S01.E18: Blood Sport

[thewhiteowl]

Mario decides to confront Angus; Christa is faced with a surprise; Dr Taylor return to help Leanne find money

 

 

[Happy Harpy]

Hell has no fury like a shipper scorned. So, if the show isn't renewed, it's the last I'll see of Neal and Christa? *gathers villagers with torchs and pitchforks*

 

My only solace is that Christa was great,and I loved her. I hated the breakup, but at least it was in character for her. This is the Christa I know and love.

 

Neal not telling her she wasn't his second choice was either 1) completely contrived or 2) completely callous (because of the "it doesn't matter" etc.) And he dropped the idiot ball, confiding in the wrong woman. I guess he was the weekly victim of the Ex effect.

 

Don't even get me started on sneaky, hypocritical Grace ("my boyfriend"? Yeah, sure you're just friendly). The only thing I want to hear after "renewed for S2" is that she's gone.

[CG28]

I have no words...I just don't...

In other news, my nerves are shot and my feelings are all wound up. Wonder if it could be related?

Actually, I lied, I do have just a few words. Go Christa Lorenson! You make me proud!

That is all.

Maybe my mind can try to make sense of this fuck up...oops I meant episode...tomorrow.

[weathered1]

I don't post all that much - well, at all, really - but I had to after tonight.

 

Happy Harpy, I completely agree.  The hatchet job they've done to Neal and Christeal is ridiculous, asinine, and just plain unnecessary.  As a shipper, I took a teeny, tiny little bit of solace in the fact that as soon as Neal saw Christa (after the moron had confided in his ex. smdh), he jumped up to go to her, and I'm choosing to believe for right now that he didn't immediately set her straight about her absolutely *not* being his second choice because he was so shocked that it had come to that so quickly.  

 

*Loved* that Christa stood up for herself and knew her worth.  Now, it's incumbent on Neal - if there's another season - to stop being such a waffling, noncommittal idiot, and set everyone straight in terms of his feelings for Christa and the fact that he's well and truly over the ex.  

 

As for the ex....sigh.  Initially, I tried to like her; I really did.  But the endless propping, way too much screentime, and her personality (ie, a facade of sweetness and light masking massive amounts of passive aggressiveness and a penchant for manipulation) put the kibosh on that.  I'm over her.  She needs to exit stage left, post haste.  Cannot *stand* her.  

 

I also think it sucks beyond the telling of it that they knew when they wrote this that renewal was extremely iffy, just as they've known for a long time that this faction of the fanbase is not small, and has vocally supported the show since day one.  To end things on that note when they're aware that that could be the last we'll see of these characters is stupid and an insult to the fans, imo.

 

On the plus side, loved the sibling dynamic between Mike and Angus, and as always, I thought the material with Leanne and Jesse was truly great.  

 

I do think this cast is phenomenal, and I'd dearly love to see it come back for another season, but if that happens, the focus needs to be on the original core characters (and Mike), and not on a character who was shoe-horned into a show in which she does not belong. (IMHO, of course.)

[papillon rouge]

When do we hear if the show gets renewed? Broken-hearted Neal/Christa fan asking...

[Netfoot]

i don't like detective Vega, and i don't want her back.

 

Neal is an idiot for not making his position crystal clear to all, right up front.  Whatever that position might be.  

 

Our Heather is turning into a fine, wee villain.

 

Slightly convenient, a lump sum of available cash turning up in the budget, just in time to save the day.  

 

Mario looking all solicitous and caring, but I haven't forgotten that he's been a congenital asshole from episode #1! 

 

i wish I understood the crack about cookie dough coming out of Jesse's ass.  Because, that don't sound too healthy!

[Happy Harpy]

When do we hear if the show gets renewed? Broken-hearted Neal/Christa fan asking...

Probably not before the upfronts, around mid-May IIRC. That's usually when CBS announces the fate of its bubble shows (they also wait for the new pilots for next year to make a decision).

 

As for the ex....sigh.  Initially, I tried to like her; I really did.  But the endless propping, way too much screentime, and her personality (ie, a facade of sweetness and light masking massive amounts of passive aggressiveness and a penchant for manipulation) put the kibosh on that.  I'm over her.  She needs to exit stage left, post haste.  Cannot *stand* her. 

ICAM with your entire post, weathered1.

I resent her screentime, because it's stolen to characters I happen to like, and by this I mean everyone but her. And if at least, she brought something to the show, but I can't find anything. She never had a cute, funny, interesting moment with anyone imo, she never shed a better light on any other main character;  the patients she interacts with are there to serve her only and show how she's a brave-compassionate-great-woman-who-loves-with-all-her-heart but my perception is that their side of the story doesn't truly count, they're just props. Worst, for me Christa and Neal's characterization both suffered because of her, Christa last week, Neal this week. In the grand scheme of things, she's nothing but Neal's Troublemaking Ex, i.e the embodiment of cheap soapy drama, which has no place on this show for me.

Oh, and to add to the long list of her qualities: She's affected by the same disease as Heather and everyone on Grey's Anatomy, i.e babbling about her romantic entanglements to/over patients. Keep your mind on the medicine, right, Grace?

I want her to be in 2x01, time for her to be crushed and booted tot the curb, and then I want her to disappear and never be heard of again. Buh-bye, female Ray Palmer!

 

In Neal's last scenes with Ex and Christa, respectively, I could all but hear the director tell to R.Jaffrey "don't react, stay ambiguous, we're doing a cliffhanger". I found it contrived an insulting for everyone.

 

It's really a pity, because otherwise I thought it was a solid episode.

Again, until the last scene, the Neal/Christa side of the drama was better written than I thought it would be.  In their first discussion, I saw the two adults, talking like adults, with respect for each other, whom I fell in ship with at first sight. And he had only asked Ex to marry him (no miscarriage or anything unlike what I feared, phew).

 

Loved Mike, loved Mike and Angus, and I really liked how they use Angus' troubles to have Malaya and Mario become closer. Christa was so great as a doctor, and with the janitor.

 

Still love the Leanne, Harbert, Jesse and hospital politics storyline. Mark Taylor needs to come back permanently, in any capacity. I missed him so much, he's a riot. And paging Doctor Rollie Guthrie, stat! They could have a bromance, like Mario and Angus.

 

Even though her personality did a 180 in the back-ordered episodes, I must say that in this one, Heather vastly entertained me as a villain (Edit: jinx, Netfoot!). I thought that the actress was great at playing ruthless! The way she turned the tables on Campbell was soapy, but once more the consequences of an attending sleeping with a resident weren't swept under the rug.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Happy Harpy

[sphares]

Well what a bummer!! I usually stay up late, but since it sounds like they wrote Neal to be a schmuck! it can wait until tomorrow. I will have to chime in after I watch.

[statsgirl]

Maybe they could use some of that money that Leanne found to get a second surgeon and then they can operate on three people at the same time.  One surgeon and one fellow seems rather paltry for a hospital as busy as this one.

[weathered1]

Happy Harpy, it's like you're reading my mind. 

 

I, too, resent Grace because, unlike Mike (for example), she doesn't mesh well at all with the other characters.  In his case, he had the familial connection with Angus, obviously, he had a history and rapport with the other characters, he was immediately shown to be a great doctor and a good leader.  In short, he fit.

