I had déjà vu in the first 30 seconds of this show…I saw it
the first time it was on… when it was called “do No Harm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_No_Harm_(TV_series))
- which coincidentally was cancelled after airing only 2 episodes…after doing
significant career harm to everyone on the cast.
Once again we see what we are supposed to believe is a
brilliant doctor – in this case a neuroscientist – who is also bi-polar. So….well
respected and smart, supportive aunt, involved in a healthy romantic
relationship …but every now and then doesn’t take her meds and goes on crazy
sex filled, hallucinogenic adventures?….hmmm…something about this is not adding
up. I’m no neuroscientist but I don’t think
that this is a recipe to the successful life that they would like us to believe
she has been living.
Kelly Reilly is a newcomer to the North American small screen
and in the beginning her charismatic nuances and her fresh face made me more
interested in watching the plot unfold. Her
opening scene with Vanessa Redgrave is quite compelling. Perhaps if Redgrave
had been the main character I might have been more impressed with the remainder
of the episode, because other than Redgrave, Black Box is severely lacking in likeable
characters
In a nut shell – this show is overly busy, overacted, over
explained and medical terms are delivered to the audience like directions to a
3 year old for potty training. There was
too much, too soon, and it was all too obvious. It was tiring as a viewer to
watch case, after crazy case, unfold in the first 25 minutes.
After 30 minutes I wanted
to turn this show off but I had to keep watching. I wanted
to be able to conclude at the half way mark that Black Box was the worst show
ever I had ever seen. Instead, I found myself
watching until the very end and was not disappointed as I got to see it hit the
epic low I knew it would.
Conclusion is, the creators were using old ideas and the
writers should get new meds!
