Wendi Sustaire
"Addicted" follows the lives of seven addicts, (the last show is about a couple), through intervention, detox and rehabilitation. Kristina Wandzilak, a former drug user, prostitute and alcoholic turned family interventionist, guides the addict(s) and family through the process, being both advocate and sponsor. Addictions dealt with in the series are; alcohol, heroin, methamphetamine, and Oxycontin. Most of the clients use and are addicted to multiple drugs. The series doesn't have much going for it; it's obviously a wanna-be clone of "Intervention" and shows like it. Ms. Wandzilak doesn't do herself any favors by trying to be gritty by dropping the occasional f- bomb in a few of the episodes. It isn't very professional, nor does it seem to build any rapport with her clients. Most of the shows are her chasing them around or acting big-eyed and mystified when the addict refuses treatment at first or gets themselves thrown out of a facility. Knowing she is a former addict, her surprise at behavior that should be familiar is obviously forced. Another thing lacking in this series is the redundancy of the episodes. Pretty much every one is the same, just with different people, with different combinations of addictions. Drama, intervention, rehab, family visit. Over and over, it gets very predictable and mundane after the first few. However, the series does have a few things going for it. Ms. Wandzilak obviously does care about her clients and takes care of them quite well. She seems very good at what she does. It has it's moments of gritty reality too, for instance the star of episode 3, Kevin, a diabetic who is addicted to alcohol and drinks gallons of vodka a day even though he ends up in the hospital almost every time, gives some very gripping and heart-wrenching footage of him puking in pots and crying out for help. It is definitely a very REAL show dealing with a very REAL problem. Another thing is that they did not get wishy-washy about showing the day-to-day life of an addict, right down to them crying in frustration when they cannot find viable veins to shoot their heroin in. Overall this series was a flop and I can see why it ended up being canceled, but if you are interested in taking a walk in the shoes of an addict, this is the series for you.
