Code Black
A Pilot Review
It’s the fall so there must be a new legal or medical drama on the air. The newest offering in that vein is the Marcia Gay Harden vehicle, Code Black. Before I start, I’d like to freely confess that I’m not a huge medical drama watcher. My aunt is obsessed with Grey’s Anatomy, and my best friend has just finished a full all seasons of E.R. rewatch after actually finishing medical school, herself. I loved the first three seasons of House, M.D., which is admittedly a far-fetched medical drama with, I’ve been told, bad science and based around more the cult of personality that was Hugh Laurie’s House. This is my way of saying that I can only compare it to what I remember of House overall. So if I don’t mention how this compares to E.R. or the similarly themed Chicago Hope, it’s because I haven’t watched those series.
The show’s first episode is based on the first day in residency for four new recruits to Angels Memorial ER in Los Angeles. The title card informs us that a “Code Black” occurs about 20 times on average in most ERs and it is the situation in which the ER is over capacity for the patients there. For this renowned trauma bay in Los Angeles, it’s about 300 times a year. The residents here are the best medical school graduates coming in to be trained in the Superbowl of emergency departments. The new recruits include insecure Angus Leighton, type A Malaya Pineda, resident selfish jerk Mario Savetti, and the older Christa Lorenson who had a family first before starting medical school. They’re led around the E.R. by “Mama” and head of the E.R. comings and goings, Nurse Jesse Sallander (played by a pitch perfect Luis Guzman). He’s there to field the basic questions and keep egos in check. The only person he answers to is the “Father” of the E.R. the tough-as-nails cowboy Dr. Leanne Rorish (Gay Harden).
The plot itself is harder to describe. Since its an ensemble cast, each of them deal with different patient scenarios and problems on their first night there. Christa and Mario struggle with a pregnant patient who presents with flu like symptoms but might be hiding a heroin addiction instead. Angus and Pineda have to work through an intubation during a Code Black and Angus gets so nervous that he almost botches it but pulls through with Pineda’s encouragement. Rorish, herself, and a fellow attending, Neal Hudson, tag team to take care of car accident victims — a teenage girl who pulls through and her father, the registered organ donor, who does not.
Most of it is fairly typical medical drama storylines and snapshots. However, there are a few things that raise the drama above being just a new iteration of the usual fare.
First, there’s the performances. It would be very easy for Rorish to fall into the House mold of the maverick doctor that no hospital would realistically employ. An early scene has Neal complaining to the head attending that she’s always making risky calls and also condemning her bedside manner. Rorish herself responds to her criticism by saying that “I’m not their family, friend or therapist…I’m they’re doctor.” However, two things save her from being the next House or just a stereotype. First, we can tell some type of huge trauma has affected her and made her more reckless and willing to take risks. It’s hardened her somehow and she and Neal have clearly endured that pain together. We don’t know yet exactly what happened, but we know it’s bad and she’s been dealing since. Second, it’s the small moments of doubt she’s allowed, her moments of humanity. When she messes up explaining the nuances of brain death to Ariel, a teenager who has just lost her father, we follow her out to the hall where she seems disconnected and unfocused from what’s going on for just a moment. Later in the episode, we see her watching over Ariel as she meets the little girl whose life was saved by receiving her dead father’s heart. This was a meeting that Dr. Rorish made specifically to help the girl with her grieving process. Again, in both moments there’s not a flare of music or mawkish overacting. Gay Harden is an Oscar winner and it shows. Each time, a flood of different emotions play across her face.
If we have entered the age of female antiheroines on television to match what we’ve seen with Walter White or Don Draper, then we may also be seeing women who are allowed to be flawed. The biggest complaint we’ve had in recent years with women characters is they have to fit the “strong female character trope” and can’t show vulnerability. Dr. Rorish like Quantico’s Alex Parrish is already allowed to be more than just “tough” or “one of the guys” and we like her for it.
Also, it has to be said that Luis Guzman’s performance as Jesse is the much needed mix of humor to add comedy to the harsh reality of the E.R. He steals the first scene, proudly boasting of his “Mama” role, brings the new recruits down back to humility with gentle and funnily pointed reminders that “just nurse duties” aren’t to be dismissed, and eases Pineda’s nerves with a rousing chorus of “I Need a Hero.” The best part is his easy camaraderie with Rorish. He knows when she’s upset and off her game from dealing with the upset teen, Ariel, and he hugs her and they reassure each other in the most odd but endearing of ways (“I love you so much I’m going to punch you in the face”). I swear it works in context!
Second, the hospital itself is a character. The show takes time to present (for basic cable) an unsanitized version of an E.R. The show takes moments to show the tables being washed down, the bloodied rags and gauze being swept away, and light coming through the windows at sunrise when late night shift is over. It’s clear that Angels Memorial is a character here as well. Moreover, when the chaos really hits them during a Code Black the filming style reflects that. The framing is crammed, you’re not sure what’s happening, people are half in or out of shot deliberately. They’re moving at record pace to keep up with the flood in the E.R. and the direction of the show reflects this. It’s not the sterile (and CGI’ed world) of Princeton Plainsborough from House.
And, yes, it does pass Bechdel. It has at least four exchanges that qualify. The most interesting being Dr. Rorish talking Dr. Christa Lorenson through the C-section delivery of a baby in an ambulance. However, the mirror of that conversation is far more interesting and substantial. After that, they both meet up visiting the NICU to see the newborn. Christa admits that she is an older new doctor because she was a mom first. Her son died of cancer and she decided to go back to help others. She remarks to Rorish that “In my experience tragedy either softens you or hardens you. For me it was the former, I expect it was the latter for you.” Rorish doesn’t tell her what happened or even acknowledge that, but she does gruffly tell her “You have a shift tonight” after Lorenson almost was fired from her residency after a first night error. Again, a show with less restraint might have had a tearful Rorish go into a soliloquy about her tragedy but it holds back and lets the actresses fill in the blanks with deft skills.
It’s not a perfect show. A few cliches creep in. Mario, the cocky resident, basically worries only about himself and spends his time harassing Christa about her age. Also, Angus, bless him, is that new recruit who had his powerful father (on the board of the hospital) make a call to get him placement. He’s scared that he can’t keep up because he didn’t earn his slot. If this sounds familiar, it’s very much like Caleb of Quantico. Seriously, can the defensive guy who knows he got in because Daddy made a call archetype die out already? It’s just not interesting. Also a few moments break the usual restraint and go into mawkish territory. The scene between Ariel and the little girl, Vanessa, who has her father’s heart now is a deliberate tear jerker and felt out of place in the overall episode. In fact, it felt more at home on The Hallmark Channel.
Overall, the show is a B verdict. It gives us a great performance from Luis Guzman and gives us a nuanced woman lead as well as an easily as complex second banana in Bonnie Sommerville’s Christa Lorenson. It’s not my favorite pilot, but I’ll be interested to see how it grows!
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