 

Grace, on the other hand, is virtually an island unto herself.  As you pointed out, Happy Harpy, she doesn't interact with the other core characters, save for Neal and Christa (more on that in a bit), she's endlessly propped by virtue of her altruism (with which we're beaten over the head in every episode); and her patients all love her and she immediately connects with them; and she's supposed to be such a great doctor that she immediately catches on to something (relatively obvious) that Christa missed, and also dresses Christa down in the most patronizing, hypocritical manner possible.  How very quickly Ms. Keep It About the Medicine delves into her own personal life in the course of doing her job, but that's all fine and dandy.  Of course. 

 

We get the scarf scene last week which was inexcusably passive aggressive.  We get her continually making moon eyes at Neal and reiterating whenever possible how well she "knows him" (the first time, of course, he set her straight on that score, unlike tonight).  At a moment when he's down and second-guessing himself, she fully takes advantage of his state of his mind by touching him when she should know full well that would be overstepping some very important boundaries and saying yet again that she knows him.  

 

The main problem with all of this crap - aside from the fact that we're supposed to love her, and she'll undoubtedly be back full-time if the show is renewed - is the sheer destruction her entrance onto the scene has done to Neal and Christa.  The Neal we once knew wouldn't have let her get away with any of the crap she's pulled - he would have firmly put her into her place from the get-go and stuck to his guns about being over her and having happily moved on with Christa; when he started to notice that Grace was playing her mind games with Christa, he would've made sure to assuage any doubts or insecurities Christa may have had; he would've been 100% upfront with Christa *immediately* about his full history with Grace; and tonight, he wouldn't have confided in the ex, and he would've immediately taken his hand away from her and removed himself from the situation.  

 

Instead, we've gotten....waffling.  From Prince Charming.  It's all well and good to reveal a flaw or two, because no one's perfect, but this?  Is character assassination.  He's become a noncommital, uncommunicative idiot, who is totally inattentive (at best) to his girlfriend.  

 

Christa, too, has suffered thanks to the oh-so-wonderful writing, but thankfully, she at least returned to form tonight by demonstrating how self aware she is, and showing her strength and confidence in herself.  

 

All of this unnecessary garbage has destroyed one of the main aspects of the show that many of us supported - vocally and passionately - from day one; the aspect that landed the show its best ratings, in fact.  Yet the relationship that they took pains to build slowly, organically, and maturely, was made to fall victim to utter soapy dreck.  There's so much potential for a story there without having to resort to garbage like this: Christa being afraid to fully love/open herself up again after her loss; Neal being wary of getting seriously involved with another colleague given his past; etc. etc.  RJ and BS would've rocked solid, angsty material like that, but instead they were seemingly punished with this juvenile excrement that tore down what had been built up courtesy of their chemistry and hard work.

 

And the fact that the writers did this without knowing if they'd have the chance to fix anything really does feel like a big slap in the face. 

 

They've also shown that they're fully willing to sacrifice the screentime for other characters - the characters who got people watching from the beginning, no less - in order to feature this crap and an utterly unnecessary fail of a character.  

 

She needs to go immediately, but only after Neal tells her in no uncertain terms that he's well and truly done with her (like you pointed out, Happy Harpy, because one waste of space Ray Palmer character in the TV universe is one too many; we don't need another one). 

The way I see it: get rid of her and give her screentime to Harbert, Guthrie, and Taylor.  Them?  I actually enjoy.  

The bit with Heather turning villainous - damn if it wasn't entertaining! LOL  She does make a good villain/troublemaker.  

Edited February 25, 2016 by weathered1

[Happy Harpy]

Happy Harpy, it's like you're reading my mind. 

And the fact that the writers did this without knowing if they'd have the chance to fix anything really does feel like a big slap in the face.

Same here, weathered1, and I wish there was a "I love and want to cuddle this post" button instead of just "like".

Ditto on everything, except that I would be less polite than you and wouldn't talk about a slap in the face, but about being given the finger.

[weathered1]

^LOL  When you're right, you're right, Happy Harpy.  That did go well beyond a slap in the face, didn't it?  I assume network interference was to blame for it, but.....man, a show that's struggling in the ratings ending on a note that could only be seen as a huge insult to perhaps its largest subset of fans/loyal viewers is not only inexplicable to me, but also rage-inducing. 

 

ETA: I love that Harry Ford has spent time tonight liking tweets that talk about how Christa and Christeal fans deserve better, how it's past time for Neal to man up and treat her better, etc. 

Edited February 25, 2016 by weathered1

[Happy Harpy]

^LOL  When you're right, you're right, Happy Harpy.  That did go well beyond a slap in the face, didn't it?  I assume network interference was to blame for it, but.....man, a show that's struggling in the ratings ending on a note that could only be seen as a huge insult to perhaps its largest subset of fans/loyal viewers is not only inexplicable to me, but also rage-inducing. 

I don't think it's the network. I went to the creator's Twitter and he's hyping the Ex. He acts like a complete troll, imo.

I have the feeling that it's Sleepy Hollow all over again, and that Grace is Katrina. Well, we know what happened to Sleepy Hollow.

[weathered1]

^Oh dear.  That's.....really depressing.  I did see that one of the other head honchos tweeted something tonight about Grace still being "hung up" on Neal, but that Neal and Christa are in love, so it's a "tough spot to be in."  At least tptb can acknowledge the significance of the relationship, even as the writers/creator are doing their level best to tank it.  I can only hope that if the show does get the greenlight for a second season, that those with power will see the response to this story and tonight's episode, in particular, and see how very heavily slanted in favor of Christeal (and a rectification of both the relationship and of Neal and Christa as individual characters) public opinion seems to be, at least on Twitter.  

 

If the show does continue and if the above doesn't happen (or at least, it doesn't happen to the extent that things are fixed), then I shudder to think of what will be forced down our throats next season, ie, Neal and St. Ex-Girlfriend being a couple again while Christa just has to sit back and take it, and be assured that she was right: she was always his second choice.  Sigh.  Words can't express how much I really do not want to see that - or anything even remotely resembling it - happen. 

 

You know, not too long ago, I really looked forward to new episodes of this show.  Now I'm kind of dreading them - that's how disillusioned the writers have made me in a very short amount of time. Where once I appreciated their thoughtfulness and willingness to buck tropes, now I have to wonder if that was all just a fluke, and henceforth, everything will go the Grey's Anatomy route. 

[silverbell]

I liked this episode for the most part (except the Neal Christa break up ). 

I liked that they showed Angus as more of a drug abuser in the end and not a drug addict and that his brother realized he needed to talk to a professional. 

I do not like Heather but I think that Campbell deserved all he got from her, and that it did have me smiling, Karma's a bitch.

I hope we see more of Tylor next season, maybe bring him back as director get rid of Grace and put Leann back in her old job ? 

I think Neal being shocked and not answering Christa is in character for him, its not the first time it happened but I hoped he'd grow out of it finally, I am happy Christa stood up for her self and is not going to talk any of this crap from Neal, it actually shows she is a strong woman character and does not need a knight in shining armor. In my opinion the whole Neal and Christa relationship  went serious too fast and dissolved just as fast, Grace was also brought in too fast and was not integrated as well into the dynamic of the show, I think she should go back and save kids in Haiti, everyone will like her better that way :) . I think if the writers slowed down the pace in the last 4 episodes it would not have been as bad, it feels like a rushed job for the sake of angst.  

