Transplant - General Discussion

[statsgirl]

From the ending of tonight's episode, it seems like Theo's wife is a real estate agent. We know that in an earlier episode she had to leave a meeting to go to her daughter's school when there was a problem with the attendance monitoring system. If she's built up a practice, that's not something that transportable to a city 4 hours away.

On 12/2/2020 at 12:02 AM, Driad said:

Theo's story:  We haven't seen his wife enough to know her well. If she and her parents wanted a doctor in her generation to take over for her father, why didn't she go to med school?

I don't think that they necessarily wanted a doctor in the family so much as Theo has been preparing for and attending medical school for the past 10 years. If her father is a doctor, it makes sense that they would be planning for Theo to take over his practise when he was ready to retire. It would make sense for them both; her father would know that his patients would be taken care of and Theo would have a ready-made practice instead of having to spend time to build it up.

I like Theo, he's a great, caring guy, but I also sympathize with his wife. For the last few years, while he's been doing his residency in Toronto, she's been a single parent and probably just waiting till Theo gets back so that they can have the life they've planned to have. Now suddenly Theo has decided on his own that he's going to blow all that up and he took the job in Toronto without consulting her.

It reminded me of Mark Greene in ER's first season when he and his wife had made an agreement that he would do his residency and she would do the childcare for one year, and then they would switch so that she could article and he would have the childcare responsibility. He reneged on that and it broke up their marriage. I hope that Theo does better.

[Crashcourse]

Were we supposed to know who that woman was at the end?  Was she Bash's long lost sister or girlfriend? 

I hope that embrace between Bash and Meg is the last time we see that because I don't want to see them together.  I don't dislike her but she leaves me cold and we don't need another hospital romance.  I will give the show credit for not showing hospital staff pawing each other in the supply room though, like Grey's Anatomy. 

Also, unlike Grey's, I give the staff credit for acting like mature adults. 

I like Theo but I understand his wife's position, too.  I don't know how they'll work things out, but I fear they'll break up because she seems rooted where she is. 

[statsgirl]

I think we're supposed to worry that she's Bash's wife or fiance. Season 2 is usually the season of the stall ship, although it's strange that there are no other siblings in the family. Syrian families tend to be large, having six or more kids.

In terms of Theo, it occurred to me that it's not just his wife but also his kids who could be reluctant to move. They've grown up in Sudbury, their schools and friends are there not to mention their grandparents. Amira is struggling with being uprooted, Theo's kids could have a hard time too although in a lesser form.

[Good Queen Jane]

8 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

I think we're supposed to worry that she's Bash's wife or fiance. Season 2 is usually the season of the stall ship, although it's strange that there are no other siblings in the family. Syrian families tend to be large, having six or more kids.

I've often wondered about the age gap between Bash and Amira. I'm assuming that he's in his late twenties since he was a practicing doctor in Syria and Amira appears to be in her early teens. i would have expected that there would have been other siblings between them. 

[Crashcourse]

Amira confuses me.  Sometimes she looks and acts like she could be Bash's 10 year old daughter, and other times she looks and acts older.

Edited December 10, 2020 by Crashcourse
clarification

[dargosmydaddy]

5 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

I've often wondered about the age gap between Bash and Amira. I'm assuming that he's in his late twenties since he was a practicing doctor in Syria and Amira appears to be in her early teens. i would have expected that there would have been other siblings between them. 

They said in one of the early episodes that Bashir is 29, and they said last night that Amira is 12. I wondered what the family story was, too. Maybe some kind of secondary infertility and then a surprise baby?

Edited December 10, 2020 by dargosmydaddy

[DanaK]

On 12/2/2020 at 12:02 AM, Driad said:

I'm looking forward to two hours next week, but sad that it is the season finale. Hoping NBC will carry season 2.

Done https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/nbc-renews-canadian-medical-drama-transplant-season-2-1234851839/

[ShortyMac]

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ohmo]

On 11/19/2020 at 7:37 AM, dargosmydaddy said:

The hospital lighting reminds me of the lighting on Saving Hope, another Canadian medical drama.

