Off the Map is an American medical drama television series created by Jenna Bans, who also served as an executive producer together with Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers. The series ran on ABC from January 12, 2011 to April 6, 2011. The series was filmed in Puerto Rico and on Oahu, Hawaii, using many of the production facilities remaining from the ABC series Lost (2004–10).
On May 13, 2011, ABC cancelled the series after one season.
Contents
Premise
Set in a remote South American village, young doctors try to save lives in their understaffed, jungle medical clinic.
Cast and characters
Main
Martin Henderson as Dr. Benjamin "Ben" Keeton: Keeton is "one of the world's greatest humanitarians", according to Mina and Lily. He was married to Abby and they had a daughter together, but they died during an accident. However, in episode 4 it is revealed that Abby is on life support in the San Miguel Hospital and Ben is keeping her on life support because her trust fund bankrolls the clinic. When EEG scans show no change, Ben must make the decision whether or not to keep his wife on life support. He became involved with Dr. Ryan Clark some time after the accident, and they have mostly been on and off. When asked by Brenner how long they've been dating, his words were, "About a year. On and off. We fight, then we make up". Ben starts to realize he must move on with his life and allows himself to commit to Ryan on a deeper level. When she has to go to New York for a full investigation regarding her heart disease, he decides to temporarily leave the clinic behind and leave with her. In episode 12 Hold on tight he fires Mina for lying to him about being Clark's doctor.
Jason Winston George as Dr. Otis Cole: It is said about Cole that his bark is "just as bad as his bite". Although he is strict while working, off the job he can be extremely silly. He is good friends with Zee, and although they started out as friends with benefits, he realizes he is falling in love with her after she breaks up with him. Cole was once addicted to morphine and heroin and consumes candy to stay clean. When Cole and Minard must retrieve heroin to use as painkillers, he contemplates relapsing, carrying around a stash of heroin for a whole day, before coming clean to Ben, who then takes his heroin and gives him some more candy.
Valerie Cruz as Zitajalehrena "Zee" Toledo Alvarez: Zee is the mother hen of the doctors. She shows disapproval towards workplace romances but has developed a casual relationship with Cole. When she finds out it is more a friends with benefits thing for Cole, she ends things between them, but finds herself drawn back in when he is injured during a rescue mission. They are currently contemplating getting back together and try a real relationship.
Caroline Dhavernas as Dr. Lily Brenner: Brenner's fiancé was killed in a cycling accident after she asked him to go out and get her some cereal. She has an attraction to Ben Keeton, although this was set back by her disapproval at his handling of a patient in "A Doctor Time Out", and is completely ended once she discovers Keeton has gotten back together with Clark. She meets a local farmer named Mateo at the local bar and forms a relationship with him, until she discovers that he and his family grow coca on their land, which is used to make cocaine. Brenner is an extreme control freak and finds it difficult at first to adapt to the unexpected situations in the jungle that regularly break her routine.
Recurring
Nicholas Gonzalez as Mateo
Aimee Garcia as Alma
Elizabeth Peña as Inez
Release
International broadcasts
In Canada, Off the Map was aired on Global HD. Although never screened on British television, it became available on-demand through the ABC Studios channel on Sky in 2015.
Home releases
On June 3, 2011, it was announced that ABC Studios would release the complete series on DVD in Region 1. The set, including all 13 episodes, as well as bonus features, was made available on August 23, 2011.
Reception
Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 18% of 22 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.90/10. The website's consensus reads, "Off the Map is dreadfully painful in its efforts to be dramatic and earnest." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the television series a score of 49 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Ratings
Off the Map premiered with 7.57 million viewers. It became ABC's highest viewed telecast in the timeslot since the premiere of Eastwick on September 23, 2009, and its second episode on September 30, 2009.
Accolades
The series received a nomination for Best Primetime Television Program, with Jonathan Castellanos being nominated as well for Best Supporting Actor - Television, at the 2011 Imagen Foundation Awards.