Open Heart

Rebellious teen Dylan Blake (Karis Cameron) breaks into a house with her friends for fun. When one of them cut herself, Dylan decides to take her to the hospital rather than run away like everybody else. The hospital, Open Heart Memorial, has her grandfather Edward Blake as one of its main benefactors. Three months later, she is forced to complete community service in the hospital. Her sister Dr. London Blake (Tori Anderson) is desperate to satisfy her demanding teacher mother Dr. Jane Blake (Jenny Cooper). Dylan's father had mysteriously disappeared and she is eager to investigate. She befriends are hospital volunteers Wes Silver (Justin Kelly) and Mikayla Walker (Cristine Prosperi). Jared Malik (Mena Massoud) is their annoying boss. Seth Park (Patrick Kwok-Choon) is the tech who has a crush on London. Dr. Timothy Hudson (Kevin McGarry) is the hunky army vet and the last man seen with Dylan's father. Dr. Dominic Karamichaelidis (Demore Barnes) is secretly having an affair with Jane.

It's a teen mystery drama. It's not the worst thing on TV. The mystery is compelling enough to watch for a little while. The lead Karis Cameron is a little wooden but she's damn tall. Tori Anderson who plays the sister is a better actress. Certainly, twelve episodes are not enough to throw me off but it doesn't inspire me neither.

If this is the calibre of teen shows for teen viewers, I despair. The storyline was actually very interesting and had potential but the acting was so amateurish I think a high school drama class could have performed better. It did have the vibe of "That 70s Show" in terms of acting style but far less professional. I understand from reading the few reviews here that season one ends on a huge cliffhanger so I'm glad I quit when I did and didn't waste any more time on it than I did. Even if a series is almost guaranteed a second season, the writers ought to have the confidence to answer the major questions before the series ends. If it's really good enough, a second season will follow and can tackle anything and elaborate on a situation or introduce characters we're not expecting. Good writing builds in subtle future threads to be explored and hints at character developments which will take new episodes in different directions. It's not satisfactory writing to end with a glaring cliffhanger which just frustrates and angers the viewer. If the bad acting hasn't already done that several episodes earlier.

Open Heart was one of the most original stories people have ever witnessed, it has found its place on Netflix and more and more people are recognizing the beauty of this show. As of today it has been almost a year since the show finale aired, I really hope the show comes back with season 2 to answer the questions of all the viewers in season 1.. Leaving the show with so many cliff-hanger moments would just be terrible for any viewer and even the producers and directors themselves. I have seen the cast has released a trend of #bringbackopenheart at which I hope gets the attention of airing companies such as TeenNick (The channel where Open Heart made its debut) and Netflix seeming that it grabs a super larger audience. I love Open Heart and I only pray to see more of it in the hopefully near future.