History Series / DrDeath

* {{Gaslighting}}: Duntsch uses his charm to convince a patient that her operation went wonderfully, and even gets her to record a testimonial for him. He didn't fix her pain, and actually left a ''sponge'' in her incision, but he convinces her that it was a suture and she's more or less as healthy after the operation as she was before it; by Duntsch's standards, this was a pretty good outcome.

* {{Gaslighting}}: Duntsch uses his charm to convince a patient that her operation went wonderfully, and even gets her to record a testimonial for him. He actually left a ''sponge'' in her incision, but he convinces her that it was a suture, and she at least is functional after the operation; by Duntsch's standards, this was a pretty good outcome.

* GoodLawyersGoodClients: Averted. Chris is an asshole, but his public defender is a decent person who's just stuck with a delusional lunatic of a client. She refuses to defend Chris's indefensible actions in court, and instead argues that he was poorly trained, never should've practiced in the first place, and that the tragedy came about thanks to flaws that were InherentInTheSystem. She (almost) convinces him that he won't get his medical license back and will worsen his situation if he keeps trying.

* ForScience: Duntsch tries to rationalize his actions by saying that he needs the money that he'll make from surgery to fund his research. However, his lavish spending, and the fact that he seems to never enter a lab once he's done with residency, might make one doubt his sincerity.

* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: Duntsch's behavior is actually toned down for the series, with this adaptation not depicting the full extent of the emotional and physical abuse he inflicted on Wendy, which included an incident where he broke into her apartment and was found covered in blood and bruises while holding a knife and gun with a ransom note written in blood nearby.
** The screenwriters treat Duntsch's research pursuits as legitimate, and portray his interest in biology as his sole redeeming trait. In reality, Duntsch's colleagues at Discgenics[[note]]a biotech startup that Duntsch was involved in, that went belly-up during the financial crisis of 2008[[/note]] have recalled him as a lazy drunkard whose only job was wining and dining prospective investors, and in behind-the-scenes material, the real Randall Kirby says that he reviewed Duntsch's research and found to be either plagiarized or nonsensical.

** Josh Baker represents multiple medical professionals[[note]]largely Kyle Kissinger, a OR nurse who observed Dunstch's dirty and torn scrubs and alerted Dallas Medical Center's Chief of Medicine when Dunstch tried to order a craniotomy[[/note]] who worked encountered Duntsch's work and tried to put a stop to him.
** Kayla Gibson was distilled from various people who interacted with Duntsch during medical school and residency[[note]]the person who reported Duntsch's cocaine use to the University of Tennessee was a nurse who happened to be at the same party as Duntsch, but was never romantically involved with him[[/note]]. Her relationship with Duntsch exists to foreshadow Duntsch's abuse of Wendy and Kim.

* DeterminedDoctor: Kirby and Henderson are a new take on this trope: when it becomes clear that treating Duntsch's patients after he's butchered them isn't enough, they go to court to protect the public from his "care."

* DrFeelgood: As a resident, Duntsch runs a lucrative side hustle writing prescriptions for ADHD meds.
* DrugsAreBad: Duntsch's drug habit starts out innocently enough--he actually conceives a novel idea for treating spinal degeneration while he's on LSD--but by the time he's practicing independently, his drug use is presented in an entirely negative light.

* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: Duntsch's behavior is actually toned down for the series, with this adaptation not depicting the full extent of the emotional and physical abuse he inflicted on his ex, which included an incident where he broke into her apartment and was found covered in blood and bruises while holding a knife and gun with a ransom note written in blood nearby.

** He mistakes part of a patient's ''neck muscle'' for a cancer, cuts the muscle out for a biopsy, aborts the surgery without having even attempted the cervical repair that he'd promised the patient, and then sews the patient back up... with a sponge still inside. The patient develops a life-threatening infection. Kirby, who is called in to salvage things, likens the surgery to an "attempted murder."

** A revision surgery performed by Henderson sees him note the mess Duntsch made of the patient, including the Dura Mater (protective sheath around the spinal cord) dissected, offering no protection to the nerves. Ligaments cut and just hanging loose, bone fragments piercing nerves and otherwise messily smashed into the spinal canal "like putty".

* AdultFear: Surgery can be plenty stressful, even if your doctor ''isn't'' a dangerous lunatic.