Also Flashpoint, another Canadian drama

I binged the last part of the season.  Love Bash and Amira.  Love them. Also find myself liking Bishop and Claire very much.  June also rocks the house, and I hope she and her boyfriend reconcile.  I do wish the writers would have made Theo a divorced dad in his apartment in Toronto, and he and Mel could have been co-parenting.  I think it's clear that while he and Mel might have been a strong couple at one time, they have now clearly grown apart and want different things.  That doesn't make either of them bad people, and their divorce doesn't have to be bitter or nasty, but I think it's inevitable.  Let's just acknowledge that and get on with it.

ETA:

Quote

Were we supposed to know who that woman was at the end?  Was she Bash's long lost sister or girlfriend? 

My first thought was that she was Bash's fiancee.

ETA 2:

Quote

I think we're supposed to worry that she's Bash's wife or fiance. Season 2 is usually the season of the stall ship, although it's strange that there are no other siblings in the family. Syrian families tend to be large, having six or more kids.

I have a sibling who is significantly younger than me, although there are two siblings between us.  However, the duration of years is probably close to Bash and Amira.  I'd like to see a flashback of their parents around the time when Amira was born or when she was very young and interacting with Bash while their parents were alive.

ETA 3

Quote

Maybe some kind of secondary infertility and then a surprise baby?

Sometimes things just happen.  My parents though they were done after three. 🙂

Edited December 12, 2020 by Ohmo

[Driad]

This is my favorite medical drama, and I'm glad it will return to US TV.

The teenager with cystic fibrosis: his vest was probably a high-frequency chest wall oscillation vest, which helps with airway clearance. The dog may be trained to do several things including alerting someone if the patient has an emergency.

In case anyone doesn't know this -- if a service dog approaches you without its human, it means the human needs help.

[chaifan]

I assumed the woman at the end was some sort of significant other for Bash.  I'm not a Mags/Bash shipper, so I'm happy if this puts a wrench in those works.

Bash & Amira age difference - I have a friend who is 17 years younger than her closest sibling.  Definitely not planned.  Here are my ideas for possible explanations that haven't been written into the plot lines yet: 

a) There are/were other siblings, but they are dead or missing.  We will find this out when Bash or Amira need a transplant that can only be done sibling to sibling (and neither is a match).

b) Amira is actually Bash's daughter, but to save the (unwed & underaged) girlfriend Amira was adopted by Bash's parents and raised as their own.  Bash knows this but keeps up the ruse for Amira's sake.  We will find this out when Bash or Amira need a transplant that can only be done parent to child.   

c) Bash's dad was a political prisoner for approx. 15 years.  He was released and Amira is a reunification/second honeymoon baby.  No transplants involved.

 

[dargosmydaddy]

Well, if it turns out to be any of those, I hope it's the last one. The other two sound like overly-soapy, jump-the-shark moments to me.

[Coffeefrog19]

On 12/5/2020 at 11:55 PM, statsgirl said:

From the ending of tonight's episode, it seems like Theo's wife is a real estate agent. We know that in an earlier episode she had to leave a meeting to go to her daughter's school when there was a problem with the attendance monitoring system. If she's built up a practice, that's not something that transportable to a city 4 hours away.

I don't think that they necessarily wanted a doctor in the family so much as Theo has been preparing for and attending medical school for the past 10 years. If her father is a doctor, it makes sense that they would be planning for Theo to take over his practise when he was ready to retire. It would make sense for them both; her father would know that his patients would be taken care of and Theo would have a ready-made practice instead of having to spend time to build it up.

I like Theo, he's a great, caring guy, but I also sympathize with his wife. For the last few years, while he's been doing his residency in Toronto, she's been a single parent and probably just waiting till Theo gets back so that they can have the life they've planned to have. Now suddenly Theo has decided on his own that he's going to blow all that up and he took the job in Toronto without consulting her.

It reminded me of Mark Greene in ER's first season when he and his wife had made an agreement that he would do his residency and she would do the childcare for one year, and then they would switch so that she could article and he would have the childcare responsibility. He reneged on that and it broke up their marriage. I hope that Theo does better.

