DVD Reviews

Off The Map – DVD Review

By Patrick Luce Aug 28, 2011, 19:00 GMT

From the Golden Globe(R) winning creators of "Grey\'s Anatomy" comes a riveting drama about a team of idealistic young doctors committed to saving lives and pushing the boundaries of medicine with nothing but brains, instincts, and the untapped healing powers of the unchartered jungle. Experience all the excitement of "Off the Map: The Complete Series". It may be lush and tropical, but it\'s a far cry from paradise... Welcome to ...more

Off the Map takes the medicine and romance formula of Grey’s Anatomy and throws it into the jungles of a remote South American village. The DVD release collects all 13 episodes of the series that was cancelled by ABC right as its cast was starting to gel and grow in the roles.

Created by Jenna Bans (who executive produced with Grey's Anatomy’s Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers) the series followed a group of young good looking doctors who are roughing it in the jungle to bring medicine to the poor people of the area – along with the cocaine farmers and all the tourist who seem to also pick the place for a vacation spot.

The series starred Martin Henderson, Jason Winston George, Valerie Cruz, Caroline Dhavernas, Zach Gilford, Mamie Gummer, Rachelle Lefevre, and Jonathan Castellanos. The series also saw guest star appearances from the legendary Cheech Marin and the talented Elizabeth Peña.

The series kicks off with young doctors Lily Brenner (Dhavernas), Tommy Fuller (Gilford) and Mina Minard (Gummer - who is also the daughter of the great Meryl Streep) arriving at the clinic and being thrown in head first to jungle medicine.

The clinic’s established doctors, Zita Alvarez (Cruz), Otis Cole (George), Ben Keeton (Henderson), and Ryan Clark (Lefevre), have little time for the newbies and see every medical emergency as a test of the clinic’s ability. The show also quickly establishes it will be a blend of traditional medicine and jungle remedies – as ants are used in place of stitches and heroin is used when they can’t find morphine.

There will also be a variety of doctors hooking up with the locals and each other as the 13 episodes play out. Keeton (the clinic’s owner and bad boy doctor) is in a rocky relationship with Clark (who develops a deadly condition by the season’s end) while hanging on to a comatose wife so he can keep the clinic open. Zita and Otis (who has a drug history) are friends with benefits who might have a chance for more.

The new docs quickly find love in the wild as well with Lily first falling for Keeton before melting for a cocaine farmer named Mateo (Gonzalez). Fuller falls for a local girl before falling for Minard – who has fallen for a hippie Christian missionary with a habit walking barefoot at a construction site because Jesus was a carpenter who walked barefoot.

The series quickly falls into a formulaic feel with the doctors having to deal with hurt tourist (zip-lines can be a very dangerous way to spend an afternoon); a local with a medical problem no real clinic like that could solve; and their own pesky relationships that manage to never get in the way of the medicine.

Although it only lasted for 13 episodes, the DVD set does come with some decent special features – which include deleted scenes, outtakes, a look at the series’ jungle setting and medicine.

While it never had the immediate chemistry and likeability of Grey’s Anatomy, the series was starting to come together towards the end of the 13 episodes. Sadly, it took too long to get going, and was taken off life-support before there was a chance for a pulse.

The actors all manage to do a good job in their roles while looking like they stepped off a GQ photo-shoot despite being in the jungle. The show just never offered enough to make it stand out from all the other medical/romance shows on television.

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