These sort of shows make you feel sick with humanity today because while these people were risking their lives and seeing so many people die in front of them, others couldn’t even wear a mask to go shopping for an hour.

Help follows an adult carer called Sarah who works in a care home with a range of people including the elderly and a man with early onset dementia.

Her story starts just before Covid hits and so you see her change from this bubbly, excited personality that wants to do well and help others to seeing her breakdown throughout Covid because of the turmoil it has on her. Not only do we see her do 20 hour shifts because other workers don’t turn up, we also see loads of the people she looks after die from this horrible disease and with her not being able to do anything because there are no ambulances available, the doctors aren’t open, and the NHS is swamped.

It really puts everything into perspective. I was able to work from home, I was able to isolate myself and keep myself safe, I followed all the protocols, I wore a mask whenever I went out, I did better things for my health, I tried to do all I could to make sure that when lockdown ended I was able to see people again that maybe if they got the infection may not have been there anymore. And so to see anti-vaxxers walk the streets and complain about vaccines and mandatory masks and everything else makes you feel so sick when you watch this show and see how much turmoil people in less privileged positions have been through.

One moment in the show that was really fascinating was a one-shot that lasted for over 20 minutes of Sarah battling through her nightshift with no one to help her and an elderly man who was very sick from Covid. Every time you see her so close to his body and breathing the same air as him you wince because you think – what if she gets it? What if she ends up sick? What if she passes it to other people? But she has to be that close because no one else is going to do it for her. It’s such a horrible state of affairs and it really shows you how much these people went through and how under-appreciated they are.

The ending where she takes the onset dementia man out of the care home to find him somewhere better did come across a bit far-fetched to me. We did hear about stories in the news during Covid of people trying to get their elderly relatives out of these care homes that were super spreaders to try and save their lives, but watching it, it really became a drama then, it really became a TV show rather than something that you could see almost as reality and really connect with. I get why they did it, I get why they had to over dramatise because you have to, to keep the interest and show you the worst of the worst, but it just seemed a little too far-fetched for me.

I would highly recommend anyone to watch this to really understand what other people are going through especially if you have an office job, 9-to-5 job, a job that you can work from home and don’t have to see anyone or you think it’s all a hoax or a lie. You could see this show as propaganda but unless you’ve been there firsthand you don’t know, and we need to come together as a society to do what is best for everyone else and right now I don’t think we are.

What do you think of the show?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding