Dr. Death

Well I can definitely say that Christian Slater nailed Dr. Randall Kirby's personality. Please no offense Dr. Kirby I owe you a great debt. It was quite difficult for me to watch my surgery was quite accurate the gentleman that portrayed me in the movie did a great job I think his name was Joe I found the actor on Instagram and we communicated he asked if I looked anything like him I told him no I was a overweight middle-aged white guy we both had a good laugh. The story was extremely accurate to my recollection.

I am left with a condition called adhesive arachnoiditis it's extremely painful and gets worse as time goes on. Medical bills are never ending. The movie was great please watch the documentary.

Thanks to everyone who participated in making the film I greatly appreciate the hard work.

First - IMDB please allow people to do different ratings for different seasons- especially for anthology type shows like this!

Second- I think I liked season 1 more but pretty close ratings wise.

S1 I had not listened to podcasts or anything just some general chit chat so I didn't know much. S2- I'd seen the Netflix special before.

After watching both S1 and S2 I did watch the actual Dr Death documentaries so this review is written with those contexts.

There were a few dramatized things in s2 I wasn't a fan of (namely her sneaking into the Barcelona house after the overly dramatic this propert doesn't exist and having her friend go to the door to allow her time to sneak out, which we know didn't really happy. We see from the actual videos in the car there were 3 friends and they drive near and just saw the kids). I don't think that added anything to fake that.

As much as I love MM, and I love seeing her in something and she is gorgeous- this wasn't it for her. Had I not seen the real person I would have thought she was great (so nothing on her at all) just bad casting.

Main character was pretty good casting but they never gave him that bad hair cut I saw in reality.

I did like the liberal take on the dude characters- the American - loved him in marvelous Mrs maisel, English girl was great as Ashley in revenge (I've disconcerted why she hadn't been in more since!). We know on these the there are more liberties taken with accuracy of side characters.

Overall it's obviously an attention grabbing story.

And scary. All those CVs that don't add up. Nobody ever checked?!? Hmmmm.

Overall. Very good. Some incongruities for me as far as story telling and how they cut episodes but an entertaining watch.

Set over the course of several years, the series follows Christopher Duntsch (Joshua Jackson) from his formative college years to eventually becoming a medical doctor and surgeon. Over the course of his career at hospitals all over the state of Texas Dr. Duntsch is involved in the maiming or death of 33 patients while facing no disciplinary action or suspension. Two medical doctors Randall Kirby (Christian Slater) and Robert Henderson (Alec Baldwin) team up to try and find a way to stop Duntsch and prevent him from harming more patients.

Based on the Wondery podcast of the same name, Dr. Death chronicles the true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch the disgraced and now incarcerated former neurosurgeon who was nicknamed "Dr. Death" when details of his surgeries came to light. The show does a respectable job telling its true life story respectfully and with purpose telling a story of not only a malignant narcissist and sociopath, but also the layers of bureaucratic buck passing and deceptive and misleading documentation that covered for Dr. Duntsch's actions for the sake of protecting public image, prestige, and dodging legal liability.

Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater are terrific as Doctors Henderson and Kirby and have great chemistry with Baldwin's more serious level headed planner well complimented by Slater's more laid back and loose attitude making them for an endearing and likable set of heroes. But by far the biggest asset in the show is Joshua Jackson as "Dr. Death" Duntsch himself. From the first time we meet Duntsch he absolutely oozes with contempt. Alternating between a veneer of smug and phony unearned confidence that has the same level of slimy appeal as a used car salesman and a searing intensity of rage, insecurity, jealousy, and paranoia that gives the man the level of threat on par with a live wire next to a puddle. It's a brilliant performance by Jackson and great examination of a terrible person.

Dr. Death does struggle getting viewers hooked thanks to a tendency to jump around the timeline with multiple sequences taking place at different points in Duntsch's past intercut with the ongoing investigation with Kirby and Henderson. While the title text does give us a sense of time and place I'd often find myself lost briefly wondering if certain events took place before others thanks to the non linear storytelling. While the time jumps can be disorienting I did eventually find myself settling into the show's rhythm and was able to become fully immersed.

