S04.E02: Frontline (2)

[helenamonster]

Quote

Dr. Shaun Murphy and the team try to get a better understanding of COVID-19; Claire looks for a way to grieve Melendez's death through her patients; Dr. Alex Park and Mia discuss their future together.

Original airdate: 11/9/20

[greekmom]

Again all the feels. This is kicking it out of the park. Much better than This is Us.

I did get confused on the timeline. When Shaun was allowing Lea to come in and a few of them were not taking as many precautions was it what May/June?  

Felt bad that the nurse didnt make it and especially how the doctors held the phones to all the patients dying so their loved ones can say goodbye.

Otherwise, cannot wait to meet the new residents next week.

 

[Diana Berry]

Wow that was an emotional punch.  No words.

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, greekmom said:

Felt bad that the nurse didnt make it and especially how the doctors held the phones to all the patients dying so their loved ones can say goodbye.

God, those scenes just gutted me. I'm still wiping away tears. I want to give Lim the biggest hug right now, 'cause damn, she has been through it. 

Morgan was fantastic this episode, too. When she said, "You're not alone" and opened the curtain to reveal all the other doctors and nurses ready to help out...that was beautiful. 

I also got all choked up over everything with the woman and her baby-I'm so happy that story ended well. And I'm glad Shaun was able to help save that woman's husband, too. I'm also glad that they were able to come to an understanding after their blowup, and Shaun realized he shouldn't have snapped at her. But I get why he did-all the tension and stress everyone was under, it was only a matter of time before a blowup, really. I don't blame anyone for getting snippy with each other these last couple episodes-Glassman nailed it when he summarized everyone's fears and anxieties and wondering if the world would ever be the same again. His advice to be kind seems so simple, almost too much so, but it's good advice to heed. 

I'm so glad Claire was able to give that woman her mom's necklace, and managed to find that guy and give him the dog tags. And I'm glad she got some closure with Melendez, too. I liked his point about how letting herself grieve his loss, compared to how she dealt with her mom's death, was a good sign. He's right. And I really, really hope from here on out she finally starts getting some good stuff happening for her, 'cause she deserves to have some success, both professionally and personally. 

The end of Park's storyline was bittersweet, too, but an understandable way for it to go. 

Emotional as hell, to say the very least, but I really appreciate them addressing this pandemic as they did, with such sensitivity and compassion and honesty. I trust that if and when the pandemic comes up in a storyline again in the future, the same thing will happen there, too. In the meantime, looking forward to seeing how things go with the new residents :)!

[The Wild Sow]

Ok, but put your damn masks ON, people! Universal precautions!

Way too many unmasked faces in the public areas of the hospital. Plus outdoors but still near others. Bad, bad example!  

The reason COVID19 is so dangerous is that it’s contagious long before you know you have it. Wear! Your! Masks!

[tennisgurl]

That was a really emotional two parter, especially the nurse dying and her son saying goodbye over the phone. At least the new mom and the husband of the nurse survived. I felt so bad for the nurse who's husband was sick, you could really feel her pain over the screen. 

As much as I appreciate how the are handling the pandemic, and of all the pandemic plots that are now happening on TV now I think that they are doing the best...I am still upset about Melendez. Still watching you with some side eye, show. At least Claire is handling things better now then when her mom died, so that something at least. 

Edited November 10, 2020 by tennisgurl

[thuganomics85]

Figured Nurse Deena was going to die, because they probably needed at least one recognizable face to die due to COVID-19, and I didn't see them killing off another regular so soon after Melendez.  Sad, but I liked seeing/hearing more about her history with Lim "back in the day", and the respect she did have for Reznick.  Karin Konoval is someone who tends to pop in a lot of stuff shot in the Canada area, so while I will miss her here, I'm sure she'll keep finding gigs like the working actress that she is!

Surprised, but happy that the other two main patients lived, but I did like that Shaun's patient still had to have his leg removed, because I think that is one of those things that tends to get overlooked.  There is (rightfully) so much focus on the deaths, but even those who survive the virus can still have negative complications that will effect them for the rest of their lives.  This is why the virus is so scary and why it is so aggravating that governments dropped the ball big time when it comes to being ready and prepared.  And, again, people not wearing masks.  Because even if it is less likely for some to die from it, losing a leg is still not exactly an optimal result.  Wear a damn mask, people! 

All of the Park scenes with his family were great and Will Yun Lee crushed it as always.