I loved Mark Greene.  To me he is the best tv doctor ever and ER will always be the best med show. 

[Coffeefrog19]

My husband and I are binge watching this now in January 2021. Liking it so-so. Not caring too much for Mags or June at all though.  Bash and Dr. Bishop are a different story.  Both so handsome. I could listen to Dr.Bishop read the phone book.  

[ouinason]

The first episode of the series takes place on Amira's 12th birthday.  It is a significant gap in age, but I just assumed that the parents, being doctors, knew and had access to birth control, keeping the family size down.

 

I sort of understand Theo's wife being reluctant to uproot her family, but I totally see Theo's side too.  That is real internal friction in a relationship.  I'm relieved.  I expected him to cheat with the EMT or something.  

[evilmindatwork]

On 3/19/2020 at 2:15 AM, TrixieTrue said:

I wonder why that is. If someone wants to go to medical school, takes the MCAT (or whatever is needed) and can afford it (or more likely, get some loans), why not? It's great to have doctors from different backgrounds. 

He's a really great doctor and many of his patients are immigrants. It's not hard to find Spanish speaking doctors, but it's great that the Vietnamese community in my little town had someone they could comfortably speak to. We have fewer immigrants from Vietnam today, but his practice still sees a lot of immigrants, because (this is only my opinion) people see him as own of their own. He understands much of what they've been through and is a success story in his own right. 

 

On 9/15/2020 at 3:14 PM, statsgirl said:

Often they do it so that their children will be able to have a better life. Sometimes they don't know how hard it is going to be and that they won't be able to work in their chosen profession after moving.

I once worked on a research project looking at whether professionals were able to be re-certified in their previous professions. Some, like pharmacists, were. It's most difficult for doctors because in addition to having to prove that their medical school was up to the standards of North American schools, the medicine here is a union closed shop. Bash was lucky that he was able to get a residency so that he could re-certify as a doctor because those are very difficult to get.

Occasionally MDs who are not able to work as doctors in their new countries learn another branch of health care which is more open to them such as acupuncture.

 

I just found this show and forum and I'm jumping into this very late but couldn't resist. Apologies. 

 

 

I know a lot of foreign educated doctors so wanted to contribute my knowledge of the process (first gen from an immigrant family so it comes with the territory). The people I know, unlike refugees,  planned their immigration tend to be have some degree of economic privilege. Usually foreign educated take a series of licensing exams (most the  same as American educated doctors) and then apply for residency. I know one person who had to apply for multiple residency rounds over 3 years but she ultimately did get one in a rural area (anecdotally speaking most people I know got a residency within the first application round). 

Two friends from high school-- who were born and raised in the US-- deliberately went to a medical school in their parent's native country. They came back every summer to do preceptorships and, I believe, take exams. They made this choice because they knew they wanted to be doctors and didn't want to spend 4 years studying for an unrelated degree and wanted to go to medical school right away. 

Completely agree that my experience is more anecdotal though and that your study is likely more representative of the average person's expereince. 

 

On 9/19/2020 at 10:55 AM, chaifan said:

Oh, I'm not saying doctors like that don't exist.  I'm lucky to have never experienced it, but several friends have just as you did.  I'm just saying that character shows up in every doctor/medical show, and for him to appear in the first episode just for that purpose (he doesn't seem like he's a regular character) is what seemed cliche to me. 

The fact that doctors like this exist and are very common is a very good reason for it show up in a medical show. It is a very common experience for women who have diseases particular to the female anatomy. I've expereinced doctors like this as well as friends and family-- people tend to treat doctors as gods who can do no wrong especially when it comes to their work, I think it's important for them to be shown as flawed and sometimes bad at their jobs. 

[hula-la]

Season 2 will air starting in May. https://releasedate.me/transplant/

[statsgirl]

17 hours ago, hula-la said:

Season 2 will air starting in May. https://releasedate.me/transplant/

That makes it 2 years since the end of season 1 in Canada, a very loooong time.

Nice to know that they got a 2 year renewal though.

