Animation
Dan Da Dan
Dan Da Dan may be a comedy, but the sensuality, violence and spiritual elements within it make it a tragedy for viewers.
There aren’t many people who are pining for a job in the most remote parts of Northern Canada. But those who land one there either can’t hang or can’t leave.
That’s especially true for the SkyMed unit, a group of nurses and medical personnel who are responsible for flying to the middle of nowhere, saving people on the brink of death and transporting them to a local hospital via cargo plane where they’ll receive more thorough care.
That’s what Haley Roberts has just left her job in Toronto to come to Thompson, Manitoba to do. She used to be a labor and delivery nurse. But she’s confident she has the ability to tough it out in her new emergency medicine job. She just has to convince the rest of the team that she’s capable. Some will need more convincing than others.
Wheezer, the group’s married, veteran pilot, thinks Haley needs time to acclimate. Pilots Bodie and Chopper aren’t sure of her abilities, but they’re convinced she’s too attractive to forfeit. Crystal is the only one who isn’t so sure about Haley. A nurse from anindigenous territory, no one quite knows the ropes like Crystal, and she’s seen a lot of “Haleys” in her day who don’t last past the first month.
And for good reason. This isn’t an easy job. Not many people can handle being on call 24/7 and living by the motto “eat when you can, pee when you can and sleep when you can.” Not to mention the patients who are typically in gruesome conditions once reached.
There’s no doubt that this is truly the survival of the fittest–and only time will tell who is fit enough to make it through.
I’ll bet you’ve never seen a show where physically attractive people are front and center, battling through difficult medical procedures and hooking up to get through the lonely hours. Oh, you have? Well, it makes sense. Because an endless number of shows are built on that premise.
But let’s dive into what sets Paramount +’s latest TV-14 original apart.
SkyMed is founded, it seems, on some pretty incredible scenery, First Nations issues, steamy sexual encounters, unnecessary profanity, a few mysteries that present themselves right in the first episode and a whole lot of adrenaline.
A lot of the drama takes place in the air, which is really SkyMed’s claim to fame. But there’s a lot of hooking up behind closed doors back on the ground, too. LGBT relationships are featured prominently. It’s implied that gay and straight couples have sex, one character finds out his girlfriend is pregnant, and the home that the entire team shares looks like it’ll be fertile ground for more hormonal connections in future episodes.
But when the team actually gets around to saving lives, things can get a bit bloody. We see some intense injuries onscreen—including when three men get themselves impaled by the same pole in an accident.
In other words, intimacy, action and adrenaline are the name of the game in this formulaic, medical-drama import from Canada.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
New nurse Haley Roberts lands in Northern Canada to join the air ambulance crew, but has no idea what she’s getting herself into–including saving a man whose plane has crashed. That’s after she’s helped to deliver a baby without a full medical team.
A man is attacked by a bear in the wilderness, and nurses attend to his open, gushing wound. A nurse helps a pilot escape from a crashed plane; later, she describes him as having internal lacerations and many fear he’ll never be able to walk again.
Haley and a male pilot make out and have sex with one another. They remove most of their clothes, and we see them in boxers, bra and underwear. A woman sports a bathing suit and a cleavage-baring top. Two men make a few sexual jokes.
A man describes the communal home that all the air ambulance crew share as a place for “hook ups, break ups and throw ups.” People consume beer and hard liquor at a party.
God’s name is misused twice, once paired with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is misused once. There’s a hefty amount of profanity used, including the s-word which is heard nearly 10 times; someone says “f-ing” once. Other vulgarities such as “b–ch,” “a–,” “h—,” “d–mit, “d–n,” “p-ssy,” “d-cks” and “p-ss off” are all uttered multiple times each.
As always, the SkyMed team is ready to save the day. But the stakes become higher when they discover one of their patients is a familiar face. While Haley and Crystal are still invested in their work, they each struggle to balance their jobs with personal challenges. And when a new pilot named Skippy joins the SkyMed team and kisses Tristan, Tristan worries the incident might interfere with his current romance with Nowak.
Couples (including same-sex couples) cuddle and flirt with one another, and a few of them kiss passionately. We also hear a few sexual comments. One unmarried couple raises a baby together. A character learns that her partner has been dishonest with her. A female character is seen wearing a crop top, and a man is seen without a shirt.
SkyMed patients endure serious injuries such as dismembered or impaled limbs, gushing blood and trauma from explosions. These graphic injuries don’t leave much to the imagination, and characters are clearly in pain. One patient suffers a stroke. To save a patient’s life, a nurse inserts a needle into a man’s chest.
Chopper is excited when he finds new romance…until he learns that she’s just been hired as the team’s new chief nurse.
Chopper flirts with a woman, Marianne, and offscreen intimacy is implied. We later see Chopper get out of the bed in his underwear. Someone complains about trying to make SkyMed more “sexy” to applicants. The camera ogles a man’s shirtless body. People salsa dance together. A woman suggests that a man’s romantic intentions can be insinuated by his race.
We see two men kiss. One man becomes flustered at the sight of another shirtless man. Two women kiss, too, multiple times. And we also see a third couple, a man and a woman, passionately kiss as well.
Three men are horrifically impaled on the same metal pole. Two of them are impaled through the chest, and one through his neck. All three bleed heavily. Later, the team comes across a man with a grisly wound on his abdomen; we learn that the wound was caused by the metal tooth of a woodchipper accidentally launched into his side. We’re told that his dog, laying on him to keep him warm, also bleeds from its stomach because of the accident. Someone gets pinned under a fallen tree. A car crashes. It’s insinuated that someone got hit by a car and died. Men get into a barfight.
A woman drinks liquor and ingests pills. Marianne orders liquor at a bar. Someone vomits.
We hear the s-word three times. “A–,” “b–ch” and “d–n” are all each used once or twice, too. God’s name is used in vain three times.
A scene insinuates that a man got hit by a car and died.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
Dan Da Dan may be a comedy, but the sensuality, violence and spiritual elements within it make it a tragedy for viewers.
Revival brings the dead back to life. But while they don’t chomp for human flesh, violence and the supernatural follow them anyway.
This Australian mystery may be a bit thematically confused, but it stays on the conservative side of its TV-MA rating.
Despite the show’s positive messages about familial reconciliation, the content seriously undercuts them.
