Three Rivers

Original title: Three Rivers Production and year: USA, 2009–10 Genre: Drama Cast: Alex O'Loughlin, Katherine Moennig, Daniel Henney, Christopher J. Hanke Medical topic: Transplantation Other information: 1 season, 13 episodes Description: The main character of the series is Dr. Andy Yablonski, a physician at Three Rivers Hospital, who, together with his colleagues, saves the lives of patients in need of transplants. In subsequent episodes, we, as viewers, meet the people who need transplants and the families of deceased individuals who could become donors. This story repeats itself in a rather formulaic way in every episode, with the obligatory happy ending. In my opinion, the creators probably didn’t really know what kind of series they wanted to make. On the one hand, it’s a show about transplants and the doubts of donors’ families, but the dilemmas are actually limited to just a few minutes. On the other hand, it’s a series about doctors who save lives... here, however, the cameras focus primarily on conversations with patients rather than showing their actions. There’s little energy or dynamism, and a lot of pathos, which after a few dozen minutes can become so irritating that instead of being moved, we watch indifferently as the patient and their family rejoice over a successful life-saving operation. It’s not as dynamic a series as “ER.” Nor does it focus on the private lives of hospital staff like “Grey’s Anatomy.” It lacks a distinctive protagonist, such as the titular character of “House.” It’s simply “Three Rivers.”