If you watch The Resident you will not be reassured the next time you check into the hospital. But if you watch it for some soapy drama, this is for you. And the soap will be antiseptic hospital grade soap, naturally.
Matt Czuchry (pronounced Zoo-kree), leads the cast. If he looks familiar, there’s a good reason. He’s been on a lot of shows but never been the man. When you see him you go ‘oh, he’s that one guy. You know, from that one show.’ But with The Resident he’s owning the screen, and if the show can break out, so will Matt.
He hung out for a Cocktail Conversation to talk about what sets this show apart from the other hospital dramas littering the schedule, and what’s going down on season two, which starts tonight on FOX at 8pm ET.
This Time It’s Personal
“I think that’s the fun of the show when you have the personal and the professional, they mix together,” Matt told us, and that’s the theme of the new season. For Matt’s Dr. Conrad, his family life and his love life will both be going down at the hospital.
“On the personal side you have Conrad dealing with his father who’s now the head of the hospital and also Conrad and Nic are in a relationship as well. So that’s the personal side, and like you mentioned, they kinda intermingle with the professional, which is the exciting part about the show, is that you have that connectivity there.”
Fans of the show will finally see the stars align for the good doctor and Nurse Nic. “Last season Conrad and Nic were not together, this season they are. So we’re gonna get a chance to see what that looks like and that’s a lot of obstacles in the way of their relationship.”
Will it last? Of course it will! TV dramas are sooo well known for finally pairing a long-pining couple and leaving them alone for a happily ever after.
We predict they’re estranged by episode three.
And for Matt, it’s to be expected. “It wouldn’t make for good television and it wouldn’t make for good life, either. You gotta get through the obstacles, the other side to make you better and that’s what the relationship shows and that’s what I love about the relationship.”
Power Struggle
If the idea of your doctor’s personal issues playing out while you’re being treated makes you nervous, you’re not gonna like what comes in tonight’s premiere episode. The power goes out. But rather than just turn on the generator and hope for the best, personal and moral dilemmas come into play.
“Power outage there. So something that you think is simple, when you elevate that in a hospital when you’re always talking about life and death and you lose the power. It creates these interesting dilemmas that you wouldn’t expect. Some of them being ethical dilemmas about moving patients.”
Seems simple, move ’em to a hospital with power. Not so fast. “If you move patients to another hospital, that’s gonna cost money. Or do you risk their lives by having them in Chastain, in our hospital, where the power is suspect? You take one little thing, the power going out, and you put it in the hospital and it becomes a whole bigger thing.”
Of course, the scary thing about this plot point is that it’s so very realistic. From earthquakes in southern California, blizzards in the north, tornadoes in the midwest or hurricanes in the gulf or southeast, most hospitals are just one natural disaster away from going dark. “It’s certainly based in reality in terms of what happens if the power goes out in a hospital is an important question to ask. It’s certainly based in reality in terms of what happens if the power goes out in a hospital is an important question to ask.”
“In Atlanta, where our show is based, that’s where we film it and the series is based there as well, the thunderstorm are pretty impressive. It’s actually one of my favorite things about Atlanta are the thunderstorms. They’re beautiful and scary all at the same time and they come out of nowhere.”
Groove Is In the Chart
As a spring series, season one was only fourteen episodes, so they had to cram a season’s worth of drama into about two-thirds the time, and Matt says it took awhile to find their groove. “I think in season one we probably found our groove around episode five or six or so. I think in season two we probably found our groove in episode two.”
He told us this time around it’s about knowing yourself as a character. “I think that’s the big difference is we come in knowing these characters in a different way and the stories in a different way so hopefully that elevates what we’re able to do in our sophomore season.”
Strictly Business
Matt hopes The Resident will give people a behind-the-curtain look at what happens in parts of the hospital we never see. And that’s something some other hospital dramas tend to ignore. “What sets us apart is it’s also about these elements that you don’t always think of when you go in to a hospital, such as money and the money it takes to run a business. And corruption and how that affects patients and doctors.”
“For us, it’s a medical show that connects to everybody but at the same time we’re separated out a little bit different a little bit grittier, a little bit dirtier than some of the other medical shows. I think that’s another great element of the show is that it is something that connects people from all walks of life. This is a show about life and death and health and wellness.”
The Critic’s Cocktail Recommendation
A London Pride. It’s good for what Ales you!
Cheers!
Critic's Cocktail 