S01.E05: He Ain't Heavy

[AnimeMania]

Amy and Sonya endeavor to help a teen in need of a bone marrow transplant and his younger brother whose own health issues jeopardize disability to donate. Jake deals with a fainting bride and her worried groom. Michael (Omar Metwally) struggles with a secret he’s been keeping.

Premiere Date: February 4, 2025    FOX    9pm

[txhorns79]

Amy should have been suspended or fired for ignoring a patient DNR.  It's assault when you perform life saving care on someone who has specifically told you that isn't what they want.  I know the show tried to sell it as being fine by having the patient be glad that his express wishes were ignored, but give me a break. 

I may have just missed this in a prior episode, but I didn't realize the husband and his new wife were still living in he and Amy's marital home.  That's just a wow from me, if only because the baggage from the son's death and break up of the marriage would be a lot for the new wife to take in and essentially live in a quasi-memorial to it all.   

[l star]

More Michael flashbacks. I don’t care enough about him to want flashbacks. He was nervous about a new baby; he came around. That could have been handled in a sentence during his scene with Gina. At least he finally told Amy the truth. I still don’t have any interest in Nora or her ‘you’re not like her’ opinion. 

Boyfriend is dreaming. He still sees a future with her which isn’t a bad thing, but he needs to recognize how distant that is now. Hopefully that wedding conversation was a wake up call. I am actually in favor of him telling her though. The downside to telling her is he’s probably going to get crushed. There’s a big upside though- she gains someone else in her corner besides Gina. She needs another friend and evidence that someone did like and care for the old her might help her. 

Gina was smart to bring up the trouble Amy could get in if people find out about her and Jake. Surely he still intends to keep it all quiet, but he seemed to think they could get together and tell everyone now and it would be fine. Again, he’s dreaming.

My opinion on Sonya didn’t improve. Amy was just as biased, but Sonya just seems so much less professional with it. I hate that she got the ‘you were right’ edit at the end. 

Miller wants to force her to take medicine?! What an invasion. I don’t blame her for saying hell no. Besides, I think she’d have done what she did before the accident too. Saving that kid was not an example of impulsivity. He’s just an asshole. 

Edited February 5 by l star

[Madding crowd]

It bothers me that Sonya introduces her to patients as Amy. Even first year interns are introduced to patients as Doctors. Plus it probably seems confusing to patients. I understand she didn’t do the right thing regarding the DNR, but in someone so young they should have had him evaluated by a psychologist or at least a meeting with a social worker before just accepting he is fine with dying.
I’m wondering if Amy can get any legal help against being threatened by people in the hospital. It seems like she is constantly told she will be fired if she doesn’t do what other people expect. Her skills are still intact even if she may need to catch up on any new medications or studies.

[MsJamieDornan]

1 hour ago, Madding crowd said:

I’m wondering if Amy can get any legal help against being threatened by people in the hospital.

She keeps doing things she's not supposed to, they have every right to threaten her.

[Madding crowd]

I don’t agree. Outside of the DNR, most of the time she has been threatened over things Dr. Miller is trying to set her up on to fail. She is asked her opinion and then Sonya or Miller try to turn it around when she is proven right. 

[topanga]

15 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

Amy should have been suspended or fired for ignoring a patient DNR.  It's assault when you perform life saving care on someone who has specifically told you that isn't what they want.  I know the show tried to sell it as being fine by having the patient be glad that his express wishes were ignored, but give me a break. 

We didn't see the entire scene play out, but there are supposed to be various methods of confirmation that a person is DNR. A bracelet, a note on the chart, a sign above the bed, etc. Amy was right not to take one person's word for it (unless it was her superior) and to continue CPR until she had that confirmation. It's implied that she continued even when the order was verified, but we didn't see that part. 

 

The married couple: are we supposed to assume that the adrenal tumor was the reason for all seven years of the bride's cold feet about getting married? She seemed happy at the end, but was it really what she wanted to do? I'm not convinced, but I'm open to others' thoughts. 

 

[l star]

I also wondered about the married couple. I thought it was going to turn out that he was overbearing, and she couldn’t deal. 

12 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

It bothers me that Sonya introduces her to patients as Amy. Even first year interns are introduced to patients as Doctors. Plus it probably seems confusing to patients. I understand she didn’t do the right thing regarding the DNR, but in someone so young they should have had him evaluated by a psychologist or at least a meeting with a social worker before just accepting he is fine with dying.