[hula-la]

On 11/28/2021 at 9:52 PM, hula-la said:

Season 2 will air starting in May. https://releasedate.me/transplant/

They upped the air date to January 3rd. https://www.bellmedia.ca/the-lede/press/award-winning-ctv-original-drama-transplant-returns-for-season-2-january-3/

Edited December 16, 2021 by hula-la
Spelling mistake

[rejnel]

Devoured the first three episodes yesterday. I’m liking everything about it so far (including the bright lighting!). Good performers and writing that doesn’t talk down to the audience. Maybe Bash was a little too much the magic doctor in the first few episodes, but I trust that will settle down. 

I’m curious about the amnesiac patient story—didn’t seem to go anywhere. I guess it was just to highlight Mags’s obsession with her work?

[greekmom]

Glad my show is back.

So Rania is Bashir's long presumed dead fiancé. 

They need to get their maps straight. St. Jacob's would not send a trauma team. It's a small town/village and TOO far away. They don't even have their own hospital and rely on Kitchener/Waterloo.  Any other team from the GTA would have been sent before they hit Mississauga and Oakville.

The address of the hotel she is staying is also false.

I miss Mags. Hopefully we figure out what is going on with her.  Not enjoying the new guy - Mark Novak. Miss Bishop and hopefully he gets better soon.  I would like the snarky blond female (I've forgotten her name right now) as head instead of the new dude.

 

[Driad]

When will season 2 air in the U.S.?  adTHANKSvance!

[greekmom]

45 minutes ago, Driad said:

When will season 2 air in the U.S.?  adTHANKSvance!

I've heard summer 

[DanaK]

Transplant Season 2 premieres on NBC in the US on March 6 http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2022/01/31/weakest-link-transplant-to-begin-second-seasons-sunday-march-6-on-nbc-575113/20220131nbc01/

[hula-la]

I have thoughts on last nights episode. I recognize that the patient’s brain tumour was behind his behaviour, Was Mag just supposed to brush it off and go about her shift? 

[statsgirl]

36 minutes ago, hula-la said:

Was Mag just supposed to brush it off and go about her shift? 

Bishop offered to let her go home. It was Mags' decision to keep working but Bishop told Atwater to do the rest of the man's treatment.

[DanaK]

Canada's CTV has ordered Season 3; NBC will probably pick it up at some point http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2022/02/17/ctv-orders-season-3-of-original-drama-transplant-218311/20220217ctv01/

[marinw]

The latest episode was one of the most depressing things I've seen in awhile. Wouldn't the young woman with ALS have some sort of living will or DNR directive?

Medically assisted death has been law in Canada for a few years now. I wonder when that will enter the plot.

Edited March 3, 2022 by marinw

[Beezella]

In the USA, Season 2 ep 1 just popped up on my DVR airing Sunday, March 6.

[dbklmt]

9 hours ago, Beezella said:

In the USA, Season 2 ep 1 just popped up on my DVR airing Sunday, March 6.

Thanks!  It was added to Hulu Live and I just marked it to record which is set for Sunday, March 6th at 10 p.m.  Hope this is really happening as I haven't seen any news elsewhere yet.

[ShortyMac]

The ALS story line was really sad. I hope that Bash doesn't get in trouble for the procedure he did on her to stop the bleeding varices.

[statsgirl]

I've avoided commenting on this season because I didn't want to spoil things for American viewers but that father of the ALS patient was spot on in both the writing and the acting. I know him. He's a member of my family.  He gives orders and even when he thinks that he's listening, he isn't. He had the chance to listen to his daughter but he wouldn't. He's going to blame Bash even though he was the one who pushed for more procedures because he can't admit that he could make a mistake.

Jeb is still the best of the mentoring doctors but Mags feels like he failed her today.

[greekmom]

Just finished season 2 episode 8: Scars.

Spoiler

I 

Spoiler

I feel bad for Bash, Mags and the hospital for what that awful father is putting them through with the lawsuit. I was thinking at first Bash is going to admit that he doesnt have any insurance but Bishop wouldn't have have let him practice at all.

