‘Trauma’
Three stars
8 p.m. Monday on WMAQ-Channel 5 (Chicago’s listing. Check your local listings for time and channel in your area!)

If it’s true that you can’t look away from a car crash, this new show should do very well. “Trauma” starts with a bang – a spectacularly horrific helicopter collision in San Francisco. (I suppose you could also count the sex scene inside the ambulance with a paramedic known as “Naughty Nancy,” but let’s not be crass.)

One year later, a team of emergency medical technicians struggle to come to grips with the tragedy, as well as the everyday fallout of their jobs. Racing to the kinds of gruesome accident scenes that any sane person would run away from takes its toll.

Derek Luke (“Antwone Fisher“) plays a family man trying not to bring his grief home. Anastasia Griffith (“Damages”) is magnetic as a tough Tatum O’Neal lookalike. And Cliff Curtis (“Whale Rider”) struts around as Rabbit, a rebel helicopter pilot.

“Trauma” is determined to shock and awe, and it succeeds. Warning: There are some serious gross-out moments. But the biggest surprise is the last scene, which is quiet and affecting. After all the numbingly high-adrenaline action, you might be surprised to feel some real emotion.

Source: blogs.suntimes.com