Edit: all though neal does remind me of Mcdreamy, I am glad Christa did not give the "love me pick me choose me " speech 

Edited February 25, 2016 by silverbell

[Happy Harpy]

You know, not too long ago, I really looked forward to new episodes of this show.  Now I'm kind of dreading them - that's how disillusioned the writers have made me in a very short amount of time. Where once I appreciated their thoughtfulness and willingness to buck tropes, now I have to wonder if that was all just a fluke, and henceforth, everything will go the Grey's Anatomy route. 

You must be my Code Black twin or something. I used to have a smile on my face at the end of every episode, now I'm dreading watching them.

 

I think Neal being shocked and not answering Christa is in character for him, its not the first time it happened but I hoped he'd grow out of it finally, I am happy Christa stood up for her self and is not going to talk any of this crap from Neal, it actually shows she is a strong woman character and does not need a knight in shining armor. In my opinion the whole Neal and Christa relationship  went serious too fast and dissolved just as fast, Grace was also brought in too fast and was not integrated as well into the dynamic of the show, I think she should go back and save kids in Haiti, everyone will like her better that way :) . I think if the writers slowed down the pace in the last 4 episodes it would not have been as bad, it feels like a rushed job for the sake of angst. 

I disagree a bit on Neal. He showed that he was able to make a decision fast when needed and here, Christa is leaving him so he should have reacted; but I blame the writing, I think it's OOC for the sake of suspense. He is no Ridge Forrester, he used to have balls and fight for what he wanted (even against his father).

After 13 episodes of build-up where they got to know each other, I was more than ready for Neal and Christa to be in a serious relationship and I wished they had gone on with this progression. I completely agree about it dissolving to fast and the rest of your post, though :)

Edited February 25, 2016 by Happy Harpy

[weathered1]

Happy Harpy, aka my Code Black Twin :), ITA.  

 

Given how fast Neal jumped up in order to go to Christa, I think we could maybe, possibly take that as being symbolic of him putting Grace behind him (mentally, emotionally, and physically) and moving on with (and toward) Christa.  In that moment, she was his priority; she was the woman with whom he wanted to speak, with whom he wanted to be.  He went to her while leaving Grace in the dust, without a word or a backwards glance.

 

As for why he didn't respond when Christa so awesomely stood up for herself, I don't think it was because of a character flaw; I think that in that instant, his mind just hadn't gone to that place - the place where he and Christa would come to an end - at all, so while he was in the mindset of wanting to check on her, wanting to explain his decision, etc., she came at him from a point that he just wasn't expecting.  I think (hope) that's why he didn't react - it happened so quickly that by the time his mind absorbed what she'd said (statements with which he fundamentally disagreed, I'd also hope) and that she'd just ended their relationship, she was already gone.  

 

That was me trying to put a happy, pro-Christeal spin on things. lol  

 

 

I also don't think the relationship moved too quickly.  They bonded for umpteen episodes over patients, the monumental tragedy in her past, and they spent time together outside of work.  In short, there was an immediate attraction (imho) that both knew existed, but they took their time getting to know each other, and it all reached an emotional tipping point in the lead up to their first kiss.  I think all of that and their first time sleeping together was paced beautifully: it was a natural and mature progression.  

 

After that point is when the pacing started to go off kilter, in my view.  We got Christa being upset that he didn't immediately sign and turn in the form.  We got the scene where he shoved said form in the higher-ups' faces (we really should've gotten a scene where he told her he did that, btw).  We got the scene with Christa and the scarf, intimating that they were very happily together, to the extent that not only was she likely sleeping over at his place (and probably vice versa) but that he didn't think anything of letting her borrow his things.  

 

What we did *not* see were actual relationship scenes.  We were told they were together officially, and then *bam* Grace showed up, and it all immediately began to unravel.  Instead of using this tired plot point to further explore the relationship, we had to see that it's been like pulling teeth to get Neal to let Christa in on his past - seriously, it took this long for him to tell her about the extent of that past relationship? smh - and we had to see both spend time with Grace individually, and last week's last Christeal scene was Christa walking off when she got tired of Neal and Grace gazing at one another.  

 

So it was a wonderful, well -written and -played build up, and the instant the cliche reared its head, it was all warp speed to their destruction.  That? Was just terrible writing, imo. 

 

ETA:  Great googly moogly, I had no idea I had so much to say on this topic.  lol

 

ETA again: I see the creator distanced himself from his own tweet saying Christeal are in love.  When someone asked where the evidence of that is since Neal distanced himself from her the moment St-Ex showed up, he actually said, "Good point."  Ugh.

Edited February 25, 2016 by weathered1

[silverbell]

You must be my Code Black twin or something. I used to have a smile on my face at the end of every episode, now I'm dreading watching them.

 

I disagree a bit on Neal. He showed that he was able to make a decision fast when needed and here, Christa is leaving him so he should have reacted; but I blame the writing, I think it's OOC for the sake of suspense. He is no Ridge Forrester, he used to have balls and fight for what he wanted (even against his father).

After 13 episodes of build-up where they got to know each other, I was more than ready for Neal and Christa to be in a serious relationship and I wished they had gone on with this progression. I completely agree about it dissolving to fast and the rest of your post, though :)

Maybe it has to do with the last 5 episodes, but the locker room scene is another example of Neal not able to make a decision fast when needed.

 

 

 Given how fast Neal jumped up in order to go to Christa, I think we could maybe, possibly take that as being symbolic of him putting Grace behind him (mentally, emotionally, and physically) and moving on with (and toward) Christa.  In that moment, she was his priority; she was the woman with whom he wanted to speak, with whom he wanted to be.  He went to her while leaving Grace in the dust, without a word or a backwards glance.

 

As for why he didn't respond when Christa so awesomely stood up for herself, I don't think it was because of a character flaw; I think that in that instant, his mind just hadn't gone to that place - the place where he and Christa would come to an end - at all, so while he was in the mindset of wanting to check on her, wanting to explain his decision, etc., she came at him from a point that he just wasn't expecting.  I think (hope) that's why he didn't react - it happened so quickly that by the time his mind absorbed what she'd said (statements with which he fundamentally disagreed, I'd also hope) and that she'd just ended their relationship, she was already gone.  

 

That was me trying to put a happy, pro-Christeal spin on things. lol  

 

 

ETA:  Great googly moogly, I had no idea I had so much to say on this topic.  lol

 

ETA again: I see the creator distanced himself from his own tweet saying Christeal are in love.  When someone asked where the evidence of that is since Neal distanced himself from her the moment St-Ex showed up, he actually said, "Good point."  Ugh.

I like your positive thinking, but after seeing how creator distanced himself from the whole thing I am not so positive 

[Happy Harpy]

ETA again: I see the creator distanced himself from his own tweet saying Christeal are in love.  When someone asked where the evidence of that is since Neal distanced himself from her the moment St-Ex showed up, he actually said, "Good point."  Ugh.

Yeah, that's the tweet I saw, hence my troll remark. When I checked, he answered positively only to (the?) one Grace supporter and said to someone who asked about Neal/Christa to watch season 2. Yeah, not if Ex is still around, that's for sure.

 

Maybe it has to do with the last 5 episodes, but the locker room scene is another example of Neal not able to make a decision fast when needed.

I do think it has to do with the next 5 episodes :( He wasn't like this before and I remember how puzzled I was by his attitude with the form.