Oh, Glassman!  At least you have great taste in video games (it looked like he was playing one of the Uncharted ones), it's probably not wise to ask for relationship advice from 15 year-old gamers!  At least he came around in the end, and it seems like and Debbie have a better understanding of one another.

All I could think of during the Claire/Hallucination Melendez scenes was that did no one realize that she wasn't around this entire time?  Either way, all of it was emotional and well-acted at least, but I still worry that killing Melendez off was a major mistake.

Still not wild about Shaun/Lea, but I'm glad the episode ended on a happier note.

[Annber03]

13 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

it's probably not wise to ask for relationship advice from 15 year-old gamers!

LOL, my thoughts exactly :p. 

[bros402]

4 hours ago, greekmom said:

Again all the feels. This is kicking it out of the park. Much better than This is Us.

I did get confused on the timeline. When Shaun was allowing Lea to come in and a few of them were not taking as many precautions was it what May/June?  

Felt bad that the nurse didnt make it and especially how the doctors held the phones to all the patients dying so their loved ones can say goodbye.

Otherwise, cannot wait to meet the new residents next week.

 

Shaun letting Lea in was approx 10 weeks after quarantine started - it started ~March 20th, so this was approx May 29th. George Floyd died May 25th, so appropriate shirt for Lim!

[greekmom]

5 hours ago, bros402 said:

Shaun letting Lea in was approx 10 weeks after quarantine started - it started ~March 20th, so this was approx May 29th. George Floyd died May 25th, so appropriate shirt for Lim!

Thanks for confirming that. We here in Ontario were still on full lockdown in May (if memory serves correct).  I just remember to have to line up to enter the grocery store and patiently waiting but thinking damn this is like what the movies use to show us about bread lines in Russia in the 80s!  

I loved how Lim was wearing the Black Lives Matter (as opposed to Claire) and how they were sitting on the park bench where Melendez would jog (!?!?)  There was a quiet understanding between the two women. Loved it.

[Starchild]

12 hours ago, greekmom said:

Otherwise, cannot wait to meet the new residents next week.

 

10 hours ago, The Wild Sow said:

Ok, but put your damn masks ON, people! Universal precautions!

Way too many unmasked faces in the public areas of the hospital. Plus outdoors but still near others. Bad, bad example!  

The reason COVID19 is so dangerous is that it’s contagious long before you know you have it. Wear! Your! Masks!

I didn't see masks in the preview, so it looks like COVID precautions will no longer figure into storylines much going forward.

Glassman's wife was really pissing me off with the whole "I'm gonna sit here in silence and not help while you flail around looking for the right thing to say." That is not conducive to healthy communication, lady.

Edited November 10, 2020 by Starchild

[tennisgurl]

This has certainly been intense, they have done a really good job with showing the progression of the pandemic and while I figured that some familiar face would die, it was really sad that Deena was the one to go. Her and Lim sitting there talking about their past at the hospital was so tragic, as was her saying goodbye to her son and talking about her grandchild. I am glad that at least the new mom and the nurses husband died, even if he lost a leg. Shaun gets even more blunt than usual when he is upset, and it was really bad when he told the poor nurse that she got her husband sick (even if he was probably right) but their scenes later were really nice, especially when they exchanged a bit of a smile when she picked her husband up. 

I still miss Melendez and think killing him off was a mistake, but at least Claire is handling her grief better than when her mother died, I really did not want to have another "Claire goes on a drunken downward spiral" plotline, especially with everything else. The scenes with her talking to hallucination Melendez were really well acted, even though I spent a lot of time wondering if people were wondering where she went off to. A lot is going on Claire, might want to get back to work! 

I really liked all of the scenes with Park, and after being worried he would leave the show last season I am really happy that he is still here and staying in touch with his family, even if its over the phone for now. His relationship with his son and how its grown has been a really good plot for him. Its bittersweet that its over for him and his wife, realizing that they mostly love each other because they both love their son, but its for the best that they realize it now and can co-parent even if they aren't a couple. I wonder if this means Park will try to date anyone else, because that sounds hilarious to me. I can totally see him running background checks on women he meets on Tinder or something. 

