As Medical Horror month continues on Murder Made Fiction, Jenn and I move into the back half of season one of Peacock’s Dr. Death. We began June with a primer on Dr. Christopher Duntsch (listen) before diving into the series with a look at episodes 1-2 (listen), as well as episodes 3-4 (listen).
As we move into the back half of the season, it’s clear which characters are on the rise…and which are struggling.
Drs. Henderson (Alec Baldwin) and Kirby (Christian Slater) finally begin to make progress within the legal system thanks to ADA Michelle Shughart (AnnaSophia Robb), who manages to crack the case by figuring out they can charge Duntsch with elder abuse.
Meanwhile, the sadistic doctor’s life is falling apart. Not only has his assistant/lover Kim (Grace Gummer) abandoned him, Christopher’s father Don (Fred Lehne) encourages him to declare bankruptcy, and – most tellingly – the surgery that he performs on childhood friend Jerry (Dominic Burgess) goes horribly awry.
The last incident in particular is filmed like a horror sequence – from its treatment as a cliffhanger at the end of an episode to the aftermath, in which Jerry wakes up to discover he’s paralyzed. It’s horrifying, especially given how Duntsch fails to admit wrongdoing or even visit his friend.
This show is truly scary.
Want even more Murder Made Fiction? Be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and I have 115 episodes and 75+ hours of exclusive content including full primers on Duntsch and Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, episode by episode coverage of Dr. Death season 2, a spoiler-y review of David Midell’s The Ritual and 2016’s The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund, and a full primer on her 1928 exorcism.
The post The Horror Gets Personal in the Back Half of ‘Dr. Death’ [Murder Made Fiction Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
