the beek on mercy

Dawson's Creek has long come and gone, but I still have love for Mr. James Van Der Beek. He'll always be Dawson to me. Imagine my delite with Ausiello Files reported Beek's upcoming recurring role on Mercy.

I'll have to put my lingering Dawson aside, however, as Beek will play a very different character. Liam West is the hospital's new ICU chief, who's described as cocky, womanizing and manipulative. He will undoubtedly bump heads with the nurses. And according to Ausiello, he's hiding a deep, dark secret and there's even a possibility he could become a regular character.

I almost wrote off Mercy early in the season when it seemed like the show was relying too much on Ronnie's love triangle. I wasn't interested in watching a will-they-won't-they soap opera between Ronnie and her Army doctor at the expense of some good storytelling about the hard work of nurses. Thankfully, a little tweaking brought a greater emphasis on strong patient cases (kudos to Elizabeth Moss for a stellar guest role) and Ronnie's family (especially the perfect Peter Gerety as her father facing Alzheimer's disease).

Although I still can't help thinking of Beek as a teenager, it will be interesting to see how he fits in to the chemistry of the show as bossman to this ensemble of characters, especially the oddly compelling Dr. Harris (James LeGros is doing a great job playing what seemed like a predictable character, who is now becoming difficult to hate).

I hope Beek will bring in some new viewers, so Mercy can get some solid ratings for the second half of the season.