After reviewing an advanced copy sent to The News-Letter, the first episode of FOX network’s Red Band Society struggles to balance serious illness, dark humor and teen pop culture references in its premiere episode. The hospital dramedy series officially aired Wednesday night at nine p.m.
Poking along the same vein as popular dramas like The Fault in our Stars and If I Stay, while also mirroring Glee’s comedic style, Red Band Society follows six characters’ struggles and relationships in the pediatric ward of Los Angeles’ Ocean Park Hospital.
This premise takes inspiration from Spanish screenwriter Albert Espinosa’s 14-year cancer battle and the lasting friendships he made during his long-term hospital stay. Executive producer Margaret Nagle, along with notable co-producer Steven Spielberg, helped develop Red Band Society from Espinosa’s Spanish language television series Polseres vermelles.
“It’s The Breakfast Club in a hospital where they get to fall in love, where they get to make friends and they kind of get to break the rules,” Nagle said in the advanced copy’s exclusive interview portion.
Nagle is no newcomer to television drama, having won five 2005 Emmy awards for her TV movie Warm Springs and writing episodes for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Despite Nagle’s dramatic prowess, Red Band Society’s mishaps erupt from its inadvertently cynical comedy and misguided focus on teens.
Throughout the episode, pop culture references distract from the show and seem like a desperate attempt to capture teenage viewers like moments of open marijuana use, Twilight references and even one “yolo” response in the dialogue.
The premiere episode opens as the show’s narrator, 12-year old Charlie (Griffin Gluck), describes the social atmosphere of the pediatric ward. Due to their various illnesses, the characters live and learn exclusively in the hospital.
“Here’s the weird thing about a hospital: you become friends with kids you’d never know in a million years,” Charlie says. “Losers, populars, stoners, nerds. The walls just kind of fall down.”
The fresh-faced cast of Red Band Society successfully gives new energy to a few of these high school labels, but these dynamic teenage relationships serve as the main technique lighten the show’s darker, more emotional struggles. When the characters try to find humor in sometimes grave circumstances, the show sends borderline inappropriate messages.
In the first few minutes of this new episode, viewers learn that Charlie narrates from a coma. His tone remains casual, blunt and slightly immature, despite his unresponsive, uncertain state.
“The thing about being in a coma is you can hear everything; you just can’t respond. It can be so friggin annoying,” Charlie says.
Bending the laws of science in the name of entertainment, Charlie also posses the power to interact with the other characters whenever they enter into unconsciousness.
He shares this unique experience and also a hospital room with the relentlessly rude cheerleader Kara Souder (Zoe Levin) who finds herself emitted to the hospital after fainting during practice.
Kara keeps the clichéd cheerleader character alive with vanity, constant insults and unwavering attitude, but the show manages to leave room for her emotional development as she gets an unexpected diagnosis.
A solid example of the Red Band Society’s unintentional insensitivity is seen with Emma Chota (Ciara Bravo). The show’s brainy know-it-all, who is seemingly perfect, suffers from an unspecified eating disorder. Emma’s complex condition seems to be oversimplified and treated with little severity.
“If Emma only ate as much as she studied, she wouldn’t be here,” Charlie narrates.
Leo Roth (Charlie Rowe) is Ocean Park’s longest resident battling cancer, which has already led to the amputation of his leg. Charismatic and likable, Leo initiates the Red Band Society by ceremoniously distributing his red surgery bracelets to each kid living at the hospital.
Although viewers really only get his back-story from Charlie’s constant narration, Leo’s prolonged experience at the hospital gives him some depth and understanding.
Jordi Palacios (Nolan Sotillo) is the newest patient in the ward and Leo’s new roommate, but, like Leo, he needs an amputation from Dr. McAndrew (Dave Annable), the quintessential McDreamy doctor.
Jori and Leo’s relationship is unique and provides some substance for the show as the two friends find comfort confronting life together. The show’s strong dramatic writing shines through in this partnership.
“Because your body isn’t you,” Leo says to Jordi before his surgery. “Your soul is you and they can never cut into your soul.”
The fun-loving Dash (Astro) has cystic fibrosis and his antics include trying to manipulate Nurse Brittany’s sponge bath to a different level. Adding Dash to Leo and Jordi’s relationship, along with Emma as a love interest allows for future interesting escapades.
“Red Band Society is in that great spirit of the successful FOX shows, that kind of teen soap with real issues and real humor almost a kind of dark hospital humor which is the way children’s hospitals are,” Spielberg said in FOX’s exclusive advance copy interview.
Ocean Park’s pediatric ward also incorporates a few adult figures and a standout actor in the cast is Octavia Spencer, whose work in 2011’s The Help won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Nurse Jackson (or “Scary Bitch” as her barista labels on her morning coffee) fluctuates from irritable and stern to caring and supportive.
Despite the show’s attempt to create a lighter, casual tone, Red Band Society risks raising the dramatic stakes as the season progresses with each character’s serious and unpredictable illness. The writers and producers will have to continue to walk the fine line between levity and severity.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.