Miami Medical - 88 Seconds, S01E02

Two episodes in, and it looks like the ratings have remained steady, which is quite impressive considering the show airs Friday nights. And the quality and content has also remained on par, something that is also not particularly common.

One of my biggest problems with most medical shows is the focus on the characters and their personal lives. I have a problem with procedurals that do the same thing. If I wanted to watch a show about the social interactions of characters who just happened to be doctors or police men or whatever, I could still be watching General Hospital. I want to watch a show that is about medicine.

Yes, I want the characters to be real and I want to relate to them, but I want the show to be about the choices they are making while they operate, the effect the job has on them personally, not about who they are sleeping with this week. And so far, Miami Medical has done that perfectly.

When the resident, Dr. Warren (Elisabeth Harnois), was left to fend for herself - "I've never done anything solo." "Alright, page me if you get into trouble," Dr. Proctor (Jeremy Northam) said to her. When she left, he asked the nurse to page him 2 minutes before she got into trouble - she had to make some tough choices. First, she gave into another doctor's demands against her better judgment, and then she worked hard enough to know how to save the patient when his safety became compromised. There was a little bit of the goofiness of inexperience, but medicine was the prevailing force.

At the end of the episode, when the primary victim's life is in great danger, we also had Proctor stop in to do some simple medicine. Her kidney was useless? Remove the kidney, she doesn't need it, she has another. Simple solution, and medically sound.

And so far, the show has addressed death perfectly. Two episodes, two deaths in the OR. The first was a burn victim to far gone to try to save, the second was a shooter who had tried to commit suicide. He succeeded, but the brilliance of the scene was how fully engaged the doctors were in trying to save him (yes, despite his crimes), and how quickly it came to a halt the moment they realized he was already gone. Sure, we aren't dealing with someone we are emotionally attached to, but the honesty of the doctors moving on the moment they know it's over was spot on.

So keep watching, and hopefully the ratings will be this high next week too.