**this review is written based on the pilot episode**
There is nothing better than a fresh start, which drives a bunch of doctors into South America to provide health care in a free clinic. And the word fresh indeed conjures images of oranges bathing in the sun in somewhere tropical, and into the tropics we go in a new Shonda Rhimes executive produced medical drama, Off the Map.
Actually, the show is very much off the map since it is filmed in Hawaii, but takes place "somewhere in South America", which made me curious if the writers of the show didn't have access to maps. Regardless, the show's setting is quite stunning and the ocean has never looked better.
But that is what strikes me as odd. Considering the show's premise, you would expect to see an overcrowded, run-down medical clinic with desperate patients and even more stressed out doctors in continuous crisis over shortage of medical supplies. Instead, everyone seems to be pretty well off, the clinic runs smoothly and nothing is broken down. It's all actually quite pretty.
But I am getting off-track here. The story introduces us to three new doctors whom have just arrived from the States. They are welcomed less than warmly by the another trio of doctors (do you see the match-making formula here?), whom have little faith in the newcomers, pointing out that in the tropics, they won't last a day. Perhaps the writers forgot to write in the hardships the new docs are supposed to encounter, since none are present in the pilot.
Emerging romances, conflicting personalities and painful past stories are laid down in the pilot of Off the Map. It's a Shonda Rhimes show. Even if she didn't actually create it. But as Shonda did with Private Practice, the rough start will eventually find its own footing, or at least we can hope.
There is nothing better than a fresh start, which drives a bunch of doctors into South America to provide health care in a free clinic. And the word fresh indeed conjures images of oranges bathing in the sun in somewhere tropical, and into the tropics we go in a new Shonda Rhimes executive produced medical drama, Off the Map.
Actually, the show is very much off the map since it is filmed in Hawaii, but takes place "somewhere in South America", which made me curious if the writers of the show didn't have access to maps. Regardless, the show's setting is quite stunning and the ocean has never looked better.
But that is what strikes me as odd. Considering the show's premise, you would expect to see an overcrowded, run-down medical clinic with desperate patients and even more stressed out doctors in continuous crisis over shortage of medical supplies. Instead, everyone seems to be pretty well off, the clinic runs smoothly and nothing is broken down. It's all actually quite pretty.
But I am getting off-track here. The story introduces us to three new doctors whom have just arrived from the States. They are welcomed less than warmly by the another trio of doctors (do you see the match-making formula here?), whom have little faith in the newcomers, pointing out that in the tropics, they won't last a day. Perhaps the writers forgot to write in the hardships the new docs are supposed to encounter, since none are present in the pilot.
Emerging romances, conflicting personalities and painful past stories are laid down in the pilot of Off the Map. It's a Shonda Rhimes show. Even if she didn't actually create it. But as Shonda did with Private Practice, the rough start will eventually find its own footing, or at least we can hope.