Paloma

Totally agree. I figured that she would probably forget Thor's confession and the throuple idea by the end of the episode or by the next one.

Since I'm catching up with this show on Netflix, I just watched the last episode of Season 4 a couple of days ago. So I'm wondering why there was no follow-up on the last scene from that episode, where Billie came home to find her stalker son in her apartment demanding to know why she doesn't want contact. Even though I don't care at all about her character (and am annoyed that she is now a main character based on the opening credits), that's kind of a big plot point to just forget about. Maybe they will address it in a later episode, or maybe they figure the audience will assume it was resolved during the time jump. I'm also a bit annoyed with Conrad and Nic as a couple being replaced with Devon and his GF (like others here, I can't remember her name). I don't mind her character, but as a couple they just don't seem as interesting. Maybe it's because we saw that Conrad and Nic had a complicated history that made us (or at least me) want them to have a happy ending. Devon's romance seems more boring, and I still don't totally forgive him for his involvement with Julian and leaving his bride on their wedding day. One thing I'm very happy about is that Cain is gone--not just because I hated his character, but because his personality makeover (courtesy of Rose?) and miraculous recovery as a surgeon was not believable.

Nope, the writers just decided to forget about it and hoped that the viewers wouldn't notice. It still drives me crazy that this has not been addressed. I had the same question so looked at IMDB and found out that Dowse died. Presumably they had to replace her quickly and did not attempt to make the replacement even superficially resemble Dowse by giving her the same distinctive hairstyle. I understand the problem but it takes me out of the story to see AJ's mom look so different. I assumed that he did a DNA test and found her through matches who were her relatives. And there are websites that will give you people's addresses and phone numbers for a fee.

When my husband recently had gallbladder surgery, his surgeon literally just stuck his head in the door for less than 5 minutes the next day to ask how my husband felt and to say he would be discharged that day. And no other doctor checked on him, though the nurses did. I'm sure my husband's experience is closer to the norm than what we see on this show.

I don't think so, but she looked different because of the way she was wearing her hair, I think.

I think in the episode where she was introduced she was supposed to be a surgical intern and was making the rounds with AJ as the supervisor, and she also assisted in a surgery with him. (I may not be remembering this accurately.) But it still seems inappropriate for her to date Devon because of the power imbalance and the likelihood that he will be supervising her in some situations. Not just you! The actress playing the mother in this episode does not look anything like the one who originally played her. The original was Denise Dowse and had a very distinctive look with close-cropped blondish hair; I looked her up and she died in August 2022. So they had to replace her, but it was jarring to see someone who did not look anything like her. The new actress playing the mother is Summer Selby.

Although I was impressed with how hard she prepares, to compensate for dyslexia, wouldn't dyslexia be a potentially serious obstacle for a doctor? If she has trouble with reading comprehension, what happens in an emergency or high-pressure situation when she has to read a medical record or lab results?

That was touching but I didn't understand why Devon couldn't let her go to the recital that was scheduled for the night she came to the ER. I know he said that the surgery should be done while she wasn't in sickle crisis, but couldn't the surgery have been scheduled for the next morning rather that immediately after coming to the ER? I admit that I don't know much about sickle cell (though I know a lot more after watching this episode), but I would think that the chances of her going into crisis overnight were not great if she was stable in the ER and could get pain meds for that night. I thought in a previous episode Bell said it was 8 years, from when Jake was age 4 to age 12. So I can understand Jake coming to see Bell as his father and then feeling abandoned. And it's the kind of feeling that can fester over the years. Bell could tell him the truth now about Jake's mother not letting him see or have contact with Jake, but Jake might not believe him.

This was my favorite episode this season, and I think it's partly because Sam and Jay were not involved much. Although I like Sam and Jay as characters, their interactions with the ghosts can be a bit repetitive. But having the ghosts interacting mostly with each other was fun, and the writing seemed better than usual.

Since my husband and I are watching this show for the first time on Netflix in 2024, we are seeing it from the perspective of life after COVID, or at least after the worst of the pandemic. Although people are still getting it (my husband and I both got it in late January this year after being exposed at the place where we volunteer, and this was his third time and my second since 2020), it's manageable for most people and life is mostly pre-Covid normal. Even so, there is the sense that life has changed as a result of the pandemic, not least because of the deep divisions it led to between those who needed/wanted to be safe and those who put their individual "rights" and distrust of public health officials above the welfare of others. The scene in the show of people applauding the doctors and nurses was moving but also sad because later in the pandemic there were many who expressed hatred of medical professionals on social media, even threatening them. Other scenes of the show were sad reminders of the terrible situation in the beginning when most people didn't know what this was and, even when it was known, medical professionals didn't have the PPE needed to stay safe and the public had a hard time getting the right kind of masks (I remember seeing instructions on how to make cloth masks, and we had several, though I doubt they were very protective). Worst of all, there were no effective treatments in the beginning and many patients had to be isolated, hooked up to a ventilator, and die alone. The episode did a good job of showing examples of the reality back then without overdramatizing. On a lighter note, I was very happy to see Nic and Conrad get married, and I loved the wedding ceremony.

The possibility of the father doing Munchausen by Proxy occurred to me. On another note, as Star Trek fans my husband and I get a kick out of all the former ST actors showing up as guest stars in this series.

