Body of Proof: Let me suck you into our crime solving cult.
I've been waiting to write this post for a few weeks. I wanted make sure the show was playing out in a way that I actually wanted to go fangirling about as well as making sure it was getting ratings that would mean it would survive the season. It is, and it has, so let me tell you about my new love: the women of Body of Proof
Dr. Megan Hunt, Medical Examiner
Played by Dana Delaney
A lot of the prepublicity for this show implied that Dr. Hunt was a bit like House, antisocial and rude for the sake of it. This was a gross mischaracterization. What she is is a neurosurgeon whose horrific car accident four years before caused neurological damage to her hands and her to loose a patient. In the process of dealing with the aftermath, Megan discovered that the people she worked on were so much more than surgical proceedures and she wanted to honor that. She wants to understand people, and while she has a laser focus, she has horrible social instincts. But unlike House, she is trying to understand people, just failing quite badly. When I was telling my friends I was going to post about this show here today, someone pointed out that Dr. Hunt is not someone you'd hatch a conspiracy with and that's an understatement.
But fundamentally Megan is Nancy Drew. Completely unqualified to chase after criminals, but god help you if you try to stop her. The police and her investigator know this, but gamely follow along mostly because they know they can't stop her either. The show has done a remarkable job of making the proceedure relatively unpredictable, and this is from someone who watches a lot of crime proceedurals.
The show hasn't done a great job with the social side of the character, she has a believably bitter divorce and a very rocky relationship with her daughter. Though I should say last week's episode did a lot to make the daughter more interesting. Everyone should have take your daughter to work day combined with a dismembered body.
Dr. Kate Murphey, Chief Medical Examiner
Played by Jeri Ryan
Megan's boss is Dr. Kate Murphey, where Megan has a problem with people, Kate is brilliant with them. She knows how to manage her people, even a difficult if brilliant one like Megan Hunt, but she's also compassionate and inciteful. Perhaps in part it's because she's played by Jeri Ryan, with all the baggage she comes with, but when she says "we've all done stupid thing for men." you believe it.
Murphey clearly admires Hunt, in the way of someone who is a competent artist knows a great master when she sees it. Sometimes she's a few steps behind Megan, but you never get the sense that it's because she is dumb, and that just makes Megan seem all the more intelligent.
And than there is the chemistry. Anyone who has watched Ryan in other roles knows she has chemistry with brick walls, but her chemistry with Delaney is really amazing. I wouldn't say that they are writing subtext on the level of Rizzoli & Isles, but Rizzoli & Isles is writing just this side of textual femslash. It's been fun to watch, and I want to see how it developes.
A new episode of Body of Proof airs tonight at 10PM EDT on ABC.