Red Band Society on FOX

(Spoiler Alert! You’ve been warned! 😉 )

Hi everyone! Today I want to talk about a show that has been making quite an impression on me – FOX’s Red Band Society, which airs on Wednesdays at 9/8c. The show centres on the lives and challenges faced by a few hospitalized teens who are all dealing with various medical conditions. Now, there are quite a few aspects of the show which are pretty unrealistic (such as the fact that these kids are healthy enough to get dressed up, wear make up and drink alcohol but still require in-patient care, the fact that their rooms are amazingly huge, the hospital is amazingly beautiful, their doctor is amazingly beautiful… 😛 ) but I’ll let it slide for the sake of fiction and television and the fact that I actually do enjoy the core ideas of the show itself.

I am not sure who the target audience for this show is meant to be, but I can certainly say that I relate to the characters quite a lot – having grown up with a chronic illness myself. I may not have the same conditions as the characters in Red Band Society, but I surely relate to the fears and concerns that our young characters face.

In the latest (second) episode, I was really touched by Leo’s story and his fears of feeling alone, being the only person there who has lost his leg due to osteosarcoma. Wearing his false leg, he ends up going to a college party where he drinks and rudely tells his friend Dash that he wants to stay at the party. He ends up making out with a girl there and starts panicking when things start heating up in the bedroom. He insults the girl, she leaves and poor Leo ends up falling on the floor, struggling in pain to get back up. I may not be a teenaged guy, but boy did my heart reach out to Leo in that scene.

Living with arthritis, I could imagine Leo’s physical pain as he tried to walk in his new leg. I also understood his emotions of wanting to fit in, have a drink and just be part of the crowd – it’s so much easier than dealing with the reality which illness slaps you with, isn’t it? I also really felt for him during that make-out scene where the girl starts pulling on his pants and he starts panicking about his false leg. When it comes to young life and illness, these are honest and valid struggles which we all deal with and I’m glad that a mainstream show is highlighting stories like these. This show is an interesting combination of edginess, humour, fantasy and beautiful moments which often get me thinking.

While there are aspects of this show which clearly aren’t realistic, I think the aim of this series is to entertain and inspire and I’m all for that. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

Have any of you guys watched “Red Band Society?” What do you think of it?

Hope you’re all keeping well,
❤ Ms. Rainbow