Critics discuss two series with season 3 of Hippocrates by Thomas Lilti and season 2 of The Diplomat by Debora Cahn.
“Hippocrates” by Thomas Lilti, a third season that lives up to the previous ones?
It's summer. By decision of health authorities, many hospital services have been closed and those that remain open are overloaded. A strike by SOS Médecins worsens the situation, leaving an entire population without access to care. Patients are flocking, tensions are palpable. At Poincaré hospital, caregivers quickly realize that the instructions are untenable and some decide to disobey.
Since its beginnings in 2018, Hippocrates has been based on the idea of emergency, medical and beyond: crisis following the quarantine of part of the staff of a hospital (season 1), giant leak forcing to move a service to another (season 2) and now general chaos for doctors having to manage the decline of the French public service. But, like a Black BaronThomas Liti's series now faces a bone: fiction and degraded reality are intertwined.
Critics' opinions:
- Lucile Commeaux: “This third season of 6 episodes is very condensed, which makes it terribly effective. Thomas Lilti insists on the rationalization of the French hospital service. The narrative system plays on the question of sorting patients with great empathy. Ultimately, we are as overwhelmed and suffocated by the events as by the setting which is full of objects or characters that should not be there. There is something of horror and thriller in this series with characters who are saviors, constantly on the edge. But this “great characters” aspect becomes almost necessary to make the fiction sustainable. Otherwise, I think she would be too hard to watch. It should also be noted that Thomas Lilti chooses his subjects very well, their contemporaneity, including the treatment of the elderly and the mental health of younger generations.“
- Olivier Joyard: “It's a season about 'how do you deal with a collapse and an emergency that goes far beyond the hospital corridors?' Thomas Lilti puts his nose into the battle, he sticks fiction to reality. Result: a season in crisis in a world in crisis. If the series does not expressly talk about the Covid crisis, it shows its consequences and their impressive scale. It's a way of showing a reality that overflows everywhere. “To care is to resist”, but deep down the evidence that formulates Hippocrates aren't even there anymore. It's almost The Walking Dead at the hospital. I would say that this third season is also the series after the applause in the Covid windows, the one which says that nothing ultimately happened. Thomas Lilti gives the best of himself here with a merciless look at politics and society.”
The series is available on Canal +.
“The Diplomat” by Debora Cahn, a more serious second season
When an attack in London shatters her world, American diplomat Kate Wyler faces the ultimate test as her suspicions reach the highest levels of the British government.
The series The Diplomatpremiering in 2023, is an original blend of political thriller and remarriage comedy starring Keri Russell, unforgettable Elizabeth Jennings of The Americans (2013). Already written by Deborah Cahn, the first season ended with the explosion of a car bomb in the middle of London and the possible death of our heroine's husband, Hal, also a diplomat.
Critics' opinions
- Lucile Commeaux: “The series loses a little what made it special, this articulation of two often separated genres, which does not prevent it from increasing tension. Deborah Cahn had succeeded in combining two rhythms: that of the comedy of remarriage and the political fiction which she showed as ultimately quite similar. It was an original arrangement that worked very well. In this second season, we are rather on the verge of the improbable with this character who seems to carry the weight of the world and all global geopolitics on his shoulders. It ends up being an instance, a somewhat abstract incarnation of a very good spy film. The couple's dialogues, quite spicy in the first season, become sometimes grandiloquent conversations on international issues, in which I find that we are less invested.”
- Olivier Joyard: “It was one of the seasons I was most looking forward to at the start of the year. I find that the series changes a little in nature compared to the first season but it ultimately becomes more exciting and contemporary. From now on, reality is too astonishing and powerful to continue to be taken lightly by the screenwriter. The desire to laugh disappears a little, we lose the comedy aspect of remarriage. We feel that the series takes very seriously the theme of the mysteries of power and the consequences of taking this place when you are a woman. I think it's a season that rises to the issues it deals with.“
The series is available on Netflix.
Today's favorite: “Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos”, a documentary series by Alex Gibney
Olivier Joyard: “I offer you a documentary series of just two episodes on the creator of The Sopranos. This takes us into the fascinating creative machine of one of the most recognized series of all time. It's a documentary which seemingly involves great actors, actresses and certain screenwriters but above all which follows the trajectory of David Chase. She also talks about her special relationship with her mother, a real source of inspiration for the series. Moreover, Wise Guy : David Chase et Les Soprano also draws the sketch of creative passion, of the intense and cruel magma of the production of the flagship series of the 2000s.“
The series is available on Max.
Sound clips
- from the trailer for season 3 of Hippocrates by Thomas Lilti
- from the trailer for season 2 of The Diplomat by Debora Cahn
