by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Once upon a time, I really wanted to be a meteorologist. I would watch the Weather Channel almost non-stop. After watching the movie Twister, I was hooked, and started learning more about weather and storms. This also helped develop a real fear of severe weather, though. It’s hard to watch the destruction a storm can wreak on a community. Living in the midwest in the United States, it’s easy to become numb to severe weather warnings when we get so many of them. So when one is legit, it can be both terrifying and also feel like your “training” and prep has finally come in handy. My dad used to live in Florida, and he was in one hurricane. It was enough for him and his wife to leave Florida to come back north to avoid them in the future.
I’ve seen the destruction that a hurricane can have firsthand when I went to Puerto Rico for a mission trip with my church after Hurricane Maria. I can’t imagine what it could have been like watching other storms like Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
Five Days At Memorial, created by Carlton Cuse and John Ridley, and based on the book of the same name by Sheri Fink, shows the destruction that Hurricane Katrina had on New Orleans. The problems didn’t really start to take shape until the levees broke, flooding the entire area with tons of water. The miniseries chronicles the impossible situation that the staff at Memorial Medical Center had to endure, taking care of their patients, as well as the other people who used the hospital as a shelter from the storm, as the flood waters kept rising and the power went out in the hospital. The staff face incredibly tough decisions moving forward as they balance evacuating the building and providing the best care without resources or help. Five Days At Memorial is eight episodes and is streaming on Apple TV+.
This might be the most anxiety-inducing show I’ve seen all year. Yes, it is based on a true story, but I held off reading about the actual events until the show was done. It didn’t change the fact that I felt dread most of the way through the show. I cannot imagine how hard of a situation this was for the staff at the hospital. They were faced with so many no-win situations, and I really struggled watching this because of how much anxiety it gave me.
That doesn’t change how much I really like the show, though.
I had read once that Five Days At Memorial was supposed to be part of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story series. I’m glad that Apple picked it up and made it into a standalone series. Apple’s quality is definitely there with great cinematography and a mix of real life footage with the show itself. The shot of the levees breaking and the water pouring into New Orleans is terrifying, even if the effects are a little hazy.
This story is gut-wrenching, but it’s also filled with people making horrendous and impossible choices. Starting with the doctors, I’m shocked that it ever came to this point with some of the choices the doctors had to make. Aside from the doctors, the government response — local and federal — along with the corporate side of the hospital, are examined, but not nearly enough to make sense. The structure of the show loses a little steam because after the hospital is evacuated, it focuses on the criminal liability after the doctors and nurses make their decision about patients in the hospital. Although I didn’t like the second half as much as the first half, I still found the philosophical and ethical discussion really captivating. In a world of no-win scenarios, I can’t imagine being put in this one, where tough choices need to be made. Thankfully, the ensemble generally works well together to make the most of the situation.
As an ensemble, I really liked the dynamic between the Memorial staff. Leading the way is nurse Susan Mulderick (Cherry Jones), who figures out she’s semi-in charge of the hospital’s disaster plan, just to find out that she doesn’t really have a plan should there be a flood. Assisting Susan are other nurses, such as Karen Wynn (Adepero Oduye), doctors such as Dr. Anna Pou (Vera Farmiga), Dr. Horace Baltz (Robert Pine), and Dr. Bryant King (Cornelius Smith Jr.). The hospital also has a second sub-hospital called LifeCare, which specializes in long-term, private care. Diane Robichaux (Julie Ann Emery) is in charge, and they don’t really communicate all that well with people at Memorial. This tension sets the stage for the decisions made that will ultimately have dire consequences.
From a performance standpoint, Farmiga is doing amazing work. I’ve always enjoyed her performances, and this one puts her through the wringer. Jones does great work as well, especially at the hospital. She doesn’t have much to do after they get out, but she still manages to do great work. Pine and Smith Jr. are the unsung heroes of the show, though. They both are the moral centers, and although they didn’t do much to prevent what happened, their outrage afterwards helps bring awareness to the events.
Hurricane Katrina was a national embarrassment for the United States in terms of relief and rescue efforts. Five Days At Memorial showcases this in a really strong way. With top notch performances and an utterly devastating story, Apple TV+ hits another home run in the limited category series. It wouldn’t surprise me to see this going toe-to-toe with Black Bird as one of the better limited series of the year and at next year’s Emmy awards. Until then, this is definitely one to check out, particularly if you remember what happened to New Orleans during this time. This is a great exploration of how tough making decisions in dire circumstances can be, and how they will stick with you for the rest of your life. Five Days at Memorial is quite the accomplishment.
Score: 9/10
You can follow Mike Hilty on Twitter, Letterboxd, and Serializd