S04.E13: Finding Family

[jewel21]

Quote

On the day of Nic's baby shower, Billie takes full control to make sure it goes smoothly, but a secret she's been hiding changes everything. Devon and Leela stumble upon an apartment fire, where they assist in getting victims safely to Chastain and Leela gets a chance to prove her skills to Raptor. Jake and his husband deal with the complications of Sammie's health. Raptor and Rose receive exciting news.

Airdate: 05/11/2021

[Crashcourse]

It's one thing to have a close friend, but I don't understand why Nic is so close to Billie that she's become the third wheel in the Nic/Conrad relationship.  I never liked Billie because I thought something was shady about her, so it'll be interesting to find out her secret.   

[Crashcourse]

Well, too bad Billie was raped and had a kid, but I still don't care about her and I'm not looking forward to that story.   

I'm glad Rose is ok but I don't care about her either and there's no reason for her to be around anymore.

I was expecting the building super would die, but it was still sad.  I was surprised that the nurses just casually threw their gloves on the floor instead of throwing them in a bin.   In fact, that entire floor was littered.

[Madding crowd]

I don’t like Billie and don’t care about her story but I think if that really is her son trying to contact her there must be a way to let him down a bit more gently than just leave me alone. I keep waiting for something else to happen with Rose because something always happens to patients who appear to be cured.

[Bulldog]

Was I the only one who found Devon's reaction to Rose and Barrett odd? Like really, really odd?  Where did that come from? 

[MsTree]

4 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

I don’t like Billie and don’t care about her story but I think if that really is her son trying to contact her there must be a way to let him down a bit more gently than just leave me alone.

I feel the same way...and then I thought maybe she was raped by a family member and just can't deal with any PTSD that might be associated with seeing her son. Even worse if it was her father or step-father who molested her.

[Lady Calypso]

12 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

I don’t like Billie and don’t care about her story but I think if that really is her son trying to contact her there must be a way to let him down a bit more gently than just leave me alone. I keep waiting for something else to happen with Rose because something always happens to patients who appear to be cured.

I think PTSD and the fear of having to relive her trauma through her son is very real and brings out real emotions. I appreciate that she's struggling with it enough to not pretend to be nice about it, because I can't even begin to imagine the trauma she's starting to relive just by the fact that her son is contacting her. As someone who is adopted, I totally get the curiosity of finding birth parents to an extent. I personally haven't been curious enough to go searching, but I know others who have needed that closure. However, I also recognize that birth parents have different reasons for giving up their child and that it can't be easy on them, especially if the child comes looking. I feel bad for Billie's son, but I also do not fault Billie in any way for not wanting contact with him right now. I'm sure she will eventually see him (I bet he shows up at her workplace since he obviously already knows her phone number), but I can empathize with her fear and trauma.

So, Rose is better. Hooray! Now leave and take Cain with you!

I'm glad they jumped right into Jake and his husband adopting the little girl instead of pretending that it was ever a decision to be made. I assumed she would be just fine, too, because why give them another child to lose?

I do admit that Devon's response to Rose/Cain was a bit odd, but I'd be overprotective about it too, since we all know what Cain is capable of. But they're setting up Devon/Leela fairly well, so I'm kind of looking forward to that.

[GiandujaPie]

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I think PTSD and the fear of having to relive her trauma through her son is very real and brings out real emotions. I appreciate that she's struggling with it enough to not pretend to be nice about it, because I can't even begin to imagine the trauma she's starting to relive just by the fact that her son is contacting her. As someone who is adopted, I totally get the curiosity of finding birth parents to an extent. I personally haven't been curious enough to go searching, but I know others who have needed that closure. However, I also recognize that birth parents have different reasons for giving up their child and that it can't be easy on them, especially if the child comes looking. I feel bad for Billie's son, but I also do not fault Billie in any way for not wanting contact with him right now. I'm sure she will eventually see him (I bet he shows up at her workplace since he obviously already knows her phone number), but I can empathize with her fear and trauma.

