Chastain patients 1 – Red Rocks Medical 0.

For now.

And for now, Conrad is spared from Logan Kim and Cain’s wrath.

But we should all heed Bell’s warnings: a blood bath is coming and they all have a target on their backs.

Conrad’s position at Chastain was questioned when Rob Spiro, the patient he tortured to get the location of an innocent victim, accused him.

Now, I’m not too clear on whether or not Spiro always planned to come forward or if he was egged on by Kim and Cain who wanted so badly to find a way to oust Conrad. Maybe this just fell into their laps and they planned to run with it headfirst? Who knows.

But Spiro accused Conrad of well, the truth, and Bell couldn’t prevent it because Kim gave him an ultimatum: either Conrad gets fired or he does.

The old Bell, the Bell from season 1, would have gladly thrown someone else under the bus if it meant saving his own ass. But the new and reformed Bell who I’m calling Bell 2.0 was in a moral predicament.

He never once questioned whether or not Spiro was telling the truth; he trusted Conrad and knew it had to be a lie.

That or he truly didn’t care because he knew if Conrad had gone through with it there was a good reason for it.

If I were to give an award at the end of the year, Bell would get the ‘Most Improved’ plaque.

Bell confided in Kit immediately about what to do and knew that he wouldn’t get anywhere being the whistleblower himself. He needed to ride out the situation and hope for the best.

Giving up Pravesh was difficult for him as he knew there was a chance Conrad’s former intern would blow everything up.

Usually, it’s easy to see a character’s decision ahead of time, but the foreboding events leading up to his deposition made it entirely possible that he was going to tell the truth and throw Conrad under the bus.

Conrad’s reaction to the situation was also impressive as he remained calm and allowed Pravesh to make the choice he felt most comfortable with despite the outcome since that’s what he always taught him.

Pravesh considered being honest but realized sooner than later than his honesty would do more harm than good.

Just because he disagrees with Conrad’s ethical decision doesn’t make Conrad a bad person or a bad doctor. They both do what they think is right and necessary for their patients, but the key is that they always put patients first. They made decisions they can both live with, and Pravesh would not be able to live with himself if he destroyed Conrad’s career.

He was also right about Chastain needing both personalities on their team when tough decisions need to be made.

Kim and Cain both believed that someone was bound to have an agenda against “the kind of doctor” that Conrad is, but neither of them realized that when it comes to being respected and liked, they’re the ones at the bottom of the totem pole.

They both have the egos that they’re accusing Conrad to have.

The war against Red Rocks is going to be brutal, there’s no doubt about that. But going back to my point about Dr. Bell, his decision to give up his position as CEO of Chastain was major.

His growth as a person allowed him to see that the only way he could fight against corruption is by being on the same level as his fellow doctors and peers.

He has evened out the scales; he’s one of them now. And considering his indestructible Chief of Surgery contract, he’ll be able to make more power moves from within anyways.

The CEO title is simply that, a title. He was their pawn and whenever he stepped out of line, they were able to threaten him.

As he pointed out, today they asked him to turn on his team, but tomorrow, it could be much worse.

Dr. Bell’s tease to going back to being in the field rather than above it has been teased for a while now but in a subtle way.

Every time scrubbed in, made a call as Chief of Surgery, or assisted in a procedure, you could tell it brought him a greater sense of joy than being in an authoritative position.

How will they all combat Red Rock’s bullying? For starters, they need to bring Cain down a notch because his belief that he’s indestructible is fueling all types of bad behavior.

They also have two secret weapons: the people of that creepy town that was destroyed by Red Rock (remember, AJ and Mina wanted to help them bring down Red Rock) and Kyle Hawkins.

Kyle’s a powerful man even if he’s not directly associated with Chastain anymore. He’s the reason why Kim and Cain needed to find a different avenue to let Conrad go because they weren’t equipped to handle Kyle’s blowback.

All of that paired with Conrad’s straight-up fearless demeanor will give them a leg to stand on.

Seriously, fire your shots at Conrad because it only fuels his fire.

Pravesh had a tough day all around. In addition to making a decision about Conrad’s dire situation, he was also tasked with taking care of Princess Nadine.

There’s no better hospital to care for a princess than Chastain that’s for sure.

Initially, Pravesh wasn’t sure what was ailing Nadine, but eventually, he realized that is was Moyamoya, a procedure that restores blood flow to the brain.

The realization happened when he realized that Nadine was forgetting her primary language, English, but her secondary language, Urdu, was intact.