[Netfoot]

What I liked the least, was the way the episode wrapped up.  It had a sort of Business as Usual, All's Right with The World taste to it that I've seen so many times when a series finale closes.  Sort of We may Not Be There To See It, But Life Goes On feel.  It doesn't bode well for a subsequent season, I think.  Maybe they ended this way just in case, but it seemed ominous for the continued development of the show.

[Fable]

This episode was a little too frantic for me, but there were a lot of good character moments.  Mario really has become a good friend to Angus, and I love how supportive Mike is toward his brother.  Heather really is quite the scoundrel.  I have to admit, I loved her little take down of Dr. Campbell, not that I hate Campbell, but he needed to be taken down a peg.  It was great seeing Dr. Taylor again, and I'm glad he was able to help Leanne.  For these reasons, I really hope the show is renewed. 

 

On the Christa/Neal/Grace front, all I can really say is that I was leery of this ship from the get-go since it almost always goes without saying, where there is a ship, there will be drama, and not only was there drama, but the ever-dreaded love triangle, which in my mind, is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to relationship woes on TV.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Fable

[Ohwell]

I never wanted too much focus on Neal and Christa anyway, so if the show is renewed and they're still broken up, I won't mind.  I'd like the show to focus on the medicine, of course, and the other characters like Dr. Taylor and Dr. Guthrie.  The less I see of Heather, the better. 

 

What happened to the storyline where Dr. Campbell asked Grace out?  I thought she accepted the invitation, or did I miss something?  Dr. Campbell is an idiot, by the way, for sleeping with a subordinate.  

[Setra]

As a shipper, I took a teeny, tiny little bit of solace in the fact that as soon as Neal saw Christa (after the moron had confided in his ex. smdh), he jumped up to go to her, and I'm choosing to believe for right now that he didn't immediately set her straight about her absolutely *not* being his second choice because he was so shocked that it had come to that so quickly.  

 

That was my take on it as well. Grace said (paraphrasing) 'I know, because you always make the right choice'. As soon a Neil saw Christa, he immediately dropped Grace's hand and ran to Christa, thereby making the right choice.

[Happy Harpy]

So, we ended the run on a 1.2 in demo.

 

*too bitter to comment*

[CG28]

When do we hear if the show gets renewed? Broken-hearted Neal/Christa fan asking...

 

Likely mid May. And judging by the ratings last night, it is very much up in the air. They were up, but I had hoped for more from the finale in order to get it off the bubble. However, I will say I have heard several mentions of other networks possibly being interested should CBS not renew. Now, I know nothing so those rumors could be nothing but pure fabrication, but one in particular come from someone who seems to have some inside knowledge of the show. And ABC does co-own it and several of their shows are tanking terribly, so perhaps there could still be hope outside of CBS. 

 

Maybe they could use some of that money that Leanne found to get a second surgeon and then they can operate on three people at the same time.  One surgeon and one fellow seems rather paltry for a hospital as busy as this one.

 

Yes!!!! While I enjoyed the care and attention given to the nurses, did no one on the board think anything of the fact that because Neal wasn't some almighty super hero that can perform multiple surgeries at once and yet he is all they have a person in their care actually died! "This is trauma one, Angels memorial, the birth place of emergency medicine and the most popular strip of hospital real estate in the county" to paraphrase the pilot and yet they had one available surgeon? Nonsense.

 

 

And the fact that the writers did this without knowing if they'd have the chance to fix anything really does feel like a big slap in the face.

 

I just love your whole post but I agree with this so much. It was a huge slap in the face to fans of the couple. It seems fairly likely that Christa/Neal have a pretty big fan base, and it has been shown they are a ratings grabber, so they took that and made a cliffhanger to pull everyone back for a season 2 that is not even certain. Simply put, we were used and I don’t like it one bit.

 

I don't think it's the network. I went to the creator's Twitter and he's hyping the Ex. He acts like a complete troll, imo.

I have the feeling that it's Sleepy Hollow all over again, and that Grace is Katrina. Well, we know what happened to Sleepy Hollow.

 

My thoughts on the creator’s tweets, is he was enjoying the back and forth and playing to both sides. However, it is of note imo, that he is the one in the original tweet who said they (Christa/Neal) were in love, and in reference to someone who obviously leaned more Grace/Neal. Now, from that point forward the whole thing blew up and he took enjoyment in playing his needed part in riling both sides up. As they say no press is bad press, so from his standpoint an argument over his characters going down on Twitter only serves him well. However, his admissions, plus the fact that they started building Neal and Christa up in episode two (and no plans for Grace at the time) make me firmly believe they are not done. Now, how quick we will see resolution if we see a season 2, I don’t know, but I just don’t think they will just go with them being “over” and him riding off into the sunset with Grace no questions asked. The whole point of Grace and as a result the love triangle, from what I see, is to be obstacle for Neal and Christa and to add (pointless) drama, not to break them up permanently. But that may be the small side of me that wants to still hope for the best.

 

I liked this episode for the most part (except the Neal Christa break up ). 

I think Neal being shocked and not answering Christa is in character for him, its not the first time it happened but I hoped he'd grow out of it finally, I am happy Christa stood up for her self and is not going to talk any of this crap from Neal, it actually shows she is a strong woman character and does not need a knight in shining armor. In my opinion the whole Neal and Christa relationship  went serious too fast and dissolved just as fast, Grace was also brought in too fast and was not integrated as well into the dynamic of the show, I think she should go back and save kids in Haiti, everyone will like her better that way :) . I think if the writers slowed down the pace in the last 4 episodes it would not have been as bad, it feels like a rushed job for the sake of angst.  

Edit: all though neal does remind me of Mcdreamy, I am glad Christa did not give the "love me pick me choose me " speech 

 

I also liked the episode for the most part, it was a bit face paced but being a finale I was expecting that. 

 

To be honest, I believe the only reason Neal didn’t answer Christa was for the sake of drama and a cliffhanger. However, if I allow myself to remove my emotions and play devil’s advocate, there is a chance he didn’t answer because well, maybe in that split second he wasn’t sure. Despite the character assassination, I do truly feel that Neal never set out to hurt Christa. In fact, going on what we saw up to epi 15, he would have done about anything to not hurt her. In that moment he had to face the fact that he had done just that. He took someone who had already been through so much in life, and her words reminded him of that, and in the end only added to that pain. So for a moment, after the whole thing with Grace just went down, he froze, perhaps not sure what to say but feeling that at the very least he owed it to her to not hurt her anymore. So he said nothing.

 

Also, I am so very glad they didn't have Christa do a whole "pick me" thing. I hated it when Meredith did it, but for Christa who has been shown to be a strong, mature adult to do it, it would have been nauseating. I actually see quite a few similarities between Derek and Neal and for that matter the respective love triangles. 

 

That was my take on it as well. Grace said (paraphrasing) 'I know, because you always make the right choice'. As soon a Neil saw Christa, he immediately dropped Grace's hand and ran to Christa, thereby making the right choice.

 

That was my husbands take on it as well. And for what it’s worth, he also doesn’t believe they broke up. He feels the scene was very ambiguous and that it’s now up to Neal to make it right.  And trust me when I say he has no dog in the race and couldn’t care less what happens. Which leaves me wondering, was it truly a break up? Or a much needed ultimatum?

