The Big C is Showtime's newest series, premiering Monday August 16 at 10:30pm. Laura Linney stars as Cathy Jamison, a put-upon schoolteacher and Minneapolis resident who decides to make some long-needed life changes once she is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
It seems like everyone is out to annoy Cathy. Her husband (Oliver Platt) is an overgrown child. Her child (Gabriel Basso) is rude, obnoxious, and refuses to flush the toilet. Her brother (John Benjamin Hickey) is a caustic homeless environmentalist. Her neighbor (Phyllis Somerville) is trying to prevent her from building a pool. Her student (Gabourey Sidibe) mocks her openly.
I guess my initial question for Cathy is, why did you let it get this bad to begin with? Every character on the show regards her with such perceivable disdain. How come it takes cancer to shake her up? Well never mind, because it does. Cathy decides to forgo chemotherapy and just live out her remaining year(s?) in whatever way she damn well pleases. This includes eating dessert for dinner, pouring wine on her couch, cursing out her neighbor, bribing Precious to lose weight, locking her kid in the bathroom, etc. She's mad as hell and she's not gonna take it anymore. And she has cancer to thank for this.
Meanwhile, no one besides her doctor actually knows she has cancer. Isn't it oddly inconsiderate of Cathy not to share this information with her loved ones? I guess not, 'cause they're *ssholes.
Sum...ology: A decent pilot with a simple premise shows potential, despite unlikeable characters.
