S07.E01: Baby, Baby, Baby

[DanaK]

Quote

TUESDAY, FEB. 20

10:00-11:00 p.m. EST - (Season Premiere)

Shaun and Lea adjust to parenthood as they debate the importance of schedule and routine for Steve. Meanwhile, Shaun takes on his first case back at the hospital with two baby patients in need of the same heart.

 

[Attatude]

I am so sad this show is in the final season. When was it announced?

[Annber03]

6 hours ago, Attatude said:

I am so sad this show is in the final season. When was it announced?

A couple months or so ago, I want to say?

I totallly thought at first they were going to have it where one of the couples would have to risk using their baby's heart to help the other, but considering both babies' hearts were in bad shape, that obviously wasn't going to work . I figured they'd save both babies, 'cause it'd be too damn depressing otherwise, but the tension as everyone waited for news was well done. I liked Park and Morgan bonding with the other couple over their shared struggles. 

I also liked Shaun's enthusiasm at being a new dad, and how that tied into his personal connection to the case. The opening scene of him changing Steve to "Takin' Care of Business" amused me :D. 

Also glad that Glassman got a chance to see Steve and spend a bit of time with hm. And now Glassman and Lim will both be in charge. That should be interesting. I laughed at Glassman's rant about why he shouldn't get the job. "I remember rotary phones!" 

Had a feeling Jared would show up to hang out with Jordan at the end, and I'm glad he did. I'm all for seeing them continue to interact more. 

Sad this'll be the final season, but I'm looking forward to how they'll wrap it all up. 

[Starchild]

I am so glad Glassman's whininess didn't continue past the season opener.

[preeya]

With all due respect to those who enjoy these "baby episodes," I HATE them.

And not one, not two, but three . . . . . . . .

 

ETA: also, shouldn't these infant surgeries be handled by the peds doctors, aka pediatric surgeons?

Edited February 21 by preeya

[Artsda]

Steve is supposed to be 2 weeks old? I thought there was a 1 year jump at the start, tummy time and leaving the baby on the floor jungle gym?

Jordan acts like she's still caring for the ex, but seems to be chasing after Jared entire episode.

She is the head of IT, but couldn't figure out the app for the Echo?

"I'm Grandpa" was cute. 

[bros402]

I sort of found it hilarious how the OR and hospital looked even more desolate than it has in the past.

It was obvious that all of the babies were going to be okay - but it was an okay plotline

 

1 hour ago, Artsda said:

She is the head of IT, but couldn't figure out the app for the Echo?

I have to assume it is because she is sleep deprived to the point where the only thoughts about an annoying device are "should i unplug it or should I smash it"

8 hours ago, Attatude said:

I am so sad this show is in the final season. When was it announced?

Early to mid January, I think.

[Ancaster]

11 hours ago, Artsda said:

Steve is supposed to be 2 weeks old? I thought there was a 1 year jump at the start, tummy time and leaving the baby on the floor jungle gym?

Jordan acts like she's still caring for the ex, but seems to be chasing after Jared entire episode.

 

I've learned to let it go when babies on TV are obviously older than the character they're playing, but at least get the milestones right.  If Steve is only 2 weeks old there is no way he is smiling like that (those were not smiles caused by gas, they were reactive to people), and he is not doing "tummy time" with his head held up for ten minutes or more.

If they drag on the dissent/arguments between Shaun and Lea regarding schedules I'm going to be throwing my remote at the TV.  I find those stories highly irritating on dramas/comedies focussed on family life; I do not want to see them on a medical drama.

No way would Shaun hand over the baby without basics (milk, diapers, blankie, etc) and a five page, typed list of instructions.

Can someone remind me of the story of Jordan and her ex?

Edited February 21 by Ancaster

[Ancaster]

2 hours ago, preeya said:

 

ETA: also, shouldn't these infant surgeries be handled by the peds doctors, aka pediatric surgeons?

 Not to mention pediatric transplant surgeries that they're suddenly all qualified to do.  

