S04.E11: After the Storm

[jewel21]

Quote

When a tornado touches down in Atlanta with Chastain directly in its path, the entire staff goes into crisis mode; Conrad and Nic work on an injured EMT; Devon and Leela become trapped with a man who has severe head trauma.

Airdate: 04/27/2021

[Bulldog]

For an episode that was hyped as centering around a tornado, the tornado really didn't seem to have much of an impact on the hospital.  Only two featured patients had injuries relating to the tornado.  Seemed somewhat anti-climatic.  I did enjoy the extra in the green scrubs seen straightening a crooked picture as if that would be a top priority after a tornado strikes.  Then everyone goes out to a bar which apparently was untouched by the same storm. 

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that Jake will end up adopting the little Asian girl? 

[Driad]

Are we supposed to be able to read text messages on characters' phones? I have a medium def TV and low-def eyes.  Guessing that AJ was texting with Mina and/or his parents.

21 minutes ago, Bulldog said:

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that Jake will end up adopting the little Asian girl? 

Even my low-def eyes could see those flashing neon signs.

[Kleav]

3 minutes ago, Driad said:

Are we supposed to be able to read text messages on characters' phones?

Thank you! Even when I got closer to the TV, I couldn't read that exchange.

[KaveDweller]

39 minutes ago, Kleav said:

Thank you! Even when I got closer to the TV, I couldn't read that exchange.

I think the idea was that AJ kept texting things to Minna and she responded with emojis. Then he wrote that he loved and missed her and she responded that she had to go into surgery.

[Driad]

2 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

I think the idea was that AJ kept texting things to Minna and she responded with emojis. Then he wrote that he loved and missed her and she responded that she had to go into surgery.

Thank you.  It would have been useful if viewers could read those.  Sounds as if Mina was saying "Don't wait for me."

[preeya]

1 hour ago, Bulldog said:

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that Jake will end up adopting the little Asian girl?

I called that the moment he started talking to the girl in Chinese.

[preeya]

1 hour ago, Driad said:

Are we supposed to be able to read text messages on characters' phones?

There was a show, not too long ago, that displayed text messages as "pop outs" so the audience could easily read them. I can't recall the show, but it should become a standard. Anyone????

[Driad]

2 minutes ago, preeya said:

There was a show, not too long ago, that displayed text messages as "pop outs" so the audience could easily read them. I can't recall the show, but it should become a standard. Anyone????

The British series "Sherlock" did something like this, and I found it useful.

[preeya]

9 hours ago, Driad said:

The British series "Sherlock" did something like this, and I found it useful.

Thanks for that, but it wasn't "Sherlock" that I'm thinking of. That said, there should be a way to tell writers & producers about these quirks.

I don't know this show, but this is what I'm referring to:

Edited April 28, 2021 by preeya

[tvmom]

Jane the Virgin used to do the text pop-outs. 

[MaggieG]

Younger does it too.

I think the little girl playing Sammy did a great job in the scenes she was in. I may have teared up a bit when she asking Jake not to leave her

[KaveDweller]

17 hours ago, preeya said:

There was a show, not too long ago, that displayed text messages as "pop outs" so the audience could easily read them. I can't recall the show, but it should become a standard. Anyone????

I have seen several shows do that, I agree it should be standard. It gets very hard to read those cuts to a phone, and I have decent vision.

Those parents that want to return the child they adopted are awful. I don't know the legalities around adoption, but so what if they were told she was healthy before they adopted her? Would they do the same thing if they had given birth to her and she got sick?

[Arkay]

22 hours ago, preeya said:

I called that the moment he started talking to the girl in Chinese.

Same. Then right after when he promised not to leave her, it was very obvious that the parents would be overwhelmed and overturn the adoption. What a sweet little girl, and a good actress.

So it will be Devon and Leela, but now Cain and the new woman doctor, instead of Cain and Rose?

I agree the tornado came and went, but that’s what tornadoes do. The damage it created was the direct cause of Piper’s death and also the handyman with the metal lodged in his skull, so that along with Sammie created the medical plot. 
 

 

[jewel21]

The Young and The Restless also does the text pop-up thing. 

