‘Critical' Is a Powerful and Unflinching Hospital Docuseries
All the action of the show is riveting, and all the health care providers are calm and competent. Doctors here share their own histories of catastrophic loss and trauma, and some of the most profound healing they offer their patients is not in the operating room but at the bedside. 'We're going to make Jack a new forehead and eye socket!' one surgeon chirps, assembling bone fragments and mesh to reconstruct a man's face. During a consultation, Jack begins to panic, and a real horror sweeps over him. The doctor takes his hand, and the two grip each other with a mutual, desperate intensity.
Where 'Critical' loses some ground is in how goosed its story lines are and how much it adopts the styles of generic streaming true-crime documentaries. We hear from patients' loved ones before we hear from the patients themselves, which drags out the 'Wait, did they live or die?' in ways that feel cheap and scuzzy. Talking-head segments are blue-toned and somber and appear to be filmed in abandoned warehouses. The show uses the same footage repeatedly, and its super-up-close B-roll is generic.
These choices dim but do not extinguish the show's power. 'Critical' beautifully captures the fragility and vulnerability of life — and the paradoxical resilience that can come from accepting its cruel randomness.
And while that is a universal experience, an American viewer cannot help but notice that no one here is being treated for a gunshot wound, and no one is terrified of choking to death on medical debt. Patients repeatedly express their gratitude to the N.H.S. and say how cared for they feel, how supported, how relieved.
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I'm going back on reality TV. Here's what it costs me to look camera-ready.
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The show gathers alums from across the Netflix reality universe (and starting this season, the broader reality TV-dating universe) to see who can build the strongest relationships. Eleven men and 11 women pile into a swanky villa in Tulum, Mexico, where they party, hook up, trade partners and complete challenges to see who is the most compatible. Whichever pair earns the title walks away with a free couples' vacation. As the show returns for Season 3 on Aug. 8, we chatted with cast members Amber Desiree 'AD' Smith, Juliette Porter and Sandy Gallagher to find out how they prepared to be constantly camera-ready in the tropical heat. AD Smith Last seen on: Love Is Blind Season 6 Estimated cost of show preparation: $5,000 to $6,000 Hot tip: Start shopping online early. Smith stole the hearts of Love Is Blind fans as a reliable, relatable source of commentary on Season 6, and she was open to finding love again on Perfect Match. When she got the final green light to join the cast, Smith tells Yahoo, she had about two weeks to get ready to film. Then, 'it's the reality TV show, hair, nails and clothes Olympics,' she says with a laugh. Because this process can be both a marathon and a sprint, Smith usually gives herself a head start by filling her online shopping carts with items she thinks she'd need for filming around the time that producers tell her she's being 'highly considered.' Then, she does some math. 'You're like, OK, if I'm probably gonna be there for about 30 days… I need an outfit for relaxing, lunch, breakfast, dinner, dates [and] challenges.' Because Perfect Match involves a lot of pool time, that worked out to an 'unlimited' supply of bikinis, plus 'maybe 20' of everything else 'just in case.' While producers typically suggest cast members bring two suitcases for the course of filming, Smith won't take any risks. 'I've shown up to sets in these islands with three and four suitcases, and I don't feel bad about it,' she says. All told, Smith estimates that her Perfect Match preparations cost somewhere in the thousands. It costs $700 to get her hair braided to withstand the tropical climate, and then she adds clothes, shoes, accessories and cosmetics on top of that. During her first reality show appearance on Love Is Blind, she covered all of her own expenses. This time around, she reveals, 'your girl got a little bit blessed' — and brands sent her some supplies, which cut down her costs. It's not just about what you wear. Leaving the country means you have to be careful about which skin care products you bring; anything deemed oversize could be confiscated during travel, Smith says. Because of this, she got a facial ahead of the season. Knowing she'd be in a bikini all the time, she upped her usual cardio routine by spinning on her Peloton and doing Pilates. Smith has two tips for anyone considering going on reality television: Time your Botox carefully and do your own nails. 'I always get my Botox before I get cast, and then I go back to my doctor, and she's like, 'Absolutely not. I'm not giving you anything else,'' she says. 'I haven't been able to get any Botox for my shows because I didn't know I was going to be cast for them, and I got it too soon. But every time I get back [from filming], I go right to my doctor.' And as for the nails? She says just bring press-ons. Smith's biggest regret is getting a Russian manicure, which eventually grew out. She's since realized that 'you can pack your own UV light and do your own nails while you're there. Because once they grow out, it's a wrap.' Juliette Porter Last seen on: Siesta Key Season 5 Estimated spend: More than $6,000 Hot tip: Triple-check your packing list. Porter was still a teenager when Siesta Key first debuted on MTV in 2017. 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