Dr. Charlie Harris, the trauma surgeon at the heart of Saving Hope, is out of his months-long coma when the second season opens tonight, but he still sees dead people.
His fiancé, Dr. Alex Reid, is delighted to have him back in this world, but worried about how the lingering effects of their forced separation may affect their relationship over the long term.
It doesn’t help that they’re both suffering from post-traumatic stress: She’s given to wild, unexpected mood swings, and he’s having a hard time separating reality in this world from hallucinations from the next.
As played by Erica Durance and Michael Shanks, Drs. Reid and Harris have a warm, sympathetic vibe to them. The acting is one of the best reasons to see Saving Hope.
True, Hope still suffers from mawkish music and contrived emergencies, such as the shooting in a crowded train station that opens tonight’s episode, but it’s more assured and confident in its sophomore season.
Hope no longer hovers uncertainly between wanting to be a paranormal thriller about ghost whisperers and what it was all along — a hospital drama with a twist. The doctors are hard-working and committed to living a good, clean life, on the job and off, but there are early hints in the season opener that their relationship will not play out as they might have expected, or hoped.
This being a hospital TV drama in the age of Grey’s Anatomy, the supporting ensemble of doctors, nurses and orderlies are embroiled in various romantic entanglements. Drs. Reid and Harris are not the only ones having problems, and there’s always an ex-wife around to make a move on a star surgeon who’s suddenly and unexpectedly promoted to chief-of-surgery.
There’s an obligatory nod to social conscience: Newly installed surgery head Dr. Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies) would like nothing more than to persuade former trauma surgeon Dr. Dana Kinney (Wendy Crewson) to walk away from her high-paying plastic-surgery practice and return to doing the most good for the most people.
Money talks, though, and the hard truth of hospital medicine today — in primetime TV shows, as well as in the real world — is that hardworking, committed professionals on the frontlines of emergency medicine are often marginalized and taken for granted by a system that’s all about crunching numbers and keeping public health-care costs down.
Hope isn’t as transparent and superficial as Grey’s Anatomy on a bad night, but it’s no ER. As summer viewing goes, though, it’s not bad — provided, that is, you can overlook the frightful silliness of a doctor slapping a patient who just wants to be left alone to die in peace. 10 p.m., CTV
Three to see
• America’s Got Talent continues its audition parade of snake charmers, plate spinners, dog handlers and would-be cat trainers, just days after Talent judge Howie Mandel wrote in an op-ed piece for Parade.com that this year’s hopefuls are “crazier” than ever. That’s a whole lot of crazy. 9 p.m., City
• Blood and Oil is a new unscripted series that sounds from the written description — an advance screener was not made available — like a reality-TV spin on There Will Be Blood. Blood and Oil follows the Cutter oil clan of Ohio, as they try to keep their small, family-run oil company afloat against a cutthroat takeover bid from big oil, following the death of the family patriarch. 9 p.m., Discovery
• Catfish: The TV Show is back for a sophomore season of personal encounters with couples who’ve met online, but have never actually met in person. Yes, a second season. You’ve been warned. 7 p.m., MTV Canada
