With its mix of reality and drama, ‘Trainees’ is like no other medical drama out there
He wants to know the reality of life in a hospital ward? Turn on the TV. Specifically, you need to watch a French drama ApprenticesThe medical series is now in its third season. Television rarely captures the chaos and energy of modern hospitals, and many times health dramas end up setting events for the sake of storytelling. Apprentices it’s the best of both worlds – not that it feels that way to the interns thrown in at the end.
Based on the experience of the creator Thomas Lilti as a doctor (during the French COVID-19 lockdown, he briefly resumed his medical activities), Apprentices focuses on three, well, trainees: Chloé (Louise Bourgoin), Alyson (Alice Belaïdi) and Hugo (Zacharie Chasseriaud). Along with forensic pathologist Arben (Karim Leklou), the trio are forced to manage the Internal Medicine ward of a teaching hospital where all other medical staff are forced into solitary confinement.
The trainees have varying levels of experience (and Arben hasn’t worked on a live body in years), so even if the situation seems under control, it’s easy for things to go wrong in a nail-biting way. It’s not over-the-top gory, but it’s not squeamish either; it feels like you’re watching real medical procedures, shifting between true-story and life-or-death in a way that makes it hard to relax.
That’s in the ward Apprentices‘ reality television’s credit is pretty obvious. The medical situations are both detailed and extremely realistic, while the camera work keeps the energy high while never feeling overwhelming (as well as co-creator and co-writer, Lilti is also the director of the series). Even the genre where the audience expects facts, Apprentices sets a new standard; the only way you will see convincing medical scenes is to visit your local hospital.
It may make for compelling scenes, but medical realism alone is not enough to create compelling viewing. In season three (now available on SBS On Demand), Apprentices he always finds new ways to keep things stable. In the first season, the drama of isolation quickly spirals out of control as the head of the ICU begins to turn patients into Internal Medicine. That increases the intern’s workload and adds pressure on the inexperienced trio, while one intern’s mistake with a patient becomes a much wider threat.
The second season sees the Department of Internal Medicine under pressure again when a water pipe burst floods the ER, and critical patients are moved to the IM. It’s not a smooth transition, and even when the old team is reunited – Arben is now an emergency – the wounds of last season remain. Overworked and stressed doctors struggling with a lack of resources is a constant issue; it’s almost as if the medical system has fundamental problems that humans cannot solve.
The third season (set in 2022) sees the hospital struggling in the wake of COVID, with reduced resources resulting in ambulance wait times and an emergency room no longer operating 24 hours a day. In order to maintain the care of patients who can’t kick themselves at night, the team on duty (as in previous seasons, the main team has moved while committed to medicine) has quietly moved to a corridor that is no longer in use. As you can imagine, this is not an ideal solution for medical professionals or patients.
The characters grow and develop throughout the seasons; Chloé has her own life issues, Arben’s qualifications are put under the microscope, and the relationship between Hugo and Alyson undergoes changes as they come to terms with their abilities and limitations. They are flawed people, in ways that sometimes affect their ability to care for their patients; there are times when you may enjoy them as people while hoping that you won’t find someone like them for whom you care.
Some themes remain unchanged. Doctors are pushed to their limits, their burnout puts patients at risk, and the entire system demands that they break the rules if they want to provide the right care. These are persistent, long-term problems with the health system; ironically, despite the reality of the situation, they are the kind of problems that the medical reality (which must work with hospital administrators) shows smoothly.
As a character-based drama firmly rooted in the realities of modern medical care – both on the ward and within the program – Apprentices it shines a light on the problems the system is facing from top to bottom. Medicine is bloody and dirty, but the pressure it puts on medical staff can be a real killer: that’s the kind of reality other dramas won’t touch.
Apprentices season 3 premieres Sunday 5 April at SBS On Demand.
Apprentices seasons 1-2 are now streaming on SBS On Demand.
