PBS Mercy Street "The New Nurse" Recap

I did a preliminary post last week on this new PBS drama, but I felt a more in-depth description was necessary as it is  the network's first American-produced drama in 10 years.

 "Mercy Street" attempts to capture the complex realities of the Civil War through the nexus of a Union hospital in Alexandria, Va. The title refers to the road leading to Mansion House, a military-commissioned hotel where soldiers from both sides often suffer as much as they did on the battlefields.

Caution: Spoilers! Season 1 recap: (The New Nurse)

  It's 1862 when two new nurses join the staff of Mansion House: Mary Phinney (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a staunch supporter of the Union who is also, oddly enough, the widow of a German nobleman, and Emma Green (Hannah James), a Southern belle whose family owned Mansion House before the Union occupation. Mary has been assigned as the hospital's first head nurse by her instructor Nurse Dix (an underused Cherry Jones), who feels it is just the place for a "noisy abolitionist.

he is greeted with marvelous disdain by Nurse Hastings (Tara Summers), whose constant name-dropping of Florence Nightingale, with whom she worked in the Crimea, is one of the best things in the first hour — surely this is the first character in the history of television to name-drop Florence Nightingale.

 Nurse Hastings is not thrilled by Mary's new managerial position, nor are most of the doctors, including hospital supervisor Dr. Alfred Summers (the always wonderful Peter Gerety), the belligerent careerist Dr. Byron Hale (Norbert Leo Butz) and the more kindly but still racist Dr. Jedediah Foster (Josh Radnor). (What is the point of writing a Civil War drama if you can't have a character named Jedediah)

As the story progresses, there are personal crises, political machinations, terrible suffering and rebel plots — John Wilkes Booth even makes an appearance — all offered with an air of hope that refuses to choose sides. While "Mercy Street" explores the viciousness of slavery and provides villains aplenty, its heart lies in its attempt to fulfill its tag line: "Blood is not blue or gray."

Being a PBS Mini-Series you would expect British accents like Downtown Abby, but no. The Southern accents are genuine and it's historical accuracy is amazing. As I watch it, I find myself looking at the background. The oil lamps, the books in the bookcases, the fixtures, all make it believable that you are in the 1800's. And yes, the blood back then is just as red as the blood soldiers shed today.

 Occupied by Union Forces, Alexandria is now "free" territory, though many believe escaped slaves — referred to as contraband — are not to be trusted and should possibly be returned. Even free black men and women are treated at best as second-class citizens. So Samuel Diggs (McKinley Belcher III) must hide his knowledge of medicine, as "contraband," Aurelia Johnson (Shalita Grant), has fallen into the clutches of the hospital's brutal steward.

The second episode, The Haversack aired last night and I am about to watch it now. I expect it to be just as good as the Pilot episode.