I get that her son wants to have contact with her but it seems stalker-ish of him to not respect her boundaries and continue to bug her with texts and phone calls. In her discussion with Nic, she absolutely brought up a good point about whether to tell him he was the product of a rape. She still needs time to process that her baby is now an adult and how and if to tell him the circumstances of her birth. He should give her time and not bombard her with texts. 

The actual baby shower seemed lame. Who was the person who gave them the little Chinese outfit? I didn't recognize him - I thought it was Jake at first but they were at the hospital. I hate it when TV show parties have random people at them when we never see the characters have relationships with people outside of work. 

[Crashcourse]

I'm getting a bad feeling the Billie and her issues will drive a wedge between Conrad and Nic.  I think he's already uncomfortable with her reentering Nic's life--not that he doesn't want Nic to have close friends, but just not Billie. 

[twoods]

Billie’s storyline felt realistic, in the reasons why did not want to meet her child (he may look like her rapist, what does she say if he asks about his father). It sucks that she’s going about it wrong and not letting him know why she’s hesitant but I’m guessing this isn’t the end of the story. 
I am enjoying the slow relationship burn with Devon and Leela. Feels sort of like AJ and Mina but they were way too slow to finally get together so hope it doesn’t take them that long. Sucks that the building super died- it would have been nice to see the waiting room filled with the tenants and their reaction.

That little girl Sammie continues to be the cutest. I hope the writers don’t kill her off or constantly keep her in the hospital on death’s door. It’s also nice to see Jake and Bell getting closer.

Edited May 13, 2021 by twoods

[statsgirl]

I noticed at the credits that the episode was dedicated to a young woman named Rose who died of sickle cell before this potential cure could be validated. That's a story that I would like to know more about.

On 5/12/2021 at 12:35 PM, GiandujaPie said:

I get that her son wants to have contact with her but it seems stalker-ish of him to not respect her boundaries and continue to bug her with texts and phone calls. In her discussion with Nic, she absolutely brought up a good point about whether to tell him he was the product of a rape. She still needs time to process that her baby is now an adult and how and if to tell him the circumstances of her birth. He should give her time and not bombard her with texts.

It was the stalkery vibe that creeped me out.

Billie was 13 when she was raped and probably her first sexual experience. A child, and experiencing something hugely traumatic. It's no surprise that she would want to bury it and never relive it again.

I can understand the young man wanting to make contact. But so many texts in such a short time is inappropriate and stalkery as is the demand that she owes it to him to justify why she doesn't want to talk to him. He's 18, he should know that you ask, wait, and accept the response. These demands seem approaching unhinged to me, I would be worried that he is assaultive like her rapist.

[mittsigirl]

On 5/11/2021 at 7:03 PM, Crashcourse said:

Well, too bad Billie was raped and had a kid, but I still don't care about her and I'm not looking forward to that story.   

I'm glad Rose is ok but I don't care about her either and there's no reason for her to be around anymore.

I was expecting the building super would die, but it was still sad.  I was surprised that the nurses just casually threw their gloves on the floor instead of throwing them in a bin.   In fact, that entire floor was littered.

I read an article about this years ago, as to why they litter the floor like that. It's so they can pick everything up that was used on that patient, every glove, every cotton pad, etc., so they can figure out the total cost for the bill of things that were used, instead of picking things out of the garbage cans.

[Crashcourse]

17 hours ago, mittsigirl said:

I read an article about this years ago, as to why they litter the floor like that. It's so they can pick everything up that was used on that patient, every glove, every cotton pad, etc., so they can figure out the total cost for the bill of things that were used, instead of picking things out of the garbage cans.

Interesting.  I've had a few hospital bills and I could see how much they padded expenses for those items.

[SuzieQ]

Love this show, but Bell is operating as a top notch surgeon again.  What happened to his tremors and almost killing people?  Was that resolved and I missed it?

[Welp]

I guessed what Billie’s secret was (not the circumstances, but that she’d have a child) based on the episode title on Hulu, A Children’s Story. 
 

I’m wondering why they recast Denise Dowse as AJ’s mother?

[bros402]

The Billie story was... unrealistic - Georgia has closed adoption - records can only be unsealed with a court order. It takes a *lot* to get a court order in states like that - I have a friend who only got her records mostly unsealed because she has terminal cancer and needed to try to find biological family to warn them about the risk of breast cancer.

