This week’s “The Resident” was another great episode, as a drug trial at Chastain turns to disaster. “Trial and Error” pulled on the heart strings, yet made me smile. Once more, that’s what I love about this show, the range of emotion that it makes me go through in just one episode.
Devon and Priya’s wedding is just around the corner, but after what happened in this episode, if he goes through with it without first having a conversation with his fiancé, he really is an asshole. The fact that Priya has an investigative journalist job offer in San Francisco, or that she forgets his watch on the table is not a reason to treat her this way. Also, what happened to her story about investigating the cancer clusters in the first season? It seemed like such an interesting storyline that they just shoved under the rug.
Devon and Priya’s wedding is just around the corner, but after what happened in this episode, if he goes through with it without first having a conversation with his fiancé, he really is an asshole. The fact that Priya has an investigative journalist job offer in San Francisco, or that she forgets his watch on the table is not a reason to treat her this way. Also, what happened to her story about investigating the cancer clusters in the first season? It seemed like such an interesting storyline that they just shoved under the rug.
Devon is finished with his medical device. It’s a watch with a tiny camera that scans your retinae and sends your vitals when you check the time. He now needs a Beta tester. While he first asked Priya to be his Beta, he was left to test the device on himself until Julian volunteered to do so. Devon, thus monitored her pulse, blood pressure and heart rhythm throughout the day. The episode involves a lot of banter, and it might be cute, if it wasn’t incredibly wrong. He’s getting married for god’s sake. The operation of a man who had a hip replacement similar to hers has the best of Julian, and she rushes out of the operating room to be sick. This sends out a false alarm to Devon, and he comes rushing to her aid, thinking she is having a heart attack. This leads them to kiss. Even if they quickly dismissed as a mistake, it made me cringe.
“Thank you for checking on me.” -Julian
With the wedding so close, it’s time for Devon’s bachelor party. With the guys off camping and rafting, the girls are planning a girls’ night out. But, when the guys realise they don’t want to go camping, they asked to be invited to the girl’s party. This is how the whole gang ends up at a karaoke bar. It brought me so much joy to see everyone dancing to the Bollywood song. It would definitely have ended the episode on a high if it had ended there. Instead, the Bollywood music morphed into a slow song, and the couples broke down into pairs, including Devon and Julian, who danced together closely (or inappropriately), one last time. Mina’s face when she saw them dancing was priceless. Does anyone have any theories as to why she is reacting so strongly to it compared to the other characters? Her reaction though, is closer to mine than anyone elses. Yes, I have trust issues.
At the start of the episode, Nic believes her sister is in Savannah, so she is surprised when she gets a call from Conrad telling her that her sister is at the hospital. She and a friend have entered a drug trial for cancer immunotherapy drugs and they are having adverse reactions to it. Both soon end up in the emergency room, in critical condition and deteriorating quickly.
Two possibilities can be the cause of Jess and John’s ailments, but the two have very different treatment options. Choosing the wrong one would lead to the patients’ deaths. Taking the right decision is crucial but they can’t be certain of what is killing Jessi and John. Still, they follow Conrad’s gut on the medical treatment to follow. I was wondering last week what had happened to their mother, and when Nic mentioned her mother dying because of a wrong medical decision, I had a flashback of her telling Devon in the show’s pilot. The episode, again, did a good job at making me want to know exactly what happened between Nic and Jessi in the past. It was hinted here that they were very close at one point, now not so much.
“I need you to fight for me. I’m going to be here the whole time. I love you.” - Nic
Taking that decision, and trusting Conrad’s gut was hard on Nic, and I don’t want to imagine the impact on their relationship if Conrad had been wrong. Thankfully, even if things seemed touch and go for Jessi for a while, she managed to pull through. The scenes were riddled with emotion and Emily VanCamp played the heartbroken sister beautifully. Conrad was there to make her better, convincing her that her sister will get better, even managing to pull a laugh out of her. Whoever doesn’t find them absolutely adorable has no heart.
At first, even when Nic storms into his office, Bell lets the doctor continue with the drug trial, asking to be kept in the loop if the patients’ conditions change. When Jessi and Eric both worsen, Conrad takes over, but the doctor in charge of the trial is not happy about it, so he gets Bell involved who does not hesitate to shut down the trial. The fact that he included both Nic and Conrad on the treatement decisions, points to growth on his side. He’s understanding that he isn’t god. Or maybe, that was just him saving his ass. He still got pissy about Conrad telling him what to do, but he listened to Conrad’s judgement nonetheless. I consider that a win.
The surgery had Vass, Mina and AJ working together. It’s a surgery that could kill the patient, but it could also give him his life back, reverse most of the effects of the poisoning. AJ finds himself included in the orthopedic surgery when the wife demands that both Mina and him be in the operating room. He is in the room, but when the surgery takes a turn for the worst and someone needs to step in, he encourages Vass to let Mina help. This showed growth on his part, as only a few episodes ago, he would not let Mina close to any real action on the operating room.
“You are irreplaceable.” –AJ
After searching, in vain, for a replacement for Mina, AJ accepts that he cannot replace her. I love their relationship, and hope they will manage to show a platonic male/female relationship. I love how Mina puts him and his ego in check. He needs that. Without her, his character thinks too much of himself, it’s hard to root for him.
I love this week’s episode, despite the whole Devon/Julian bit. I give it an 8/10.
