Hey, it’s not every day that you get to just hold a woman’s severed leg.
I was excited for the waterslide collapse, but so far it’s a rather minor event. Yes, we got the three patients, but I expected a flood. I suppose that they could still be on their way. The three that we got all have to be brought in by helicopter. Less critical injuries could be arriving by ambulance still. We’ll have to see.
The three that we did get were very cool, though. I love a good amputation, and Park the Shark was such a fun character. He did kind of look like a shark. He had that dead-eyed look. At the same time, I would totally trust him if I needed someone to reattach my leg.
I would also trust Dr. Al if I needed a slash tracheotomy after I fractured my larynx. For someone who started off the season acting very by-the-book and wary of anything that could be considered risky, she acted like a regular ER Cowboy. It felt very much like what happened during the PittFest shooting, where everyone was doing whatever it took to save a life.
I’m glad that the kid wasn’t Derek Foster’s son. Well, maybe that’s a weird way to put it, especially since there’s a very high chance that his son did die. But it would have been very neat if they had been related. The fact that it’s someone else was unexpected. It’s just too bad that his doctors were less than professional.
There are a couple of things happening with the Santos and Langdon confrontation that I want to talk about.
They had worked together on the tongue laceration, but this was different. Langdon was correct in his comments. Both Dr. Al sided with him repeatedly, so he wasn’t out of line. His tone was calm and even. The only thing that could really be interpreted as a jab was his line about how he was happy to teach her.
Santos, on the other hand, was annoyed and dismissive from the very start. She continued to push for a chest tube, even though she was told repeatedly that it was not the right procedure. Garcia wasn’t wrong when she said that Santos’ behavior was completely unprofessional and out of line.
She could have been a bit gentler about it, especially once Santos spoke to her privately, but Garcia has never been the soft and cuddly type. And she does have a longstanding friendship with Langdon. I would get annoyed if my hook up buddy (because they clearly are not anything more than that) continued to insult and complain about someone I liked.
If Santos is a pariah, then they’ve done a fairly poor job showing it. She’s clearly close to Robby and comfortable to go to him with any concerns she has, even when they don’t strictly have to do with work. She cares a lot about Whitaker, and there’s no indication that he doesn’t feel the same. She and Mel talk and check in with each other. She has not shown to be ostracized in any noticeable way.
It would have been interesting if she was! Langdon was the Golden Boy, and she was directly responsible for uncovering his addiction. It could have been a really interesting storyline to actually see her get blowback from that. Instead, her insistence that no one likes her just comes across as childish.
Which still tells us something about Santos, of course. Now, the real question is whether or not Garcia is right and people are not engaging with Santos because she’s unpleasant to be around, or if Santos’ perception of what is happening is wrong in some way. Honestly, it’s probably both and they almost certainly feed into each other in self-fulfilling ways.
Santos has always shown a very strong desire for not only justice, but specifically for retribution. There’s a mile wide vengeance streak in her, so it makes sense that Langdon’s very presence is an affront to her. It’s not just awkwardness or lingering tension over how poor their relationship was back in Season One. Santos outright does not believe that Langdon deserves to be there. At all. Ever.
That isn’t something that you can smooth over with an apology. That’s a fundamental difference in world view. He stole and tampered with medication, and therefore he should be fired. That is a very punitive view that is completely incompatible with the more restorative justice path that Langdon was lucky enough to be shoved on to.
It’s a tendency that she shares with Robby. Oh, Robby. What am I going to do with you? He is obviously struggling. He’s burned out. His empathy is at an all time low while his hypocriticalness is at an all time high. Or maybe it’s not hypocriticalness exactly. The fact that he sees panic attacks as liabilities just means that the fact that he had one himself at PittFest is another reason for his suicidal tendencies.
The idea that someone else that he worked with might die, which is certainly a possibility if Mohan had actually been having a heart attack, definitely didn’t help matters. His apology was awful too. It was almost good. He acknowledged that he was unprofessional and a dick, but he quickly ruined it by doubling down on the idea that a panic attack is simply unacceptable.
I wouldn’t have accepted that apology if I was Mohan. And I would definitely be very, very annoyed with my mom. Like seriously, what the hell?! Mohan had told her multiple times that she was working, she repeatedly ignored her calls, and her mom’s next move was to call the hospital directly? Really? That is beyond inappropriate.
Honestly, maybe it’s for the best if she went off on a cruise around the world. At least it would get her away from Mohan. Javadi can go with her, if only to give her distance from her parents too. Especially her mom.
McKay’s advice about being honest with your mom would be great advice… for anyone other than Dr. Shamsi. She wasn’t just disappointed that Javadi made a mistake regarding a patient. Her complete and utter distaste for the ER in general was shocking in its intensity. You would think that after seeing how PittFest went first hand, she would have a bit more respect for what they did, but no.
She views Javadi’s continued presence in the ER as actively detrimental to her future. She went to the trouble of walking down and finding her just to tell her that. There’s just no talking in the face of something like that. Not productively. I’m glad that we got a shot of McKay realizing just what the situation was. Hopefully, she’ll be able to support Javadi moving forward.
The other mother who got focus was, of course, Roxie. Her storyline has finally reached its conclusion, and I’m sure that we’ll see the final moments of it next episode. McKay’s conversation with Shane, the older son, made me cry. It hit very, very close to home in a way that I was unprepared for.
Her scenes are so distinct from every other. In the chaos and noise of the ER, her room has turned into something soft and quiet. And after fighting against it and insisting that she come home, her husband was able to just sit by her bedside as McKay pushed the morphine. It’s really the best case scenario for something like that.
Rounding out the rest of our caretakers, Mel finished her deposition. Mel seemed incredibly unprepared and also unaware of what it actually meant. I mean, these things do not come out just out of the blue. So why did it sound like this was the first time that anyone really told her that, even if the hospital loses the lawsuit, her career won’t be affected? That’s pretty critical information!
And not only did Mel have to go through a completely unnecessary, incredibly aggressive and unprofessional deposition, but now she has to deal with the reality that her sister is far more independent than she thought. It’s not just that Becca is having sex with her boyfriend, or even the existence of a boyfriend in the first place.
Both sisters clearly just assumed that Langdon would tell Mel everything about Becca’s condition, that Becca had no right to medical privacy. The fact that Langdon refused was really just one more thing to send Mel over the edge. It’s just another iteration of the episode’s theme. Stress, burnout, and overstimulation will make even the steadiest, kindest person lash out and give in to their darker natures.
We still have the back third of the season left. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Random Thoughts
I knew that you could reattach fingertips and stuff if you were quick enough, but I had no idea that you could do that with a whole lower leg! That’s really cool! Medicine is so freaking cool!
The ring degloving looked very good. Another injury that I am terrified of ever getting, but it looked cool.
Dana casually committing insurance fraud. Although I’m not sure if you’re supposed to smoke and wear a nicotine patch at the same time. Isn’t that dangerous?
Langdon wants to make sure that Louie has a proper burial. That’s very sweet, even if it seems to be motivated in part by guilt. Also seems like his impulse control with regards to financial decisions is still very poor.
They’re trying to redeem Ogilvie by giving him a sweet moment with the book. I still don’t care about him.
His observation that the Pitt wasn’t healthy for anyone was spot on, though. It’s really, really not.
Yes, Whitaker, you’re right. It is super dumb to start your motorcycle trip at night after a 12 hour shift in the ER. You’re absolutely right.
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An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally manages to put words together in a coherent and pleasing manner.
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