This week, we swap fictional scientists playing God for a very real doctor doing harm as we dive into Dr. Death, the TV series based on the Wondery podcast about Christopher Duntsch, a Dallas neurosurgeon who, over roughly two years, operated on 38 people, maimed 33 and killed two. And no one stopped him.
Joshua Jackson trades Pacey Witter's charm for terrifying narcissism as Duntsch, who was charismatic but catastrophically bad at surgery. But the question hanging over the entire series is even more disturbing: was he unbelievably incompetent, or or a sociopath trying to do harm? Luckily, Christian Slater's cowboy-boot-wearing Dr Randy Kirby and Alec Baldwin's far more restrained Dr Robert Henderson become the medical world's answer to Brody and Hooper, one politely making phone calls while the other is looking for a scalpel to stop Duntsch from ever operating again.
We dig into Baylor Plano's letter that allowed him to move on, the Texas Medical Board's painfully slow response, the hierarchy that made nurses struggle to be heard over surgeons, tort reform that left victims with few avenues for compensation, and a healthcare system where hospitals are businesses and neurosurgeons are money. Duntsch may be the monster in the operating room, but a disturbing number of people and institutions helped keep the door open.
Spoiler Alert and Trigger Warning
In addition to spoiling the show, we discuss surgeries gone catastrophically wrong, blood, scalpels, bones being hammered and broken, severed nerves and spinal structures, paralysis, permanent disability, surgical equipment and materials being left inside patients, infected wounds, pus, death, domestic abuse, narcissistic and abusive behaviour, depression following life-changing injuries and the wider emotional impact on victims and their families. Some of the descriptions venture firmly into body-horror territory.
Recommendations
Palate Cleanser:
Caroline recommends jumping straight into Season Three of The Comeback for a surprisingly lovely story about a good person while also exploring AI's arrival in Hollywood.
Homework:
For our next episode, we're heading to Widow's Bay. There's a cranky doctor, a character using drugs to supposedly open his mind (giving Christopher-Duntsch-doing-“stem-cell-research”-while-high) and the series has received 19 Emmy nominations.
Even better, we'll be joined by Liz Sower from Ghosts in the Burbs.
And if you want to get ahead on future homework, start looking for Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman. The upcoming Other Mommy adaptation looks horrifying, and the book is scary enough to make nighttime trips to the bathroom a serious strategic decision.
As always, send us your recommendations for TV shows, podcasts, movies or books you'd like us to cover. Find us on Instagram, Facebook and Threads; like, subscribe and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify; or email us at drawntodarknesspod@gmail.com. Most importantly, tell a like-minded friend who is also drawn to darkness.
Until next time: research your doctors, listen to nurses, trust that bad vibe, take the trip, and never order a red wine milkshake.
Special thanks to Nancy Azano for the podcast cover art. Find her on Instagram at @nancyazano.
Thanks also to Harry Kidd for the opening and closing music. Find him on Instagram at @harryjkidd and on Spotify.