I’m wondering if Amy can get any legal help against being threatened by people in the hospital. It seems like she is constantly told she will be fired if she doesn’t do what other people expect. Her skills are still intact even if she may need to catch up on any new medications or studies.

It bothers me too. She was an attending eight years ago, not an intern. She’s a qualified doctor and should be treated as such. Michael calls her doctor so I think it’s just another way for Miller to minimize and mess with her. 

I wondered about a psych or social worker consult too. Michael said he should have had one before he changed treatment plans so surely one would be needed for a DNR. He was just a scared teenager acting out on Sonya’s encouragement. I can’t see an eval clearing him for such a drastic action.

I get why she got in trouble this time even though the show oversimplified it. Still the threats are old. I wish they would back off and let her do her job without trying to twist everything. I don’t think she deserves all the heat. 

Speaking of heat, Sonya had nerve calling out Michael for special treatment, but she’s being fed that by Miller. I’m ready for someone to get tired of dealing with his bullshit. 

[AnimeMania]

On 2/5/2025 at 12:09 AM, txhorns79 said:

I may have just missed this in a prior episode, but I didn't realize the husband and his new wife were still living in he and Amy's marital home.  That's just a wow from me, if only because the baggage from the son's death and break up of the marriage would be a lot for the new wife to take in and essentially live in a quasi-memorial to it all.

If it was Amy that left the home, I can see Michael staying to provide a stable environment for Katie. Michael's new wife just naturally moved into his home.

Edited February 9 by AnimeMania

[statsgirl]

This wasn't one of the best episodes. I can see that they are trying to redeem Sonya now.

What @Madding crowd and @topanga said about the DNR. There should have been a very visible notification that he was DNR and I don't see Amy being the kind of person who doesn't check a patient's chart before going in to talk with him. And definitely there should have been a psych consult before approving it.

Sonya, Amy and Michael were all projecting on to the case. Sonya especially needs a transference session with a therapist.

On 2/5/2025 at 12:17 AM, l star said:

Gina was smart to bring up the trouble Amy could get in if people find out about her and Jake. Surely he still intends to keep it all quiet, but he seemed to think they could get together and tell everyone now and it would be fine. Again, he’s dreaming.

Miller wants to force her to take medicine?! What an invasion. I don’t blame her for saying hell no.

Miller is desperate to keep Amy from remembering what he did, and as she said, the medicine impedes her recovery.

I think that Gina's best argument was that Amy woke up 6 weeks ago in love with her husband.  Jake's eagerness to tell her about their relationship is understandable but he is going to be very disappointed in Amy's reaction, which would probably be to push him away since she's still trying to deal with her feelings for soon-to-be-father Michael as well fresh feelings of grief over her son. Jake's best strategy would be to be her friend and wait to see what develops as she adjusts to her new life. Hopefully he's mature enough for that.

Edited February 9 by statsgirl

[possibilities]

I have a different perspective on whether Jake should tell Amy about their prior relationship.

I actually think that it could help her to know about it, because she would realize that Michael wasn't the only one who moved on, and also that all the talk about how shut down and cold she was is somewhat limited in perspective and does not account for the openness and warmth she had with Jake-- so all that negative feedback about her pre-accident personality might be at least partially about other people reacting to her authority, for their own lack of accountability reasons, as much as it's about how she actually behaved.

WE know, for instance, that Richard is sabotaging her to save his own ass, but she assumes it's because she did something wrong, not because he did. If she knows that not EVERYBODY had the same opinion of her, she might become a little more alert for signs that not everything is her fault and not everyone is being honest with her. 

We've seen her be harsh at times, but maybe people who hold onto that, or who never saw her other side, are actually partly responsible for it, in that the way they behaved accounts at least partly for what they elicited from her. For instance, when she told Sonya she sholnd't be a doctor, maybe that wan't the first time Sonya had messed up. Maybe it was a pattern of behavior and what we saw was Amy finally losing patience with it.