Even if the kid managed to find her name....how would he get her cell phone number?

oh, and one thing that was bugging me - at the beginning when AJ and his parents were in that oncologist's office.... has anyone had a regular appointment with a doctor in an office? I have been to dozens of doctors - always get news like that in the exam room. One of the only times I can remember being in my doctor's actual office was when he needed me to answer some questions when he was filling out paperwork on my way out.

Edited May 17, 2021 by bros402

[mittsigirl]

On 5/16/2021 at 1:57 PM, Crashcourse said:

Interesting.  I've had a few hospital bills and I could see how much they padded expenses for those items.

Oh yes, they just won't miss a damn thing when billing you! I live in Canada and it's nothing like that here. I really feel for you in the USA, your price for healthcare is scary to me:(

[KaveDweller]

17 hours ago, bros402 said:

oh, and one thing that was bugging me - at the beginning when AJ and his parents were in that oncologist's office.... has anyone had a regular appointment with a doctor in an office? I have been to dozens of doctors - always get news like that in the exam room. One of the only times I can remember being in my doctor's actual office was when he needed me to answer some questions when he was filling out paperwork on my way out.

I've been in doctor's actual office several times when it was my first visit to the doctor, and they wanted to talk through my history before doing an exam. Never to get test results later on though.

[statsgirl]

I got my cancer diagnosis in the surgeon's office because the biopsy was sent away and it took a while for the results to come back. Subsequent appointments were all in exam rooms because they needed to examine me to see how I'm doing.  And also, I suspect because the surgeon had the status to have his own office while the oncologists got a room where they could.

3 hours ago, mittsigirl said:

Oh yes, they just won't miss a damn thing when billing you! I live in Canada and it's nothing like that here. I really feel for you in the USA, your price for healthcare is scary to me:(

In Canada, the hospitals are given a sum for the year rather than billing for individual patients so it doesn't matter how much is used for each patient.

[mittsigirl]

2 hours ago, statsgirl said:

I got my cancer diagnosis in the surgeon's office because the biopsy was sent away and it took a while for the results to come back. Subsequent appointments were all in exam rooms because they needed to examine me to see how I'm doing.  And also, I suspect because the surgeon had the status to have his own office while the oncologists got a room where they could.

In Canada, the hospitals are given a sum for the year rather than billing for individual patients so it doesn't matter how much is used for each patient.

I was in the hospital, totally paralyzed and on life support in the ICU alone for 2 months, another month on another floor, then another month learning to move and walk again. I can't even imagine what the cost would have been if I had been in the USA. Then 5 years after that, my daughter got cancer, and was fighting for her life for 19 months before she lost the battle. We would have had to pay for her time in there as well as her care, so I don't know if having 2 illnesses so close together would have been manageable for us were we in the USA.

[bros402]

4 hours ago, statsgirl said:

I got my cancer diagnosis in the surgeon's office because the biopsy was sent away and it took a while for the results to come back. Subsequent appointments were all in exam rooms because they needed to examine me to see how I'm doing.  And also, I suspect because the surgeon had the status to have his own office while the oncologists got a room where they could.

In Canada, the hospitals are given a sum for the year rather than billing for individual patients so it doesn't matter how much is used for each patient.

I got my cancer diagnosis in the exam room - took two weeks for the biopsy results to come back.

1 hour ago, mittsigirl said:

I was in the hospital, totally paralyzed and on life support in the ICU alone for 2 months, another month on another floor, then another month learning to move and walk again. I can't even imagine what the cost would have been if I had been in the USA. Then 5 years after that, my daughter got cancer, and was fighting for her life for 19 months before she lost the battle. We would have had to pay for her time in there as well as her care, so I don't know if having 2 illnesses so close together would have been manageable for us were we in the USA.

Your first thing probably would have exceeded a million. Your daughter would have cost a bit less, depending on treatment - but probably half a million.

[mittsigirl]

2 minutes ago, bros402 said:

I got my cancer diagnosis in the exam room - took two weeks for the biopsy results to come back.

Your first thing probably would have exceeded a million. Your daughter would have cost a bit less, depending on treatment - but probably half a million.

