The Resident

Medical procedurals are typically too color-by-numbers for my taste, but that's not the case here. With well-placed touches of humor, interesting storylines and a special cast, "The Resident" is a prescription you should have filled.

If it doesn't break any new ground in the genre, it efficiently delivers a familiar mix of ethical conundrums and colorful characters, with just enough blood and sex to seem "real" in TV terms.

Painfully familiar hospital drama that starts off sloppy but improves.

The Resident already seems to be straining credulity with the demonic Dr. Bell. How long can he rule with an iron fist as the hospital’s most-requested celebrity surgeon? That hand isn’t getting any steadier while his ego shows no sign of downsizing. This isn’t supposed to be a soap opera in the mode of Dallas, so Bell seemingly can’t get away with being a broadly drawn J.R. Ewing. Something’s got to give. And I’m interested just enough in The Resident to see if something soon does.

The conflict between doctors, which reminded me of the great 2004 BBC drama Bodies, could make for potent medical drama. But first, Conrad and his allies are going to have to come down off their soapbox. [22 Jan - 4 Feb 2018, p.13]

It's a drama. ... The Resident turns out to be hilarious in so many ways, but first you must get through the horror.

Although the series milks melodrama at every opportunity, it explores interesting ethical issues arising from its fundamental premise that a medical institution’s concern for the bottom line sometimes takes priority over saving lives.

Ridiculous and filled with hospital show cliches.

It's tough to give the medical genre a new spin and, through two episodes, The Resident doesn't. It's also tough to put together a pleasing cast for an ensemble procedural and The Resident at least accomplishes that, should that be enough for you.

The confusion around Conrad feels like some of the broader confusion of the show; it aims to be cynical, but it still needs an idealistic core for the audience to root for. It’s smart that The Resident seeks to disrupt TV’s pleasant fantasies of healthcare in America--and in the show we see one of the most frank discussions of how profit-seeking degrades patient care. But it needs a stronger, broader ensemble. When everyone is terrible, it’s hard to care.