Transplant provides an interesting look into a Syrian refugee’s experiences adjusting to a new life in Canada. However, the show’s pacing is off because it blends two genres in a way that creates an uneven tone. Transplant, which was originally aired on CTV in Canada, is half standard medical drama and half drama about rebuilding a life from scratch, which is the much more interesting part.
The pilot episode introduces Bashir “Bash” Hamed (Hamza Haq, The Indian Detective) as an employee at a Middle Eastern restaurant, who approaches Dr. Jed Bishop (John Hannah, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) to ask if the doctor remembered him. Dr. Bishop only knew Bash as the guy who made his dinner, but that changes when a horrific accident leaves everyone in the restaurant in terrible shape. The aftermath left the restaurant looking like a warzone. In some ways it was, no one in Canada knew that Bash was a doctor, yet he had to draw on his warzone experiences to save lives.
For the first half of the episode, you’re wondering why the cops are so racist and why Bash keeps giving everyone reason to believe he was the truck driver and the accident was a planned terrorist attack. If a cop is asking questions and you are in the country legally, you have no reason to run. Though, that wouldn’t create an interesting show. In that case, the plot could be resolved in 15 minutes had everyone acted rationally and communicated rather than behave in ways that only serve to further the plot.
The show should focus on Bash, yet tries to make this an ensemble cast of generically good looking TV doctors who must take care of other patients they have difficulty diagnosing. He’s the most interesting character. He’s a qualified warzone doctor, who cannot legally practice medicine in Canada yet and must navigate a world that automatically assumes he’s a terrorist because of his accent and skin color. Granted, Bash does not do much to dispel their suspicions. He spends most of the pilot roaming around the hospital trying to help doctors, while also trying to escape while carrying around a suspicious package.
Turns out the entire premise of that plot was misdirection. The reason Bash wants to leave the hospital is that his younger sister Amira (Sirena Gulamgaus, Orphan Black) needs to be picked up from class. That suspicious package is simply a birthday present for the 12-year-old girl, who receives the cell phone she wanted. It’s an interesting story. What’s never clear is why the writers felt the need to lead viewers to believe that Amira was his daughter and then recycle that idea for another case, involving a patient Bash helped save, within the same episode.
It’s also strange that the hospital staff jumps to implausible conclusions like Dr. Bishop saved everyone in the restaurant and then drilled a hole in his head. His colleagues may think he’s godlike, but it’s unlikely Dr. Bishop had the presence of mind to relieve pressure in his own brain that would have killed him otherwise. No one stops to think about this until Bash reveals useful medical information he uncovered at the accident scene and follows that up by saving a boy’s life in the ER. In the end, York Memorial Hospital’s staff figures out Bash is a doctor and the one who saved everyone.
I can’t give an unqualified recommendation for Transplant. However, it’s worth sticking around for another episode, as the show still could find its rhythm once Bash joins the hospital staff. Fans of New Amsterdam should find Transplant enjoyable enough to tide them over until the next season. One upside of American TV not filming is that networks find themselves forced to take chances on foreign imports that either never would have made it to the United States or would have been relegated to the “foreign medical drama” category on Netflix. Despite its imperfections, Transplant deserves its spot on NBC’s schedule.
