Christina Hawthorne (Jada Pinkett Smith), a widow with a difficult teenage daughter (Hannah Hodson), is the head nurse at Richmond Trinity Hospital.  In a typical day, she must break the rules to compensate for the fragile egos of the hospital’s doctors, deal with her eclectic nursing staff and, most importantly, look after the needs of her troubled patients in what has become a broken health system.

CRITIQUE

I don’t recall where I saw it, but somewhere I read a quip by a viewer who claimed that the reason Hawthorne was renewed for a second season is because Sony Pictures wanted to be “in business” with superstar Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith’s husband.

I have no idea whether that’s true or not, but it is certainly a believable theory, mainly because Hawthorne is not a very good show.

Miss Smith is certainly a fine actress and she gets an opportunity to demonstrate her exquisite skills in this role that was, in all likelihood, designed for her talents.  She has several scenes in the “Mother’s Day” episode that are particularly moving.

Indeed, the entire cast, including David Julian Hirsh, Christina Moore, Suleka Mathew, Hannah Hodson, Joanna Cassidy and Michael Vartan are well chosen and likable.

The problem with this series is twofold, both of which can be traced back to the writing and direction.

First, the underlying premise of the show is totally unbelievable.  Christina Hawthorne is a nurse, albeit a head nurse.  She is not a doctor.  Yet, virtually in every episode, she challenges the doctors’ diagnoses (Usually, she’s right) and, when they don’t agree, she goes over their heads, once or twice even breaking the law in doing so.

After watching four or five episodes of this 10-episode (on 3-discs) season, I began to find the “SuperNurse” bit rather laughable.

I ask you: In real life, how long would this person last on her job before the hospital fired her?

The other major issue with the series is a basic lack of tension.  All of the episodes deal with life and death issues, yet there is no real sense of urgency in any of the scenes and, without that, there is no reason for a viewer to care about whether a patient lives or dies.

One exception was in the aforementioned “Mother’s Day” episode in which the doctors and nurses try to save an infant who has been left in a locked car.  Too bad there were not more sequences like that in the season.

Finally, there also seems to be a lot of time wasted with “humorous” storylines, such as the novice nurse getting herself lost in the hospital’s basement, that only help to slow the overall pace of the show.

Hopefully, Season Two will get better.

THE VIDEO

The widescreen presentation is sharp with no issues.

THE AUDIO

The 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound is excellent.

THE EXTRAS

The third disc includes eight very short “Behind the Scenes” featurettes, several of which appear to be show promos.  The most interesting of the group is Shooting a Scene – Visual Effects, in which physically intact actress Suleka Mathew demonstrates how CGI makes it possible for her character (Bobbie Jackson) to have an artificial leg.

FINAL THOUGHT

Good actors are wasted in a totally unbelievable series.