Mercy

Now I have never seen any other nurse shows so I can't really compare but all I can say this show is so beautifully made. Although I don't watch it when it first premieres instead I opt for on demand I find this show to be really great and refreshing. I love the three main nurses, they are very likable and each of them has their own unique story. There is a lot of dramatization but I guess everyday is a new thing in the ER. Nonetheless , this show should not be missed, as I said before I can't compare it to any other since I haven't seen any of them but this show tops. I am really hoping and crossing my fingers that there will be a second season, although it seems unlikely, because that season finale was just too much to not want to continue watching this!

Look, the other reviewers have covered a lot of points -- acting is pretty good, story lines are engaging. My beef is with how the writers play up the nursing and downplay the "doctoring". Since when is a newbie nurse going to go from general admissions to the ER to a surgical suite, all in the span of a few episodes?

The nurses also tend to diagnose at the patient's bedside, where in reality they have zero training or right to do so. I'm not looking for 100% realism (remember ER?) but it's laughable how much leeway the writers give nursing in this show, distracting from what little suspension of disbelief viewers may have.

A few weeks ago, under my former name of Ruth Ann Renaud, I wrote a review stating that Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan wouldn't have taken five minutes of any of this. Now that I've gotten to see some more episodes and I've gotten more adjusted to the characters, it's good to see that everybody SEEMS to be getting along. The plot line about the father having Alzheimer's disease/senile dementia hits home-my mom and at least two uncles died from it. James LeGros' doctor (who I called "oily") deserves some sympathy having lost a wife. At least he's on a first name basis with the nurses. The young nurse (Michelle Trachtenberg's character) seems to be developing some armor-the way she stood down the wife of her boyfriend was good to watch. Veronica also was good as a surrogate older sister playing "crazy war veteran" with the wife. The usual subplots that are in other medical dramas are here, but putting the emphasis on the nurses gives the show a new perspective. It just gets better every week!

I watched the first episode (as I do with all new shows) to test it. All I can say is that another famous TV nurse with a military background...Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan...wouldn't't have taken five minutes of any of this. Doctors who show no professional respect to a nurse; drunken parents who can't show any sympathy for their daughter's problems; marital/relationship issues; etc....Margaret would've either freaked out or hit somebody just because it felt good to hit someone! I honestly had enough of the oily bearded doctor and the drunken parents after one episode. The younger nurse who couldn't turn off the life support and/or froze in an emergency will be OK after a few episodes. Veronica needs to channel the spirit of Margaret and tell some people to simply take a hike!

The show, Mercy, is not brilliant nor awful. It's somewhat mediocre. Except for Margo Martindale and Michelle Trachtenberg, I never saw any of these actors or actresses before. It's nice to have a show that is set in New Jersey which is also actually filmed here that isn't the Sopranos well except for Teresa Giudice's appearance in one episode. She was the NJ housewife who flipped the table at her dinner party and claimed to be classy. Anyway, Mercy is about an Iraqi veteran nurse who returns home to face her relationships and her life after war. I never heard of the actress but she's okay in the role as Veronica. To me, Margo Martindale is a scene stealer and a veteran character actress who should be in every episode. She's wonderful and deserves to have her name in the first credits like everybody else. She has had a respectable career and given good scripts that she could possibly be Emmy worthy. Well, maybe the writers and producers are reading this. I sure hope so.