How do sick people survive with bills that high? I just can't even imagine the stress they have to live with.

[yourmomiseasy]

On 5/16/2021 at 10:50 PM, bros402 said:

The Billie story was... unrealistic - Georgia has closed adoption - records can only be unsealed with a court order. It takes a *lot* to get a court order in states like that - I have a friend who only got her records mostly unsealed because she has terminal cancer and needed to try to find biological family to warn them about the risk of breast cancer.

Even if the kid managed to find her name....how would he get her cell phone number?

oh, and one thing that was bugging me - at the beginning when AJ and his parents were in that oncologist's office.... has anyone had a regular appointment with a doctor in an office? I have been to dozens of doctors - always get news like that in the exam room. One of the only times I can remember being in my doctor's actual office was when he needed me to answer some questions when he was filling out paperwork on my way out.

I’ve been in the office of at least 4 of my doctors, but I’ve never had an appointment where I was only in the office, it’s always been exam room before or after.  One time it was just as simple as my surgeon decided he wanted to operate so we went into his office to check his schedule and figure out when to do it.  

[bros402]

On 5/18/2021 at 1:44 AM, mittsigirl said:

How do sick people survive with bills that high? I just can't even imagine the stress they have to live with.

If they have no isnruance, they can sometimes negotiate a bill to pay money every month until they die or declare bankruptcy

On 5/19/2021 at 6:00 AM, yourmomiseasy said:

I’ve been in the office of at least 4 of my doctors, but I’ve never had an appointment where I was only in the office, it’s always been exam room before or after.  One time it was just as simple as my surgeon decided he wanted to operate so we went into his office to check his schedule and figure out when to do it.  

That makes sense - going into the office to check the schedule. I've been in my neurologist's office a few times so he could fill out paperwork with me right there to answer the questions so he didn't have to look at my file :P

[SnarkySheep]

On 5/8/2021 at 12:47 PM, Crashcourse said:

It's one thing to have a close friend, but I don't understand why Nic is so close to Billie that she's become the third wheel in the Nic/Conrad relationship. 

Honestly, if this were another show, I'd be thinking they were setting things up for Conrad and Billie to hook up behind Nic's back...

And hey, who knows? Many a show has gone down the "we're drifting apart because our lives center on baby" route. I really hope this one doesn't.

On 5/18/2021 at 1:44 AM, mittsigirl said:

How do sick people survive with bills that high? I just can't even imagine the stress they have to live with.

Check any town's newspaper or bulletin boards in places like the local Y, town hall, etc - you are guaranteed to see at least one, if not more, ads for fundraisers like pasta suppers, in support of someone's child with cancer/whatever rare disease.

[christie]

On 5/12/2021 at 7:35 PM, GiandujaPie said:

The actual baby shower seemed lame. Who was the person who gave them the little Chinese outfit? I didn't recognize him - I thought it was Jake at first but they were at the hospital. I hate it when TV show parties have random people at them when we never see the characters have relationships with people outside of work. 

A bit late. I didn't recognise him either but then realised that it must be Dr Chu the anesthesiologist. Agree that the baby shower seemed lame. 

[Paloma]

On 5/16/2021 at 9:15 PM, SuzieQ said:

Love this show, but Bell is operating as a top notch surgeon again.  What happened to his tremors and almost killing people?  Was that resolved and I missed it?

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.

On 5/17/2021 at 12:44 AM, Welp said:

I’m wondering why they recast Denise Dowse as AJ’s mother?

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.

On 5/17/2021 at 1:50 AM, bros402 said:

The Billie story was... unrealistic - Georgia has closed adoption - records can only be unsealed with a court order. It takes a *lot* to get a court order in states like that - I have a friend who only got her records mostly unsealed because she has terminal cancer and needed to try to find biological family to warn them about the risk of breast cancer.

Even if the kid managed to find her name....how would he get her cell phone number?

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.
 

[bros402]

2 hours ago, Paloma said:

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.
 

If that had happened - they would've said that. The easiest to find via DNA are those of white European descent (around ~80% of those in America have a third cousin or closer who have taken a DNA test).

The numbers on those sites tend to be rather out of date.