‘Shantaram’ Recap: ‘Bad Medicine’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Shantaram’. To revisit the series premiere, click here.
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When we last settled in to discuss the fascinating Apple TV+ series, Shantaram, we talked at length about how the show did a phenomenal job of world-building and exploring some fundamental facts regarding the show’s main character, Dale aka Lin Ford. Specifically, how Lin is a man that desperately wants a fresh start in life and a second chance to be a better man after being involved in a bank robbery and prison break… but also that he isn’t making any quantifiable or fundamental strides toward becoming that man, and well… speaking to that foundation for the character is imperative to revisit today, simply because the show explored it further in a fascinating manner in its next episode.

For now, that Lin was settled into Sagar Wada, he had time to think and ponder in ‘Bad Medicine’. About the choices he had made to this point and what a fresh start here would look like since he was now staying here and becoming the village doctor and well… that quiet time allowed for the viewer to learn just how desperate he really is for that fresh start. Because the past and the robbery truly haunts Lin to the core of his soul and while that does indeed fuel him to be a better man and be more in this life, it is also pushing him to try and resolve his concerns in a hap hazard and prompt manner to not feel the pain. As evidenced by the interesting but also uplifting deeds that he committed to in this particular tale.

For he also took the time to accompany his patients to the hospital and hustle and push to get medical supplies to save them from illness, and when that didn’t produce what he needed, he got creative in his quest to put together a functional clinic. In that, he partnered up with Mr. Kahn and his associates and networks to get those supplies, and he even braved illness and stigma in doing so. Since his future supplier was a colony of lepers in the city. All so that he could bring about joy and hope and while that did indeed remind us of the fact that Lin is a good man, the fundamental problem here is that he is  hoping that a bevy of good deeds will wipe away his sins and cleanse his soul and give him peace and that just won’t happen, sadly. For what is really the issue here is that Lin has not and seemingly will not deal with the fundamental root causes that brought him to this point, and until he does... everything here is just a quick bandage on an ugly wound.

But what was equally as fascinating about this tale, is the sheer fact that Lin in essence, doesn’t know what to do to heal or how to get there and it makes sense as to why. After all, this is 1982. Where mental health and growth were seen as forms of weakness, so men like Lin just forged ahead and hoped for the best and to complicate matters further… he’s digging himself a deeper hole of trouble by somehow thinking that being cool with Mister Khan will somehow bring himself and others along to the proverbial light side, and that such a redemption will somehow heal him. When in reality, Khan and his friends and associates, don't care about Lin's push to heal or make his new home a great place. They are working against Sagar Wada and see Lin as nothing more than a handy asset that they will eventually manipulate and make use of in their own special way.

Which is what brings forth the drama in this tale and helps set the stage for what feels like a grand tragedy of sorts. One where a decent man that’s made some honest mistakes and wants to atone for them… cannot. Due to his desperation to grasp at peace instead of finding out how to actually obtain it, and that made this episode, gripping and compelling and powerful. Since it covered all of those points in a masterful and engaging manner and of course, left us wanting more. For we are all now curious… if a fresh start will ever be in the cards for Lin, one where he is truly able to embrace that which he seeks and it will be fascinating to see if real change can come to Lin’s life, or if this segment of his time in Bombay is nothing more than a way station to a tragic purgatory. Until next time.  

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