By the time Third Watch started, ER was in its fifth season. Both aired on NBC, occurred in major metropolitan areas (New York City and Chicago, respectively) and had healthy though changing casts of characters. However, ER outlasted Third Watch by nine seasons. Considering that one occurs within the confines of a single hospital and that the other has the whole of New York City you have to wonder how Third Watch fizzled so fast in comparison. Even more importantly, ER had significant cast changes on a seasonal basis while Third Watch maintained a strong core of about eight characters. So what went wrong?
The strong storytelling just wasn’t there.
Third Watch’s ability to keep a storyline going faltered severely from the get-go. The characters are inconsistent and prone to convenient outbursts for the sake of a moral or political message. Despite being a serialized show Third Watch seems committed to defying any story arc which might last longer than one episode. The arcs that should seem to fade away for 3 to 4 episodes only to resurface like no time passed in between (despite other storylines suggesting they had).
The storylines cross freely between the lives of EMTs and police officers which in all fairness should provide more than enough storylines the opportunity to occur organically. Instead, by some wild coincidence, about 1/3 of the episodes start with the people on duty, whether they be officers or EMTs, seeing a major crime or accident in progress. Now, I’ve worked as an EMT, and while it wasn’t in New York City I can safely say that 100% of the cases I was called to never, not once, occurred as I watched from a local diner. It would inevitably occur when you’re on the job, but in this case it happens far too often just to save the writers the trouble of showing them getting from location A to location B. Compounding the situation is the fickle nature of the characters. To err may be human, but these characters seem to change as people with each episode just so the series can play with a variety of problems. It helps the dramatic variety of the show, but it destroys any credibility in building the characters.
The actors may have no solid character to hold to, but that doesn’t really affect their performances. Kim Raver, who later moved on to play opposite Kiefer Sutherland in 24, has a very compelling arc concerning her divorce and children. Raver’s performance in 24 was never that strong, but it’s easy to understand why they chose her given her performance in Third Watch. Amidst her erratic mood swings (due more to the writers than her acting) Raver elevates the comparably insincere and tepid performances of some of the other cast mainstays. Michael Beach’s ‘Doc’ is one such character whose variations become too severe to forgive. In one memorable episode Beach suddenly becomes aflame with racial awareness only to have a lesson on the subject being force fed down the audience’s throat. Beach’s performance never really suffers but the character and his story become downright insufferable.
It’s as if there was an outcry for a noncommittal version of ER; a show with fast-paced medical drama which required less-than-weekly adherence in order to follow along. In fact, with the odd dispersal of storylines over disproportionate periods of time, it sometimes seems like they’re encouraging audiences to tune in less often than not. This might explain why it dropped out sooner than ER – but best bets are on inconsistent writing efforts and an underdeveloped cast.
It’s still damn fine drama, but there’s nothing here to draw you and keep you locked in. It’s nice to have dramatic episodic television to watch, but a little consistency isn’t too much to ask for is it?
DVD Bonus Features
There’s a gag reel and it has a few good yuks in its corner, but otherwise the DVD set is pretty empty. How unfortunate.
"Third Watch: The Complete Second Season" is on sale July 7, 2009 and is rated NR. Crime-Thriller, Drama, Television. Directed by Guy Norman Bee, Peter Ellis. Written by Edward Allen Bernero, John Wells. Starring Jason Wiles, Coby Bell, Skipp Sudduth, Anthony Ruivivar, Bobby Cannavale, Eddie Cibrian, Molly Price, Kim Raver, Michael Beach, Amy Carlson.
