Throwback Thursday: Kingdom Hospital Episode 1

Hello hello! And welcome to a new series. Well, an old series brought back from 2004. I won’t lie, thought it was older. Anyways, Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital. In short, the series is a medical case revolving around a painter named Peter, and a hospital, Kingdom Hospital, just full of ghostly things and uneasy past.This series spawned so many loves for me- Stephen King’s TV series, Medical Dramas, heck, saw my first YouTube music video based on this show, using an old Linkin Park song, and inspiring my love for the band. So, I wanted to go back, 14 years later, and see what started it all. Let’s dive right in.

Oh, the history lesson. Something that Stephen King has always done is provide a lot of details, especially around the history of a place, but never all of it. Just enough to draw you in. The rest? Well, its called History for a reason. 150 years after the mill burns down, there stands Kingdom Hospital.

Source: American Broadcasting Company

We get to meet a lot of characters quickly, Otto, the security guard, Dr. Hook, Peter, a painter who gets hit by a van and left on the side of the road, Mary, the girl with the death bell, Abel and Christa, two maintenance workers who seem to have Down Syndrome, but knows the most about what is going on. Even as a young teen, I caught on to listen when they spoke. But, above all, the best character to be introduced would be Antubis the Ant Eater with WAY too many teeth. Even now, I am a little awestruck at how good the rendering of Anubis is. We also have a killer soundtrack. Oh, how could I forget Blondie, Otto’s German Shepard. So fluffy!!

Peter seems to be conscious and trying to talk with everyone, but he cannot respond. Turns out he has a blood clot. Looking back, when they receive him, the doctors didn’t wear any protective masks while dealing with multiple injuries. We get to meet Sally Druse, a psychic. She hears what I assume is Mary crying, but no one else was around to hear. Dr. Jesse James seems to be the medical director, and finds out their patient is famous. He thinks it will boost the Hospital financially, until he realizes Peter might not make it. They do call his wife, Natalie, who spends some time privately with Peter.

Source: American Broadcasting Company

For some reason, an old style Ambulance keeps appearing, though what it is bringing to the hospital, it has yet to be explained. And then, Peter becomes trapped inside.. some place. He can hear what is being said outside, but then, he meets a boy named Paul, thanks to Abel and Christa’s conversation. Meanwhile, Dr. Hook explains what is going on with Peter to Natalie, and his chances of survival, recovery, and possible overall outcomes. She is of course upset, but calms down, and states her husband is a fighter. On the flip side, it would seem the guy who hit Peter is having a series mental breakdown. Guess karma works sometimes.

Seems like the Chief of Medicine is not a well liked. Dr. Stegman seems to be at the end of his ropes, and he just arrived to start the day. He’s even late, and Dr. Hook starts the meeting without him. Sally gets stuck on the elevator, and whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to be Mary. Luckily, a quick prayer and all goes back to normal. It seems Stegman and Hook have been going toe to toe since Stegman arrived 6 weeks ago.

Source: American Broadcasting Company

Peter finally wakes up, and has full functions. Antibus tells him I do you a solid, most likely referring to the fact he made sure Peter was found, you do me a solid. Tells him to tell Hook and the old lady about Mary. Abel and Christa both mention how Peter is back from the old Kingdom, and another earthquake starts. As the ground settles, we hear a nurse talking with Dr. Hook about Peter’s recovery, and Hook bluntly states what happened here was a miracle. And the overture speaks about prices to be paid.

Man oh man, this series. So much of who I am today can be rooted from this series, quite honestly. It is like visually seeing my childhood. It also is a very awesome series, and I’m trying not to rush ahead and spoil anything. So, that’s all for now. If you like the show, will do episode 2 next weekend. Until then, Stay Shiny!