Heartland asks us to sit still for a Treat Williams who, while once again practicing medicine, is even more of a noble noodle than he was on Everwood. This time, at the expense of his ex-wife (Kari Matchett) and his estranged daughter (Gage Golightly), he never leaves the hospital. He is too busy transplanting vital organs, whether or not patients want them. Treat knows better than his patients or his boss (Dabney Coleman). If he’s still smoking, it’s because of the tension of doing good in spite of everybody. Anyway, after House, Heartland seems a little regressive. And if I were Treat, I wouldn’t be so casual about Nurse Kivala (Morena Baccarin). She’s not only a heartthrob but also a reader—of Gabriel García Márquez!

TNT
Premieres Monday, June 18, 10 p.m.

Related:

• Archive: “Television”
• Articles by John Leonard
• Table of Contents: Jun 18, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!