'Proof': Doctors, Death, the Afterlife, and Lots of Money
Effectively sentimental, Proof stars Jennifer Beals as Dr. Carolyn “Cat” Tyler, a tough, cynical doctor with the best hair in the medical profession. In the premiere episode on Tuesday night, she’s introduced to a multi-billionaire who’s dying of cancer (Matthew Modine), who says he’ll give her his fortune if she’ll “find real proof of what happens after we die.” She’s the skeptic, he’s the got-nothin’-to-lose dude; keeping tabs on them is a bestselling psychic (Callum Blue) whose British accent assures you he’s not a nut-case.
As created by writer Rob Bragin, Proof has a number of things going for it. Beals is immediately convincing as a leader among surgeons, a pain in the butt, and a woman who’s suffering from a busted marriage (to an ex-husband played by David Sutcliffe, who learned how to do wounded vulnerability well on Gilmore Girls), a bratty daughter, and a dead son whose absence haunts this woman of science. The supporting cast includes Joe Morton as Cat’s hospital boss; still working his Scandal career-boost, Morton is always welcome. And Proof looks great, with a moody, blue-gray color palette and a pace that somehow manages to combine the propulsive with the dreamy.
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Modine, with his mild manner and chalky voice, is just right as a rich tech genius whose impending death opens his mind to new ideas, and he’s just firm enough to persuade Cat that she ought to do the same. Yes, of course Proof is regularly mawkish (the pilot has a subplot about a very cute little girl patient, who draws pictures of a grandfather she never knew existed) and it’s cluttered with clichés such as “People believe what they want to believe.” But on its own terms — which is as a comforting medical-supernatural drama with a strong female lead designed to follow TNT’s Rizzoli & isles — Proof proves its modest worth.
Proof airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on TNT.
