wpirotte

I have known at least 5 nurses well to very well and the accuracy of the ER ranges from where is the hidden camera to a more generic look at ALL of corporate America. It is a fact that doctors are not properly educated about fundamentals, that new doctors are morons, that nurses save lives that doctors and pharmacists want to take, and that every big health care issue got huge. Hospitals and Insurance Companies have become financially rapacious, and COVID and trans stuff have shown us that common sense is gone. So anyone who thinks this series is too dramatic or not dramatic enough - you're both right. What does any of this have to with Jackie and the major characters? The essence of addiction is a function of hopelessness. And the health care industry is unquestionably the most distorted enterprise in human history right now.

On some nitpicky notes, the series does disintegrate a bit over time in terms of intensity. The characters become more bland, although the comic relief holds on throughout the entire series. There are character arcs that are not smooth in the last few seasons. But generally, the show is excellent.

While I am very early on in watching the series, there are several aspects that deserve mention. The first is that the story line is not original or surprising. The second is that the treatment of the story line is BOTH original AND surprising. Robin Wright is a superlative actress, not the dumb ingenue we grew up with, but a hard edged driven mean girl. But she brings a subtle psychosis to the mother son relationship. Also a non-subtlety. See what I mean? And now we come to the series' finest attribute or eventual downfall - telling the story more than once inside of 10 minutes. This is done with an almost arrogant skill, with stretched timelines, mysteries revealed, and tremendous raw craftsmanship. But the craziest weirdest most unusual part of this whirlwind style - a certifiable chick flick that doesn't feel like a chick flick.

This is an almost unique animal. A guy show disguised as a chick flick. A French movie of quality that doesn't have Luc Besson's name on it. A girl power lecture which is actually bearable. Very carefully crafted dialog which is so fast I finally reduced the playback speed, literally - you can do that on Netflix. The production, acting, direction was just wonderful. Yeah, the plot was not very creative, but crime shows rarely are original. It's kind of a John Wick story at one level.