Rush (2014)

Rush is a pretty good pilot that could turn into an excellent addition to USA's lineup of complicated character dramas.

Basically, Rush is USA’s answer to “House,” albeit with a younger, hotter doctor. Unlike “Satisfaction,” Rush doesn’t seem overly serialized, which keeps it in line with traditional USA series, only this one is more gray-sky than blue-sky programming.

Ellis has one great, understated moment, when Sarah (Odette Annable), the love of his life, confronts him about his failings, and you can see Rush realizes the gulf between the man he is and the man he’d like to be is a chasm he’ll never be able to breach. The show needs more of this. But no, it backs away from the edge.

Rush lacks the sunny disposition--and the "MacGyver"-like skills--of his "Royal Pains" counterpart, and while Ellis exudes a certain dangerous charm, I found it wearing thin before the first episode was over.

Rush is apparently a fine surgeon, but whoever is writing this show needs to transplant more personality into him. The bad behavior and occasional wisecracks in the first episode aren’t enough.

The ludicrous medical melodrama Rush is a reminder that, if you push the envelope too hard without the compensating virtues of wit or even an iota of humanity and realism, the impulse is to push back.

The show and its central character are thoroughly repulsive.