Style: October 30, 2020
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86 <strong>Style</strong> | Watch<br />
What to watch<br />
Think you’ve seen it all? Think again.<br />
Transplant (TVNZ OnDemand)<br />
You could be forgiven for thinking this is just another<br />
hospital television series. After all, in the first episode a<br />
truck ploughs into a restaurant and Syrian refugee and<br />
doctor Bashir Hamed (Hamza Haq), who works in the<br />
kitchen, is brandishing a drill within minutes. But this is<br />
one with a poignant narrative.<br />
The relationship between Bashir and his young sister<br />
Amira underpins it all, as he juggles raising her, keeping a<br />
roof over their heads, pushing down his own traumatic<br />
experiences in Syria, while managing a residency at<br />
York Memorial. His unique set of skills gained from<br />
working in a war zone are called into play, raising a few<br />
eyebrows among his colleagues.<br />
The series has a breadth of strong characters,<br />
including fellow resident Dr Magalie Leblanc (Laurence<br />
Leboeuf) and boss Dr Jed Bishop (John Hannah),<br />
whose head Bashir drills into during the first episode<br />
(but in a vein that is a relief from the stereotypical ones<br />
you often see in such series). It peels back the layers,<br />
exposing the frustration and terror immigrants face,<br />
alongside a slow telling of Bashir’s personal trauma as he<br />
struggles to keep it tightly under control.<br />
EDITOR KATE<br />
WATCHED<br />
Bad Blood (Netflix)<br />
It’s gangs, guns and drugs in a fast-paced, highly<br />
addictive Canadian crime drama that had audible<br />
gasps coming from my end of the couch.<br />
The mafia power struggle is real. Fuelled by money<br />
and revenge, series one is inspired by the antics of<br />
Montreal’s Rizzuto family. It gets more twisted as the<br />
episodes progress, with the Italian family’s loyalty and<br />
love getting tested time and time again.<br />
Series two sticks with organised crime but the<br />
stakes are raised higher. Departing from reality, it<br />
remains just as good, if not better – something that’s<br />
rare these days, let’s be honest. A new generation<br />
moves in and they are brutal.<br />
The characters are so good you can’t help but<br />
root for the bad guy. Heck, there aren’t any good<br />
guys anyway.<br />
I sure hope series three gets back on track soon<br />
– creator Simon Barry and writer Michael Konyves<br />
are on to a very good thing.<br />
Hamza Haq plays Syrian refugee and doctor Bashir<br />
Hamed in Transplant.<br />
DEPUTY EDITOR<br />
SHELLEY IS<br />
WATCHING
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