I think also the fact that Jake told Sonya about the relationship means it's a ticking time bomb, and Amy needs to know about it in case Sonya decides to blow up the secret. Amy needs to be prepared for that, and not completely blindsided by any ensuing scandal. She also would wonder what kind of relationship it was if Jake was talking to Sonya about it and not to her-- and especially since she was his supervisor, she may assume it was another thing where she was in the wrong and deserves the scandal fallout, and it will totally fuck with her head that he didn't tell her. 

I think they are showing that the two of them still have chemistry, and he's still in love with her, and I don't know if the show is going to handwave the improper nature of the boss-subordinate relationship or if they are headed toward saying that actually it truly was an abuse of power and Jake is more of a victim than he currently seems. 

But, overall, I think she really needs to know what happened. 

My view is probably colored by the fact that I personally HATE when people keep things from me. But he has actively lied to her, like about why he knew her password, and that has got to undermine her confidence and make her wonder why he's behaving like they were not involved, when actually they were.

Edited February 9 by possibilities

[l star]

I agree with you possibilities. I think for Amy, finding out is basically all pluses. Jake is the one I think may get hurt. I don’t think he’s really accepted how hard this is going to be.

The only thing I don’t agree with is that her being his boss may become an issue with Jake. I don’t think it was a problematic abuse of power. Partly because I don’t think this is that kind of show. And partly because I haven’t seen anything even hinting that way. I may be biased because I don’t think every boss/employee relationship is a big deal, but I don’t think this one was improper in any way other than officially. 

I do agree with it being a ticking time bomb. I think they’re setting up for Richard and Michael to find out. Michael will be put in a really awful position, and we know what Richard will do. Too many people know, especially for her not to. 

[Court]

While I agree Amy shouldn't have violated a DNR, it's a huge oversight that no one told her or Sonya about it until the patient coded. It wasn't even in his chart yet. 

Also, someone should have removed the parents. 

Also, Sonya also violated the other brother's patient rights when she told him about the spleen and such. He as just asked Amy who said she can't tell him. Both of them were wrong, imo, and I was annoyed Sonya on the show and here was getting you're wonderful edit. 

Parents and dying brother all needed a pysch consult. 

[statsgirl]

The power differential is an interesting twist here. At this point, Jake is senior enough that as long as Amy treats him with respect it shouldn't be a problem  A residency in internal medicine is three or four years depending on the program and IIRC Jake is in year 4 even though technically it was wrong and Amy could be in a lot more trouble with the medical board than she already is.

Rules aside, I think the real abuse of power is Richard and Sonya introducing Amy as "Amy" rather than "Dr. Larsen".

12 hours ago, Court said:

Parents and dying brother all needed a pysch consult. 

They should have been in family therapy years ago. Does the older boy know that one of the reasons his mom is pushing the transplants is because she doesn't want her younger son to feel guilty that he could have helped his brother survive and didn't?

[bros402]

So I just started watching this show and pretty much the entire blood cancer storyline in this episode pissed me off. I have blood cancer (a rare chronic leukemia) and I have quite a few young adult cancer friends. My comments are based on what I have learned from my own experiences + the experiences of my friends, past and present.

So with the GCSF the brother was being given (They made up one called Filpogen, I am guessing they decided to smash together Neupogen and Filgrastim - the generic form of Neupogen), there's a simple solution to the bone pain: give the kid Claritin. It's been seen that Claritin can help reduce the pain, it usually has to be Claritin - none of the other meds like Zyrtec, Xyzal, or Allegra. Sure, they can give pain meds - but Claritin is usually tried first to see if it is effective. GCSF pain is pretty damn bad. The times they have given me a test dose, it has felt like my bones were warm glass...and when I have tried to move, it has felt like that glass is being slowly vibrated and chiseled at.

They also should've stated the spleen size, since splenomegaly with a GCSF can happen. It can also just happen in a cancer patient.

It didn't look like the cancer patient had a port or a PICC - it looked like they were doing the consolidation chemo into a vein in the arm...that's a good way to destroy some veins.

The maximum amount of times a person donates to a single patient tends to be twice - usually for Donor Lymphocyte Infusion on the second try. After that, if they are dealing with a recurrence - they tend to look for another match (of course there are sometimes reasons why they can't or won't). I don't know why they were saying "oh no there won't be as good a match" - since it's only something like a 50% chance of a full sibling being an 8/8 match. Since the patient was white (at least based on how he and his parents looked), there would be a pretty good likelihood of finding an 8/8 match in the donor registry.