A few weeks ago, CBS announced that they will not be renewing Code Black for a 4th season. With every single new episode airing, and with the following release of its more than solid ratings, I am baffled as to why the network made this decision. Last Wednesday night’s episode once again showed what makes the show so captivating to watch: heart, honesty and that bit of action that always keeps us on the edge.
Throughout the entire episode Ethan is beside himself. He is distracted, inattentive and keeps pushing everyone, in particular Rox, as far away as possible. While no one at Angels knows what caused his foul mood, the viewers get reminded of his dreadful argument with his father in the previous episode in which the Colonel basically declared him dead. This and the information he learned about his brother eats away on Ethan, he projects his issues on one of his patients which eventually almost leads to him breaking the physician–patient privilege. To his further annoyance, Rox is shadowing Leanne at the hospital to brush up on her diagnostic skills meaning there is no way he can avoid her and her questions. The spark between him and Rox that had been flickering like crazy over the last few episodes has disappeared, he is giving her the cold shoulder. Rox decides she’s had enough and tells him that she is done riding the ambo rig with him.
Meanwhile, Elliot’s malpractice trial is finally happening and it does not look good for him when Detective Gomez's wife gives a tearful testimony claiming Elliot has not done whatever it takes to save her husband’s life. The young doctor is convinced that there is no way the ruling will be in his favor.
While Elliot is dealing with legal issues the doctors at Angels are treating a very high-profile patient: actor Drake Finn. He and his wife Sonya were involved in a car accident. A pipe came through the windshield and impaled the thespian. The metal is very close to his aorta and has to be cut into smaller pieces with an angle grinder in order for the artery to stay intact. It is quite an impressive scene when Rox fires up the angle grinder and saves the man’s life.
Another young woman who is struggling to cope is Ariel. Her boyfriend just died of cancer and yet she refuses to talk to Leanne about any of it. In her desperation, Leanne asks Campbell for help who sends his daughter to talk to Ariel. Turns out that Ariel’s behavior towards Leanne has a lot less to do with the fact that she is mourning her boyfriend. The teenager believes the DCFS (Department of Children and Family Services) won’t let her stay with Leanne and place her in another home. The doctor does not make any promises but tells her that she will do whatever it takes to prevent this from happening.
Leanne spends quite a lot of time worrying about Ariel in this episode and questions some of the choices she has made in regard to her. She is concerned that she will not be granted custody of the teenager. It is somewhat ironical that just then Sonya Finn asks the doctor for parenting advice. Leanne reacts with honesty: "No one is good at parenting. We just do the best we can. Someone I admire once said to me, our only job is to love them and to make sure they know it every day."
A further patient the doctors of Angels are treating this episode is Madelaine Mandel, a 60-year old woman who fell down a flight of stairs and landed on her head which then triggered a seizure. Her son is with her and informs the doctors that she had brain cancer but is now in remission. When they examine Madelaine, they discover that the cancer is back. However, the woman decides not to tell her son as he is finally about the start his trip to Kenya to teach there for a year. She does not want him to drop his life again to take care of her like he did last time she got sick. She prefers suffering alone than making him put his life on hold for her. Ethan disagrees with her choice and cannot stop himself from letting her know. Madelaine though, is convinced her decision is the right one: “I gave him life 31 years ago, I'm giving him life again today. That's my job as a parent.” Campbell pulls Ethan from Madelaine’s case when he almost tells her son about the cancer. Believing she is fine, the son leaves to get ready for his trip to Kenya but he soon feels that something is not right. He returns to the hospital to be with his mother. Kenya can wait.
In this episode, also a very young boy is admitted to Angels. His mother claims something is wrong with him but all doctors she went to so far kept telling her that he is perfectly healthy. Yvonne, the mother, asks for Doctor and when Angus arrives to examine the boy, he is surprised to see the young woman. T hey spent a night together several years ago before walking their separate ways. Turns out the sick boy lying in the hospital bed in front of him apparently is his son. Savetti believes the woman is trying to scam him but Angus does not want to hear any of it. They order a stress test for the boy and find out that he has a heart condition that will require him to take medication for the rest of his life. Angus comes to the conclusion that he is not ready to be a father yet but he wants to do the right thing. What exactly that entails remains to be seen.
First year resident Dr. Avila also has a rather hard time in this episode. His constant filming is standing in the way of him learning what it takes to be a doctor. When Guthrie catches him secretly filming Drake Finn to prove to the world that the actor is indeed gay, he gives him a good telling of:
Dr. Guthrie: "We provide our patients with medical care here we don't judge them.
You've been here for months already and we have all tried to teach you but you are not getting it."
You've been here for months already and we have all tried to teach you but you are not getting it."
Dr. Avila: "Getting what?! My movie is the truth!"
Dr. Guthrie: "Your truth lacks humanity! And compassion. And sadly, I fear you do too. Now get out of my sight."
To everyone’s surprise Dr. Avila is able to change his reputation for the better when he decides to contact Detective Gomez's wife. He has filmed Elliot’s relentless attempts to save her husband’s life and wants her to watch the footage. The widow can now see that Dr. Dixon did everything he could to give her late husband the proper care he deserved. She decides to drop the charges against the young doctor. The viewers could basically hear the guilt and worries that Elliot had carried with him in all these past episodes fall from his shoulders. Dr. Guthrie is impressed by Avila and reluctantly sends him back to work.
This concludes another very intriguing episode that makes me long for more of Code Black and its perfectly imperfect characters. However, there was one seemingly insignificant scene that left a rather bitter aftertaste for me. Due to Drake Finn’s stay at the hospital paparazzi and fans gathered in front of the building to wait for news on the actor. Fans are holding posters with love declarations written on them and there is some serious screaming going on. While this portrayal does in fact describe some fans, it is important to point out that this merely depicts the minority of most fan communities. This scene supports a stereotype that can do a lot of harm to fandoms and makes it especially hard for supporters of a show or an actor to be seen as anything but screaming, crazy fanatics. However, Code Black is by far not the only show that accidently reinforces this stereotype. In fact, to my knowledge, there is yet to air a show that dismantles this particular preconception.
