Dr. Death

Jackson's vacant-eyed stare will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, as it reveals the hollowness within Duntsch's core. .... Dr. Death hails from creator Patrick Macmanus (Marco Polo), and I can offer high praise to both him and the show's directors Maggie Kiley, Jennifer Morrison, and especially So Yong Kim, all of whom milk the suspense here for all it's worth.

The writing, directing, and performances combine to make a taunt eight hours of TV, one that you will most likely quickly binge your way through. You’ll also be left with the unsettling knowledge that this is a true story, that this could and probably will happen again. That it could happen to you.

The most striking aspect of this story, perhaps, is the current of plausibility that runs through it all, that says this is what can happen, this is what did happen to the victims of someone revered as an authority, like Duntsch. Plausibility that says, too, that despite the severed arteries and deadly surgeries, voices of sanity do sometimes prevail, justice does often triumph. And it’s shown doing so in this impressive series.

The actors are also working at a level above the mechanical script. It hardly matters if the series around him understands Duntsch, because Jackson plays him with chilling consistency, so committed to his character’s commitment to his own brilliance and infallibility that you occasionally find yourself believing.

Stitched together, the two halves make for a lumpy, if occasionally gripping, whole.

Duntsch’s story would be tough to stitch up in even the steadiest of auteur’s hands. Hats off to Macmanus and directors Maggie Kiley, Jennifer Morrison and So Yong Kim for their ambitious vision, not to mention the ace cast. At the same time, it’s a shame that Dr. Death is too often so dull.

Jackson glowers evilly out from behind prosthetic makeup intended to give him the appearance of a heavier man; it’s a special effect that doesn’t work, but the actor almost manages to push past it. What’s around him works less well.