I call bullshit on Deanna's plan w/r/t Pete. The abuse has apparently been going on for some time and she's done nothing so far. How far does it have to go for Deanna to exile him? He could kill Jessie or Sam, even unintentionally. Why believe her rather than assume she's just trying to appease Rick since he's discovered the abuse and is now pressing the issue? Jessie and Sam have been 'her' people for years, presumably; but now, now that Rick's gotten in her face about it, she's going to resolve the issue? Sure, mmhmm, okay.
I get that it's a tough situation- he's their only doctor. But for me it always comes back to: the people most okay with this kind of setup, like at Grady, aren't the people getting the short end of the stick. Privileged people are always okay with other people suffering cruelly, couching it as some kind of 'morally complex sacrifice for the greater good' isn't new either. I don't believe Deanna would sign up for getting beaten daily in exchange for a doctor. I don't. I think she'd want to come up with another solution. I think this is just the path of least resistance coupled with her and the others wanting to see themselves a certain way. In their minds, turning a blind eye doesn't reflect on them; the only bad person here is Pete. If they have to do something, well, their options are limited and they might have to get their hands dirty and make sacrifices. They might have to, themselves, do things they dislike. They want the illusion.
W/r/t Rick's new, uh, outlook...personally, I think this has been building since the end of season two when he had to kill Shane (a living man he knew and cared for). IIRC, he kind of exploded and while he was right he was also scaring the hell out of people.