The girl playing Sami was really sweet and such a good actress. I felt so bad for her when she was telling Jake not to leave her. 

 

[preeya]

10 hours ago, Arkay said:

So it will be Devon and Leela, but now Cain and the new woman doctor, instead of Cain and Rose?

Cain and the new doctor would be a no, no as she's his resident under his supervision. But then again, it's Cain, he does anything he wants.

On another note, didn't he (Cain) make a marvelous recovery from the last episode, where he was failing at his hand coordination exercises and he was walking (badly) with a cane. I guess that's just chalked up to TV magic.

Edited April 29, 2021 by preeya

[darockwilder]

On 4/27/2021 at 8:39 PM, Bulldog said:

For an episode that was hyped as centering around a tornado, the tornado really didn't seem to have much of an impact on the hospital.  Only two featured patients had injuries relating to the tornado.  Seemed somewhat anti-climatic.  I did enjoy the extra in the green scrubs seen straightening a crooked picture as if that would be a top priority after a tornado strikes.  Then everyone goes out to a bar which apparently was untouched by the same storm. 

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that Jake will end up adopting the little Asian girl? 

That cracked me up too.  I couldn't believe it.

[twoods]

Poor Sammie and her adoptive parents leaving her. Of course Jake will adopt her now, but it’s a nice story. At least we will see more of her because that little actress is fantastic. I lost it when she was crying to Jake.

What is not nice is killing off Piper. Blah. Poor Wes. More tears. 
 

I did like seeing the crew drink together at the bar. I have missed those scenes.

Edited April 29, 2021 by twoods

[yourmomiseasy]

On 4/27/2021 at 7:39 PM, Bulldog said:

 

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that Jake will end up adopting the little Asian girl? 

My only surprise is that it didn't already happen.

That handy guy was dumb.  A tornado is about to hit and he's like let me just finish this one thing, like it will even matter if it's done if the tornado destroys the room, as it did.  

I might walk back what I said about Devon and the intern last week.  I thought she reported him to him, but now I'm confused on if tat is the case or not, and they seemed more equals this week instead of the power balance being heavily in Devon's favor.

[Lady Calypso]

6 hours ago, yourmomiseasy said:

I might walk back what I said about Devon and the intern last week.  I thought she reported him to him, but now I'm confused on if tat is the case or not, and they seemed more equals this week instead of the power balance being heavily in Devon's favor.

Yeah, I was a bit confused as to why Devon stepped back to let Leela do the surgery. I also thought he was at least a couple of years ahead of her in residency so I would have thought that he would take the lead on something as serious as what is essentially brain surgery. They seemed like equals in this episode, for sure.

For an episode centered around a natural disaster, it was surprisingly tame. Besides a few bumps and bruises on people, and then only a few serious injuries (with one death in that EMT!), the tornado seemed to go as quickly as it came. Which makes sense, since it's a tornado, but Chastain got rather lucky with how it COULD have gone. 

Of course Jake and his husband will adopt that (adorable) little girl. I'm not mad about it, though. I always appreciate when shows go a little more against the norm of TV tropes. I mean, it's predictable but I think it works.

Cain should have gotten swept away by the tornado. I cannot stand this half assed redemption arc with women. 

 

[Driad]

If Jake wants to adopt Sammie, he and his husband should discuss it first, or at we should least hear that they have.  Sammie will need constant care, and she does not yet have enough English to be comfortable with someone who does not speak Chinese.  They need to work out who would be her caregiver and teacher.

[Artsda]

So the bar had no damages and everyone went to it after a tornado hit them? The ending was silly. Nobody went home to check on damage?

[twoods]

Devon is an ER/internal medicine resident. I’m guessing he’s a third year resident by now? Leela is a surgical intern so they are in different departments, so it’s okay for them to have a relationship. I think the only “forbidden” relationships are attending/resident (AJ and Meena) but it happens. Residents hooked up all the time in different departments, and even in the same one because you spend so much time with these people in the hospital and when are you going to have time to find a date?

Edited May 1, 2021 by twoods

[Leeds]

On 4/27/2021 at 8:02 PM, Driad said:

Are we supposed to be able to read text messages on characters' phones? I have a medium def TV and low-def eyes.  Guessing that AJ was texting with Mina and/or his parents.

