BODY OF PROOF: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
(not rated)
MOVIE: ** (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
I’m not a fan of Dana Delany. I never have been… ever since she got unnecessary accolades for “China Beach” in the 80s. She had a brief stint on “Desperate Housewives,” and I remember commenting on Twitter that she was about as interesting as a fart in an elevator. Well, now this critically beloved fart in an elevator has her own show, and it seems to be doing quite well.
Let’s get past my disinterest in Delany because that’s a personal opinion of an actor and not an objective view of the show. At its core, “Body of Proof” is another police procedural with a twist. Delany plays a medical examiner whose keen insights help the Philadelphia PD solve emergent crimes. Delany’s character of Megan Hunt is a brilliant doctor, but after an accident, her nerves are shot. So she deals with the dead because there’s no possibility of hurting them. As a rigid career woman, she’s divorced and in a custody struggle with her ex. All these problems in her life spill over into her work, showing a woman who faces drama that threatens her strong-willed work.
“Body of Proof” gets off on some rocky footing in the early episodes. The juxtaposition of Megan Hunt’s brilliant career and imploded personal life is laid on too thick. Same goes for the relative incompetence of everyone from the detectives in charge of the murders to those working in the medical examiner office with her. Fortunately, by the end of the first season, this is smoothed out. I’m hoping for a little more team work in season two since the show has gotten over it’s “respect me of die” attitude of Hunt’s character. Even with her foibles, Delany is the only person of interest on the show as the detectives fall into the arrogant cop cliche too easily and the folks in the medical examiner’s office are just a little too goofy and inexperienced to keep up. Again, I’m hoping for some changes to this in season two.
The DVD includes the first nine episodes of the series in this mid-season replacement. There’s a blooper reel called “Body of Goofs,” as well as two featurettes: “Examining the Proof” about the art of making up the dead bodies and “If Looks Could Kill” which spotlights the costume designer.