Black Box [ABC]

JP Liz V1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_qL4MBt_uU

Another female lead with mental illness, looks a like a female House

squonk

I caught the pilot last night. I thought it looked like a female House myself from the description but its a bit different.

I found it slightly jarring, but in a good way. For some reason when they introduced the lady with the imaginary little jockey friend I thought the show might end up going the Ally McBeel route (remember her spaceouts and the dancing baby?) but it was handeled in a serious way.

Some of it isn't comfortable viewing and it can get quite serious but I found it made me think and that's not such a bad thing. I'm wondering how things will shape up from here on in. The pilot was certainly a worthy effort. It's a good balance between serious drama and shennanigans when she goes off her meds.

The two small things that stuck out were that when I IMDB'd Kelly Reilly I saw she was 36 but she comes across much older for some reason and I wish they'd do something with her hair. It seems to be all over the place! Minor, stupid points for suere though

expectationlost

bleggg

squonk

Having caught up with ep 2 & 3 last night I'm now a little disappointed. The pilot was a much better setup than they went with for the rest of the show. The pilot was edgy with some disturbed people hearing voices and acting in a way that really jarred. I loved the pilot for that because it prodded me and got me thinking.

For the post pilot run it's like they decided to sugar coat things. None of the patients seem quite that disturbing. Rather than being something genuinely different they now present as 'freak of the week'. No disrespect to anybody reading suffering from, or knowing someone suffering from psychiatric issues intended at all. In fact, they even changed that premise slightly. The pilot seemed to be more 'hands on' and 'in depth' in handling the issues. The patients were more 'in your face' but now they're in that 'safe zone' we've seen before on shows like House. You know they won't really challenge anything you believe in unless it's all been well trodden before.

Speaking of House, let's list the similarities. Dr. Black now has a team now (they're new since the pilot). She needs drugs for her condition. She wants different types of drugs than they'll legitimately give her. She wants to write her own prescriptions or get someone to write them for her. She ends up using pot. It seems to be set up quite similarly with the team colour so far being that one of them has an eidactic memory like Carrie from Unforgettable.

Aside from that we also have the obligatory 'science chick' who appeared on the pilot and appeared smart but now they're going for a whole 'nerd vibe' with her. We also have major horndog surgeon guy who jumps on anything with a skirt and (sadly) seems to fit even more into the 'General Hospital' stereotype by being maraculously abls to perform any surgery (even outside his specialisation) with a nonchalaunt air.

The subplot with her daughter and brother's family is interesting so I'll keep watching for a while, that, and the fact that Kelly Reilly seems to get a bit bettter looking each episode. It's a shame though. They started out with a show that was a little bit different than the norm and then just made it normal.

mafaa

Black Box Cancelled By ABC

squonk

Not surprised actually. I'm still watching but struggling. I'm not sure it's a show that really knew what it wanted to be. serious drama, comedy, soap, House! I don't think it ever quite took off.