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PILOT REVIEW: Do No Harm

DO NO HARM












Starring: Steven Pasquale, Alana De La Garca, Michael Esper, Ruta Gedmintas, and Phylicia Rashad

Created by David Schulner
Written by David Schulner, Directed by Michael Mayer

Do No Harm is a new medical drama on NBC with a Jekyll and Hyde twist. Smart and successful neurosurgeon Dr. Jason Cole (Steven Pasquale) becomes the evil Ian Price at 8:25pm every night and he stays that way until 8:25am the next morning. Rounding out the main cast are co-workers of Cole including his boss Dr. Young (Phylicia Rashad) as well as a potential love interest, Dr. Lena Solis (Alana De La Garza), and a woman from his past, Olivia Flynn (Ruta Gedmintas).

THE GOOD: Do No Harm seemed to get better as it went along in the pilot which gives me a little bit of hope for future episodes. The "Hyde" side (Ian Price) was far more entertaining as Pasquale seemed to relish that side of his role and the character was much more interesting. The show seems like it might have some interesting stories to tell and I think the cast is good but I'm skeptical if they have the vision to make things work.

THE BAD: The problem was that this show was really boring for a good part of the episode. The show seemed to just be flipping between the two sides and yet they wouldn't even show the "Hyde" part right away, just the aftermath. Some shows get too deep into the back story in the pilot but I actually felt like this show needed a little more. I was a little confused and pretty bored during the first 15 minutes. They needed to show more of the evil side sooner and it wouldn't have hurt to connect some of the back story a little bit more. Finally, when you  have a talent like Phylicia Rashad, why use her so sparingly and in a seemingly inconsequential role.

BOTTOM LINE: The main thing from this show was I felt it just wasn't living up to its potential by any means. The storytelling and structure were weak even with an interesting idea. They seemed to get bogged down with the medical side of things too which isn't what this show should be about. I remember when pilot season was happening, it came down to this and Jason Katims' County for a pickup. I was disappointed at the time that this won out and I'm disappointed now.
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