Every once in a while, two shows come out on two different streaming platforms that look to follow the same story or talk of the same tale. With various content libraries available more than ever before and located on so many different devices, audiences that come across these categorical coincidences may suddenly encounter feelings of digital deja vu.
Recent examples of this entertaining anomaly includeLow Country: The Murdaugh Dynastyon Max, which faced off againstMurdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, two true crime documentaries highlighting a high-class but corrupt family from South Carolina as well asCandyon Hulu, andLove & Deathon Max (yet again) that both fantastically dramatize a true story about a female woman from the 1970s who killed her next door neighbor. There are many more like this, and as much as we all might want to take a deep dive into the supposedly synced-up streaming universe, what it really boils down to is competition.
As much as Hollywood likes to be fast in bringing productions to audiences, creating a series (or, in these cases, a mini-series) requires hard work, valuable resources, and time. As shown above, though, news of one distribution company (like Netflix, Max, or Hulu, for instance) crafting a unique premise or interesting tidbit of our past into a productthat catches the attentionof viewers just might be harnessed by another as well.
As long as production companies wait a while between the original coming to fruition and their own version being available to the public, an unspoken code of honor between different streaming entities seems to be respected. Well, this seems to have happened again with 2021’sDopesickon Hulu andPainkilleron Netflix, which just came out on August 10.
Related:Painkiller Review: Stellar Cast Ignites a Wicked Fever Dream About the Opioid Nightmare
Scary Coincidences Between Shows
As you might have guessed by the titles alone, both of these shows not only center around the opioid crisis but also put a spotlight on Richard Sackler and the entire Sackler family, who were the figures behind the all-powerful Purdue pharmaceutical company.
As the most dangerous drug introduced by this institution to the American public was Oxycontin, these combating miniseries tread the history of the overwhelming abuse and chokeholdthat this devious clanhad on innocent people across the United States.
Alongside detailed and traumatizing stories that revolve around the retellings of abuse victims, viewers also follow along with public officials who try, with all their might, to stop the overwhelming supply and reach of this debilitating narcotic.
Besides some verymischievous marketing tacticsemployed by streaming platforms in order to stay ahead of the game and take hold of the newest trending topic, while both shows do indeed follow the same premise, they are both surprisingly adapted from different books.
Dopesicksprang out of a non-fiction investigative work with the same name that was written by Beth Macy and released in 2018.Painkillerwas also inspired by a book on the same topic released in the same year (coincidentally, the authors have the same initials, too!).
Showing Different Perspectives of Drug Addiction
While bothDopesickandPainkillerinstill a dark tone to run parallel to the real-life events that affected millions in the worst way possible, audiences will be pulled in by the sublime performances, which greatly help to weave this onscreen version of a (real-world)good versus evilscenario.
To start the comparison with celebrity notoriety,Painkillerstars Uzo Aduba as Edie Flowers, an attorney for the U.S attorney’s office in West Virginia, and the iconic Matthew Broderick as the main villain, Richard Sackler (not to mention that Clark Gregg plays Richard’s father, Arthur).
Dopesickdoes the same with Michael Keatonfilling the shoesof a morally kept doctor named Dr. Samuel Finnix, Will Poulter as Billy Culter, a conscious inept sales rep until the very end, and Kaitlyn Dever as Betsy Mallum, an injured coal mine worker who becomes addicted to Oxycontin.
Related:Matthew Broderick Believes His Career Will Be Remembered For One Thing; Ferris Bueller
Amongst these retooled figures that all come from a troubled time in history which include national law enforcement, physicians who find themselves swept up by Purdue’s greed, and marketing representatives who find emotional conflict from within themselves, there is a small but very strange coincidence that just about steps outside the shared amount of creative resources thatPainkillerandDopesickhave on hand.
Even though one is only mentioned by name and not actually played through a role, both dramas end up featuring teen girls who are helped by their respective doctors. Both of the girls, by chance, have the same last name – Jessica Ann and Elizabeth Ann.
Considering the other vague connections (putting aside the fact that they both crafted a drama around a drug epidemic), these two shows seem to have a lot more in common than meets the eye. AsPainkillerandDopesickare available for streaming right now on Netflix and Hulu, respectively, there’s no better time than now to see what these two shows have to offer and get caught up in an eerie rabbit hole of similarities and differences.