This episode just continues to show that Debbie and Glassman are a bad match. They cant communicate properly, they are always mad at each other, they don't even seem to like each other half the time, let alone love each other, and they're different personalities aren't so much complimentary as at constant odds. Debbie wont even talk to Glassman (even though that's all she wanted last episode) and Glassman is going to teenagers on the internet for dating advice! I am not really a Shaun/Lea fan either, but they at least were actually handling things better this week. 

Loved the scene with Lim (in her Black Lives Matter shirt, which is perfect) and Claire sitting on the bench. You could really feel this understanding and compassion between them. 

Cant wait to meet the newbies.

[meatball77]

I really liked how they handled these two episodes and I was grateful that they showed someone who didn't die but who will be forever changed because that's the reality of COVID.

[rmontro]

I was a little confused with what happened with Dr. Andrews at the end, because my TV had some glare on it.  Did Dr. Andrews just decide to go into his house on his own?  Or had his wife piled all his stuff up against a wall in the garage, meaning she was fed up with that arrangement, and wanted them to go back to living together?

I'm glad things ended on a lighter note because it was really getting pretty depressing.  I think if you just watched the first 45 minutes, it would give you the impression Covid had a 95% fatality rate.

I also questioned how Lea got three negative Covid tests in such a short period of time.  I'm not sure when this episode was supposed to take place exactly, but were they that loose with tests?  I think there was an accurate reflection of sorts on this show, where people just decided in certain cases, they weren't going to be quite so strict about locking down.

Edited November 10, 2020 by rmontro

[bros402]

8 hours ago, rmontro said:

I was a little confused with what happened with Dr. Andrews at the end, because my TV had some glare on it.  Did Dr. Andrews just decide to go into his house on his own?  Or had his wife piled all his stuff up against a wall in the garage, meaning she was fed up with that arrangement, and wanted them to go back to living together?

I'm glad things ended on a lighter note because it was really getting pretty depressing.  I think if you just watched the first 45 minutes, it would give you the impression Covid had a 95% fatality rate.

I also questioned how Lea got three negative Covid tests in such a short period of time.  I'm not sure when this episode was supposed to take place exactly, but were they that loose with tests?  I think there was an accurate reflection of sorts on this show, where people just decided in certain cases, they weren't going to be quite so strict about locking down.

At least here in NJ, they weren't that loose with tests - at the free testing sites in my county (suburban NJ), they still only have 100 tests per site per day

[preeya]

Just read that Richard Schiff  & Sheila Kelley (married IRL) have both tested positive for Covid.

 

[cinsays]

On 11/9/2020 at 11:16 PM, The Wild Sow said:

Ok, but put your damn masks ON, people! Universal precautions!

Way too many unmasked faces in the public areas of the hospital. Plus outdoors but still near others. Bad, bad example!  

The reason COVID19 is so dangerous is that it’s contagious long before you know you have it. Wear! Your! Masks!

Exactly!

I was especially annoyed about Shaun and Glassman outside talking and being so close and unmasked.  Shaun shouts/projects a little too much when he talks and Glassman's health is fragile.  

[MoreCoffeePlease]

I'd like to know about Dr. Andrews as well. That is one hell of a house.  Whew.

I don't know what is wrong with me, or if it is a part of getting older and having watched medical shows since St. Elsewhere, but I am NOT getting the "feels" from this show anymore. I used to cry at a Hallmark commercial, and now, nothing. Sigh.

I thought it was realistic when Glassman said to his wife "I'm sorry", and she stood up to hug him, but then she said "What are you sorry for?" So realistic. And I knew he would say "Everything."  I also love the exterior and landscaping of his house. 

[cinsays]

When Lea went into Shaun's apartment and they were sitting on the couch, what were they looking at? Were they looking out the window? Looked like a big screen tv below the window but they looked like their eyes were focused upward.

Not important, but i couldn't tell and wasn't sure what were supposed to get from that.   Just that they were happy to just be sitting together doing nothing?

[Mean Jeanne]

Mostly annoyed with these episodes, mostly because Claire spent all of her time in the basement or wherever that was, instead of taking care of patients, truly ridiculous. Which leads me to my next complaint which is how they totally failed to show the stress of the staff and doctors. If you know anyone who’s been working in a hospital during the peaks of this pandemic, you know of the exhaustion and added stress they’re under, but this bunch just acted like it was business as usual with slightly elevated emotions. Also smirking at the way the entire staff was able to gather outside the nurse’s room for a dramatic reveal with the flung open curtains. Yes it’s a tv show and all but geez!
 

i did get the “feels” once, and that was when Shaun spread his arms for Lea when she showed up at his door. I have a family member with Aspergers and I know how significant even the smallest show of love can be.

