S01.E04: One Small Step

[AnimeMania]

Amy must confront who she became after the tragedy struck her family seven years ago. Sonya and TJ disagree on how to handle a sick Marine, and Amy and Jake make a life-changing discovery about an Alzheimer’s patient.

Premiere Date: January 28, 2025    FOX    9pm

[Spartan Girl]

I know grief is irrational and brings out the worst in people, but Amy blaming (and later divorcing) Michael for something as minor as not checking their son’s pulse after he threw up is a pretty bitchy thing to do. Anyone can overlook things, and even if he had checked his pulse, there’s no telling it would have made a difference when the attack was so sudden. No wonder the poor guy was so messed up.

I’m glad the show didn’t try to justify past Amy’s actions and showed how much she hurt him and their daughter.

Edited Wednesday at 03:08 AM by Spartan Girl

[txhorns79]

9 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I know grief is irrational and brings out the worst in people, but Amy blaming (and later divorcing) Michael for something as minor as not checking their son’s pulse after he threw up is a pretty bitchy thing to do. Anyone can overlook things, and even if he had checked his pulse, there’s no telling it would have made a difference when the attack was so sudden. No wonder the poor guy was so messed up.

I mean, her son was dead, she wasn't there when it happened and her husband, a doctor, missed a potential warning sign.  I agree that continuing to blame him for what happened was wrong, but I can see how she got to that place.  She couldn't forgive herself, and she took all the horrible, unfair feelings out on him.  I am finding the flashbacks more interesting than the present day cases or Scott Wolf's goofy lurking (while looking completely guilty) to ensure Amy doesn't remember the secret of his malpractice. 

[possibilities]

I love how Amy innocently thanks Richard when he's trying to hurt her. It makes me laugh every time. He's going to choke on his frustration one of thesse days, because she's foiling his plans without even meaning to.

Long haired doctor who hates Amy really has no shame if she is calling her "brain damaged" as an insult, though. She needs to grow the hell up. 

I agree the flashbacks are really the best part of the show right now.I was expecting to hate them, but they are not the maudlin waste of time I expected them to be.

For the astronaut... was the resolution that they would cover up the whole thing? I found that a bit unsatisfying, but there probably wasn't any happy ending possible for that one.

The bitchy patient amused me a bit, and you could see how the doctor being charmed by her kind of hints at how he and Amy hit it off. I can't remember his name, but I like him. Andthee bitchy patient-- I liked her, too. Some people can be rude in a way that is somehow also charming and liberating, in a way. 

As someone who has had hard to diagnose medical issues, I appreciate doctors who will dig deep, check, and triple check their work. I get that often things are not that complicated, but when they are, it's really useful to have someone who is motivated to figure it out and not just accept a routine answer that might not fit.

 

[l star]

The flashbacks were interesting but they were all from his perspective which was limiting. Blaming Michael was harsh, but there’s a reason few couples survive losing a child. Grief isn’t rational and anger is typical. 

I know Michael was supposed to be going through it this ep, but I didn’t really connect with that. I just kept thinking he was prolonging the inevitable and suffering for it. Hopefully that last scene helped him. It was way more about him than Danny. I think that’s why she was upset but still controlled. It was obviously about his grief rather than their son. 

I didn’t really get what the new wife wanted him to do. Lie to her? Avoid it forever? I get not wanting him to bring back pain, but that’s just not feasible.

They confirmed Michael is instructing their daughter to keep things from Amy. That’s not good.

This ep did not help my opinions of Sonya or Dr. Miller. She’s frustrating, and he’s going to drive himself crazy jumping to conclusions. They both just seem kind of stupid and arrogant. 

I liked both patients. Seeing how amused Jake was by the woman’s bitchiness, I wonder if he’s going to miss Amy’s harsher side. 

[Spartan Girl]

2 hours ago, l star said:

 

They confirmed Michael is instructing their daughter to keep things from Amy. That’s not good.