 

 

As far as the episode, or well at least the Christa/Neal portion, I have to be honest, I went into it knowing about the break up. I saw a tweet from an early viewer who mentioned it. So, admittedly before the show even started I thought the absolute worst. And from that stand point only it wasn’t as bad as I feared. I had feared that it was going to be Neal who initiated the break up, wanting to try again with Grace. Or worse Christa was going to catch them in a lot worse that hand holding (which was bad enough so very thankful that didn’t happen). The fact that Neal still went after her and in the end it was Christa who stood up for herself and said “no more” was much better than either scenario

 

Now, for Grace, I have said it before and will say it again, the quicker she is off my screen the better. She literally has no place in the show other than drama for Neal and Christa, that is her character's only purpose. And honestly, I don't see much good press on the addition of her character outside of a few fans so with the down ratings I have to wonder if the show gets renewed if they may perhaps truly give her the ax. 

[silverbell]

To be honest, I believe the only reason Neal didn’t answer Christa was for the sake of drama and a cliffhanger. However, if I allow myself to remove my emotions and play devil’s advocate, there is a chance he didn’t answer because well, maybe in that split second he wasn’t sure. Despite the character assassination, I do truly feel that Neal never set out to hurt Christa. In fact, going on what we saw up to epi 15, he would have done about anything to not hurt her. In that moment he had to face the fact that he had done just that. He took someone who had already been through so much in life, and her words reminded him of that, and in the end only added to that pain. So for a moment, after the whole thing with Grace just went down, he froze, perhaps not sure what to say but feeling that at the very least he owed it to her to not hurt her anymore. So he said nothing.

 

Also, I am so very glad they didn't have Christa do a whole "pick me" thing. I hated it when Meredith did it, but for Christa who has been shown to be a strong, mature adult to do it, it would have been nauseating. I actually see quite a few similarities between Derek and Neal and for that matter the respective love triangles. 

 

 

That was my husbands take on it as well. And for what it’s worth, he also doesn’t believe they broke up. He feels the scene was very ambiguous and that it’s now up to Neal to make it right.  And trust me when I say he has no dog in the race and couldn’t care less what happens. Which leaves me wondering, was it truly a break up? Or a much needed ultimatum?

 

 

As far as the episode, or well at least the Christa/Neal portion, I have to be honest, I went into it knowing about the break up. I saw a tweet from an early viewer who mentioned it. So, admittedly before the show even started I thought the absolute worst. And from that stand point only it wasn’t as bad as I feared. I had feared that it was going to be Neal who initiated the break up, wanting to try again with Grace. Or worse Christa was going to catch them in a lot worse that hand holding (which was bad enough so very thankful that didn’t happen). The fact that Neal still went after her and in the end it was Christa who stood up for herself and said “no more” was much better than either scenario

 

I think you are right and I do not think Neal tried to hurt Christa, I think he really wants Christa but has a lot of baggage from his past that he has trouble handling. 

I usually do not read blogs but stumbled on this point of view on the whole situation and I think it surmises the whole thing.

http://really-quite-tremendous.tumblr.com/post/139953861136/dear-christeal-fandom

I amused that they broke off at the end of the episode, but I like your husbands thinking, till we get word on the next season I am sticking to your husbands thinking on the whole conversation :)  

[Shannon L.]

There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said.  I'm not as upset by the Christa/Neal situation as others are, but I'm not crazy about it (mostly because Grace was just thrown at us in a way that seemed like we were expected to care about her by the end of her first episode). I'm glad, though, that Christa stood up for herself and her feelings about the situation.  Now, hopefully, Neal will be able to win her back.  If, please, oh please, there is a second season.

 

I really liked this episode, but was wondering something:  If a hospital that was the premiere hospital for government officials had a shortage of surgeons, wouldn't they (couldn't they?) have surgeons from another hospital on call whenever there was a government function in town? 

 

Is it just me or do all of the stories go really fast on this show?  I don't like it when a story goes on for what feels like forever, but, seriously.....one episode, Angus pops a pill, then next, it's three weeks later and he's a habitual drug user who needs help.  Christa and Neal starting dating, like, yesterday, and now we have Grace to contend with.  Mario/Heather/Angus...oh no!...but wait...it's over.  A new administrator is introduced and is stabbed to death 6 weeks later.........I wonder what the writers were thinking?  Was it planned that way or was it them trying to deal with the low ratings?

[weathered1]

^It really does seem like some storylines were introduced and run through pretty rapidly.  We also know that evidently a fair amount of material was written, filmed, and then cut (ie, the shot in the promo in November (?) that showed Gina kissing Neal, the bit in the episode description from Grace's second episode in which she and the child were supposed to be living with Neal, etc.).  We also know that just prior to Grace's episodes starting, the writing started to negatively impact those who would interact with her the most.  From the outside looking in, it does appear like they initially had certain plans, perhaps those were scrapped, they went in another direction, and then they redid even those stories, at least to an extent. 

 

In regards to the Heather/Mario/Angus/Campbell/prescription drug storyline(s), the pacing did seem to be kind of funky, particularly at the end of the season when Heather went from being the object of Angus' crush, to sleeping with Mario, to it being discovered that she'd been sleeping with Campbell for awhile, things ending with Mario, the introduction of her side job, her interference leading to Angus abusing drugs, and then blackmailing Campbell.  Some of it was paced decently in the beginning, but the rest was sort of rolled out at a breakneck pace.  Was it because they wanted a villain-esque character who interacts a lot with the younger set, in an attempt to appeal to a certain viewer demographic; someone who could cause trouble and open new storyline possibilities in an attempt to show the network that they have plans in place for a second season?  

 

re: the Christeal and Unnecessary St. Ex "story," on the plus side, it does appear that things were initially a good deal worse on that front, going back to the bit I mentioned above re: how he was supposed to let Grace and the girl stay with him, without even telling Christa about. (I believe that's what I read in the media topic).  Given the things that actually aired, it looks like someone in a position of power eventually decided that such absolutely asinine developments were not a good move, so that material was removed.  Ultimately, what that left us with was a (badly written) "story" in which Christa's and the ex's feelings were crystal clear, but Neal's were left deliberately ambiguous, and that began just prior to the ex's episode arc.  Was that to give them wiggle room in the (likely) eventuality that the ex wouldn't be well-received, which now definitely appears to be the case?  Was it to string this fanbase along, particularly after it was proven that Christeal promotion brought in bigger ratings, but they realized that if they took things further than simply breaking the couple up in the finale (without giving Neal his say, or any kind of voice or agency whatsoever, even as the writers were doing their level best to ruin his character), said fanbase would be alienated and likely wouldn't tune in should there be a renewal? 

 

(Side note: If I were to be optimistic, I would agree with the assertion upthread that Grace sticking around may not be a foregone conclusion. From what I've seen, she has barely any support online, and her episodes coincided not only with a drop in the ratings, but also with a lot of ire from the aforementioned large subset of fans.  I can't imagine that the network would look on those things favorably, regardless of the dumb things said by the creator, but what do I know? lol)

 

It does seem that, in regard to more than one story, things were shuffled with ratings in mind, and with them trying to give the network a good enough reason to renew the show.  

 

I do wonder, though, if that material that most of us perceived as being a massive, deliberate insult to the largest subset of fans was actually a sign that tptb have been told that a renewal is likely.  Otherwise, such a move was inexcusably stupid, imo. 