I'm a little worried that this new series and Daddy Shaun are going to annoy me too much to keep watching.  I have just discovered a delightful show called The Great British Sewing Bee and I have many series of it to watch.  (Think Great British Bake Off but sewing- ie, about as far from a soapy medical drama or a typical ego-, drama- and personal sob story-driven reality show as possible.)

Edited February 21 by Ancaster

[possibilities]

I know we can't watch for realism, but having the parents sitting in on a transplant decision, and having that decision being made by the doctors who know them, rather than UNOS or whatever the actual committee is called? Whoooeee!

Still, I found both babies cute as hell, and I don't know what's happening to me because I'm not actually a fan of baby-oriented plots.

I was very confused by the time jump only being 2 weeks, but of all the unrealistic things this show has pulled, I guess that one is not really where I should be drawing a line.

I don't remember the details, but I think what happened with Jordan's ex is that he was in a motor vehicle accident and had emergency surgery and wanted to recover without opiates because he's a recovering addict. But the pain was causing him severe complications (maybe soaring blood pressure? possible stroke?) so Jordan ordered that he be given the drugs against his will to save his life. And after that he left town to go be with his family and deal with his addiction. Jared thought she should have honored the patient's wishes no matter what, and either let him die or have faith that he wouldn't, even though she really thought it was emergent that he would.

I am not sure if in real life addicts will relapse in that kind of situation. I have heard conflicting stories about whether that's how it works.

 

[dancingdreamer]

Shaun is so cute with the baby , although,  they don't  adhere  to a schedule. He found that out pdq!

Baby Steve  with grandpa  Glassman,  made me feel a bit weepy. Two babies with bad hearts, poor  little things. The babies  were older.At 2 weeks  old  they never stop crying,  pooping  or eating. My husband's  cousin  is an intern  for pediatric  oncology, he said it's a labour  of love.

[thuganomics85]

Sometimes I disappoint myself when I don't see something obvious coming and in this case, I really should have known that Shaun would totally treat changing a diaper like surgery, heh.  37 seconds!  Well done, Good Doctor!

Glad the show is back for its final ride and I thought it was a solid enough start.  Sure, I know this isn't the show that normally kills off babies (and has honestly been lax about any patient death these past few seasons), so I figured both babies were going to survive the surgery, but it still got intense enough for me.  And while it did work out, I do wonder if the whole bit with Shaun pushing things to the last minute despite Lim saying they should abort, is hinting that he could be put in another situation like this in the future and things not turn out as well.  Despite his claims, it does seem like being a father is going to make him act differently with cases: especially ones with kids involved.

Park and Reznick trying to be this new type of couple/family is still hampered by all of the silly drama last season (mainly thanks to Park being an idiot), but this being the final season and all, I'm willing to just hand-wave most of that and be happy if they work things out.  At least they seem to be having open conversations with one another.

While it was refreshing that Reznick (and Park) didn't actually interfere with the debate over how the handle the initial transplant, Lim really should have put her food down and not allow them to be in the room.  Love you, Lim, but you need to take a harder stance with this lot sometimes.

Jordan and Jared (welcome back to regular status, Chuku Modu!)'s stuff was kind of odd, since it was all based over what happened with Perez.  I know Jordan and he were a thing, but I didn't think it was strong enough to have her be this torn up over him leaving.  And I don't even remember Jared bonding with him enough to be this pissed about it and be that frosty with her.  Eh, whatever.  They're already bonding over food truck meals now!

Glad Shaun is willing to be more flexible with his "scheduling" and let Leah do what she thinks is best at times.  He's lucky that she didn't send Echo flying a few blocks over and just settled with putting it on the fire escape!

Baby Steve is adorable.  Favorite moment was his face when Shaun was talking about story time with trauma books later.  Baby Steve definitely had a "That's not necessary, dad!" look about that!