But at the same time, I think it’s understandable that he doesn’t want to retraumatize Katie (or himself) with more emotional pain, and that they’re both leery of dealing with Amy. Amy’s brain injury doesn’t erase the eight years of pain that Michael and Katie had to struggle through on their own because Amy pushed them away. We saw in the video that she couldn’t even put aside her grief and resentment for Katie’s birthday. It’s understandable that makes sense that Michael didn’t want to talk about Danny when for all he knew, she would just start blaming him again, and he didn’t want to deal with that on top of everything else.

And while Michael probably should just tell her about his pregnant new wife, it might still be too much for her to handle right now. She at least knows he’s remarried and has accepted that.

[Chaos Theory]

I have tried with this show but its entire plot revolves around EVERYONE lying to the main character when most of them don’t have to.    This could have actually been a very compelling medical procedural about a mean nasty Doctor discovering her humanity again after a terrible accident but all these unnecessary lies and secrets are weighing down the show.

[preeya]

12 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I have tried with this show but its entire plot revolves around EVERYONE lying to the main character when most of them don’t have to.    This could have actually been a very compelling medical procedural about a mean nasty Doctor discovering her humanity again after a terrible accident but all these unnecessary lies and secrets are weighing down the show.

The lies are necessary, because IMHO, the show runners are turning this into a modern day medical soap opera.

[Dowel Jones]

This episode confirms my opinion that this hospital has the absolute best cranial surgeons in the world.  Not one, but two major brain surgeries and not a hair harmed on either head!  Leaving that aside...

I'm curious about the USMC Lieutenant that the base sent over to take the astronaut candidate back to their own hospital.  Was he supposed to be someone with at least a modicum of medical knowledge? He sure was throwing his weight around. Lieutenants are generally just out of college and still in med school, I would think.  Doctors are Captains and above.  And there he is with a two day growth of beard on his face.  Not a good look.  For a while I thought the situation was that she was part of a very sensitive/classified program, and they didn't want any information slipping out, but no, it was just a pissing match.  I felt like telling her "You don't need NASA.  You could buddy up to Elon and hitch a ride on SpaceX."

When Patient Bitchy was instructed to walk a bit, and she turned around at the door, I was thinking, "We were hoping that you would continue on out the door so you would be someone else's problem."  Probably why I never considered working in medicine.  I really didn't feel any sympathy for her. 

I don't hold Michael all that responsible for their son's death.  7 pancakes is a lot on a child's stomach, and maybe it was just carsickness.  Slapping my forehead when he rushes up to him in the museum and calls out "Somebody call 9-1-1!"  Wouldn't that be a first response from the onlookers, rather than waiting to be told to do it?

[Boofish]

On 1/29/2025 at 12:24 AM, possibilities said:

As someone who has had hard to diagnose medical issues, I appreciate doctors who will dig deep, check, and triple check their work. I get that often things are not that complicated, but when they are, it's really useful to have someone who is motivated to figure it out and not just accept a routine answer that might not fit.

 

Same. I know some people hate when they go through all that for a simple issue but it's real life. I was sooooo sick in 2023 even after surgery something was still off. Long story short - I had sleep apnea. That was it. Just wasn't getting the proper rest. So these type of cases pull at my heart. 

[rlc]

12 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

This episode confirms my opinion that this hospital has the absolute best cranial surgeons in the world.  Not one, but two major brain surgeries and not a hair harmed on either head!  Leaving that aside...

I think they have a person on staff whose only job is wrapping head bandages, and they feel like they need to grab that moment in the spotlight whenever they can.

[Driad]

20 hours ago, preeya said:

The lies are necessary, because IMHO, the show runners are turning this into a modern day medical soap opera.

Yecch. The only soap I want in a medical drama is what they use to wash their hands.

[tinderbox]

I never expected to like this show but I do.  Also, the entire cast is unfamiliar to me which was unexpected but probably a good thing.  I’m going to stick with it.

[statsgirl]

I didn't like the first two episodes much. The third one was better. This episode was okay.

This was Michael's episode. What I came away with is that he really, really needs to deal with his feelings around Danny and Amy, preferably with a professional. As Amy put her feelings on to him in the flashbacks, he is putting all sorts of feelings on the her now.

I really liked the woman academic who insisted on talking to Amy and treated by her peer instead of the "simpering" Richard.

