Happy Sunday, Streamers.
The best TV sticks to a simple formula: a couple of people in a room talking about something - or in some way - that’s compelling. Set pieces help but ultimately, that bedrock is what an infinitely watchable show is built on. Yes, the dragons were cool in Game of Thrones, but was there anything better than Tyrion lighting up a small council meeting? We all loved the shootouts in Breaking Bad, but isn’t the most memorable moment when Walter White belts out “I am the one who knocks?” Hell, The Sopranos had half of its best moments while Tony was sipping OJ in his kitchen. My point is - a lot of genre or IP-driven shows today (eh, hem Kenobi), seem to have forgotten the aforementioned tenants, but our rec this week does anything but.
Read on to learn why it’s worth the watch.
This Is Going To Hurt
Current 🍅 Rating: 94%
What It’s About: Based on the bestselling memoir of the same name, this medical dramedy follows Adam, a middle-manager obstetrician at an underfunded public hospital as he attempts to keep his head (and personal life) above water, despite the chronic stress and chaos that comes with the multiple life and death decisions he makes every day.
Why You Should Watch: For cheeky British humor, medical-grade drama, and graphic surgery (if you’re into that kind of thing).
I realize that the above “What It’s About” synopsis could easily be written off with a “No thanks, I’ve seen E.R.,” but you really would be missing out. This Is Going To Hurt is the only medical drama I’ve seen that feels like a (sort of) accurate depiction of what it might be like to be a doctor. Adam may be smart, cantankerous, and rude to patients, but a Dr. House-esque tortured genius he is not. Instead he’s tired, overworked, and sometimes prone to mistakes that come with major consequences - you know, like the death of a human. That fallibility supplies the drama, but this isn’t Grey’s Anatomy either. When he screws up he doesn’t walk slo-mo down hallways bathed in light while a song by The Fray plays; he just hastily replaces his bloody scrubs with fresh ones (which are sometimes just less dirty ones out of the trash), and moves onto the next patient in his chaotic, understaffed hospital full of co-workers who don’t particularly like him.
Sounds like a great time, right?! The thing is it is, kind of like if Fleabag was set in a hospital. There’s fourth wall breaking, rapid-fire smart aleck quips, and a main character with an abundance of messy personal relationships often played for laughs. Ben Whishaw’s dry wit is perfect for keeping things light (even when they’re impossibly bleak), and he’s in good company with a supporting cast that all go tit for tat with him in firing off droll barbs left and right. Together there’s the levity necessary to want to return to a show where patients (and their babies) don’t always do the same.
To that point, there are also some perverse thrills to be had with just how graphic this show is (and I mean graphic with a capital “G”). If you’ve ever been curious as to what a caesarian section, 25-week-old baby, or damaged ovary looks like, man, do I have the show for you! It’s all in service of the story though, that ultimately is just trying to make a simple, if blunt point: as noble as being a doctor might be, the work may not be rewarding enough (as pop culture often makes it out to be), to make up for the casual brutality these people go through on a day-to-day basis. Luckily for viewers, This Is Going to Hurt provides the experience through a screen so we don’t ever have to know firsthand, with enough knowing winks and sarcastic repartee to make it all worth our while.
Who’s In It, and Where You Probably Know Them From:
Ben Whishaw - As Q in the most recent James Bond films, or from The Lobster, Fargo, and fresh off of having tea with the Queen for her Platinum Jubilee as Paddington.
Harriet Walter - Being the Roys’ ice-queen of a Mother in Succession, or from Killing Eve, The Crown, and Downton Abbey.
Who Made It, and What Else Have They Done:
The series was written/created by Adam Kay, who also wrote the memoir on which the series is based. Outside of This Is Going To Hurt, he’s done some writing on other British TV comedies and sitcoms neither you nor I have ever heard of.
Where You Can Watch: AMC+ (I know, who knew that was a thing?).