Shanks and Durance Shine in Episode 2 of NBC's 'Saving Hope' Medical Drama

Saving Hope, one of NBC's new dramatic shows, aired its second episode on June 14. Series star Michael Shanks, who plays the comatose Chief of Surgery, Charlie Harris, tweeted recently that the shows get better as the season progresses. In fact, the pilot show that debuted last week was actually filmed a year ago, whereas the bulk of the season began filming a few months ago.

The second show, Contact, starts three days after the accident that left Charlie in a coma with his fiance, Alex (Erica Durance), caring for him as she continues her surgical duties at Hope Zion Hospital. The episode begins with a cute good morning bit and then gets into the drama.

Michelle Nolden guest stars as Dawn Bell, Charlie's ex-wife. She was fantastic. Shanks tweeted tonight about her, "Michelle Nolden plays her part very well. Very well."

There is a great face off between Dawn and Alex. Dawn actually has a point and she challenges Alex about doing everything possible to get Charlie to wake up, including coma arousal therapy.

Also on this episode is Jake Goodman in the role of
Cal Lewis, a young boy who codes in the ER and sees Charlie. He and Charlie end up having a neat conversation. Charlie even shows him a dead body and such as they talk. It is almost surreal, but I actually enjoyed it.

The show does have some humor in it. Early on, Charlie is reading a magazine article along with a man. When the man suddenly closes the magazine, Charlie retorts, "Thanks, Buddy, I wasn't done yet." It's a brief bit of comedy. Then Charlie hears music. It turns out to be Dawn, playing Charlie's favorite song through headphones she has place on his head. He does respond, the spiritual Charlie at least.

What I wanted was more of Charlie's reaction to Dawn. He's quite stoic about her, and yet she is showing nothing but kindness and caring for him. She was not an adversary in my book and yet Alex treats her like one. It really shows the wall that Alex has up. She is almost afraid to touch Charlie. It is all very clinical, and that is exactly what Dawn points out.

I am actually really glad to see that Dawn is a real human being and not the caricature of the ex-wife. She does not have anything against Alex. She just cares for Charlie and wants Alex to try everything possible to save him. I was delighted to see this.

Durance was quoted in The Hollywood Reporter about the conflict between Alex and Dawn: "One of my favorite scenes is dealing with Charlie's ex-wife Dawn and we really went head to head. It was high octane, high emotion into such a crazy experience. There's all sorts of roadblocks that she has to deal with, whether it's herself or her past coming in. She's quite the superwoman, I gotta say."

The show ends with a beautiful memory of when the couple first said "I love you" to each other, followed by Alex finally letting down some of that wall. It is an eye watering moment that Shanks and Durance fans will no doubt love.

It may be summertime, but NBC has a top quality show in Saving Hope. I just hope American viewers get on the bandwagon as the Canadian ones have.