The Resident has always embraced diversity, and seeing them formulate a storyline around a foreign language that doesn’t get much love from American television was awesome.

It was also nice to see Shazi Raja who’s best known for her role as Jaya on “God Friended Me” in a role where she was a patient and not the doctor!

Nadine and The King were forever grateful for Pravesh’s services, but I’m wondering if there’s going to be a romantic aspect that’ll come into play.

There was plenty of chemistry between Nadine and Pravesh that transcended the doctor-patient relationship. It’s about time he got a new love interest after leaving Priya at the alter for Julian Booth.

After headlining much of the Thanksgiving day episode on “The Resident,” AJ Austin took a backseat role in the episode, but even when he was limited on screentime, he still managed to deliver an emotionally charged scene where he convinces Mina to support Adaku in the way that she needs even if she doesn’t fully understand.

Mina is a tough cookie, but Austin softens her with his, oftentimes, unsolicited but necessary advice.

Mina expected health concerns, and while the situation is scary for both of them, she has to be supportive. It’s what Adaku needs right now.

But it feels like the right time to point out that Mina is that child’s godmother so if anything happens to Adaku, she assumes responsibilities for the child.

With that knowledge in mind and looking at it from a storytelling perspective, it’s likely that Adaku will either die as a result of heart failure or shortly after birth, which will make Mina the baby’s guardian and flip her life upsidedown. A part of me is interested to see that play out only because it would make Mina a more developed character, but also because I was to see AJ assume the “dad” role we all know he will. It’s not a coincidence he’s so involved in Adaku’s case.

And then there’s Nic and Kyle’s relationship, which is getting stronger with each passing episode.

The two seemed to find common ground more than ever during their first Thanksgiving without Jessie, but after Nic heard him say all those sweet things about how she’s the best thing to happen to him and Chastain, she’ll likely have a new perspective and attitude towards him.

Admittedly, Kyle’s grown on me. He started off as someone that we couldn’t really take seriously, but he’s shaping up to be a good dad and he’s really owning his ‘Angel’ role at the hospital. Plus, he’s good at it and enjoys giving back and helping others.

Hopefully, he sticks around and survives the battle for Chastain.

What did you think of the episode?

Did Bell make the right choice? Did Pravesh?

“The Resident” will take a week-long break and return on December 17!

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The Resident is known for being realistic and calling out real-life issues plaguing hospitals in the country.

On “Nurses’ Day” they addressed how understaffed some of the most important people in the hospital are. Seriously, all they got them as a thank you was some measly cookies?

They deserve so much better than working back-to-back-to-back shifts that leave them so tired, they crash while driving home.

I’ll address Jessica’s accident first because it’s the cliffhanger that has us wondering if she’ll survive or not.

The teaser shows everyone at Chastain fighting to save her, so the odds aren’t good, but this team really doesn’t need to lose anyone so soon.

When Bradley died, it was sad, but we didn’t even really know him.

Then, we lost Jessie.

But Jessica has been a staple on this series even throughout her minimal role. She’s the sunny disposition amongst the group, and she and Irving are a fan-favorite couple.

The warning signs that something was amiss were there. Irving contemplated his relationship highlighting how much Jessica’s done throughout her life before realizing that she was the love of his life.

No one makes a declaration that bold unless something is about to go terribly wrong.

Irving is precisely why we cannot lose Jessica; he wouldn’t survive the loss.

While attempting to find out any information about the Hemopleatin, Conrad reunited with his father, Marshall, who he found out was on the drug to combat anemia.

Marshall’s lungs were, thankfully, all good, and he did offer a work-around to hacking those patient files at Chastain.

The father-son duo took a private jet to DC for a DoaCure conference where the over-the-top CEO agreed to give them a look inside their data in exchange for Chastain carrying his products at the hospital.

That’s the world of corporate healthcare folks — an eye for an eye.

Will Conrad make the deal?

Speaking of business and money, Cain won a premium paying patient in a game of poker and decided to go through with performing a risky, never-been-done-before procedure to essentially give him a bionic spine.

Kit clashed with Cain once again but he won this fight.

That is until his surgery almost killed the patient who began choking as a result of a defective disc that was inserted into his spine.

Kit admitted that Bell was right; she would lose if she tried to go against Cain because his pull was so strong at Red Rock Medical.

But Kit isn’t a quitter. Instead, she found a workaround that involved her striking up a deal with Cain to open a joint neuro, ortho, and physical therapy venture.