Lim and Glassman both try to put up the other as interim president, so naturally the board makes them co-presidents instead.  This should be fun.  I know Hill Harper is off doing his political thing, but I so want Andrews to pop up after they've done this for some episodes and be like "Not so easy now, is it, guys?!"  Of course, the big question I have is will we ever meet this O'Brien guy that was on the short list and terrified them to the core?!  Since I usually associate that name with Miles O'Brien from Star Trek, I just pictured Colm Meaney in a doctor's outfit, terrorizing everyone around him!

Glad Glassman took a slight step out of his grumpy asshole phase and getting into grandfather mode with Baby Steve.  I understand why he is upset on some levels, but it would be short-sighted to let his issues with how Shaun handled his sickness ruin what he has with him, Leah, and now Baby Steve.

[tennisgurl]

Nice to have the show back, even if its bittersweet given its the last season. Still, its been a good run and while the show has had its ups and downs I'm glad its not going out after a really steep decline in quality like some long runners. This was a pretty solid episode, obviously both of the babies would live, no way would this show start its final season with a dead baby, but the tension was still pretty good and I like how it tied into Shaun leaning to be a father. 

Shaun treating changing diapers like a surgery was inevitable but funny. I'm glad that Shaun has decided to chill out with the schedule and let Leah breath, even though I do get why he wanted everything so regimented. I also apricate that Lim was like "Maybe its not the best idea to let a guy who has a two week old baby work on the sick baby case" but it actually seemed to help Shaun show empathy to the parents and calm them. Although, it does seem like having a baby has affected him more than he thinks when it comes to cases, especially when it comes to kids. 

I know that on shows like this the main characters are inevitably going to do everything and are going to be involved in everything no matter what, but I do really wonder why a pediatrician wasn't even consulted in this case, and Lim really should have kicked Morgan and Park out of that room while they were discussing Eden. Even if they don't say anything your still making your co-workers and friends look you in the face as you decide the fate of their baby, no way could anyone be totally objective in those circumstances. 

Thank god Glassman took a break from being grumpy to be a grandpa, he needs to stop pouting and be with his family. Did he learn nothing from losing out on time with his daughter before she died? Who wouldn't want to spend time with cute baby Steve, who is an impressively expressive little guy. I did enjoy his scenes with Lim, them running the hospital should be interesting. He remembers rotary phones!

Not an episode that is going to keep me on the edge of my chair or anything, but a good start and, like Jordan said, sometimes you just need a case of the week.  

[possibilities]

I'm only 58 and I remember rotary phones. It's clear the people writing this show are seriously youngsters!

 

[rmontro]

I'm really glad Jack the baby survived, because they might have blamed trying to save Morgan's (and Park's) baby if something had gone wrong.  How awful would that have been?

Is that baby schedule app a real thing, or something Shaun came up with?  It doesn't seem like the baby would be very compliant.

 

9 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I'm only 58 and I remember rotary phones. It's clear the people writing this show are seriously youngsters!

It reminds me of the Beverly Hillbillies when they didn't know what a phone was.  Even though later on it was revealed Granny had a party line back in the hills.

[KaveDweller]

19 hours ago, Artsda said:

Steve is supposed to be 2 weeks old? I thought there was a 1 year jump at the start, tummy time and leaving the baby on the floor jungle gym?

Jordan acts like she's still caring for the ex, but seems to be chasing after Jared entire episode.

She is the head of IT, but couldn't figure out the app for the Echo?

I was also really surprised Morgan's daughter is only 12 weeks. I can't remember when she adopted that baby but it feels like a really long time ago. Like, early last season, wasn't it?

I was also surprised Leah couldn't disable a simple app. I think they just forgot she was an IT expect.

17 hours ago, Ancaster said:

No way would Shaun hand over the baby without basics (milk, diapers, blankie, etc) and a five page, typed list of instructions.

I wasn't even sure Shaun would hand over the baby at all, considering he has been doubting Glassman's competency.

Was that Matilda from Everything's Going to be Okay in the preview for next week. I really enjoyed the actress on that show.

[Madding crowd]

They always use babies older than newborns but baby Steve was clearly 6 plus months. I know people aren’t getting their baby information from TV dramas but they really shouldn’t be suggesting a newborn needs tummy time or can raise their head.

