I watched Mental last night, and quite frankly, I wasn’t as disappointed as I thought I’d be.
*pause for collective gasp from the audience*
Now, don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t blown away. I wasn’t even impressed (well, with some things I was, but more on that later); I’m just saying I wasn’t as disappointed as reviews led me to believe I’d be.
In case you didn’t watch it, here’s the gist:
Dr. Jack Gallagher, after working as some amazing doctor with Doctors Without Borders in Somalia (I think?) and running a clinic for veterans with PTSD in Vermont (I think?) gets hired at LA’s Wharton Memorial Hospital as the Director of Mental Health Services. Naturally, all the other psychiatrists feel a bit jilted that they weren’t hired, so, tension ensues. Couple that jealousy (and arrogance - a few of the doctors were just plain arrogant) with Gallagher’s unorthodox ways of doing business and, well, you pretty much have the first episode of Mental: A bit of a beatnik shrink doling out unconventional methods amidst a resistant and mistrustful staff.
Now, for my thoughts.
PROS
CONS
Overall, I think it’s going to take a little time to find out if Mental ever becomes comfortable with itself; if it ever finds its zone. If every show turns out like the first one, then no, I don’t recommend tuning in each week. Still, I’m going to give it a few more episodes before I start trying to figure out how else to fill my 9 p.m. Tuesday slot.
* Please note that my reference to Thorazine is a nod to Dr. Gallagher’s warning to Martin that if he became out of control when they removed his restraints, he would get a “one way ticket to Thorazineville.”
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I like the special effects too, but if every week we’re going to be treated to patients primarily suffering from delusions or types of schizophrenia, it’s going to get real old, real fast.
I don’t like that it uses the same formula as House MD whatsoever. Same boss lady, same eccentric yet brilliant doc, same interns “learning” as they go. Focus on a single, “challenging” case, with a few side stories thrown in for good measure. I mean, if I wanted to watch a light-weight and more boring version of House, I’d watch something like Grey’s Anatomy.
As for involving patients in their care, of course professionals — even in inpatient psychiatric hospitals — do so. But they also have staff meetings (case conferences) in order to get other professionals’ views on a patient’s case. And yes, sometimes patients do attend those — that’s not all that extraordinary or unheard of. But that’s a different meeting than the weekly (or daily) staff meeting where the professionals are basically checking in with one another and trying to quickly flag significant issues for the day/week/whatever.
I’m willing to stick with “mental” for a bit longer and give it some time to marinate. I think it has potential and I realize that a lot of my gripes are the exact same gripes regular docs have with House MD (a show I very much enjoy, mainly because of the actor who plays House).