I hate this.  Not everyone has a monster TV.

[Gregg247]

I was sorry (and surprised) that the EMT died on the operating table but, to be honest, it was kind of overdue.  The doctors at Chastain Memorial do some of the most complicated surgeries ever devised, and without any preparation at all, week after week, and practically every patient survives and flourishes.  They should definitely have a much higher death rate than they do.

Having said that, you had a guy with a giant metal rod sticking out of his head, a girl who had all of her insides removed, scraped clean of tumors, and re-installed, and a woman who lost her leg in a tornado.  Of those 3 patients, the leg injury wasn't the one I would have guessed as being the fatal one.

Conrad and Nic need to get away from that hospital on their days off.  They spend way too much time at work to be mentally healthy!

[statsgirl]

Devon and Leela were my favourite story in this episode. Ridiculous but a good ending. They've made Leela vulnerable but still nice so she's easy to root for.

On 4/30/2021 at 9:28 AM, Lady Calypso said:

Yeah, I was a bit confused as to why Devon stepped back to let Leela do the surgery. I also thought he was at least a couple of years ahead of her in residency so I would have thought that he would take the lead on something as serious as what is essentially brain surgery. They seemed like equals in this episode, for sure.

Devon is an ER resident. Leela is a neurosurgery resident so the surgery was in her area.

The girl playing Sammie is a great find.

I understand the terrible situation that the adoptive parents were put in. They have neither the financial nor emotional resources to care for someone as sick as Sammie. Home-schooling her for a year means that one of the couple would have to quit his or her job. They also have two other kids at home, both of them would be affected by having Sammie there as sick as she is. Canadian journalist Barbara Frum and her husband Murray were well-known for their support of left wing causes. Her son, David Frum, was once asked why he and his sister were both so right wing and he replied that it was a reaction to the time and effort that his parents spent supporting their causes because the two kids felt the loss.

Taking care of Sammie would put a strain on not only the parents but their kids too.  Ian Brown's The Boy In The Moon gives an idea of how hard it is on a family to care for a disabled child.

 

[bros402]

On 4/30/2021 at 4:12 PM, Artsda said:

So the bar had no damages and everyone went to it after a tornado hit them? The ending was silly. Nobody went home to check on damage?

obviously the tornado went on a diet and lost too much weight, so it went to the hospital

On 4/30/2021 at 11:03 PM, twoods said:

Devon is an ER/internal medicine resident. I’m guessing he’s a third year resident by now? Leela is a surgical intern so they are in different departments, so it’s okay for them to have a relationship. I think the only “forbidden” relationships are attending/resident (AJ and Meena) but it happens. Residents hooked up all the time in different departments, and even in the same one because you spend so much time with these people in the hospital and when are you going to have time to find a date?

I believe when Mina left, she referred to the Halloween party as 3 years ago - and that episode was in season 2, I believe - so he's a 4th year resident, I believe.

[CB-LXX]

Unpopular opinion here, but I can't fault the adoptive parents for their decision. They knew what they could and couldn't handle, which was taking care of an extremely sick child, something which they didn't sign up for. I mean, isn't that kind of the "nice" thing about adoption, you get to be a little bit picky about the child(ren) you're going to adopt? They asked for a healthy child, didn't get one. Now I know, the little girl is not merchandise, return to the store for being defective. But, I think better for her to have a chance at being adopted (obviously it's going to be Jake and his husband) by a family who is more than willing to do what's right for her out of love, rather than obligation, which could turn to resentment. Frankly, I kind of find fault with the adoption agency here, they had to have known she was a very sick little girl. Granted, being truthful might have resulted in her not being adopted by anyone at all, but not reporting it, wouldn't that be considered fraud?

Edited May 3, 2021 by Kenadi O

[auntiemel]

The parents "rehoming" the adopted girl was clearly based on the case of Myka Stauffer. And, yeah. It's not what they signed up for. But they're her parents. When they adopted her, they became her parents. Would they have given back one of their biological children?

[statsgirl]

11 hours ago, auntiemel said:

Would they have given back one of their biological children?

People abandon their own healthy children, not just ones sick as Sammie. Usually it's to the other parent or to a grandparent or other relative. Sometimes it's to an institution.