If I were Leah I would be very annoyed with Shaun scheduling every minute of her day. It’s her baby too and she is the primary caregiver so she should be able to make her own schedule. I still can’t warm up to Reznick and the actress plays her as so cold and robotic. And finally: Dr. Lim and Shaun are not pediatric surgeons nor are they transplant surgeons. I guess I’m feeling cranky about this premier but I really do like the show!

[crashdown]

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

I'm only 58 and I remember rotary phones. It's clear the people writing this show are seriously youngsters!

I'm 57, and I thought the same damn thing. I was insulted!

[bros402]

5 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Was that Matilda from Everything's Going to be Okay in the preview for next week. I really enjoyed the actress on that show.

That is Kayla Cromer! Here's an article about it. Very excited to see her again!

Hopefully she was able to push back against really ridiculous things the writers wanted her character to do.

[circumvent]

I thought the episode was kind of boring. They wanted to have babies to make a parallel with Shaun and Steve but it fell flat. 

Morgan acts like a sociopath that only cares for what she considers "hers", and Park acts like a cult follower waiting for her to accept him as part of the family. His little speech about loving Eden also fell flat to me.

I cannot stand Jordan. She does something that is ethically wrong, then plays the victim because someone who disagrees with her cannot see her side AND change his opinion. She is always the victim, always whining about something people "fail" to see on her, or understand about her. And they always cave...

Now, for the stretches of the production: two infant surgeries, two transplants, at the same time, and all they have is a team of 5 people? The producers could at least get some extras to just fill up the rooms because that's even more ridiculous than not even having a pediatrician on site, or at least on call. Not to mention, as already noted here, this type of very specialized surgery would have to be performed for a very specialized team of doctors. 

And I am choosing to ignore how fast the decisions were made and everything put in place to have those very complicated surgeries happen

I hope the writing gets a little better. 

 

[MaryHedwig]

2 hours ago, circumvent said:

And I am choosing to ignore how fast the decisions were made and everything put in place to have those very complicated surgeries happen

Also, contrary to the title, there were four babies in this story: there was a baby who died whose parents donated their heart. There was one unhappy ending last night.

[Ancaster]

15 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

They always use babies older than newborns but baby Steve was clearly 6 plus months. I know people aren’t getting their baby information from TV dramas but they really shouldn’t be suggesting a newborn needs tummy time or can raise their head.

 

You'd be surprised.

[possibilities]

12 hours ago, crashdown said:

I'm 57, and I thought the same damn thing. I was insulted!

Those whippersnappers! I shake my middle aged fist in their direction! 

 

8 minutes ago, Ancaster said:

You'd be surprised.

Years ago, when I was a university student, a local, non-student, asked me to tutor her to help her increase her vocabulary. She told me she had been watching tv to try to do it for herself, and gave me an example of a sitcom she'd been watching, where one of the jokes was a play on words. But she had interpreted it not as a joke but as a straight up vocabulary lesson where she extrapolated the meaning of the word from the context... but not realizing that it was a joke, so she got the meaning exactly wrong.

She was the sweetest person and smart, but had not been exposed at all to a lot of words outside of what was on TV, and also had not been schooled in text interpretation, dramatic irony, and other subtleties of writing craft. 

I think a lot of people are in a similar situation, where the line between fact and fancy is unclear due to media confusion. If you have no real life experience, or guidance, how do you know what is or isn't accurate? In some cases you can tell by reasoning it out, but in other cases, it's a total guess for a lot of people.

Edited February 22 by possibilities

[Ancaster]

6 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Those whippersnappers! I shake my middle aged fist in their direction! 

 

Years ago, when I was a university student, a local, non-student, asked me to tutor her to help her increase her vocabulary. She told me she had been watching tv to try to do it for herself, and gave me an example of a sitcom she'd been watching, where one of the jokes was a play on words. But she had interpreted it not as a joke but as a straight up vocabulary lesson where she extrapolated the meaning of the word from the context... but not realizing that it was a joke, so she got the meaning exactly wrong.