Edited February 26, 2016 by weathered1

[Happy Harpy]

There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said.  I'm not as upset by the Christa/Neal situation as others are, but I'm not crazy about it (mostly because Grace was just thrown at us in a way that seemed like we were expected to care about her by the end of her first episode). I'm glad, though, that Christa stood up for herself and her feelings about the situation.  Now, hopefully, Neal will be able to win her back.  If, please, oh please, there is a second season.

I really wonder what TPTB were thinking. Seriously, it's Ray Palmer all over again. Here, new character doesn't earn her wings and yet gets more screentime than regular characters, the writing is so biased in her favor that my head hurts with the "Love Her Yet?" anvils, IIRC she is treated as an equal to Leanne, Christa and Malaya in promotional material whereas she's only supposed to be recurring, she is given a POV whereas Neal, a main character, isn't...they're obviously intent on making her work. So why in hell did they think that using her in a love triangle that a good part of the audience seems to have no use for, pitting her against a well-liked character (YMMV) and making her the cause of break-up of a fan favorite couple (YMMV) which was the main romantic storyline for 3/4 of the season, therefore was likely to engage the people who were actually watching the show, was a good idea to get people to love her and want her to stay? It just boggles the mind.

But Ray Palmer was supposed to have his own show and he was so well received (ha!) that it ended up as an ensemble, so like Carolinagirl1028 I can hope that if there's a second season, and especially since imo Ex flopped at least rating-wise, the mistake will be corrected.

 

With Felicity Smoak and Christa, it seems that Wednesday was Strong Blonde Walks Out On Ball Dropping Boyfriend night. Well, at least I still have Rick and Michonne (*squee* and their exes are all dead, yeah!)

re: the Christeal and Unnecessary St. Ex "story," on the plus side, it does appear that things were initially a good deal worse on that front, going back to the bit I mentioned above re: how he was supposed to let Grace and the girl stay with him, without even telling Christa about. (I believe that's what I read in the media topic).  Given the things that actually aired, it looks like someone in a position of power eventually decided that such absolutely asinine developments were not a good move, so that material was removed.  Ultimately, what that left us with was a (badly written) "story" in which Christa's and the ex's feelings were crystal clear, but Neal's were left deliberately ambiguous, and that began just prior to the ex's episode arc.  Was that to give them wiggle room in the (likely) eventuality that the ex wouldn't be well-received, which now definitely appears to be the case?  Was it to string this fanbase along, particularly after it was proven that Christeal promotion brought in bigger ratings, but they realized that if they took things further than simply breaking the couple up in the finale (without giving Neal his say, or any kind of voice or agency whatsoever, even as the writers were doing their level best to ruin his character), said fanbase would be alienated and likely wouldn't tune in should there be a renewal? 

 

(Side note: If I were to be optimistic, I would agree with the assertion upthread that Grace sticking around may not be a foregone conclusion. From what I've seen, she has barely any support online, and her episodes coincided not only with a drop in the ratings, but also with a lot of ire from the aforementioned large subset of fans.  I can't imagine that the network would look on those things favorably, regardless of the dumb things said by the creator, but what do I know? lol)

(Bolding mine). Once more, I agree with everything you said (and "St Ex" will never stop to crack me up, because so true). I think that if they had deprived a female character of her agency the way they did it with Neal, there would be way more outrage about it. The fact that we didn't have any reaction from him, though, makes me believe that there is wiggle room to kill the triangle with some "he loved Christa all along". It will be contrived anyway since the whole thing was contrived to start with, but as long as it's dead and not walking I'm fine with it.

And again, a fledging show should imo think first of securing its actual viewership and using it as a base to expand instead of wooing another audience by changing the core of the show, and risking to lose everything.

[weathered1]

Happy Harpy, you ship Richonne? I *love* Richonne!

 

On topic....

 

I think "wiggle room" is what they were going for, for sure. They were trying to keep Christeal fans on the hook by screwing with the relationship but not definitively courtesy of emotionless, mostly mute Neal, and they also gave themselves an out if St. Ex flopped, which I truly think she has.  Outside of maybe a couple of people on Twitter, I haven't seen anything even remotely positive about her or her episode arc, and I do think the fact that the ratings dropped rather significantly is not something that the show's creator or the network can handwave - I think there's a clear correlation there.  

 

Also, I think they've written themselves into a corner.  Neal not being allowed to freakin' speak about about his feelings was bad enough and has done enough damage to the character, but if they were to double down and have him reunite with Grace next season, that would make him a ginormous bastard and he would be forever ruined; Christeal reconciling wouldn't be an option; all of Christa's fans (and she's one of the most popular characters) would be pissed; and the Christeal fanbase would likely jump ship because they've treated us like garbage the past few episodes. I really think the creator and writers did not think this through.

[silverbell]

^It really does seem like some storylines were introduced and run through pretty rapidly.  

 

I really wonder what TPTB were thinking. Seriously, 

 

I think we can summarize it a the curse of the last 5 episodes ( the 5 extra episodes that were ordered) because it seems that all the pacing and the writing changes from that point on, even though they had pretty good rating in the episodes before. Its not that all the episodes were bad but the background stories were for the  most part.  

[Happy Harpy]

Happy Harpy, you ship Richonne? I *love* Richonne!

 

On topic....

 

I think "wiggle room" is what they were going for, for sure. They were trying to keep Christeal fans on the hook by screwing with the relationship but not definitively courtesy of emotionless, mostly mute Neal, and they also gave themselves an out if St. Ex flopped, which I truly think she has.  Outside of maybe a couple of people on Twitter, I haven't seen anything even remotely positive about her or her episode arc, and I do think the fact that the ratings dropped rather significantly is not something that the show's creator or the network can handwave - I think there's a clear correlation there.  

 

Also, I think they've written themselves into a corner.  Neal not being allowed to freakin' speak about about his feelings was bad enough and has done enough damage to the character, but if they were to double down and have him reunite with Grace next season, that would make him a ginormous bastard and he would be forever ruined; Christeal reconciling wouldn't be an option; all of Christa's fans (and she's one of the most popular characters) would be pissed; and the Christeal fanbase would likely jump ship because they've treated us like garbage the past few episodes. I really think the creator and writers did not think this through.

(Taking Richonne to the Small Talk Thread)

Imo, TPTB wanted younger demos, so they went for what imo they think tweeners like, meaning "dumb and cheap". They forgot that 1) it isn't automatically true and 2) 25-34 and 25-49 are also part of the demo that counts, and they're losing that part of the audience with the new direction of the show imo. Not especially because they're smarter, but because when you've watched TV long enough you have no patience anymore for this kind of stunt and you see the writing on the wall. You also know what you want, and even though you might appreciate both, when you watch a show akin to ER, you don't want to get Grey's Anatomy instead, imo.

I have to say that Code Black has a couple of pretty good writers though (thank you to those who managed to protect Christa in the season finale) because it could have been much, much worse.

And indeed, it's what those last five episodes have done to the characters and especially to Neal, one of my favorite, that irks me to no end.

[Netfoot]

the writing is so biased in her favor that my head hurts with the "Love Her Yet?" anvils, IIRC she is treated as an equal to Leanne, Christa and Malaya in promotional material whereas she's only supposed to be recurring, she is given a POV whereas Neal, a main character, isn't...they're obviously intent on making her work. So why in hell

 

Ask yourself who she's sleeping with.

