Red Band Society: Pilot

September 21, 2014 11:58 AM - Season 1, Episode 1

Teenagers in a hospital get to know each other.

A child in a coma narrates -- A mean cheerleader falls -- Coma boy talks in a dream -- Will pizza wake up Coma boy?

Other fall premieres discussion

posted by Margalo Epps (5 comments total)

I only half-watched this episode, and it's borderline interesting, but leaning towards too unrealistic for me to take seriously. The whole thing feels like Breakfast Club in the Children's Ward. And I've never been to a long-term care child's ward, but Cancer Survivor's very personal room seemed like pure TV myth.

From Verity's review: When Coma boy talks about what he misses in his life, one of the things listed is “yanking my chain”. What on earth does this mean in the context of a nine year old?

Kids pick up weird things, and can even understand enough to fit strange-sounding phrases into their vocabulary properly. Kids can get hassled or harassed, and if an adult refers to that treatment as someone yanking your chain, the kid might latch onto that, even though the phrase sounds dated, or more suitable for a high school principal in a TV show.

Also, The New Kid looks like the kid brother of Win Butler from Arcade Fire, which messes with my brain a bit.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:11 PM on September 21, 2014

I'm going through a difficult time and this was perfect. Despite the fact I originally disliked the promos, it kind of was fun.

Terribly unrealistic? Yeah. But there was such a sense of hope I found myself drawn in.

I do love myself some Octavia Spencer but I'm beyond tired of the sassy black nurse role. I'm black and it's just grating on me.

Charlie (coma boy) is both the most annoying and unrealistic character. For some reason the fact he looks utterly at peace is more bothersome to me than all these kids with various ailments not looking sick at all.

The only character I think is pointless is Dash. Clearly Astro can't act at all so I hope they never use him for more than comic relief.

I really like Emma. I don't know why.
posted by Aranquis at 5:00 PM on September 21, 2014

I didn't much care for Charlie's narration, but I weirdly liked his talking to people who had passed out. Somehow bringing it away from reality into magic realism made the show more interesting to me. It's a bit less cookie cutter for me. (Though none of the characters have really branched out from their tropes yet.)
posted by Margalo Epps at 5:51 PM on September 21, 2014

Breakfast Club set in a completely unrealistic pediatric hospital is pretty much like a Krispy Kreme doughnut box of deliciousness. The whole thing was dumb, but still awesome.
posted by viggorlijah at 12:22 AM on September 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

I'm beyond tired of the sassy black nurse role.

I kept thinking of this as I watched a bit more, and I have to say, yeah, you called it. And if that's the stereotype a show is starting with, how exactly do you make that better in future episodes?
posted by Margalo Epps at 10:26 PM on October 19, 2014