[auntiemel]

40 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

People abandon their own healthy children, not just ones sick as Sammie. Usually it's to the other parent or to a grandparent or other relative. Sometimes it's to an institution.

Yes, there are people in the world who abandon their biological children, health problems notwithstanding. But that's not really what's at issue here. The question is--would they have treated their bio kids the same way they treated their adopted kid? I think the show presented that as a no.

[MsTree]

11 hours ago, auntiemel said:

Yes, there are people in the world who abandon their biological children, health problems notwithstanding. But that's not really what's at issue here. The question is--would they have treated their bio kids the same way they treated their adopted kid? I think the show presented that as a no.

You can't compare apples with oranges. The adoptive parents were under the impression that Sammie was a healthy child. In fact, they said something like "we were told she was healthy"...suggesting that they had a choice whether or not to adopt Sammie. It further suggests that had they been told from the beginning that Sammie had health issues, they might have made another decision., moving on to adopting a healthy (or healthier) child.

Birth parents aren't told by an agency that their child is guaranteed to be healthy, so there is no "disappointment" if their child turns out to be ill. But to answer your question, yes...if the parents are selfish, immature, etc...they might very well treat their child that way. It happens all too often.

Edited May 10, 2021 by MsTree

[auntiemel]

2 hours ago, MsTree said:

You can't compare apples with oranges. The adoptive parents were under the impression that Sammie was a healthy child. In fact, they said something like "we were told she was healthy"...suggesting that they had a choice whether or not to adopt Sammie. It further suggests that had they been told from the beginning that Sammie had health issues, they might have made another decision., moving on to adopting a healthy (or healthier) child.

Birth parents aren't told by an agency that their child is guaranteed to be healthy, so there is no "disappointment" if their child turns out to be ill. But to answer your question, yes...if the parents are selfish, immature, etc...they might very well treat their child that way. It happens all too often.

See, that's the thing. Comparing adopted kids with biological kids is NOT "comparing apples to oranges." When you adopt that child, THEY BECOME YOUR CHILD. It doesn't matter what an agency told you before the adoption, just like it wouldn't matter what your ObGyn told you before the birth. You are their parents. No apples, no oranges. They are your child. Just the same as a child who came into your life any other way.

If you think my take is an unpopular opinion, I invite you to Google the Myka Stauffer situation that this plotline was based on. I think you'll find that most of society feels the same way.

[MsTree]

21 hours ago, auntiemel said:

See, that's the thing. Comparing adopted kids with biological kids is NOT "comparing apples to oranges." When you adopt that child, THEY BECOME YOUR CHILD. It doesn't matter what an agency told you before the adoption, just like it wouldn't matter what your ObGyn told you before the birth. You are their parents. No apples, no oranges. They are your child. Just the same as a child who came into your life any other way.

If you think my take is an unpopular opinion, I invite you to Google the Myka Stauffer situation that this plotline was based on. I think you'll find that most of society feels the same way.

I don't think your opinion is unpopular at all. I was just answering your question about "bio kid vs adopted kid". Like you, I see no difference. However, you asked a question, and I gave my opinion which is this: Regardless of how the child came into the world, IF the parents are selfish, immature, or otherwise refuse to raise an ill child, that type of parent might put the child in an institution, place it in foster care, or give it up altogether. Most likely not what any of us would do, but sadly, it does happen.

[statsgirl]

A few years ago, I was working at a family clinic when a family brought in a preteen girl that they had adopted when she was a baby. I remember that the whole family came in, grandparents as well.

The family wanted to help her but they also wanted  her to be "a good child". (I strongly suspect that much of the problem was that she wasn't neurotypical. ) Since they had adopted her, they had had a biological child of their own who was the kind of child that they wanted. It was a heartbreaking situation.

I think that coming to the clinic was a last ditch attempt to be able to keep her in the family.

[Avabelle]

On 5/3/2021 at 10:25 PM, Kenadi O said:

They asked for a healthy child, didn't get one

They also seemed kind of annoyed that she wasn’t picking up English as quick as they had hoped so While I’m sure they thought overseas adoption was a good idea I really don’t think they were a good fit for adoption.