Dr. Death is not an easy sit and will be a haunting experience for many viewers. With its cold analytical narrative detailing actions of inhuman callousness and indifference there will be many viewers who will not be able to stomach this series for the surgery scenes alone (not that they're excessively gory, but they are intense). With that said, the show is a well made and well-acted story that tries to do justice to the victims and understand why this happened and who was responsible. Highly recommended.

My Review - Dr Death Streaming on Stan

My Rating 8/10

Just imagine the shock of coming out of what you've been told by your Doctor is a fairly routine operation only to discover that your now a quadriplegic or worse ?

Now imagine that the charismatic charming Doctor who has performed your operation is really an arrogant sinister surgeon who's later mental diagnosis is described as a psychopath with malignant narcissistic tendencies.

The most disturbing aspect of this series is that it's not fiction . It's an account of real events that occurred in Texas U. S. A. Around 2012 2013. The series is based on the hit podcast inspired by the terrifying true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch.

After building a flourishing neurosurgery practice, everything suddenly changes when two fellow surgeons Dr Randall Kirby (Christian Slater ) and Dr Robert Henderson (Alec Baldwin)start to investigate Dr Christopher Duntsch's increasing record of botched operations that resulted in the maiming and deaths of a number of patients.

That's enough of the story as it's the process of Dr Duntsch's eventual trial and conviction that's the focal point of this 8 part series.

It's on the public record that Duntsch was accused of injuring 33 out of 38 patients in less than two years before his license was revoked by the Texas Medical Board and in 2017, was convicted of maiming one of his patients and sentenced to life imprisonment.

It's the performances in Dr Death that make this series so worth watching especially Joshua Jackson as Dr Christopher Duntsch .

A friend of mine who lives in Texas says the resemblance between the actor and the real "Doctor" is uncanny. I read that Dr. Duntch was originally to be played by Jamie Dornan (The Fall, Fifty Shades of Grey) only to be replaced by Joshua Jackson due to conflicts from COVID 19. Dornan and his family were in New York for filming as the Pandemic hit the US and the Country began to shut down.

As much as I admire Jamie Dornan I think Joshua Jackson was the better choice for this complex role. His performance is quite spellbinding pretending to be the caring and optimistic Surgeon but once you know he has the mind of a serial killer who actively recruits his next victims for the operating table he shows a chilling indifference to the tragic outcomes of his malpractice and no guilt or regret what so ever.

One assisting nurse later described the experience of observing Dr Duntch operating procedure to a doctor, "It was like he learned what to do just so he could do the opposite." Christian Slater is also wonderfull in the role of Dr Randall Kirby who's dislike and determination to expose Duntch with the tenacity of a fox terrier killing a snake . He's an interesting character with a sharp tongue and full on personality that gets him offside with a few of the authoritarian figures in the Texas medical community .

The other stand out performances are Alec Baldwin as the more reserved Senior Dr Robert Henderson who is as keen to bring Duntch to trial but takes a more cautious approach .

Dominic Burgess gives a great performance as Jerry Summers an associate and friend of Dr Duntch who refuses to believe the tragic outcome that Duntch has inflicted on his life.

Two very impressive women play important roles in Dr Death one is Grace Gummer as a Nurse and lover of Christopher Duntch .

If you close your eyes Grace Gummer sounds so much like her mother Meryl Streep its very obvious that she has inherited her Mums great acting talent.

The other impressive female role is AnnaSophia Rob as the young prosecutor Michelle Shughart who finds the only appropriate and effective charge to put Duntch behind bars or life.

An impressive script of 7 writers , and excellent direction by three women So Yong Kim, Maggie Kiley and Jennifer Morrison help make Dr Death an interesting and compelling series but a warning if blood or operations make you queasy perhaps this series is not for you ?

What I found most disturbing and I suspect or hope couldn't occur in Australia because of our strict reporting regulations was the fact that what Dr Christopher Duntsch, committed were hideous crimes but the true scandal is that some of Texas's leading hospitals, such as Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Plano and Dallas Medical Center, quietly passed him on-letters of recommendation in hand-to other clinics, where he could continue to solicit and harm other patients.

As is shown at the end of the series unless changes are made these events could occur again in Texas and the U. S. A.

I felt 8 episodes was a little long, and the constant jumping back and forth along the timeline felt unnecessary at times, however there was some top tier acting and I really enjoyed the chemistry between Slater and Baldwin. Overall a well executed story.