NBC's Transplant takes a humdrum medical drama and makes it compelling with its Syrian refugee lead character

The Hollywood Reporter

"NBC's Transplant, a very Canadian drama transplanted to American TV in this temporarily anemic programming moment, is the story of a Syrian refugee working in a Toronto emergency room. That doctor, you see, is the transplant. Period and full-stop," says Daniel Fienberg of Transplant, starring Hamza Haq in the heroic role of Dr. Bashir Hamed. "Had Transplant been developed for American TV, you can safely guarantee that not only would he be a Syrian refugee, but his medical specialty would be transplant surgery. Yes, it's a hat-on-a-hat, but it's also another attempted layer." Fienberg adds that despite run-of-the-mill medical drama storylines, Transplant "remains interested in Bashir as a character and doesn't just let him blend into an ensemble. He's a semi-practicing Muslim, which becomes relevant here and there. He's haunted by flashbacks to things he did in the field in Syria, experiences that gave him opportunities to think on his feet and work with atypical resources, but don't always prepare him to follow rules or the chain of command. He is, in short, an interesting main character, and the complications related to the character aren't limited to immigration issues, personal trauma or even the occasional ongoing saga back in Syria." ALSO: Transplant puts a Muslim immigrant's perspective front and center in taking on racists and anti-vaxxers.