[cinsays]

41 minutes ago, Mean Jeanne said:

Mostly annoyed with these episodes, mostly because Claire spent all of her time in the basement or wherever that was, instead of taking care of patients, truly ridiculous. Which leads me to my next complaint which is how they totally failed to show the stress of the staff and doctors. If you know anyone who’s been working in a hospital during the peaks of this pandemic, you know of the exhaustion and added stress they’re under, but this bunch just acted like it was business as usual with slightly elevated emotions. Also smirking at the way the entire staff was able to gather outside the nurse’s room for a dramatic reveal with the flung open curtains. Yes it’s a tv show and all but geez!
 

i did get the “feels” once, and that was when Shaun spread his arms for Lea when she showed up at his door. I have a family member with Aspergers and I know how significant even the smallest show of love can be.

I'm glad I am not the only one that was annoyed with Claire spending all that time looking thru the collected patient items.  People are sick and dying and you are doing this?

[tvfanatic13]

I think that the show hit it out of the park these first 2 episodes. Every single aspect was well done in my opinion. Now, they move on. 

[bros402]

I have to imagine Claire was only in the belongings room when she wasn't on the clock - I wonder why they didn't have her around a lot of other actors? Just the actor playing the veteran, Melendez, and the daughter of the patient last week. Maybe they weren't sure she would arrive on time for start of filming when they were doing the scripts?

[Cocotte]

This episode bugged.  Claire just sat around talking to Melendez's ghost (SO mad they killed him off!) and rifled though patient's belongings while everyone else was working their butts off.  And I spend most of the episode yelling, "Put a mask on!" at the TV.

[Fable]

I didn’t care for this one as much as last week’s.  Sadly, I was more annoyed to see Melendez than not.  It just served to aggravate me that they killed him off.  At least Claire got a small win here with the dog tags, so good for her I guess. 

Shaun and Lea still aren’t working for me, but at least, so far, they are less dramatic than Shaun and Carly. 

I usually like Glassman and don’t really care for Debbie, but I felt that he was being a bit of dick.  Someone mentioned, and I agree, he doesn’t really seem to like her. 

[bros402]

I sort of liked the Glassman-Debbie storyline, since it showed how more....regular people are coping with it. Glassman can't go in because he's high risk - and he isn't necessary personnel, as he can work from home.

It's weird how they act around each other - the actors are married....maybe the writers don't ask them for input on what kind of things their characters should disagree over, so it just grates when the two of them don't fit with it?

[Emma9]

In the first episode, it was interestingly surreal - in a morbid sense - to see portrayals of the early myths and missteps of the pandemic; like watching a period drama and thinking wow, they really did believe such quaint things back then...eight whole months ago.

That made it more jarring when this one ended the way it did.

I remember a common thread on social media back in said olden times being 'when this is over, we're all going to run out into the street and hug strangers', as though covid would vanish between one day and the next. The last few scenes, with the surviving focus patients getting out of the woods at the same time and Shaun and Andrews un-isolating from their loved ones and doctors standing at close quarters to other people without masks unnecessarily, felt like it was reflecting that same attitude.

 

[ForReal]

On 11/11/2020 at 11:10 PM, Cocotte said:

This episode bugged.  Claire just sat around talking to Melendez's ghost (SO mad they killed him off!) and rifled though patient's belongings while everyone else was working their butts off.  And I spend most of the episode yelling, "Put a mask on!" at the TV.

I kept thinking that about Claire, too, and then concluded that she must have been doing it on her time off, because otherwise it would have been ridiculous. I was struck by the lack of masks, too, but figured since it's a tv show they took the liberty of showing faces.

[Virtual]

On 11/12/2020 at 1:10 AM, Cocotte said:

Claire just sat around talking to Melendez's ghost (SO mad they killed him off!) and rifled though patient's belongings while everyone else was working their butts off.  And I spend most of the episode yelling, "Put a mask on!" at the TV.

I didn't care much for the Melendez "guidance" scenes, but I am glad that they did help Claire in a way. If the showrunners want to honor Melendez, they could have renamed the hospital "San Jose St. Bonaventure with Neil Melendez Hospital". :P

And I spent most of the episode doing the same. 4x03 as well. There's been untold cases of COVID in that hospital.