y’all only like night shift because their flaws have been exclusively implied in very missable throw away lines (and towards people y’all don’t sympathize with anyway).
ellis told trinity nobody gave a shit how tired, traumatized, or exhausted she was when trinity was on the fourteenth hour of her twelve hour shift. a season of that, to more universally sympathetic characters, will NOT be palatable to a lot of gen z. ellis doesn’t care if junior residents are overworked, she doesn’t coddle or encourage. she is a tough love, ‘put me in coach,’ rub some dirt on it kind of person, and the gen z viewership will become overly critical of her life philosophy that demands a lot of grit.
shen is insensitive and detached. robby was wondering where his step son was, there was a mass casualty rolling in, and shen was relaxed enough to sip on his dunkin. he was bothering robby about if he could get thanksgiving and christmas off that year. shen’s blasé attitude will start to grate on people as he extends that lack of fucks given to more patients and coworkers than just robby.
jack is not the woke guy everyone projects him to be. i believe they kept him far away from the ICE episode because the writers had no truly satisfying answer to how jack’s character would act in that situation. this man participated in imperialism for free college and healthcare (or for valor which is even worse). he continues to listen to police scanners and joins SWAT. he is on the side of the establishment as it relates to exerting force. he may have unpacked some conservative values, but there will be nuance there that will make black and white thinkers very uncomfortable.
the night shift doctors characterization is much less developed, but the seeds of complexity are there. ellis hates whining, shen is largely emotionally removed from any patient outcomes, jack is a mess of contradictions. people just can’t pick up on that because they watch the show while scrolling through their phone.
you. don’t. want. night. shift. you want to know less about the characters so you can continue to project your values onto them.
