by Brittany Frederick, Community Contributor
This will be my last column for EW Community, and if there’s one thing I want to leave you with, it’s this: Make sure you’re watching Code Black.
CBS’s medical drama returns for its second season on Sep. 28, and it has done nothing but raise expectations for what we should get out of a hospital series. Code Black‘s model isn’t just, “Get patient, diagnose patient, save patient or not, and repeat.” It broke that mold by exploring all of the issues that come with being a part of the medical profession. Season 1 presented ethical dilemmas, doctor-patient disagreements, PR concerns, and an exploration of the business aspects that go into keeping a major hospital running. It’s an incredibly thorough series that offers so much more than any other program in its field.
That’s set to continue in season 2. As CBS announced in July, Rob Lowe is coming aboard to portray Colonel Ethan Willis, who’s part of the military’s Combat Casualty Care research program. Willis arrives at Angels Memorial Hospital to impart his knowledge to the staff, meaning that audiences will also get to explore the intersection of combat medicine and civilian medicine.
The staff at Angels remains positively first rate. Marcia Gay Harden is the brilliantly tough Dr. Leanne Rorish, who anchors not only her department but the entire series. Harden is one of the best actresses on the small screen, and Code Black is another fantastic performance from her. Season 2 will also see the return of TV’s most underrated bromance: Drs. Mario Savetti (Benjamin Hollingsworth) and Angus Leighton (Harry Ford). These two characters seem like they shouldn’t be able to stand each other, but in truth, they play off each other so perfectly — perhaps because Hollingsworth and Ford are delightful actors who get better every week. Season 2 just gives them further room to be awesome.
Malaya Pineda (Melanie Chandra), Rollie Guthrie (William Allen Young), and Jesse Salander (Luis Guzman) are also back. Malaya went through the emotional wringer in season 1, and it will be interesting to see how she continues to come into her own in season 2, while Guthrie and Jesse will surely continue to provide the veteran wisdom that balances out the impulsivity of the younger doctors.
Meanwhile, Boris Kodjoe and Jillian Murray — whose characters, Campbell and Heather, are locked into blackmail drama— are now series regulars, and Noah Gray-Cabey, Emily Tyra, and Nafessa Williams are set to join as three new residents.
Another great quality of Code Black is its commitment to representing the many different perspectives amongst its ensemble. So many medical shows are packed with people whom audiences can barely remember; at Angels, every character has something to add to the story, and we often get to see how their points of view contrast.
The talent doesn’t stop there. Season 1 of Code Black racked up an impressive list of guest stars, including but not limited to Jeff Hephner, Beau Bridges, Michael Trucco, Annie Wersching, Tommy Dewey, Meagan Good, Christina Vidal, and cast members from The Lion King. All of their characters were well drawn and properly serviced. Who knows what remarkable people will walk through the doors in season 2 and what stories the writers will craft for them?
Which brings me to the third reason you can’t miss season 2 of Code Black: the quality of the writing. All the great ideas described above are just ideas unless the writing staff can truthfully convey them on the page. So much credit must be given to Michael Seitzman and his team for crafting scripts that not only set out to explore a concept but actually dig into that concept with both hands. Every episode feels like it’s asked the questions that the audience would ask and still leaves us asking ourselves other questions afterward. They give the actors, from series regulars to guest stars, enough material to do their best work. There is absolutely nothing half-assed on this show, and that’s what makes it stand out.
This show is CBS’s best drama since The Good Wife, and it has the potential to be as big a hit and to earn as many accolades, but it hasn’t gotten enough attention. Now is the time to pay attention, because Code Black deserves to be a much bigger hit than it is.
We’re in a golden age of television. We have the ability to make TV shows that can not only entertain us but inspire us and push the boundaries of what can be done. Code Black is one of those shows. From the biggest plot twist down to the smallest set detail, it’s a quality drama. But it also dares to be more. It tells intelligent stories and then dares to chase them wherever they go; it doesn’t succumb to the pitfalls of the average medical drama; it wants us to care about the patients as much as its doctors do. This show makes me excited about television, so if I can tell you anything, it’s that you need to be watching Code Black.
Code Black returns Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 10 p.m. on CBS
