Monday, August 15, 2016

The Big C (2010-2013)

Genre: TV / Drama
Starring: Laura Linney, Oliver Platt, John Benjamin Hickey, Gabriel Basso
Number of seasons: 4



When The Big C starts, Cathy Jamison is a suburban wife in Minnesota who works as a high school teacher. Having been diagnosed with melanoma, she now knows that her expiry date is not that far ahead. At home, she has an immature teenage son and a husband from whom she is drifting further and further apart. She also has a bipolar brother, who is occasionally homeless and always anti-establishment. With death clearly in sight, Cathy wants to live life to the fullest and fix everything around her before she goes.

Laura Linney is absolutely magnificent as Cathy Jamison. She rocks that role like a champ. She makes you embark on her character’s journey and she never lets you go for four seasons. John Benjamin Hickey is also brilliant as Sean, Cathy’s bipolar brother. Though Sean is often abrasive, in spite of his sweet core, Hickey always manages to make him loveable. Gabourey Sidibe is also a highlight of this show, as Andrea, a student of Cathy who soon becomes a very close friend of the family.

The characters in The Big C are well defined; it is a true marvel of writing. And the written words are performed solidly on screen. I also appreciated the fact that the characters are not stagnant; you can see a very nice evolution in all of them as the show progresses. A few plot twists left me scratching my head, but, overall, this is a very good, must-see, TV show.
Rating: ««««

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