Complications

Don't listen to the trolls. These are people who yell at a hamburger because it is not prime rib!

This new series is dark and edgy fun for viewers who like Dexter and Banshee. Yes, 'Complications' is absolutely preposterous. It is also absolutely entertaining, for those of us willing to suspend our disbelief. No, an E.R. surgeon would never be put into such extraordinary circumstances, but so what? This is escapist pulp fiction, and it's very entertaining pulp fiction.

This show is a vigilante story combined with the delerium of '24' and the background of medical procedurals. The frenetic plot is established within minutes; 15.25 minutes, to be exact. If you don't like the show in that time, then this series is not for you.

Jason O'Mara is excellent as the protagonist lead. It's impossible not to cheer for his character to succeed! He is very believable as the tormented father with every mercurial mood swing. His face is capable of tremendous expressiveness. And he is given compelling reasons for his character's outrageous decisions. Jessica Szhor is similarly brilliant in her contribution as the fringe-personality nurse; the two of these actors bring a real chemistry and grit to the storyline.

Go watch the first 15.25 minutes of episode 1 and see for yourself. If you like lurid pulp fiction, then you'll like Complications.

Updated: after following the series to the end, I will say that the show does suffer from repetition. It's entertaining, for sure. The tempo of delirious plot points does not let up until the end.

Disillusioned Dr. John Ellison (Jason O'Mara) saves a child during a gangland shootout and kills one of the attackers. Antoine is still targeted and he hides him with the help of nurse Gretchen Polk (Jessica Szohr). Antonine's father is a gangleader in prison and he threatens John with the help of his underling Darius Bishop. Unbeknowst to John, Gretchen is deep in a fraud scheme at the hospital with her friend Jed. Dr. O'Neill is suspicious. John is attacked at home and detective Holden of the Gang Task Force is digging. Even John's wife is suspicious.

The problem of the show is that Ellison does unreasonable things. I was confused by his actions for the first several episodes. Then I change my mind and see him with serious mental health issues. His frustrations and inner anger cause his irrational ways. That excuses some of the problems of the show but not all of them. Jason O'Mara is the picture of intensity and the acting is generally good. The plot has a few too many complications piling on too quickly. A little simplification would really help.

The context for "Complications" seems wild: A stressed-out ER doctor out for a drive comes upon a drive-by shooting. He ultimately saves the boy who is shot and kills members of a rival "Loco" (read: Mexican) gang who are coming back to finish the job.

Turns out the boy is not just a random ghetto statistic: He is the son of a prominent imprisoned gang leader. The E.R. doc - Dr. John Ellison, played very well by Irish actor Jason O'Mara - is unwittingly drawn in to their world and ultimately lives or dies at their behest.

Dr. Ellison bouncing from one admittedly absurd scenario to another forces you to either embrace the show as an edge-of-your-seat action-drama show or reject it as a ridiculous farce. Some will certainly choose the latter. Any drama - nor comedies or kids' shows, either - is nothing without conflict and "Complications" has plenty of it.

"Complications" was created by Matt Nix, the creator of "Burn Notice," one of my favorite USA shows - though admittedly the premise of "Burn Notice" wore quite thin after a few seasons. To Nix's credit he pushed the show into fairly dark territory as the stock show formula of Michael saving X person from bad guys and getting some form of revenge got pretty dull.

Now that Dr. Ellison in "Complications" is being setup as a kind of gangland doctor one wonders if Nix will follow something of a similar formula with various scenarios involving he and numerous somewhat or entirely outlandish setups where only the doctor can help.

It's great to see Beth Riesgraf - the very quirky Parker from the wonderful and frequently overlooked show "Leverage" - as Ellison's wife. Nix also seems to be drawing on some "Burn Notice" regulars as well, notably Lauren Stamile as another E.R. doctor (IIRC she played an FBI agent who was at first against Michael in "Burn Notice" but ultimately worked with him).

Whether you love or hate this show - I'm close to "really like" - there is no denying the direction, writing, and acting are all very good. Unlike a lot of pilots and new shows the actors seem incredibly comfortable and believable in their respective roles. The plots are at times pretty absurd - why doesn't the doctor, for example, simply go to the cops if a gang leader is threatening his life and that of his family? - but they're also designed quite well to keep you interested in the story. I have to wonder what direction they'll be taking next.

This show is an amazing series, it keeps you on your feet throughout the show. Excellent acting and great script. The action scenes are amazing and it's a show I look forward to watching. Keep it up, this show has so much potential. I can't wait to see where it goes. It shows how people have different aspects of their lives and shoes the challenge of balancing the good with the bad. Suspense and action throughout the show. If you are looking for a story that shows struggle, excitement, and just a small chance of getting out of thin situations this is it. This show is an amazing series, it keeps you on your feet throughout the show. Excellent acting and great script. The action scenes are amazing and it's a show I look forward to watching.

To be honest, I believe its title to be its failure. Like the writers and producers just went along with it after script editing without rechecking its connections.

M.D. Vigilante or something that would bring it the show's class would have been better. Complications for one would be too complicated to search in Google as it is a common word not only in general but medical terms as well. It's flair would have been lost to the fray.

On the show, I believe the first season was setting up John to be a continuous vigilante throughout the series and getting better and more determined at it, flowing his PTS syndrome into a more less symptomatic more driven goal that would flourish into a probable "Prison Break" like or otherwise "The Company/E Corp" face off i.e. International Cooperation/Multi-conglomerate Company.

So to be hard driven into this situation and molded by the plot in the first season to me was a very good start. For first seasons, I'm rather withdrawn with how the cast plays their characters because I believe most things in life are work of progress so it would not be a surprise if they seem too dry at this point. There was no plot to submerge them into a character that would be growing yet.

As with many first seasons, most things revolve around the main repeating casts and the play with Gretchen and john was masterwork for a first season. I especially love that they added scenes in John's psychology where he back and forth himself towards explaining what the entire first season was about, "Killing the cancer's source". The ideals presented in this form was admirable.

It is just that I would remain with this remark until if season 2 was also dry with each of the character they have ensemble into the web around John. So I say give it a shot for Season 2 because Season 1 did keep me wanting for more, not sort of like GoT or other high production types but because of its "Hannibal" like appeal of character interchange of abstract moral ideals.