Wednesday, October 10, 2012

TV Show Once Upon A Time: Why it Rakes my Nerves



First off, I am a fan of this show where fairy tale characters have been thrust into real life in current times. The show centers around the actions of Snow White's step-mother the Evil Queen. She is the head meanie on the show and her curse thrust them all into our realm of existence.

Of course, the red apple comes into play. Said evil queen wants to get rid of the one chracter who can lift her curse-- but instead her son takes a bite of the poisoned apply turnover and falls ill.


One thing I love to hate about television shows is their one lined-medical-declaritive statement. In this episode, when the child who consumed the poisoned pastry was rushed to the hospital-- unconscious-- the physician takes one look into his pupils and says. "Well, there doesn't appear to be any signs that he ingested a neurotoxin."

Wow! Really?!? Just one look at his pupils told you that.

Hmmm--- how about the fact that he is unconscious. That could be sign #1.

LOC or level of consciousness is considered by some to be the most sensitive indicator of how good or how bad your brain is working. So, a patient that is unconscious-- well, something is affecting the brain. It may not be stemming from the brain itself but it is making the patient ill enough that they're "lights out".

And yes, a neurotoxin can do that.

Next-- there are lots of different types of neurotoxins and how they effect the body.

Here's one short list.

http://toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Neurotoxins

So, quick lesson. Try not to make declaritive statement. They are likely to get you into trouble.

And really, Once Upon a Time-- nurses DO NOT wear caps anymore.

Sheesh...

7 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your blog and your analysis of this show. I haven't seen the show before but based on this I just might check it out to see any erroneous medical diagnoses.

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  2. LOL...love the last statement. I wondered about that when I saw the show Sunday night.

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  3. Hah! My oldest plays jr. high football. The QB got clocked with a helmet to helmet hit last year and stayed down. A coach got there first and looked at him. "His pupils seem to be fine, I guess he's okay."

    Needless to say I ignored him and had the kid sit the rest of the game and get evaluated on Monday.

    I read a book recently where an unusual body was found and the cops were talking to the main character. They said that the labs had already ruled out any viral or other toxicology cause of death. That threw me out of the story because we know those take so long.

    I can see you writing this post in digust. Heh-heh.

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  4. Love Once Upon a Time for so many reasons (I watch it with my 10-yr-old daughter - a special Mother-Daughter time, the costumes, the idea that "it could happen," the who's who guessing games, the humanization of the fairytale characters - LOVE Jiminy Cricket, and more) but the REAL life stuff is truly laughable, and not just the medical. But then, I guess that's what makes it a fairytale, huh? And on the level of a middle-schooler. If I have to tolerate a few bad one-liners and over-the-top dramatization of whose your momma so that I DON'T have to watch the characters bed-hopping (although I WAS disappointed with Prince Charming...) or hear them cussing like drunken sailors, I'll be just fine with that. Nurses in hats - ha! What about Belle being Australian? Who knew?

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  5. I have been hooked into the show...but I wondered how the Greek Midas made it into the story, and the shepherd whose name is David...not so much out of fairy tales.

    I think Once Upon a Time is a show for people who expect happy endings. My hubby enjoys the show. I like it, but I prefer Grimm, which is darker/edgier, yet somehow more believable (if either show could even be believable). I prefer plotlines I can't see coming.

    That said, we'll probably work our way through the entire series. I was laughing last night to my husband, that all the wicked queen does as mayor is run around monologuing to Emma about how she needs to leave her alone, OR ELSE! But we're not far into the first season.

    Regardless, it's more enjoyable than most shows out there! I'd love to make a movie about The Snow Queen or Snow White and Rose Red--the original fairy tales.

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  6. Kathy-- you'll have to let me know if you see anything new.

    Ralene-- yes, those hats! Need to be burned.

    Jason-- I did face that issue in my second book. Lab turn around time. So, I made sure it was a private lab that my hero paid LOTS of money to so he'd get the results more quickly.

    Becky and Heather-- I really do like the show and it is relatively good fun that the whole family can watch. It is interesting some of the character choices. First, I thought it would just be Disney princesses but then Mulan was in the latest episode. And wraiths--- which are from the Hobbit, right? So I guess ANY fantasy is open-- seemingly.

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  7. Love the fairy tale realm of the story. As for the medical accuracy it appears they need medical advisors for the show. There you go Jordyn... A part time job for you!!!

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