The Big C debuted a couple of weeks ago on Showtime, and is definitely a new show that is worth watching.
Laura Linney plays school teacher Cathy Jamison. Cathy has just found out that she has a terminal stage four melanoma. Upon hearing the news, her attitude about things going on in her life adjusts almost immediately.
She has a lazy and immature husband (Oliver Platt) and a beyond bratty son (Gabriel Basso). Cathy also deals with her willingly homeless brother Sean (John Benjamin Hickey), whose lifestyle takes activism to a whole new level. Cathy also has a neighbor Marlene (Phyllis Somerville), who we meet in the first episode after complaining about Cathy installing a pool in her front yard.
Rounding out the cast are guest stars Reid Scott and Gabourey Sidibe, who play Dr. Todd and Andrea. Dr. Todd is the doctor who informed Cathy about her diagnosis, and is also somewhat holding her hand through her situation. Also, it doesn't hurt that he looks like he stepped off the set of Grey's Anatomy.
Andrea is a student in Cathy's summer school class who is in need of an attitude adjustment. Cathy tells her, "You can't be fat and mean, Andrea. You can either be fat and joyous or a skinny bitch. It's up to you." That is definitely one of the best lines from the show so far, and it also leads to a wager between the two characters. Cathy tells Andrea that she will give her $100 for every pound she loses.
The writing on The Big C is superb. The dialogue between the characters is entertaining.There have been some great quotable one-liners like, "Cancer sucks. Put that on a goddamn inspirational poster!"
I find that with a show with an important topic like cancer, good writing is very important, because it helps keep the show flowing, keeps it interesting, and most importantly, it captures the emotions that Cathy is experiencing.
I like the dynamic between Cathy and her brother Sean. They bicker back and forth a little bit, which is fairly amusing. We get to find out more about Cathy's demeanor when Sean fires back at her when they banter about how she acted when they were younger. My favorite line so far from Sean was from the first episode where he told Cathy, “You’re getting your weird back, Sis.”
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