[needschocolate]

This show has a lot of "that wouldn't happen in the real world" moments, like there never being enough surgeons and the surgeons are able to perform all types of surgeries (I am sure Neal will re-attach someone's hand sometime) and when a patient's situation takes a turn for the worse, they can't just do what they need to do in the patient's private room, they have to haul the gurney out to Center Stage. But I suspend belief and overlook these moments because I like the show and I know that this sort of thing is done to make the show more exciting.  However, it bugs me when they do this sort of stuff with things that make no difference in how the story is told.  This time it was the injured being brought into the ER at around 12:30 am.  Since when do they have televised debates that go past midnight.  Then it turns out that the politicians were running for president?  So people on the East Coast were up at 3:30 in the morning watching the debate?  There was absolutely no reason why they couldn't be brought to the ER at a more realistic time, like 8:30 - or 5:30 if it really was nationally broadcast.  

 

i wish I understood the crack about cookie dough coming out of Jesse's ass.  Because, that don't sound too healthy!

 

When Leanne said it, I thought I misheard. It made no sense.  The only explanations that we could come up with it that Jesse's eating habits are so bad that he is full of cookie dough or that he is so soft and sweet that he like a tube of cookie dough.  

 

What I liked the least, was the way the episode wrapped up.  It had a sort of Business as Usual, All's Right with The World taste to it that I've seen so many times when a series finale closes.  Sort of We may Not Be There To See It, But Life Goes On feel.  It doesn't bode well for a subsequent season, I think.  Maybe they ended this way just in case, but it seemed ominous for the continued development of the show.

 

I appreciate that there was no big cliffhanger - none of the main characters were clinging to life, etc..

[vibeology]

Ask yourself who she's sleeping with.

 

Unnecessary. I'm not a fan of the character, but that doesn't mean you need to drag the actress. After all, there have been three men added to the cast, eating up screentime in the past few episodes too and no one is suggesting they got their job for any reason other than merit. You can hate on a poorly written character without doing this to an actress.

[izabella]

I don't love Grace, but in every tv show, there must be some (or many) obstacles for the main pair, which seems to be Christa and Neal.  There aren't many shows that put the main couple together and give them smooth sailing with only minor, easily solved hiccups here and there. 

 

I'm not the least bit surprised Neal would be having some struggles with his feelings right now.  Hey, the woman he proposed to who turned him down and left for Haiti is back.  Yeah, Neal and Christa just became a thing, but he's known Grace long enough to want marry her, so why wouldn't he have some issues when she's suddenly back in his life?  He may have thought he'd dealt with and was done with his emotions, and he may have been surprised to find that he still has some things to resolve.

 

I hate triangles, but I get why he might be conflicted.  I also don't blame him AT ALL for not speaking on demand.  He doesn't really seem to confide in people nor have bff's, so he could be one of those people who doesn't blab every thought and feeling to the world before he's had a chance to give it some thought.  Lots of people don't like to react and speak off the cuff about serious emotions and concerns - they are more measured in their thought process before making big or small declarations.

[Happy Harpy]

Ask yourself who she's sleeping with.

I thought you meant she was married to one of the show's producers or to the creator, so I checked her Wiki. She's married to a producer, but he works for Columbia and doesn't seem involved in Code Black.

 

Unnecessary. I'm not a fan of the character, but that doesn't mean you need to drag the actress. After all, there have been three men added to the cast, eating up screentime in the past few episodes too and no one is suggesting they got their job for any reason other than merit. You can hate on a poorly written character without doing this to an actress.

Agreed.

Just one thing, the three men added to the cast must have had about as much screentime altogether as she had alone in the last three episodes.

 

And of course imo, unlike her they're relevant in the general scheme of things, are better integrated and actually enjoyable for me (Mike and Ed Harbert are, at least).

Edited February 26, 2016 by Happy Harpy

[CG28]

I think you are right and I do not think Neal tried to hurt Christa, I think he really wants Christa but has a lot of baggage from his past that he has trouble handling.

I usually do not read blogs but stumbled on this point of view on the whole situation and I think it surmises the whole thing.

http://really-quite-tremendous.tumblr.com/post/139953861136/dear-christeal-fandom

I amused that they broke off at the end of the episode, but I like your husbands thinking, till we get word on the next season I am sticking to your husbands thinking on the whole conversation :)

Yes, I saw that same blog and she makes some good points. I also saw where Bonnie Somerville retweeted it, agreed with the blog writer, and made a point out of the fact that Neal didn't say anything either way and then, imo, alluded to it being something that will be fixed in season 2.

In regards to the Heather/Mario/Angus/Campbell/prescription drug storyline(s), the pacing did seem to be kind of funky.

re: the Christeal and Unnecessary St. Ex "story," on the plus side, it does appear that things were initially a good deal worse on that front, given the things that actually aired, it looks like someone in a position of power eventually decided that such absolutely asinine developments were not a good move, so that material was removed. Ultimately, what that left us with was a (badly written) "story" in which Christa's and the ex's feelings were crystal clear, but Neal's were left deliberately ambiguous, and that began just prior to the ex's episode arc.

It does seem that, in regard to more than one story, things were shuffled with ratings in mind, and with them trying to give the network a good enough reason to renew the show.

I do wonder, though, if that material that most of us perceived as being a massive, deliberate insult to the largest subset of fans was actually a sign that tptb have been told that a renewal is likely. Otherwise, such a move was inexcusably stupid, imo.

I agree the Mario/Angus/Heather/Campbell storyline was just all over the place. It's like the writers changed their mind on where they wanted to take it from episode to episode. Just really strange writing,

Yes, things while bad, could have been way worse. I also love St.Ex by the way. ;) However, I have to admit I don't find Grace's feelings all that crystal clear. I honestly still don't think she knows what she wants. She dumped Neal and ran off to Haiti, comes back and what? Wants Neal back? It certainly seemed that way but then in the scene with the senators wife, she had no reason to lie and even took her time to think it over, and yet still answered that she had never felt that way about someone. Maybe she is just one of those people that only wants something when someone else has it? Which, if so, add it to the list of reasons why I don't like her. What again are this woman's supposed wonderful qualities that Neal fell for in the first place? Because I just don't see them.

As far as Neal, it's very hard to know where he's coming from because as you mentioned we have literally no POV. But I honestly don't believe it's a Grace thing for him, I believe it's a past thing. Going strictly off what we've been told, he obviously loved Grace enough to want to marry her. She said no and from what I gather pretty much took off immediately after. It hurt, it had to. Then immediately after he finally moves on, she is dumped right back in the middle of his life and everything from before comes back, that means not only the pain that we saw in episode 16, but all of it. I don't think he is still hung up Grace, I believe he is still hung up on what he thought they had. The problem is the past isn't reality, it all fell apart for a reason. Obviously Neal was in a place Grace wasn't, which means he was under an illusion about what their relationship was and I think that illusion to some extent has been brought forth into other things because he hasn't dealt with it. He doesn't need or I believe even want Grace, I think what he is yearning for is answers, clarity, and most of all closure.

I do think they at least have some confidence in a Season 2 to have put the cliffhanger out there, with the continued suggestions that we just have to turn into Season 2 to see what happens. But then again they also seem to think the addition of these ridiculous storylines, including the triangle, would raise ratings and it didn't so I don't how much stock to put in their confidence.

