Looking Deeper into “Contact” in NBC’s "Saving Hope:" A Television Review (Episode 2)

*heavy spoiler alert.

Director: David Wellington.

Writer: Morwyn Brebner.

Out-of-body experiences for patients who are near death may well become the norm in "Saving Hope." Dr Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) has met more ghosts since the pilot and is almost ready to tell all. In the episode “Contact,” he reveals that these spirits like to linger around for a while before finally deciding to move on, perhaps disappearing into the ether. Little is known about the outside world, and unlike the pilot, which gets existential, this episode is more grounded in medical reality.

While Harris’ role gets delegated into more of a background figure, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) takes center stage. She tries to prove to hospital administration that she can carry on, despite the fact that her husband-to-be is in a coma. But there are times where she lapses into falling behind and everyone, especially Dr. Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies), the competition, is taking notice.

As this series progresses, the direction may well get very lop-sided. The focus on the living is only as good as the patient’s tales who come and go. Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales this series is not. A few of these patient’s stories are worth exploring, but they do not all into a similar category of someone dying, that Harris will meet.

To examine where this series will go really needs more speculation into what exists in this limbo that Harris’ is in. This episode is doing decently in long-term story development by adding in what may be a new character to the series. When the young Cal (Jake Goodman) slips into his own coma and meets Dr. Harris, he starts asking tough questions that no child should really get to know. Fortunately, his time to die is not yet here and Harris recognizes that. He's almost a gatekeeper in that regard.

The moment these two share starts to develop the world that "Saving Hope" exists in.
One huge question some viewers may want to ask is what kind of state these people are in when they are separated from their body. Is it their soul, their ghost, or their individuality? The soul, depending on culture, may further be broken down to different essences, and what viewers are seeing 'walking around' are the five-senses that are still awake even patients are unconscious.

In Ancient Egyptian lore, there is a belief that the soul is made of many parts, a physical form known as the Khat, and many immaterial forms which help nourish the physical body or to allow the immortal essence to explore the world.

True answers do not need to be given, but the writers really need to add more of a supernatural layer in each episode. When Cal finally delivers part of the message from Dr. Harris to Reid, she starts to wonder about what may exist in the immaterial world. Eventually, Harris will have to make better attempts at communicating by talking to souls drifting out of their body when they sleep, or the boy may start to talk to dead people more often.

Without it, watching this series is like tuning in to another episode of "Grey's Anatomy" or "The Gifted Man".

All Cal can deliver so far is the fact that he has seen the doctor. But that’s enough for Reid; she finds hope in believing that life can exist even after the body is broken. Durance does a good job in showing curiousity for the world around her that science cannot explain. As Reid, she wonders where the love of her life is, and if he is even watching.

But in a moment when the comatose Harris twitches his hand, just what is causing that reaction? The essence of Harris is watching from afar and he knows he did not do that. Hopefully this cliffhanger will be the cue to bring in the dose of etherealness that the series needs. Viewers will have to tune in next week to find out.

Overall: 6 out of 10.

The show's fan page is here:

Saving Hope on Facebook

| | |

Advertise Here - Contact me Michael Allen at 28DLA

Subscribe to 28 Days Later: An Analysis Email Subscription

Posted in: 2012,drama,ghost story,review,supernatural television review,television,television review