MARCH 29, 2011-PRESENT
"Murder, she wrote" meets "Quincy, M.E." is everything the viewers will find during each episode of this hour medical drama. Dana Delany (Dr. Megan Hunt) sells herself deep into the daily life as a court-medical expert who once dominated as the head of neurosurgery at a Philadelphia hospital. She has the many layers needed to reveal the qualities Dr. Hunt offers amid those who surround her work and home life.
Dr. Hunt has had a successful career yet all was lost when a severe car accident takes away her ability to perform her duties as a surgeon. If this is not enough to deal with, her personal life has begun to crumble because she was unable to balance work with home life. Her husband, Todd Fleming (Jeffrey Bordling), not only files for divorce but also wins custody of their daughter, Lacey Fleming (Mary Matilyn Mouser). Megan struggles with the inability to connect to her daughter no matter how hard she tries and often she pushes to hard only to put more distance between the two.
Peter Dunlap (Nicholas bishop) is the perfect counter to Dr. Hunt's bold personality with his level-headed approach to his job as medico-legal investigator. A former police officer who, like Dr. Hunt, had to leave the job he loved after a gunshot wound to the shoulder during a robbery that took him off the beat.
Dr. Kate Murphy (Jeri Ryan) is the first female chief medical examiner in Philadelphia. Her ability to do her job as a politician balancing the medical examiner’s office, Philadelphia police department and the city's needs equally. Dr. Hunt has endeared herself to Murphy and together they deal with the task of informing the grieving families of their findings.
Dr. Curtis Brumfield (Windell Middlebrooks) is deputy chief medical examiner who must balance the constant financial restraints of a hospital budget with the laboratory costs necessary to complete the each autopsy. Dr. Ethan Gross (Geoffrey Arend) is often paired up with Brumfield to retrieve evidence that will bring new light to a case. Gross needs the experience and guidance from Curtis that levels his overzealous excitement at every corner during investigations.
Detective Bud Morris (John Carroll Lynch) is a no-holds-barred homicide detective who wants speedy resolutions to his cases. Cut and dry is how he sees every murder until Dr. Hunt arrives where she looks beyond the superficial aspects of the scene. Detective Samantha Baker (Sonja Sohn) is partnered with Morris and plays mediator between him and Hunt. Her intelligence shines through and wins the respect of Hunt and Dunlap. Baker finds her comfort zone working closely with the medical examiner’s office while unraveling the mysteries of murder that cross her desk.
Overall, the show combines crime, investigation, medical, family and bits of humor to build a full hour of good television. ABC has not been a wishy-washy network and has given all their shows time to develop; this one will not need long.
RUSTY
3/29/11