She was the sweetest person and smart, but had not been exposed at all to a lot of words outside of what was on TV, and also had not been schooled in text interpretation, dramatic irony, and other subtleties of writing craft. 

I think a lot of people are in a similar situation, where the line between fact and fancy is unclear due to media confusion. If you have no real life experience, or guidance, how do you know what is or isn't accurate? In some cases you can tell by reasoning it out, but in other cases, it's a total guess for a lot of people.

This, plus the fact that people are not only subject to persuasion but stupid.

The stories are legion of (American) physicians being beaten down by patients informing them they need an inappropriate, unwarranted, or counter-indicated medication because of some commercial they've been bombarded with.  Otherwise, why would the singing, dancing (I use the terms lightly) Jardiance woman still be on our screens?

Back on topic, why are there so many sad sack Eeyores on this show?  Glassman, Park, Leah half the time.  (I hasten to add that I love OG Eeyore.)

 

 

[Calvada]

They all were cradling a cranky Steve.  Some babies like to be held upright, either snuggled into the person holding them or facing outwards. It can be easier for them to burp or spit up in that position.  

I was surprised to hear that Steve was supposed to be only 2 weeks old when Shaun returned to work, but then I wondered what length of paternity (or maternity) leave would be available for a doctor in residency.  

When at first I saw Jack's mom holding the rosary, I thought oh no, this is another show where religion is going to be a factor, so it was nice to see that it was simply a portrayal of a person of faith, in this case Catholicism.  

[KaveDweller]

On 2/21/2024 at 4:24 PM, possibilities said:

I'm only 58 and I remember rotary phones. It's clear the people writing this show are seriously youngsters!

I'm 42 and I remember them! I don't think we had one when I was a kid, but I do remember seeing them at other people's houses and having to use them sometimes.

3 hours ago, Calvada said:

They all were cradling a cranky Steve.  Some babies like to be held upright, either snuggled into the person holding them or facing outwards. It can be easier for them to burp or spit up in that position.  

I was surprised to hear that Steve was supposed to be only 2 weeks old when Shaun returned to work, but then I wondered what length of paternity (or maternity) leave would be available for a doctor in residency.  

Shaun is not in residency anymore, he is an attending.

I would think Shaun is legally entitled to take as much family leave as Leah, and they work for the same company so the policy would be the same. But he may have chosen not to.

I also know a lot of people will stagger their paternity leave to take it after their wife goes back to work after her leave. Then they have more time with someone home with the baby.

[nlkm9]

Yes we suspend belief with babies, so seeing regimanted sean drop off tje baby with no diapers or anything was odd. I was so happy to see “ grandpa”.

 

[circumvent]

16 hours ago, Ancaster said:

The stories are legion of (American) physicians being beaten down by patients informing them they need an inappropriate, unwarranted, or counter-indicated medication because of some commercial they've been bombarded with. 

This is, and has always been, the intention of the pharmaceutical companies. This country is the only one, at least in the so-called "leaders" that allows advertisement  for medication. 

It is not solely on the people. In the context of life in this country, it is not hard to see why people do that. For one, not a lot of people are happy with how their lives is. There is too much stress caused by corporate control that affects decisions made by politicians. Then there is also the fact that a lot of doctors don't really care much about complex cases. They also get kick backs from prescribing medication. I once was prescribed a medication for osteoporosis and when I asked the doctor about exercises I could do to help his answer was - direct quote: "I don't talk about this". 

In the end, we need to educate ourselves because people making the money will not say a word. I talk a lot to people about medication because we don't hear what the new research is saying about them. There are so many that are popular, and the long term side effects are devastating. The website Worst Pills is the my go-to but very few people know about it. It is the ultimate consumer protection and education out there. Thanks to Ralph Nader I now know.

[Starchild]

11 hours ago, nlkm9 said:

Yes we suspend belief with babies, so seeing regimanted sean drop off tje baby with no diapers or anything was odd.

I had the same thought about supplies, then noticed there was a full diaper bag off to the side when Shaun handed the baby over. So presumably Glassman took that too.