Bash really needs to get some therapy. He has major PTSD and I think that it's going to get him in more hot water.

Not sure if i am liking Theo and the patient's mother. As well, I am not liking Mags and Theo's student. She deserves better and he is obviously using her for her smarts.

Are they just screwing with Curtis so she will give up the promotion?

Didn't really care for any of the medical issues of the week except that poor baby.

 

 

[LittleIggy]

NBC will begin showing season 2 this Sunday! Yay!

[GiandujaPie]

10 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

NBC will begin showing season 2 this Sunday! Yay!

So beyond excited for this to start in the US. Brings me back to the early days of the pandemic when there was nothing else to do but watch TV. LOL

[statsgirl]

season 2 episode 1: Guardrail

"Priority on the quiet ones. If they can cry, they can breathe."

Code Orange:  staff from other departments are called in because the department is overwhelmed. The day this episode aired in Canada, two hospitals in the Toronto area declared a Code Orange (because of Covid).

Women in medicine dismissed: Mags frustrated because they treat her differently because she's a woman. June is frustrated because as Chief Resident she is not being listened to. The month this episode aired, Atwater is pushed aside as interim chief for a hotshot young male doctor.  Also in January, Toronto Life ran a story on a woman who was chief of cardio-thoracic medicine at a major downtown who was pushed aside because she was a woman. (She took it to the Human Rights Tribunal, retired from medicine, and went to law school and won her case.)

This is another reason why I love this show, it's possibly the most realistic medical show on TV.

I really felt for Lucas and his likely ADHD. Good for June because giving Ativan to someone like that can make them even more agitated.

Mark Novak, the hotshot who is Acting Chief, is am interesting character. Another show would have made him a moustache-twirling villain but this is better.

I really hated what happened to Allie, rejected by the only mother figure she has. I understand why Sandra rejected her but I felt so sorry for Allie.

Edited March 7, 2022 by statsgirl

[LittleIggy]

So glad this series is back on NBC! I guessed that the bus driver had that alcohol producing condition because it had recently been used on “New Amsterdam.”

[GiandujaPie]

On 3/6/2022 at 8:47 PM, LittleIggy said:

So glad this series is back on NBC! I guessed that the bus driver had that alcohol producing condition because it had recently been used on “New Amsterdam.”

I think this was also used on an episode of The Resident. 

I'm happy to see this show back on too! I really wonder what is going to happen with Bash and his ex-fiancee. 

[Good Queen Jane]

I love Bishop, but I have to admit that I am also liking the acting ER chief (I really ought to learn his name.) I wonder what he did to Bishop that he runs away from him. 

 I am waiting for the fiancee to announce that she is now involved with someone someone else.

[LittleIggy]

That poor man with the heart condition! He has an epiphany, then he dies. ☹️
The acting ER chief sure is giving Mags a hard time. She wasn’t saying she was better than anyone else, just that she knew that cancer patient well and therefore wouldn’t be reinventing the wheel when it came to her treatment.

[Crashcourse]

I'm not a fan of Mags, and if she and Bash wind up together I'm going to stop watching this show.  I hope he and the fiancee get back together.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Crashcourse

[statsgirl]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

The acting ER chief sure is giving Mags a hard time. She wasn’t saying she was better than anyone else, just that she knew that cancer patient well and therefore wouldn’t be reinventing the wheel when it came to her treatment.

I'm still not sold on Novak (although I think it's a smart move to put him in charge rather than Atwater, much more story material) but I think that he was right in this one. Mags isn't saying that she knows better but she is thinking that she can help this patient better because she knows her, and that's right next door to thinking that she can do better  Part of the job of a doctor is to be able to hand off patients when it's time to, and Mags wasn't even her oncologist, just someone who had treated her in the ER before.

 It's a nice continuity from last season when Bishop told her that she was too invested in her patients and was going to burn herself out. I also like how Novak isn't invested in Mags or Bash or anyone else in the ER, he just tells them the pitfalls and let's them make their own decisions.

