Mercy



Yet another hospital drama based on the stories of dysfunctional but fun to watch staff. The gimmick of this particular version is that the three primary characters are nurses instead of doctors. It is also timely because the lead is an Iraqi war vet suffering from various levels of PTSD. There are regulars who are doctors too, of course, as well as family and love interests. Better than it sounds, because the writers are adept at backstabbing their own characters and some critics have called Mercy a rip off of Grey's Anatomy, but a good one worth watching. Unfortunately canceled in May 2010 due to low ratings.


 * Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: The source of the marital difficulties between Mike and Veronica. Her deployment to Iraq caused him to philander. This, in turn, allowed her to do so during her second deployment.
 * Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: At least in Veronica's mind. Mother is Lady Drunk and father is a bit of a Cloudcuckoolander due to . She loves them though.
 * Badass Bookworm: Chloe is presented as being top of her class in nursing school, arguing with doctors on proper treatment from a technical standpoint, and generally the most technically knowledgeable of the three main nurses, if least experienced. That has not stopped her from chasing potential rabid rodents and killing them with IV stands, complete with battle cry, or spraying down brawling ER patients with a fire extinguisher.
 * Bad Dreams: Veronica has these regularly, sometimes shown but mostly not.
 * Broken Bird: Veronica starts the series as an Army nurse from Iraq suffering from PTSD and in a troubled marriage where both sides cheated. As the series goes on, things only get worse. Despite her baggage and frequent breaks, she is still hyper competent.
 * Convenient Coma: Subverted when a patient comes out of a coma after 10 years, with everyone in his life moving on. Said patient has a hard time adjusting and freaks out when he notices
 * Dr. Jerk: Both Dr. Briggs and Dr. Harris fill this role, the former being more of a Knight in Sour Armor, the latter more of an Obstructive Bureaucrat.
 * Even the Girls Want Her: Joked by Veronica after Chloe breaks up an ER brawl with a fire extinguisher. Veronica just watches, and says, "That was kinda hot!"
 * Everything Is Better With Penguins: Unclear if it helped with ratings at all, but a pair of penguins are rescued from the van of stoner who abducted the birds in a misguided attempt to impress a girlfriend.
 * Evil Hand: A patient with an experimental hand transplant felt he had one of these since . He wanted it removed by the hospital staff.
 * Fair Cop: Regular recurring character, Police Detective Nick Valentino, is one of these.
 * Firemen Are Hot: Chloe's short-lived fireman romance is definitely one of these. Averted in Veronica's brother who is also a fireman and decidedly not hot.
 * Heroic BSOD: Veronica checks out after
 * Hospital Gurney Scene: frequent.
 * Hospital Hottie: Duh. See picture above. Also, the doctor's (with the exception of Dr. Harris) are all stereotypically gorgeous as well.
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every episode title is dialogue from the episode.
 * It Never Gets Any Easier: While mostly played somewhat realistically, this trope is invoked as a doctor decides there will be no more death on his floor
 * Love Dodecahedron: Mike is married to Veronica. Veronica fell in love with Chris. Chris yearns after Veronica who is trying to stay with Mike so Chris stars a relationship with Jillian. Meanwhile Chris has a sister, Simone, who works for and flirts heavily with Mike. Mike, who is married to Veronica...
 * Woman on Fire: Veronica manages to set herself on fire on St. Patrick's Day. Fortunately it is only her sleeve, and she is able to put it out without injury.
 * Mercy Killing: Lauren, an elderly and slowly dying rich woman, begs Sonia to assist in this.
 * Nerves of Steel: Chloe, despite having the least actual experience at nursing, is the one who pushes her comfort zone whenever needed. Even when she thinks she can't do something, she says so calmly no matter how bad the situation.
 * One of Our Own: Chloe specifically orders an ambulance to go to Mercy hospital instead of the one they want to go to
 * Patient of the Week: Partially avoided. Multiple patients have had two-episode or longer story arcs. However, most are still one-shot guest stars.
 * Shell-Shocked Veteran: Veronica.
 * The Stoic: Dr. Ron Harris frequently comments of futility of actions and just dealing with what is in front of you. He is less interested in why's or what if's. This sets him up to break bad
 * Sympathetic Adulterer: Veronica goes to Iraq and her husband, Mike, is a man and can't help it while she is faithful. She come back, finds out, then gets deployed a second time. She is less faithful this time while he is completely.
 * Title Drop: Frequent, as the name of the hospital in which the show is set is Mercy Hospital.
 * Token Minority: Averted in Nurse Sonia Jimenez who is the only recurring black character, but her race never influences her character or any storyline.
 * You Did Everything You Could: Frequent, especially to Veronica.
 * Window Pain: Veronica once smashed the windshield of Dr. Harris' car with a cinder block.