Mercy

Production and year: September 2009 – May 2010, USA Director: Liz Heldens Cast: Taylor Schilling, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jamie Lee Kirchner, Guillermo Diaz Description: The series centers on three nurses: Ronnie (Schilling)—a thirty-something who has just returned from Iraq—Sonia (Kirchner)—a black beauty with an optimistic spirit—and Cloe (Trachtenberg)—a young, inexperienced, naive, clumsy girl who dresses in childish scrubs. We follow their daily struggles to save patients’ lives—though the word “daily” is hardly appropriate here. Mercy is very unrealistic and artificial; the writers often construct situations so absurd that the viewer loses track of what they’re watching—a medical drama or a parody of one. The medical cases themselves leave much to be desired—it’s clear that the writers had the biggest problem with them. That’s why romantic and social storylines definitely dominate. I don’t recommend it. In this genre, Nurse Jackie would be a better choice to fill your free time. By the way, many characters from these two series are built on the same templates.