S02.E08: Best Laid Plans

[starri]

 

A downtown gas explosion sends dozens of casualties to San Antonio Memorial Hospital; TC, Drew and Gwen race to the explosion site, where they receive help from a former army medic; Paul gets through his first night in surgery rotation.

[Good Queen Jane]

This turned out to be a decent episode, taking a fresh perspective on some of the old tropes. Paul's Dad turned out to be right that Paul should be a surgeon, but Paul still found his own way. Former medic gets a new career ( although I would have preferred if they had given him a different injury; can a reattached arm really function well?) Rogosa and Topher had some good moments in sharing parental concerns. Even TC and Jordan acted like real people instead of drama queens. Well done, show!

[DeLurker]

I skipped the last couple of episodes, but watched last night. I was wondering if they had somehow morphed the show into something legitimately trying to be good?  TC was tolerable, Jordan was tolerable, Scott Wolf was a decent human being and kinda cool with Paul, Paul did something other than be on the verge of panic, Jordan's bestie was something other than a total beyotch...I had to keep checking the programming to make sure I was watching Night Shift.

 

Truth be told, I kinda missed the cheesy awful wonderfulness of S1 but don't think that would float in non-summer programming.

[thuganomics85]

The former medic was played by Duke Davis Roberts, who is starting to appear on shows I end up watching.  He was on an episode of Battle Creek earlier, but he was especially awesome on Justified as Choo-Choo.  Glad he seems to be landing some gigs now.  I enjoyed his character here; for a second, I was worried he was going to be the one responsible for the explosion (like, he was causing disasters, so he could play hero), so I was glad to be wrong.  Liked T.C. and Drew helping him, and their scenes.

 

James McDaniel certainly brought the arrogance I would expect from Paul's dad.  It was kind of fun that he was even making Scott all "Dude, chill!"  Glad they avoided any kind of "Paul screws up because of the pressure" thing.  Sounds like he wants to pursue being a surgeon, but on his own terms now.  Between this and his scenes with Krista, I continue to think that Scott is better when he isn't around either Jordan or T.C.

 

Totally knew Topher (and Ragosa) were being played.  Oh, Topher.  I love you, but you totally crossed the line seperating protective to overprotective.  But, as usual, Ken Leung and Freddy Rodriguez were gold in their scenes.

 

Hopefully, they have other ideas for Krista, other then awkwardness over how things ended with Kenny.

[Happy Harpy]

Loved:

-Ragosa/Topher. "I wanted her to be a nerd", LOL. Those two are hilarious together. Do their daughters have the same age? I want them to be besties.

-James McDaniel's is Paul's dad, and Paul rules. I like that he wants to be a surgeon, it makes him even less of a Carter archetype. The reference to the radioactive guy and the fishing trip.

-Scott continues to be an interesting character. Not perfect and getting his ass rightfully kicked when he's arrogant, but he also seems to be a good mentor and someone who can be counted on.

-Paul/Krista, it's nice to see the two "newbies" interact again.

 

Meh:

-Kenny, and his big macho man tendencies. Yeah, he got pranked for it, but it's one of those little things that made me not like the character much to start with.

-The pranks. I'm not a fan, and they get more and more out of place as the tone of the series changes.

-The anvils about Gwen's past. Phew, it doesn't seem to be rape/sexual abuse. But still not warming up to Gwen so not looking forward to it.

-Before last week, I'd have found the TC/Jordan scene cute. But now, I'm just waiting for the next artificially created drama.

 

WTF:

Why is Krista looking for with Kenny? I hope that she just feels guilty because of the way she behaved -since she always try to be perfect- and it's not an attempt at building another looong triangle just when we're done with one. After all, Kenny isn't traumatized (unless he's moving on awfully fast on the rebound to forget he is, blargh!). So, girl, sincerely apologize and shrug it off if he still acts pissy. You might have lost a friend, but hey, you have others like Drew and Paul and I'd rather see you with them than with him. Sigh. Where are Joey's messages when you need them? Can't he be a kind of Magic Eight ball, since we can't see him? 

Edited April 7, 2015 by Happy Harpy

[starri]

 

although I would have preferred if they had given him a different injury; can a reattached arm really function well?

It depends on how quickly the limb was reattached and how good a job of reconnecting everything was done (which, there's no way in hell they could have done with that set-up).

 

Aside from looking nice while shirtless and/or naked, I still don't see the point of Kenny.  

[dargosmydaddy]

Glad ChooChoo got a happy ending this time. Between him and Boyd's henchman Jimmy showing up a few weeks ago as the college RA/ rapist, I am amused by the Justified casting...

 

Wasn't Topher's daughter younger last year? Like ten or eleven, tops?

 

I'm really starting to like Paul.

[Ohwell]

Short men ruled last night!  Ragosa, Paul, Scott, Topher--I've never seen so many short guys together on one show. 

 

It was nice to see James McDaniel again and I hope he has a recurring role, now that he's toned down the jackassedness.

