Trauma Early Critics' Reviews

So far, the show got the critics raving. 

Hollywood Reporter said:

"....."Trauma" is a keeper should stick around for the sweetly underplayed and near-wordless end scene, for proof that this patient has strong vital signs."

and Newsday called the series:

"...by far NBC's best new drama. Yes, there are only two, so let's go one step further and say it's one of network TV's better new dramas. The cast is loose, jaunty and appealing. The action scenes will jolt you. "Trauma" feels like a first cousin to the late, lamented "Third Watch."

For the Full Reviews, Click Read More

TRAUMA -- TV REVIEW
By Randee Dawn, September 25, 2009 01:24 ET

09-28-2009 9:00PM

Bottom Line: An adrenaline injection straight to the heart. Stat!
NBC's primetime lineup is already laden with cop and hospital dramas, so it hardly seems necessary to add yet another to the schedule. And initially, the new medical series "Trauma" seems to be the same old tune, different verse.

Five minutes in, however, makes it clear that "Trauma" is not the same old song. Instead, it's a riveting, multilayered show about fallout; survival amidst the ruins -- a standout among the fall season's offerings.

"Trauma" focuses on a team of San Francisco paramedics devastated in the aftermath of a horrific (though spectacularly filmed) helicopter collision. The meat of the show picks up a year postcrash, focusing on the survivors -- world-weary Nancy (Anastasia Griffith); repressed Boone (Derek Luke) and reckless Reuben (aka Rabbit, played intriguingly by Maori actor Cliff Curtis). They're collectively struggling to emerge from their mental wreckage while racing to save others, and none of them have put the disaster behind them.

There's a lot to chew on: Creator-writer Dario Scardapane doesn't underestimate his audience, and by creating bickering leads with enigmatic shared histories he doesn't provide outsiders with an immediate entry into the narrative. But then disaster strikes and "Trauma" grabs its audience by the throat, thrusting viewers into a world where things go bad, get worse, and then get terrible -- a highway pileup becomes a gas explosion that sends shrapnel into a young boy. Medical jargon and details whiz past without exposition, mere parts of the chaos, a device "ER" weaned its viewers on. And suddenly, it's happened -- viewers are grafted into the anarchic slipstream of the story, and hooked solid.

"Trauma" is far from perfect -- three anti-heroes are a bit much to stomach at once, and the bigger-than-life disaster scenarios surely can't be sustained every week. But there's a lot of subtle interplay sandwiched between the emergencies, and with luck, diligent viewers should be rewarded. Anyone still wondering whether "Trauma" is a keeper should stick around for the sweetly underplayed and near-wordless end scene, for proof that this patient has strong vital signs.

REVIEW BY: 

'Trauma' on NBC: A Different view of an ER

September 25, 2009By VERNE GAY

THE SHOW "Trauma"
WHEN | WHERE Tonight at 9 on NBC/4

REASON TO WATCH If you're missing "ER," then maybe . . .

SPECIAL BONUS Cliff Curtis, the almost-famous New Zealand-born big screen star ("Whale Rider"), makes a rare and memorable TV outing here, while "Damages" fans should be happy to see Anastasia Griffith (who plays Nancy Carnahan).

WHAT IT'S ABOUT A trauma unit in San Francisco. "ER" comparisons are welcomed by NBC, but as one of the show's producers, Dario Scardapane, explained at the summer TV critics press tour, "We're the 20 minutes before you hit the double doors. It is a pre-hospital show, and we resolve our stories in the hospital, but this is the stuff you didn't see on 'ER.' "

Fair enough, but if the pilot is any indication, expect ER stories, too. There's a spectacular helicopter mid-air collision right before the main title, which sets up the rest of the episode. Hot-shot flight medic Reuben "Rabbit" Palchuck (Curtis) is nearly killed in the horrific accident, but other members of the team escape serious injury; they include Carnahan (Griffith) and Cameron Boone (Derek Luke).

Tonight's episode picks up with their return from medical leave, and they face one hell of a day - including a pile-up on a freeway caused by a yuppie in his Beamer texting his girlfriend. The medic team not only has to deal with crises around town but in their own lives as well. Meanwhile, Dr. Joe Saviano (Jamey Sheridan) is the wise, old man who holds down the ER unit back at the hospital.

BOTTOM LINE If any of you out there can tear yourself away from "Dancing With the Stars" or "Two and a Half Men," then "Trauma" is well worth the short hike over to Ch. 4 - at the very least for the elaborate and expensive opening sequence.

"Trauma" is by far NBC's best new drama. Yes, there are only two, so let's go one step further and say it's one of network TV's better new dramas. The cast is loose, jaunty and appealing. The action scenes will jolt you. "Trauma" feels like a first cousin to the late, lamented "Third Watch." Now comes the tough part - getting people to watch.
GRADE   B+ 

REVIEW BY:

Now let's hope Trauma will get the viewers RAVING.