Dr. Death Review: A Horrifying But Unsatisfying Tale
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the entirety of Dr. Death.
Dr. Death is a horrifying 8-hour series that will leave you a bit traumatized by the end of it. The series really leans into the horror and brutality of Christopher Duntsch’s actions. The surgery scenes are chilling and oftentimes hard to watch.
Dr. Death succeeds at presenting us with a dark, terrifying story complete with one hell of a villain. There’s no doubt that Joshua Jackson is perfectly cast. It’ll take some time before I’m ready to see him in anything else; Jackson is that good at portraying such a terrifying individual.
Thankfully, Dr. Death balances out Duntsch with Michelle Shughart. She restores my faith in humanity every time she appears. It’s nice to be able to breathe as you watch Michelle, Dr. Randall Kirby, and Dr. Robert Henderson band together to take Duntsch down. They also offer some much-needed doses of humor — mainly from Kirby.
Despite the show opening with a shot of Duntsch in prison, you still find yourself on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what happens next, especially in the back half of the season when the investigation picks up.
The series employs an interesting timeline — constantly jumping all over the place. For the most part, this is a benefit. Sure there is some confusion as you orient yourself and try to remember what has happened at this point in the story.
The timeline choice helps us not have to witness back-to-back botched surgeries, but it also means that we’re never truly free of those operating room scenes. You never know when you’ll have to endure another one.
There’s no doubt that Dr. Death delivers a chilling tale. However, there are some issues.
Dr. Death fails to prove intent. It’s unclear why Christopher Duntsch continued to go into surgery and butcher all those people, and that’s one of the big things we wanted to know going into the show.
We go all the way back to Duntsch’s college years, and we follow him from medical school on through his botched surgeries. So, there was enough time to really delve into his psyche and show intent, but the series never does so.
We’re given a crazy email, a failed college football career, and Duntsch’s father commenting that even as a child, Duntsch would not stop doing something despite being asked repeatedly to do so. Okay…so? None of that is an explanation.
At least back in college, Duntsch listened when his coach told him that he was running the play wrong, and Duntsch tried to fix it and get it right. However, there’s never a moment in his medical career where we see him recognize that he made a mistake. If one is pointed out, he ignores it or blames the support staff.
All we’ve got to cling to is his insane ego, but it feels as if there’s still something else we’re missing. You want to open Duntsch up and find out what makes him tick; why he did what he did. And we never get that.
The other frustrating aspect of the series is its decision to not let us have any victories. Sure, they happen, but we don’t get to rejoice in them or feel as if we’re celebrating alongside Kirby, Henderson, and Michelle.
We never see the moment Duntsch is stripped of his medical license in Texas; we don’t even really know what happened that made the medical board change its mind. Instead of letting us watch up close as Duntsch gets arrested; we’re forced to watch from this strange, far-away shot from his motel room.
Worst of all, we don’t get to watch the moment when the guilty verdict is read.
Dr. Death gives us this horrifying person and makes sure we hate him by the end of the series. We spend time in that operating room with him, watch him ignore his patients as they deal with the aftermath of the botched surgery, and we have to read about the outcome of the trial in captions. It’s beyond frustrating.
Giving us these little victories wouldn’t have suddenly made it a happy show. It just would have given us a moment to cheer before the malpractice statistics appear on our screen. And everything we had to watch, we deserve at least that.
Stray Thoughts:
- Duntsch’s ego is shocking; I never got used to the self-aggrandizing nonsense that came out of his mouth.
- Is Christopher’s dad never really told the extent of Christopher’s “mistakes” or is he just completed blinded by loyalty to his son?
- I immediately had to watch Ted Lasso after this to cheer myself up.
- “What happened here will happen again” is a terrifying reality to end the series on.
What did you think of Dr. Death? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
Dr. Death is now streaming on Peacock.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Allison Nichols
Allison is in a love affair with television that doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. Slightly damaged fictional characters are her weakness. She loves to spend her free time curled up with a cat and a show to binge-watch. Allison is a Tomatometer-approved critic (Rotten Tomatoes).