 

Also nice to see ChooChoo from Justified getting some new roles.

 

I like Kenny, always have.  He can't help it if he's a hunk.  I think he's a nice guy and I'm glad he's moved on from Krista.  Never really liked her and her fat mole.  Also, she had no business trying to stop him and talk in the middle of a crisis.  I'm glad he blew her off and I hope he's truly over her.

[saber5055]

Also nice to see ChooChoo from Justified getting some new roles.

 

 

Will we see him again on NS? It sort of seemed like he was being set up as a recurring character.

 

I didn't have a clue an arm could be stuck back on in a few minutes and would be fully functional. There's a bone and nerves and blood vessels to say nothing of all the muscles. But then again, what do I know.

Edited April 7, 2015 by saber5055

[sinkwriter]

Part of me wondered if Ragosa had given Topher's daughter a head's-up so she could mess with her dad (and so Ragosa could show Topher that being a dad isn't always easy and no one is perfect at it). Ragosa kept smiling privately every time Topher walked away, like he knew something.

 

I loved the Paul storyline in this episode. His dad really frustrated me, but I liked that Scott stood up for Paul (and stood up for himself, when Paul's dad kept telling him he was using the wrong blade and that there was only one "right" way). I liked that they didn't go the cliched route and have Paul accidentally kill a patient or otherwise mess up spectacularly in front of his dad, thus creating even more drama (or having his dad accuse him of not getting a good enough education at that hospital). And I liked that Paul's dad didn't disown him or anything, for choosing his own path instead of having his dad set it up for him.

A really nice touch in this episode: the camera shot on Scott's face as Jordan innocently assumed that it would be no big deal for him to ask Paul's dad to do the surgery on that girl ("surgeon to surgeon" courtesy request). He knew it would be more complicated than that, given how much of an arrogant jerk Paul's dad had been and that Scott had already created friction by arguing with him, but he didn't tell Jordan that or make her ask the guy herself. Instead he winced privately, kind of looked ahead like "Oh crap, why is this my life today?" and then swallow down his frustration, annoyance and embarrassment and just accept that he was going to have to eat some proverbial crow in order to get the guy to do the surgery. I really liked how they played that moment, and how Scott acted it. 

[DeLurker]

Paul's Dad towered over him and Scott (whatever his character name is).  I liked that Paul made the effort to ask his Dad to join him on the fishing trip and thought for a moment that his Dad would say yes, but then blah blah blah "I am such an in demand important doc" that he could not commit (nor did it seem like he really wanted to).  It would have been too easy to have a happy ending with Dad saying yes given the lengths they've gone to in establishing him to be difficult.

[starri]

I didn't have a clue an arm could be stuck back on in a few minutes and would be fully functional. There's a bone and nerves and blood vessels to say nothing of all the muscles. But then again, what do I know.

It is much, much, much more complicated than what was show, but yes, it's possible.  It's not fully functional (like, I have no idea how that guy could have reasonably expected to be a paramedic), but it will work.

 

This is what I do instead of studying for my boards.

[jaytee1812]

I love that in standing up to his dad they still made Paul slightly unsure and hesitant, that's part of who he is. A lot of shows would've had him shout and yell to stand up for himself, I'm glad they didn't go there.

[Calamity Jane]

I also felt that Paul's quiet but firm approach made his decision much more believable to his father.  There was no negative energy for the dad to push back against, which is one way to handle control freaks.  And to me, his calm was a clear signal that he was certain of his path and was not going to engage in an argument about it.  It seemed to me that, however grudgingly it was given, the dad's respect was a result of that calm.  

[LittleIggy]

The former medic was played by Duke Davis Roberts, who is starting to appear on shows I end up watching.  He was on an episode of Battle Creek earlier, but he was especially awesome on Justified as Choo-Choo.  Glad he seems to be landing some gigs.

That was Choo-Choo? I was trying to place him. Good to see the actor again.

I teared up when Paul talked about the guy who died and going on the fishing trip with his dad. Glad they mentioned him and tied up the story. Gee, Paul must really take after his mom!

[Pallida]

The former medic was played by Duke Davis Roberts, who is starting to appear on shows I end up watching.  He was on an episode of Battle Creek earlier, but he was especially awesome on Justified as Choo-Choo.  Glad he seems to be landing some gigs now.  I enjoyed his character here; for a second, I was worried he was going to be the one responsible for the explosion (like, he was causing disasters, so he could play hero), so I was glad to be wrong.  Liked T.C. and Drew helping him, and their scenes.

 

I'm so excited others were glad to see Choo-Choo.  (I know, I know, I should think of him as the actor not the role.)  I was also worried the show was going to make him be the bad guy playing hero.  Was this done on another show or are we just that cynical?

[LadyMustang65]

It's a standard TV trope to have the seeming good guy be the one to cause trouble so he can play the hero.  That's probably why it seems familiar.