The description for USA's Complications starts out sounding like a USA series. Well, the part about the suburban ER doctor does. But nothing else about the intense looking drama seems to fit the USA mould, which generally mixes a colorful backdrop with quirky characters and unusual career situations. There's no humor or quirkiness in the trailer for Complications, only blood, guns and a doctor who looks like he's at the end of his rope when he's faced with what proves to be a life-altering situation.
We see Jason O'Mara's Dr. John Ellis looking extremely frustrated over losing a patient. The narration speaks of that one moment during a person's death when they might have been saved, and how that moment usually happens at some point before they get to the hospital. That brings us to Ellis, losing it in his car. Nearby, a young boy is gunned down in the streets. What do you know? Ellis is in running distance of this kid. He's there for that moment. And he's there to protect the child against the killers who are coming back to finish the job.
From there, it looks like Ellis gets mixed up in a major situation, as the kid's father calls him at the hospital, urging him to protect the child. And it looks like Ellis is willing to do just that. Maybe he's tired of losing patients over issues that are out of his control. Maybe something in him snapped and he's just going to do whatever it takes to make sure this kid survives. The description for the series notes that Elli is compelled to save this child at any cost, and that he "discovers that his life and his outlook on medicine may never be the same."
Everything we glimpse in the trailer makes that pretty obvious, but I'm curious about the direction of the show. Will protecting the child be a recurring thing, or is the focus going to shift to this doctor's complications with the people trying to kill the kid? Or is this whole ordeal going to be wrapped up in the first episode, after which Ellis is a changed man and that's the direction of the series? It's too soon to say, but either way, it looks interesting.
While Complications looks like a new turn for USA, it actually comes from Matt Nix, who's familiar enough with the cable network, thanks to his thriller-drama Burn Notice.
USA ordered Complications to series earlier this year. The 10-episode first season is expected to air at some point in 2015. So we have a little while to wait for this one. But it looks like it has definite potential to be a thrilling new drama for the network.
USA released the Complications trailer during this year's Upfront presentation. They also released previews for their upcoming medical-fixer drama Rush and another new summer drama headed to the cable channel this year, Satisfaction. Check those out here. USA's summer season gets going in a matter of weeks. Check out their schedule of new and returning dramas, including Suits and Graceland here.