I bolded the last sentence because I kept yelling "Tarasoff" at the screen. Although the Tarasoff case is mainly applicable in psychiatry, the decision of the court "that the need for therapists to protect the public was more important that protecting client-therapist confidentiality" should, IMO, be applied to other medical professionals. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/media-spotlight/201407/revisiting-tarasoff

@Neptune, thanks for the link about the Library of Congress hosting the cast and it being a homecoming for the actors who play Pete and Jay because they went to high school in Rockville, MD. I have lived in Rockville since 1988 and rarely boast about it since it is ordinary suburb (if people in other countries or other parts of the US ask where me or my husband where we are from, we usually say "Washington, DC"). But it is exciting to know that two actors in a show I love came from here. Utkarsh is the same age as my daughter so they were in high school at the same time (Richie was a freshman when Utkarsh was a senior so there was an overlap there also). My daughter did not go to the same high school, but the schools were geographically close and she was friends with some people from the school Utkarsh and Richie attended.

Agree 100%. I was estranged from my mother for most of my adult life (similar to Nic and her father, though I am much older than Nic), and I would never expect her to donate an organ to me or my sibling. I did have a loving relationship with my father, but I wouldn't demand that he donate if the organ was going to a drug addict who has barely finished her latest attempt at getting clean and doing rehab, and who likely would have a hard time complying with the lifelong post-transplant requirements and likely would relapse again if she survived the operation. I must be dense, but I didn't get it when Bell said he saw himself in the patient who couldn't speak. What part of himself did he see in this patient?

I vaguely recall this scene and I think that was his vision of them. Or maybe he had shitty foster parents? I vaguely recall this scene also and think he said that his adoptive parents were good parents, but he seemed to assume the worst about his bio parents. That was presumably before he found actual information on his bio parents.

Both the fictional story and the true story were tragic, but in the fictional story I kept asking why there was only one OB on the maternity ward of a supposedly good and well-funded hospital. And that OB would be unavailable for other complications or births while in surgery. Shouldn't there have been another OB on duty or on call, or at least an OB resident who could help? It seemed unrealistic, but maybe it is realistic and that's part of the reason why the US has such a poor record of maternal mortality.

I said that to my husband as soon as AJ opened the door. And we both were expecting that if the police came to the house they would shoot him, assuming he was at best breaking in and at worst the person who shot Abe (once they found Abe).

Your experience with gallstones and gall bladder surgery is probably more common, but my husband recently had a very different experience. We were on vacation in Hawaii and both got Covid. I recovered in about a week but he still had a fever (not very high, and assumed to be due to Covid). Since he is 76 and has a heart condition (controlled by meds), he went to Urgent Care to be sure it wasn't serious. They did some tests and found that his gallbladder was in terrible condition, and they said he had to have emergency surgery that couldn't wait until we got home (on the East Coast) a few days later. The doctors were amazed that he had not been in terrible pain., especially after the surgery when the surgeon said the gallbladder was the worst he'd seen and was partially necrotic.

I was already worried about what happened to the puppy that Devon gave to Priya--after the wedding disaster, I don't know if she would want to take it to SF. Even if she did, with her new job she may not have time to take care of the puppy properly. Now I'm also worried about who will take care of the cat. Is it bad that I care more about what happens to the puppy and the cat than what happens to some of the characters in this show?

Finally watching this series post-Covid (or at least post the worst Covid period--it's going around my area again in early 2024, though not as seriously as in 2020-21), and I'm shocked that the doctors and nurses don't routinely wear masks in the ER and when dealing with potentially infectious patients. I'm not even talking about the plague or other lethal diseases--they should be protecting themselves and other patients (not to mention the families of doctors, nurses, and other patients) against common sicknesses like colds, flu, strep throat, stomach flu, etc.. Especially when they can see and hear patients in a crowded ER coughing, sneezing, and vomiting. But I guess medical personnel had less concern about protecting themselves pre-Covid, or else the show doesn't want to cover up the actors' faces.

Agree 100%. Until the Julian attraction plot, Devon was a very sympathetic character. Now the writers are going to have to do a lot of work to get me to like his character again.

If anybody is still reading this season's posts, why do you think the episode is called "The Dance"? Before the show started I thought it would refer to the dance that was supposed to be performed at the wedding, but obviously that didn't happen. Was it referring to the slow dance (seemingly without music) done by Conrad and Nic after the wedding was canceled? Usually the titles have some significance that I get during or after watching an episode, but I'm not sure of this one.

@heatherchandler Just have to say how appropriate your profile image is for this episode!

I was truly terrified by those night terrors, partly because they were so convincing (I thought she actually fell in the opening scene and would be brought to the hospital with life-threatening injuries) and partly because I have had terrifying nightmares--though not technically night terrors--all my life. Also terrifying was the possibility that she had schizophrenia, so I was happy that it was something that could be cured. However, when Conrad said that she would still have night terrors for a while until she was fully cured (I forget what the treatment was but I assume there was medication), I couldn't help but wonder if she would be seriously hurt or even die before the night terrors ended. It kind of bothered me that we've had no hint before this that Nic had panic attacks. She's certainly been in very stressful and anxiety-provoking situations before in this show, so I feel like the writers just introduced this to increase the drama, and I think it's unnecessary since she already has enough drama with her relationships with Conrad and her sister. Much as I love to hate Bell, one thing I have to give him credit for--actually, the writers get the credit--is that his love and sex interests have been age-appropriate (except for the hooker, I guess) rather than the decades-younger trophy girlfriends that are often seen in real life with powerful men and also shown in TV and movies. Both Lane Hunter and his assistant's mother are beautiful women but look like the actresses' real age (mid-50s for Melina, early 60s for Julia). I wondered the same...thought maybe one of the others had swiped a couple of amputated body parts just to mess with Devin, since they made such a big deal about it being his first Halloween in the ER. I was sure it was a Halloween prank until they finally brought the guy in, but the explanation for the delay was that the victim had to be extricated from the vehicle. I still don't understand how an arm and a leg on opposite sides of the body were amputated. It also seemed unbelievable that the arm and leg were just left lying around in the unsterile environment of the ER, not even fully covered in ice and stored in a secure container.

I applauded when Bell saw his new boss!