I thought that I was going to hate the fiance (season 2 is the time shows bring in a stall ship) but I find her very sympathetic. Sometimes I like her more than I like Bash. And I like that they're not immediately rushing back into the same relationship, the awkwardness between them after 5 years and different experiences makes sense.

Finding affordable housing in a major city like Toronto is near to impossible.

[kitmerlot1213]

On 3/14/2022 at 2:28 PM, Crashcourse said:

I'm not a fan of Mags, and if she and Bash wind up together I'm going to stop watching this show.  I hope he and the fiancee get back together.

I am the opposite in that I love Mags but I don't know if I want her and Bash to have a romance because then the episodes will revolve around their relationship drama.  I could see them having a relationship like Claire and Bishop where they are devoted to each other while also calling each other out on their crap.

I also want June to get back together with the cop/hospital guard from last season--they were cute together,

[greekmom]

"Locked" episode was a great episode.

Nice to see Mary Walsh and Michael Riley back on my screen but I could not recognize Michael Riley with his bushy beard and long hair.  But his voice, I can pick it out of a line up.

 

[greekmom]

On 3/14/2022 at 3:26 PM, statsgirl said:

I thought that I was going to hate the fiance (season 2 is the time shows bring in a stall ship) but I find her very sympathetic. Sometimes I like her more than I like Bash. And I like that they're not immediately rushing back into the same relationship, the awkwardness between them after 5 years and different experiences makes sense.

Finding affordable housing in a major city like Toronto is near to impossible.

I honestly thought that it will come out that the fiance told on Bash back in Syria and that's why he was incarcerated.  It's just sad that due to the war and their experiences that they are just different people and cannot be happy anymore together.

I would love a flashback of Bash before the war back in Syria carefree.

[AlterWho]

Does anyone know when the next episode will be airing? 

[Driad]

11 hours ago, AlterWho said:

Does anyone know when the next episode will be airing? 

U.S.?  My schedule lists a new episode tonight: season 2 episode 2, "Sever."

By the way, since Canada and U.S. are on different schedules, it would be nice if people who comment on episodes would say which episode they are referring to.

[AlterWho]

10 hours ago, Driad said:

U.S.?  My schedule lists a new episode tonight: season 2 episode 2, "Sever."

By the way, since Canada and U.S. are on different schedules, it would be nice if people who comment on episodes would say which episode they are referring to.

Thank you. I didn't even think about the difference between Canada and the US. I'm in the US and will make note of that in the future. I watch it on hulu and they just updated their schedule, the next episode will be available at 2:00 AM on the 28th. So, I know what I'm watching tomorrow night! 

 

[statsgirl]

S2Ep3  Sever

Quote

A morbidity and mortality review forces Bash and Dr. Bishop into conflict.

June becomes Chief Resident and finds it challenging, Novak makes a move to take Bishop's job permanently, Theo's wife wants a divorce.

Rania's living arrangement, sharing a place in the outskirts, are familiar. The government gives refugees money for the first  year but it's not enough to find more than shared accommodations.

On 3/24/2022 at 12:20 PM, greekmom said:

I honestly thought that it will come out that the fiance told on Bash back in Syria and that's why he was incarcerated.  It's just sad that due to the war and their experiences that they are just different people and cannot be happy anymore together.

It could be possible but that would be more likely in another war such as WWII. In Syria, it was dangerous to treat rebels and that would have been enough to get Bash thrown into prison.

I know that I keep rabbiting on about how realistic this show is but Bashir and Rania's relationship is another example of that. In their early episodes, it's clear how much in love they were before they were driven apart. But Bashir's changed, partly from his time in prison and the PTSD that he has from it, and partly because he has become more Westernized from his time working in Canada while Rania is just settling in. Different experiences can change people in different ways. (My parents experienced something like that: my mother became more religious during the war while my father in a POW camp lost his belief in God entirely even though before the war he was planning to enter the priesthood.)

The American promos are playing up Bashir caught between two women but so far the episodes shown in Canada haven't shown that. Rania is the woman he loves vs Mags being a colleague who represents his new life.

[NeenerNeener]

Is Novak hot for Mags, and that's why he harasses her?