Mercy

The show, Mercy, is not brilliant nor awful. It's somewhat mediocre. Except for Margo Martindale and Michelle Trachtenberg, I never saw any of these actors or actresses before. It's nice to have a show that is set in New Jersey which is also actually filmed here that isn't the Sopranos well except for Teresa Giudice's appearance in one episode. She was the NJ housewife who flipped the table at her dinner party and claimed to be classy. Anyway, Mercy is about an Iraqi veteran nurse who returns home to face her relationships and her life after war. I never heard of the actress but she's okay in the role as Veronica. To me, Margo Martindale is a scene stealer and a veteran character actress who should be in every episode. She's wonderful and deserves to have her name in the first credits like everybody else. She has had a respectable career and given good scripts that she could possibly be Emmy worthy. Well, maybe the writers and producers are reading this. I sure hope so.

Compelling, well-developed characters, great writing, interesting premise, great dialogue, good production values--why was this show canceled? I honestly don't understand NBC's claim of "under-performance." According to the American viewing public and its 3.6 million viewers, this show was worth renewing but NBC found this project apparently not worth the effort.

Returning GWOT veterans, especially those in the medical field, do a great service that few realize can and does lead to PTSD. The themes brought to the fore in this drama are done in such a palatable way, it makes the topics easier to swallow for the non-military public.

Taylor Schilling is radiant as Veronica and I hope to see her in many other projects.

I loved the show and want it back. The network cant leave a cliffhanger like that then choose to end the show. We should have a petition. I never heard of this show till I was on netflix not too many watch TV now a days and when you find a good show and watch the whole thing and at the end your looking for the second season and it says there isn't one. Thats heart breaking. They said they canceled the show because on average only 3.6 million people watched it, then they just disappointed 3.6 million people. Thats a lot of people to me. I think if a show is going to end then they should at least take the time for a last show to give us closure. I cant stop thinking about the last episode.

Look, the other reviewers have covered a lot of points -- acting is pretty good, story lines are engaging. My beef is with how the writers play up the nursing and downplay the "doctoring". Since when is a newbie nurse going to go from general admissions to the ER to a surgical suite, all in the span of a few episodes?

The nurses also tend to diagnose at the patient's bedside, where in reality they have zero training or right to do so. I'm not looking for 100% realism (remember ER?) but it's laughable how much leeway the writers give nursing in this show, distracting from what little suspension of disbelief viewers may have.

This is one of the few shows where the cast of people who aren't quite as well known as the mega-stars in all the other shows still work fantastic. Here's the breakdown, this cast has feel, dynamic, and most of all they play off one another perfectly, between spunk and genuine feel the rhythm of this show is authentic.

Now as for the actual plot, its more of less the same as every other medical drama, yada yada yada people in medical crisis, yada yada, people needing a doctor, yada yada relationships, not really far from the norm. At least the interactions between all of the cast is worth watching. I give it a solid 8/10.