* SnobsVsSlobs: Dr. Skadden attempts to invoke this by publicly comparing credentials with Drs. Kirby and Henderson. Kirby proves to be a bad target as he's a graduate of Rice and Baylor, two of the best schools in the country, but Henderson provides a slight opening by being a graduate of the University of Nebraska. However, Henderson is unaffected by the snobbery[[note]]In real life, Henderson is regarded as one of the best spine specialists in Texas with a stellar professional reputation[[/note]].

** Kirby and Henderson repeatedly use food metaphors to explain how bad Duntsch's technique was. Kirby compares one of Duntsch's operative choices--to prise a disc out instead of cutting with a scalpel--to cutting up a pizza with a pliers instead of a pizza slicer.

* WorstAid: Duntsch's surgeries are all this.
** He mistakes part of a patient's ''neck muscle'' for a cancer, cuts the muscle out for a biopsy, aborts the surgery without having even attempted the cervical repair that he'd promised the patient, and then sews the patient back up... with a sponge still inside. The patient develops a life-threatening infection. Kirby, who is called in to salvage things, likens the surgery to an "attempted murder."
** He embeds surgical hardware, that was supposed to go into bone, in ''muscle''. Henderson and Kirby point out that this mistake is just as unbelievable in a human body as it would be in a T-bone steak.
** Instead of cutting a disc with a scalpel, he tries to yank it out with a surgical pliers.
** Another disc surgery sees him amputating a nerve root, leaving the patient's left leg paralyzed.

* BittersweetEnding: Duntsch is sent away for life but the damage he did can never be undone and the people he maimed or whose loved ones he caused the deaths of still have to live with the effects of his actions. And the hopelessly broken medical system which allowed him to get away with it is still in place. The final line of the epilogue outright says that what happened with Duntshc ''will'' happen again.

* BloodyHorror: When Duntsch's patients begin hemorrhaging, the camera focuses on the blood.

* MeatGrinderSurgery: Duntsch's surgeries are gruesome, his strategies and choices of equipment are bizarre, and virtually every onlooker in his operating rooms is horrified watching him work.

* MedicineShow: Duntsch creates a slick informercial for himself, complete with a testimonial from one of his less-disastrous patients

** The show's portrayal of Randall Kirby is a combination of the real Kirby and R. Mark Hoyle, another vascular surgeon who worked with Dunstch's in the operating room and later testified against him. Hoyle still has a role in the series, but it's reduced to one scene in the OR, with Kirby assuming Hoyle's entire role in the courtroom[[note]]probably because the real Hoyle refused to get involved with the podcast, telling its creators that he was sick of talking about Duntsch[[/note]].

** The screenwriters treat Duntsch's research pursuits as legitimate, and portray his interest in biology as his sole redeeming trait. In reality, Duntsch's colleagues at DiscGenics[[note]]a biotech startup that Duntsch was involved in, that went belly-up during the financial crisis of 2008[[/note]] have recalled him as a lazy drunkard whose only job was wining and dining prospective investors, and in behind-the-scenes material, the real Randall Kirby says that he reviewed Duntsch's research and found to be either plagiarized or nonsensical.

* ClenchedTeethTeamwork: Kirby's eccentricity makes for entertaining TV, but it frustrates Henderson and Shughart a lot.

** The show's portrayal of Randall Kirby is a combination of the real Kirby and R. Mark Hoyle, another vascular surgeon who had to deal with Dunstch's work in the operating room.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Duntsch is able to keep getting hired and attracting patients because of his charm.

* SnobsVsSlobs: Dr. Skadden attempts to invoke this by publicly comparing credentials with Drs. Kirby and Henderson. Kirby proves to be a bad target as he's a graduate of Rice and Baylor, two of the best schools in the country, but Henderson provides a slight opening by being a graduate of the University of Nebraska. However, Henderson is unaffected by the snobbery[[note]]In real life, Henderson is regarded as one of the best neurosurgeons in Texas with a stellar professional reputation[[/note]].

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Duntsch's behavior is actually toned down for the series, with this adaptation not depicting the full extent of the emotional and physical abuse he inflicted on his ex, which included an incident where he broke into her apartment and was found covered in blood and bruises while holding a knife and gun with a ransom note written in blood nearby.

* YourCheatingHeart: Duntsch betrays his baby-mama for an affair with his Physician Assistant.

* CompositeCharacter: The show's portrayal of Randall Kirby is a combination of the real Kirby and R. Mark Hoyle, another vascular surgeon who had to deal with Dunstch's work in the operating room.