Quincy M.E. (TV Series) The Depth of Beauty (1979) User Reviews

Sadly, I am not sure if things have changed that much since this episode aired.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 20 April 2013]

any doctor can do plastic surgery Jane Greer

The show begins on a very stirring note--a woman, despite her husband's pleas, jumps from a building to her death. During the subsequent autopsy, Quincy notices that despite the damage from the fall, the woman was horribly scarred from a botched plastic surgery. It seems that the woman couldn't stand how she looked and this led to her killing herself. Then, when Quincy learns of another botched surgery from the same doctor, he's out on a crusade to stop this butcher. Yet, again and again, he's frustrated--frustrated that any doctor can do plastic surgery regardless of his or her training and also frustrated because the system moves so slowly to put a stop to such incompetence. Quincy's only chance to convince the court to stop the incompetent doctor is to get a famous actress (Jane Greer) to come forward and show the world how he turned her into a deformed creature.

Sometimes I like the 'crusader Quincy' episodes and occasionally I don't. This one worked well for me and was a very emotional episode. Plus, although the show aired well over thirty years ago, this sort of problem STILL exists--as gynecologists, psychiatrist and podiatrists CAN open up a plastic surgery practice without no specialized training. Overall, the show packs a great emotional wallop and it's as good now as when it first aired.

Out of the past

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 20 March 2024]

A woman jumps to her death from a building because of the disfigurement caused by a botched cosmetic surgery operation. Quincy does the autopsy and finds the scars on her face. He questions the grieving husband who talks about the doctor who did it. When Quincy goes to the doctor he pretty much blows Quincy off when he mentions his concerns about his face peels on women of olive skin color who are not candidates for the operation. The doctor is just fine with his profitable assembly line and will not change his ways at all.

It also comes out that the doctor is board certified, not in surgery but in gynecology. In spite of another victim coming forward, nothing seems like it will happen until a third appears. The difference with the third is that she is a former Hollywood star from the 40s and 50s, and still has tons of fans. But for that very reason she will not come forward and destroy her fans' image of her. Complications ensue.

I saw this episode in its original run, and not being into classic film at the time I of course didn't recognize Jane Greer playing the disfigured star of yesteryear. Those are actual pictures of her strewn about her chamber of solitude, as well as clips from her films back in the day.

This is not exactly one of Quincy's issue episodes, as he is after one specific bad actor in the medical community, but it does stretch past the solving of an individual case as has been the tradition on Quincy up to this point, so it is a signpost to the future of the show.

Alright Quincy episode.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 20 February 2008]

Quincy M.E.: The Depth of Beauty starts late one night on top of an eighteen storey Los Angeles apartment block as forty seven year old Sheila Connors (Joanna Patrice) commits suicide by jumping off the roof. Los Angeles coroner Quincy (Jack Klugman) records the death as suicide but he is puzzled & intrigued by extensive scarring on her face, after speaking to her husband (Ryan MacDonald) Quincy learns that his wife committed suicide because of the state cosmetic surgeon Dr. Emile Green (Garnett Smith) left her face in. Quincy investigates Green & discovers that he is not a trained plastic surgeon, he has left countless women dead or horribly mutilated & can get away with it as there are no provisions in the law to stop him. Outraged Quincy becomes determined to stop Green operating on people & get the inadequate laws changed...

Episode 13 from season 4 this Quincy story was directed by Ray Danton & is alright but I can't work up much more enthusiasm up for it than that, The Depth of Beauty is more of a moral episodes where Quincy ends up on some social crusade against red tape, inadequate laws & bureaucracy. Here Quincy tackles the unlicensed cosmetic surgery trade & those who get rich from it but aren't properly trained or qualified, it's one of those stories which is hard to relate to since I really do think things have changed. In the year 2008 I just couldn't see a doctor getting away with some of the things Green does, I mean we live a 'compensation culture' type society where we sue everyone & everything for all we can get & someone like Green just wouldn't be able to continue operating today in any civilised Western country & I firmly believe that. The murder here is by default, there's no mystery elements & one could say it's a trifle predictable. Still having said that I always enjoy watching Quincy shout at people, get angry & try to blame everyone for everything but sometimes that just isn't enough. It's OK for the type of episode it is but I wouldn't call it a classic.

The Depth of Beauty is one of the very few Quincy episodes which doesn't feature Lt. Monahan at all (despite his name still appearing in the opening credits), even at Danny's at the end he is oddly missing. There is a fairly effective scene in this when one of Green's victims reveals the extent of her facial injuries & scars to the camera & it's a pretty decent make-up job with lots of scars & a droopy slanted eye. The acting is alright by all involved.

The Depth of Beauty is an average moralistic conscience pricking episode of Quincy, it's watchable & fine for what it is but in my opinion it's not any sort of classic.

Stupid, irresponsible and incompetent episode

[rayoflite24 · 4/10 · 20 September 2015]

The Depth of Beauty begins with a disfigured woman committing suicide by jumping from the rooftop of her high-rise apartment building. Quincy (Jack Klugman) conducts the autopsy and is baffled over the extensive scarring on her face which was clearly the result of a cosmetic surgery gone bad. He meets with her husband who advises Quincy that she was so distraught over the work done by her surgeon, Dr. Emile Green (Garnett Smith), that she felt suicide was her only option. When questioned by Quincy, Dr. Green denies any responsibility and callously blames the victim infuriating Quincy and putting him on a mission to shut him down. Quincy meets with representatives from the District Attorneys office who confirm that they have a stack of complaints against the incompetent doctor, but are lacking the evidence to do anything about in terms of criminal charges under the law. This prompts Quincy to take out a newspaper ad in an effort to locate additional victims of incompetent plastic surgeries so that they may obtain the evidence needed to move forward, and a former actress named Dorrie Larkin (Jane Greer) who was also disfigured by Dr. Green responds.

I was shocked that this episode is rated as highly as it is here because I found it to be astoundingly incompetent and stupid. First off, if there had been so many quality of care and wrongful death complaints filed with the DA's office against this doctor, why was none of this coordinated with the state review board for revocation of his medical license if criminal charges could not be filed? There was plenty of compelling evidence to warrant this and the medical review board has a lower burden of proof than a criminal court. Instead, we have Quincy, a medical professional himself, meeting with two other legal and medical professionals at the DA's office and this doesn't occur to any of them?? It isn't until later at the lab that Dr. Asten (John S. Ragin) finally suggests this obvious avenue to Quincy. Ridiculous!!

I also could not believe the storyline involving the mother who lost her daughter after Dr. Green left her with an open wound following surgery. If it was as horrendous as she described where she could "see her insides", why would you have not taken her to the hospital immediately for treatment rather than waiting for two days making unsuccessful calls to the surgeon's office. Stupid!!

I also wasn't buying that out of all these horrendous medical complaints that not a single one of them resulted in a huge medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Green. Some of the victims and lawyers definitely would have taken him on in the courts and put him out of business.

Finally, I found the whole nobody is willing to do anything or take action against this doctor until a big celebrity (Dorrie Larkin) gets involved to be an extremely irresponsible and misleading message. How was her case different from any of the others and such a game changer? It is not necessary for a celebrity to come forward to stop egregious behavior as described in this story and any citizen has the power to do so by contacting the proper government authorities, legal professionals and media. To suggest otherwise was so offensive.

Overall, an extremely poor Season 4 episode with no mystery whatsoever and plenty of misinformation and stupidity all around.