While shows with strong female leads, such as “Bones” or “Alias,” are not new, rarely do these shows get more than one strong main actress. ABC’s new show “Black Box” stars Kelly Reilly (“Sherlock Holmes”) as Dr. Catherine Black, a world-famous neuroscientist with a secret known only to the other main female character, Dr. Helen Hartramph (Vanessa Redgrave, “The Butler”), Black’s psychiatrist. The one thing holding Black back from curing every brain disease on the planet is that she is bipolar, and the medication she takes to deal with her disorder dulls her fabulous intellect.
On the surface, this seems like a good premise for a show, much like a female version of Fox’s “House,” but more heavily focused on brain disorders than of lupus. Even giving the main character bipolar disorder could be a step forward in helping the public understand a condition that is often fictionalized beyond recognition. But ABC seems to have fallen far short of that goal. Black’s mood swings are more reminiscent of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde than any real situation. In order to free her mind from the medical restraints of her treatment, Black flushes them from her system. This causes her to embark on a psychedelic road trip that includes her tearing the clothes off at least one man. Every one of these trips can be identified by the jazz saxophone which plays in the background.
Meanwhile, the entire show is set against the backdrop of a session with Hartramph, who provides the sensible voice of reason for the episode. The other characters on the show are apparently oblivious to her condition, because rambling speeches about being “medicated into mediocrity” are not enough to tip off an entire room filled with brilliant scientists who study brain disorders for a living. Also unbelievable is her new fiancé, Will Van Renseller (David Ajala, “The Dark Knight”), who just found out about her disorder, which apparently went unnoticed by him as well as her scientific colleagues.
The other characters on the show, which include her brother Josh (David Chisum, “One Life to Live”) and her co-worker Dr. Ian Bickman, played by Australian actor Ditch Davey (“Spartacus: War of the Damned”), seem shallow and stereotypical. Josh is the supportive older brother who, as one of the few people who knows her secret, must help convince her, time and time again, to take her meds, which will immediately bring her back to normal so she can cure another seemingly incurable disease.
Bickman, on the other hand, is a dashing womanizer whose only real purpose appears to be as eye candy for the show’s potential female viewers. The only highlight of the show is the acting ability of Redgrave, whose immense talent is clearly wasted on such a poor quality show.
While the series has good intentions, the poorly written characters and unlikely situations paint a terrible picture in the eyes of viewers of an already misunderstood disease. ABC has picked it up for an entire season, but for the sake of everyone suffering from bipolar disorder, it should be canceled as soon as possible. “Black Box” airs at 9/8c Thursday nights on ABC.
