Dr Death Season 2 | Date, plot, cast, trailer and is the Peacock series worth watching
Please note that this article contains facts that may spoil the viewing pleasure for some
Series name: 'Dr Death' Season 2
Platform: Peacock
Country of origin: USA
Date of Release: December 21, 2023
Genre: True Crime Thriller
Number of episodes: 8
What is the plot of 'Dr Death' Season 2?
The first season of 'Dr Death' was a huge hit with stellar performances by Joshua Jackson and Christian Slater. Season 2 is a standalone and focuses on the crimes of Italian thoracic surgeon Paolo Macchiarini who was accused of unethically performing experimental surgeries on healthy patients resulting in eight deaths.
Who is Paolo Macchiarini and where is he now?
As mentioned above, Paolo Macchiarini was accused of performing a number of unethical surgeries on sometimes healthy patients resulting in several deaths. Macchiarini claimed to have pioneered the synthetic trachea transplant and surgically implanted them in patients. After much administrative hand-washing that saw Macchiarini shunted out of Sweden's Karolinska Institutet, he eventually ended up at the Kazan Federal University in Russia -- from where he was effectively fired in 2017.
A year-long investigation in Sweden into Macchiarini's ethics breaches found that while his actions were indeed negligent, a crime could not be proven as the patients' cause of death could not be directly linked to anything Macchiarini had done. In June 2022 Macchiarini was given a suspended sentence for causing 'bodily harm', but an Appeals court later decided that 20 months in prison was more appropriate.
The bigger debate, however, is where Macchiarini will serve out his sentence. Due to convoluted EU law it is likely that Italian citizen Macchiarini will serve out his sentence in Spain (his official address is listed as Barcelona) but Sweden requires that at least half a sentence is carried out in Sweden and Spain has not yet agreed to carry out the Swedish sentence.
'Dr Death' Season 2 cast
Édgar Ramírez (who plays Paolo Macchiarini) is an outstanding actor who really made his mark in the West in 2010 when he played Carlos the Jackal in Olivier Assayas's lauded 'Carlos'. He was also nominated for a slew of awards for his portrayal of Gianni Versace in the miniseries 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story'. He was most recently seen in the excellent 'Florida Man' on Netflix. You can catch him next in Eli Roth's upcoming 'Borderlands' and alongside Selena Gomez in the musical comedy 'Emilia Perez'.
Mandy Moore
An actress who literally needs no introduction. So let's not get into 'This Is Us' and 'Chasing Liberty!' but rather here's where her legion of fans can catch up with her next. This year Mandy's famous Rapunzel voice reappeared in one of the Disney shorts from the 'Once Upon a Studio' series, she also lent Rapunzel to the TV special 'Lego Disney Princess: The Castle Quest'. She is also going to be voicing Mrs Malcolm in the upcoming 'Happy Family' and will star in 'Thread: An Insidious Tale' which is currently in post-production.
Is 'Dr Death' Season 2 worth watching?
If it's anything like the first season then definitely, and with Ramirez and Moore in the cast, the acting department has got a lot of firepower. Although, how the Paolo Macchiarini story will develop with the viewer remains to be seen and is the only sticking point.
MEAWW Watch ranking
3 out of 5
'Dr Death' Season 2 trailer