Cain was beyond eager to put aside their differences, but Kit has a larger play in motion.

What does she have up her sleeve?

AJ Austin’s story took place outside of the hospital walls for once, but it made me realize that he’s one of the strongest and most developed characters in the series.

He took his mother’s advice and agreed to meet his birth mother, Bonnie, a successful pediatrician. It all makes sense.

AJ wasted no time getting their backstory, which revealed why they gave him up for a closed adoption.

Bonnie was 22, she had just met AJ’s dad, she wasn’t ready to become a mom and put her medical aspirations on hold.

If anyone can appreciate that, it’s the Raptor.

But the decision wasn’t senseless — it was done with his best interest at heart and not a day goes by where she hasn’t thought of him.

She even helped AJ and Mina diagnose a young patient at the clinic who ended up having Lyme disease.

I’m sure AJ’s adoptive mother is great, but it’s nice for AJ to see where he comes from and who his parents are.

If there is a Thanksgiving episode, I truly hope we get invited to this dinner.

Other Thoughts

• Pravesh assured us that Priya is doing just fine in San Francisco and dating a hot sportscaster. Good for her!
• We get it, Pravesh. You’re not that kind of doctor.

What did you think of the episode?

Will Jessica survive?

Will Conrad and Nic successfully prove their theories about the drug?

Will Kit outsmart Cain by playing to his egotistical side?

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After a brief hiatus because of the World Series, The Resident is back and it hit the ground running.

Chastain becomes overrun with patients from a plane crash that also found Bell on-board.

Pravesh beat himself up over the crash because just a day before, he allowed a drunk pilot to leave the hospital without reporting him.

Was it the right choice?

This storyline purposefully digs into ethical codes and how Pravesh is determined not to be the kind of doctor that Conrad Hawkins is.

The two of them haven’t seen eye-to-eye since Conrad tortured a patient to get him to talk, but ignoring a pilot’s alcoholism and sending him merrily on his way was naive of Pravesh.

The man is responsible for hundreds of people’s lives, and despite HIPA protecting patient confidentiality, there should be some protocol on when it is to okay to break the rules or bend them slightly.

Thankfully, Pravesh’s decision to send the pilot off with an AA pamphlet was justified when we learned that he wasn’t responsible for the crash. And seeing the crash alerted him to how serious and dangerous his drinking problem was.

But still… this could have ended badly.

I will commend Pravesh for sticking to his guns. He made it very clear that he doesn’t want to be the type of doctor to make up his own rules and he’s sticking to it even when it doesn’t feel like the right thing to do.

Dr. Bell may have been dubbed the “Sully of Atlanta” after saving all those patients, including the chatty guy next to him in economy class, but he’s not out of the woods yet.

He suffered from a herniated disc, which may or may not resolve on its own with therapy.

For Kit’s sake, I do hope it does so that she can stick it to Dr. Cain whose ego keeps inflating with every coming week.

Dr. Cain loves to boast about the fact that he’s billed 80 million dollars for the hospital.

Since he’s so open about how his main motivation is money, it was surprising he told off Pravesh and Conrad for assuming that he’d only take on their patient if he knew she had the best insurance in town.

That’s honestly the only reason he considered that patient.

Nic and Conrad are looking into the suspicious events leading up to Jessie’s death and if Conrad is correct, Hemopleatin may be to blame.

But in order to prove their theory, they need to get their hands on patient records which is going to prove difficult.

Sure, Conrad can always break the glass, but opening up patient files without going through the proper channels will be recorded on his file and could come back to bite him.

How far is Conrad willing to go to help and get answers?

Couldn’t they just loop in Bell who could probably get them an expedited request?

The Raptor got permission from his adoptive parents to meet his birth mother.

AJ always wanted to mee them, he simply felt guilty about doing it behind his parents’ back.

Truthfully, those two are not what I pictured when I imagined the people that raised a not stubborn, melodramatic, and opinionated doctor.

Family played a huge role in AJ and Mina’s storylines as she agreed to become the godmother of Adaku’s unborn child.

The way AJ said that “she’d become the legal guardian if anything happened” makes me seem like something’s going to happen.

They wouldn’t stress this storyline just to have Adaku survive. Mina is going to eventually get that baby.

AJ mentioning his desire for children couldn’t be a coincidence either.

What did you think of the episode?

Will Conrad risk everything and break the glass? Will they find another way?

Does justice for Jessie exist?

Will Mina and AJ ever own up to their feelings for each other?

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