The astronaut story left me cold. I'm intellectually intrigued at how hard she was trying to live her father's dream but that's it.

I hate how Richard and Sonya keep correcting "Doctor" to "Ms Larsen".  Doctor is a title Amy earned when she passed her medical boards and even if she can't practice at the moment, she still should be addressed as "doctor". And she still knows a lot so they should be taking advantage of her, not shutting her out as if she's a bad child.

Special guest appearance by the Royal Ontario Museum and the ugly new gallery.

On 1/29/2025 at 1:24 AM, possibilities said:

Long haired doctor who hates Amy really has no shame if she is calling her "brain damaged" as an insult, though. She needs to grow the hell up.

I'm getting fed up with Sonya. At first she was only targeting Amy but in this episode she told TJ that "I'm a third year resident and you're an intern rounding with me so ...follow my lead" and cuts him off when he's talking to the patient.

Sonya strikes me as someone who thinks that she's marvellous and resents anyone who challenges that. She's angry at Amy because Amy showed her up in the first episode, probably not for the first time, and so she lodged a complaint against her for creating a toxic environment. She wants Jake, who is far above her in both learning and maturity and was in a relationship with Amy, and resents Amy even more for that.

15 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Slapping my forehead when he rushes up to him in the museum and calls out "Somebody call 9-1-1!"  Wouldn't that be a first response from the onlookers, rather than waiting to be told to do it?

This is what we were taught after the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964 in Queens (4 years before the 911 number was created). The original story was that there were 38 bystanders when she was stabbed but no one called the police. (It was later found that some people did call but the police did not come.)  There was quite a lot of psychology research around it and what came out is that if someone is in trouble, tell a specific bystander to call 911 because  you can't be sure that someone will.

[l star]

6 hours ago, statsgirl said:

This was Michael's episode. What I came away with is that he really, really needs to deal with his feelings around Danny and Amy, preferably with a professional. As Amy put her feelings on to him in the flashbacks, he is putting all sorts of feelings on the her now.

…I hate how Richard and Sonya keep correcting "Doctor" to "Ms Larsen".  Doctor is a title Amy earned when she passed her medical boards and even if she can't practice at the moment, she still should be addressed as "doctor". And she still knows a lot so they should be taking advantage of her, not shutting her out as if she's a bad child.

I'm getting fed up with Sonya. At first she was only targeting Amy but in this episode she told TJ that "I'm a third year resident and you're an intern rounding with me so ...follow my lead" and cuts him off when he's talking to the patient.

Sonya strikes me as someone who thinks that she's marvellous and resents anyone who challenges that. She's angry at Amy because Amy showed her up in the first episode, probably not for the first time, and so she lodged a complaint against her for creating a toxic environment. She wants Jake, who is far above her in both learning and maturity and was in a relationship with Amy, and resents Amy even more for that.

Michael seems to still have a lot unresolved with Amy. He was remembering more than just what happened with Danny- he remembered that lovey dovey scene with her at the beginning too. I’m not saying there’s a romantic feelings angle. Just that resolving what happened with Danny doesn’t seem like all of it. Just this ep they said he backed her before the accident to the point of losing his standing with people. ‘He bent over backwards’ for her. Yet he said he hated her for blaming him- but she left him. Danny made have been the root cause of the problems, but it sounds like there’s a lot more he’s not telling her about the breakup.

I hate that too. They said Amy was an attending eight years ago. That’s well beyond intern. She didn’t forget her entire career. She’s a qualified doctor and should be treated like one. I like that Jake at least treats that like the bullshit it is even to Richard’s face.

In this ep, Sonya seemed like the intern. She seemed gossip-y and whiny getting on to TJ, not like she was correcting a subordinate. She’s also the one who called Amy brain damaged so… She just doesn’t come off as bright or professional. 

My mom just watched so of course I had to ask her what she thought. When the new wife told Michael he couldn’t go back there, she thought she meant it like she knew what he went through because she was there. She thinks that’s why Michael is keeping everyone from talking to Amy about her- Amy knew her, like a family friend or something. She appears to be significantly younger than Michael and Amy so I don’t know, but it’s a theory.