sickness and death needs to be alleviated at some point, both in fiction and real life. But the best of the genre know how to balance the silly with the tragic, the witty with the difficult. Not many shows have achieved that balance, but a new BBC series now streaming on AMC + might have done just that.<\/em><\/p>\n

Opening Shot:<\/strong> We see a man asleep, with his mouth open. As the camera twirls around him, we see that the man is sleeping in his car di lui.<\/p>\n

The Gist:<\/strong> Adam Kay (Ben Whishaw) has been sleeping in his car since his girlfriend booted him out of their home. He works as a registrar in the labor ward of a NHS hospital in London; in other words, he’s a resident training to be an OBGYN (which he tells the camera is known as \u201cbrats and twats\u201d using the Brit pronunciation of the second word). He marks off the days he’s been working on a pad in his locker di lui; the goal is to become consultant – the equivalent of a money-making attending physician. The year is 2006.<\/p>\n

As much as he grouses about his job, he’s pretty good at it, and he cares about his patients, like when he sees a woman in labor outside the hospital and takes her on a service elevator when he sees that the umbilical cord is in prolapse . His street clothes covered in blood and placenta after an emergency C-section, he rents his umpteenth set of scrubs from the machine. He’s frustrated with a young and timid resident named Shruti (Ambika Mod), but he also encourages her to \u201cwatch one, do one, teach one\u201d when it comes to a forceps birth and other procedures. But he also seems to be constantly in hot water with consulting doctor, Mr. Lockhart (Alex Jennings), who seems to regret making him an acting registrar.<\/p>\n

Adam is stressed enough about the job, but his life is also in disarray. Even though he’s the best man for the wedding of his friend Greg (Tom Durant Pritchard), and he’s constantly hounded by texts and emails about Greg’s stag party, he’s pretty much given up on planning it. He’s also in a relationship with a guy named Harry (Rory Fleck Byrne) but is completely in the closet about it; when they arrive at the stag party, they let go of each others’ hands, for instance.<\/p>\n

Mr. Lockhart calls the already exhausted Adam and asks him to cover an overnight shift for a registrar that’s called in sick. To get out of the stag party, he volunteers. He encounters a patient that he sent home earlier in the day for what seemed like a minor complaint (she thought her taste buds di lei were spots). But when he has to do an emergency C-section and deliver her 25-week-old fetus, something goes very wrong.<\/p>\n

\"This
Photo: Anika Molnar \/ Sister Pictures \/ BBC Studios \/ AMC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What Shows Will It Remind You Of?<\/strong> This Is Going To Hurt<\/em> reminds us of a less-silly version of Scrubs<\/em>where funny moments are balanced by moments that can only be described as heart-wrenching.<\/p>\n

Our Take:<\/strong> Adam Kay, now a comedian and writer, adapted This Is Going To Hurt<\/em> from his 2018 book about his time as a junior doctor in the UK’s NHS system. His goal di lui was to document the highs and lows, the moments of sheer drudgery, the paperwork, the funny moments, and the heartbreaking tragedies that ensue as junior doctors work themselves sick in order to reach the golden ring: A consulting doctor job. The first episode effectively shows all of this, thanks to Kay’s smart writing di lei, and a performance from Whishaw that makes the viewer feel exhausted just watching it.<\/p>\n

Director Lucy Forbes gives the first episode a frantic but not out of control feel, which mimics what’s going on in Adam’s head as he juggles 100-hour weeks, bringing life into the world, and a social life that is chaotic and clearly comes second to his job. He’s fighting the feeling that he picked the wrong profession, but when he loses a patient, he’s devastated that he made a mistake that cost a baby their mother.<\/p>\n

The funny moments are truly funny, like when Adam has an instinct that a patient and her mother are racist, given the way they react to Tracy (Michele Austin), the midwife on duty. It’s confirmed when he decides to let Shruti do her C-section di lei, and his response di lei involves a dolphin tattoo and a not very precise cut. But, like Scrubs <\/em>before it, when the tragedies hit, they hit hard, and they don’t feel out of place alongside the funny moments.<\/p>\n

Even though Adam will be the focus of this series, it does seem like Kay will be giving Shruti lots of time, to show the perspective of a resident just starting out, who is still overwhelmed a few months into the job. As the series goes on, that contrast will be welcome, as it sometimes is difficult to get in Adam’s corner, given how he’s purposely sacrificed friendships in order to further his career than him. Also, as we get into the lives of others in the ward, the show will become more dynamic.<\/p>\n

Sex and Skin:<\/strong> Besides showing incisions and skin being pulled apart, nothing.<\/p>\n

Parting Shot:<\/strong> After visiting the preemie that survived the C-section, Adam goes to a strip club as the sun comes up; it seems that the stag party is still going on. He sits on a couch, curls up, and falls asleep.<\/p>\n

Sleeper Star:<\/strong> Ambika Mod does a fine job of showing how tentative Shruti is, but how willing she is to learn.<\/p>\n

Most Pilot-y Line:<\/strong> Harry says to Adam, “My second favorite doctor!” When Adam asks who is his favorite about him, Harry says, “David Tennant, first series.” Actually, the pilot-y part of this is that AMC’s caption writers write “David Tennant” as “[Indistinct]”.<\/p>\n

Our Call:<\/strong> STREAM IT. Thanks to a fine performance by Whishaw and a well-struck balance between the funny and tragic, This Is Going To Hurt<\/em> has the potential to be one of the best new series of 2022.<\/p>\n

Joel Keller (@joelkeller<\/a>) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing about him has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, <\/em>RollingStone.com<\/em>, <\/em>VanityFair.com<\/em>Fast Company and elsewhere.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n