As I wasn’t following the news about the show as diligently, I had no idea about the whole episode switcheroo. According to the ThreeRivers blog, last night’s episode was supposed to be the pilot, which is about Ryan Abbott’s first day as Transplant Coordinator’s Assistant – hence the episode name — but got switched somehow. I don’t know who’s behind this massively brilliant idea in getting viewers confused just as we’re trying to figure out the rhythm of a new show! I find that very annoying and keep scratching my head the whole time!

Fortunately, despite the idiotic switch, the story line is actually pretty engaging. I must admit I’m liking the second episode better than the debut. Here are my thoughts:

As is the formula of the show, it begins with a tragedy/accident/medical calamity in places other than Pittsburgh, which parallel situations in the Three Rivers hospital. I won’t go into detail of each of the cases, other than to say they’ve done a decent job in coming up with a gripping dilemma that is the fuel of the show. Every second counts in most organ donation surgery cases, which makes an otherwise trivial traffic hiccup a life and death situation. That’s exactly what happens when the ambulance carrying a heart and pair of lungs gets stuck because of a bomb threat, whilst Andy and his surgical team have started cutting up the patient!!

As of now, Miranda is still the most compelling character in the show, with the newbie Ryan Abbott second, who’s the comic relief of the show. There’s a funny scene of misunderstanding between the two of them in the middle of an operation room, which balance out the serious storyline involving the victim of a car crash who’s apparently not as saintly as we’ve been led to believe.

The good: Towards the end, we learn of the ‘three rivers’ location, as well as a glimpse of Andy’s not-so-blissful existence outside of the hospital: that he’s living in a hotel all by himself, which perhaps explains his workaholic nature. Hmmm, I wish they reveal a bit more of that, and a possible love story in the coming episodes? That is what I hope to see more of in this show, beyond all the medical stuff. Which female doctor will he get involved with? Miranda or the young doctor with a blond ponytail (not sure what her name was)? Miranda seems too preoccupied with her past to be swooning over her colleague, which makes her a less likely candidate. Regardless who it’d be, I just want to see the show put Alex’s melancholic eyes to good use. I still remember those longing glances Mick had for Beth, it’d be awesome to see Alex do some of that here. Nothing like a romantic angst to get hopeless romantic like me riled up about a show, though I doubt we’ll see anything as passionate as Mick/Beth unrequited love we Moonlight fans can’t get enough of.

The not-so-good: I wish I could say it’s Alex’s character Andy that’s my favorite, as Alex is what got me watching the show in the first place. But yet, I find that his character is rather … well, ordinary (even ho-hum at times), which is totally the writer’s fault, as Alex did what he could with what’s given to him. As badly written as Moonlight was, at least I was immediately hooked on the vampire PI detective that is Mick St. John, and his dilemma/torment of his character. I haven’t felt that ‘connection’ yet with Andy, even though he makes for an unbelievably sympathetic portrayal of a doctor any patient would be blessed to have. I caught a couple of minutes of House re-run during commercial and thought, man, if I were sick, I pray I get Dr. Yablonski instead of that acerbic Dr. House, even if he’s got wit and sarcastic humor in spades!

A couple things worth noting, Alex’s got kind eyes, which suits the role much more perfectly than his previous one — vampire with kind eyes just doesn’t well… bite. Henney is not bad either. His David Lee character is starting to reveal a peek of his supposed ‘ladies man’ reputation, though his irresistible smile alone is enough to convince me!

The verdict: A promising second episode, but I hope they’d develop Andy’s character more and throw in some heartfelt romance for good measure.