The Night Shift season 4: TVRRoundup's Overall Review

Last summer, to prepare for full reviews of the fall season, TVRRoundup did a summer-time dry run; among the shows reviewed in that dry run was The Night Shift, which was then on its third season. The show was ultimately renewed for a season 4 - which concluded a few days ago. TVRRoundup didn't do an episodic review of the season, but now that it's over - and with season five up in the air - let's take a look at a few things and see how it did.

RATINGS

Dr. Topher Zia

The only factor that will ultimately decide The Night Shift's fate is its ratings. When the news broke before season 4 began that Ken Leung as fan favourite Dr. Topher Zia was leaving, I suspected there might be a hit to the season 4 ratings larger than a typical show decline, and I think I was right. These were the comparative ratings for the show's four seasons so far.

SEASON 1:         1.4        6.59m

SEASON 2:         1.3        5.29m

SEASON 3:         1.0        4.99m
SEASON 4:         0.7        3.97m

The all-important demo share has taken two significant dips in the past two seasons. I attributed the dip from seasons 2 to 3 as related to the loss of two main characters, and predicted there would be another hit in season 4 after we lost Ken Leung as Topher Zia. I can't prove I'm right, but I'm certain the decline is too steep to attribute to the natural decline of a television show.
   So will we get a season 5? Honestly, I'm not sure. I was confident of season 4 because I could find nuggets of information about its ratings standing, but I've found next to nothing this year to suggest if The Night Shift remains one of the highest-rated summer shows with only a 0.7. I'm very much caught in the middle, so I'm not going to make a prediction.

STORY - BAD

But it's time to look at some of the stories of the fourth season: what worked well, what didn't and how good was it overall?

   This is where I'm conflicted. I definitely feel like season 4 was better than season 3, but I think I liked it a little less. TC once again running through his I-need-to-be-in-a-war-torn-country cycle kept him away from San Antonio Memorial for HALF the season - infuriating when you're sat here waiting for him and Jordan to reunite.

Dr. Cain Diaz

   Which brings me to Cain. He was a pretty interesting guy with a shady past, but he didn't bring much to the table and, when he did, he didn't for very long (as his abrupt departure in the finale will show). As far as replacing lost characters go, I don't feel any of The Night Shift's new characters has ever really managed to match those they replaced: Shannon hasn't been enough on her own to make up for the losses of both Krista and Ragosa, and Cain was just no match for the departing Topher.

   And that provides a nice segue to talk about randomly dead characters. First off, Annie. At the end of season 3 she was heading off to rehab for pain pill addiction and at the end of her only appearance in season 4 she ... commits suicide by jumping off a bridge? Not to mention Topher, who, after being fired at the end of season 3, needn't have been mentioned again, but was killed in an off-screen car crash. Neither of those deaths were necessary, and although Topher's briefly impacted the plot, including precipitating TC's return, Annie's barely registered. I understand that was deliberate, but if The Night Shift isn't renewed for season 5 then it leaves a big plot hole that had no reason to be left open.

STORY - GOOD

Those were some of the biggest problems with the season. But it also had some great success stories. Mostly those to do with the army and veterans, which I enjoyed far more than I expected to. As a Brit, I don't really understand the pride the US feels for its armed forces, but I have to admit the hospital turning into a VA help centre was a cool storyline. Similarly, episode 7 "Keep the Faith" - written, directed by and guest starring army veterans - just felt cool and, from a Brit's perspective, gave some insight into that pride.
   Individually, the episodes were quite strong - which is probably why the stuff I disliked about the season overall didn't really weight it down too heavily. The patients were always interesting, with cases regularly offering an unusual twist on typical medical storylines, and all of the stuff with our main characters in the hospital was generally above average. I like that Rick showed up a few times to show his love for Drew, Julian Cummings as the new owner of the hospital provided good conflict and Mac, before his death, was a thoroughly enjoyable character whose relationship with Jordan was one of the sweetest things about the season.

Final thoughts

I'm still unsure about what to think of season 4 as a whole. Individual episodes maintained their strength consistently from start to finish, but the season definitely heightened my fatigue at TC being constantly abroad and I'll never forgive Topher's unnecessary off-screen death. Also, I have to mention the irony of a show called The Night Shift regularly showing characters abroad in the daytime.

But I hope you enjoyed season 4 and my quick overall thoughts about it; whether you felt it was good, bad or a shade between, thanks for reading and all that's left to do now is hope NBC hands out that fifth season renewal - and soon. Fingers crossed!