Also, I think they've written themselves into a corner. Neal not being allowed to freakin' speak about about his feelings was bad enough and has done enough damage to the character, but if they were to double down and have him reunite with Grace next season, that would make him a ginormous bastard and he would be forever ruined; Christeal reconciling wouldn't be an option; all of Christa's fans (and she's one of the most popular characters) would be pissed; and the Christeal fanbase would likely jump ship because they've treated us like garbage the past few episodes. I really think the creator and writers did not think this through.

The only way I can see them writing themselves out of a corner and not destroying things in the process is to have Neal take the time to get his self together. While I would love for them to have him immediately go after Christa and fix everything, unless they just ignore the mess they created, I don't know how realistic it is. Now, if they don't keep Grace's character, that may be just what they do. Either way, putting him with Grace next season would be the stupidest move they could make. Even taking out the whole alienating a big part of thier fan base, those two obviously have still some issues themselves. Not to mention it would ruin, imo, Neal's character. And if they think for a moment that they can put him with Grace but flip the table and have Neal/Christa make gooey eyes at each other to keep the Christeal fans appeased, well I speak for only myself, but I am not tuning in to watch that crap.

I have to say that Code Black has a couple of pretty good writers though (thank you to those who managed to protect Christa in the season finale) because it could have been much, much worse.

And indeed, it's what those last five episodes have done to the characters and especially to Neal, one of my favorite, that irks me to no end.

Yes, very thankful to whatever writers had enough forethought to protect Christa. She is the only one coming out of the whole thing looking decent. I said a few episodes back that if Neal couldn't get his act together I wanted Christa to stand up and not put up with it, so I am glad they showed her strength, maturity, and self awareness. Only makes me love her more.

I'm not the least bit surprised Neal would be having some struggles with his feelings right now. Hey, the woman he proposed to who turned him down and left for Haiti is back. Yeah, Neal and Christa just became a thing, but he's known Grace long enough to want marry her, so why wouldn't he have some issues when she's suddenly back in his life?

I hate triangles, but I get why he might be conflicted. I also don't blame him AT ALL for not speaking on demand. He doesn't really seem to confide in people nor have bff's, so he could be one of those people who doesn't blab every thought and feeling to the world before he's had a chance to give it some thought. Lots of people don't like to react and speak off the cuff about serious emotions and concerns - they are more measured in their thought process before making big or small declarations.

You know, I will be honest, while I dislike the fact that the writers took this route, I do get Neal's predicament. In fact I have been there myself. Not too long after I started dating my now husband, my ex, who I had been practically engaged to, came back into my life and for a short while I was all messed up. In the end, I had to deal with my issues and my husband and I went on to have a much stronger relationship because I did. So, yes, I commensurate with Neal. He's human and feelings don't just turn off because one person walks away. But, the one thing I always did was be perfectly honest about everything. I didn't tell my husband (then boyfriend) he had no reason to worry and then proceed to put myself not only in difficult situations but in situations that would have flat out hurt him. I tried my best to be respectful of his feelings and concerns. Neal did no such thing. The fact that according to the time line Grace has been there several weeks and he didn't even feel Christa, as his girlfriend, deserved to know the extent of his past with Grace and then to top it off continued to make eyes at her right in Christa presence is unacceptable behavior. Maybe he isn't to blame for not speaking off the cuff, but he does have some blame, imo, when weeks went by and he said next to nothing one way or the other. Edited February 27, 2016 by Carolinagirl1028

[mojito]

 

I never wanted too much focus on Neal and Christa anyway, so if the show is renewed and they're still broken up, I won't mind.  I'd like the show to focus on the medicine, of course, and the other characters like Dr. Taylor and Dr. Guthrie.  The less I see of Heather, the better.

Me neither. And I like the addition of Grace because she's a more experienced doctor, and she's been away, so she's more of an outsider to Christa, Angus, Melaya, and Mario, which I like. I also think she's  likable. 

 

I think the "If you hug me any harder your boobs will crack my ribs" and "If I hug you any harder, you'll have cookie dough coming out of your ass" was a silly "can you top this?"  kind of exchange that you get the feeling Mama and Daddy have all the time. They were  joking at how much the hospital (Leanne) needs the nurses (Mama) and how her hug demonstrated her relief that the strike had been averted. I thought it was a cute exchange. Showed how goofy they can be when no one else is around. (Cookie dough was just a euphemism for well, you know; I don't think it was a reference to Mama's diet.)

 

Once again: Paging Doctor Guthrie. The Young Squire needs to talk.

 

If the show isn't renewed, well, it was a nice ride while it lasted.

[photo fox]

Massively unpopular opinion, apparently, but I'm just not that invested in Neal and Crista. I like them both separately and together, but I'm not watching the show for them. I'm watching for the ensemble, and I've long felt that the emphasis on their relationship was keeping them insulated from the rest of the characters. Maybe this will allow them to be better integrated with the rest of the cast.*

Plus, I'll admit to having missed an episode here and there, but I don't see them as having some "great love". It could be at some point in the future, but for right now I see their relationship as being very, very new, and not all that deep. Maybe it's a victim of telling the story almost entirely within the walls of the hospital and having more of a focus on the work and the friendships (which, thank you, Show!)

I'm loving the Leighton brothers, and I'm loving Mario. (But then, I've always loved Mario. I'm full of UOs on this show!) Leanne continues to be awesome, and I like her storyline of moving into administration. So while I'd love to have Dr. Taylor back full-time, I'd be disappointed if that ended her arc (not to mention her interactions with the CEO(?) whose name I cannot remember). Malaya needs a story, so I was glad they had her interact a bit with Mario.

Jesse is great, too, but he also needs some airtime. Maybe he gets ignored because he's "just" a nurse? I would hate that, but that's how a lot of these shows roll. Luis Guzman is terrific, and he deserves some meat.

Grace, Heather, and the surgeon are all just there for me. I neither love them nor hate them. Which is fine, IMO, because I just see them as foils for the main characters. I want the focus to stay on the ER, anyway, so the two surgeons especially don't need story.

*This is actually my biggest/only complaint about the show - the keep their characters too siloed. You've got a Neal/Crista silo, a Mike/Angus/Mario silo, a Leanne/CEO silo, etc. I get that not everyone has personal relationships with each other, but it's like they don't work together, either. I think it's a product of the "medicine-focused" storytelling device, which I generally love, but...

Take Crista, for example. She lives in a Neal-shaped bubble. In order for her to interact with Neal, her cases all have to involve Neal, because otherwise they won't interact. Have we even seen her have one good scene with Mike, her new boss? She and Angus are supposedly friends. Has she noticed he's acting erratically?

I actually really love the medicine-focused storytelling, but I think it means they have to work harder to integrate everyone. So far, I think they're not quite there.

[starri]

 

Massively unpopular opinion, apparently, but I'm just not that invested in Neal and Crista. I like them both separately and together, but I'm not watching the show for them. I'm watching for the ensemble, and I've long felt that the emphasis on their relationship was keeping them insulated from the rest of the characters. Maybe this will allow them to be better integrated with the rest of the cast.*

You can come sit next to me.

 

I actually enjoyed this episode more than just about any of them since they came back from the winter hiatus.  I'm not quite sure why, since there was still plenty of soapy "goodness" here, but the medicine part was interesting enough that I could focus on that.  With that said, I totally loathed the way they had to make Neal make a Solomon's Choice between Grace's patient and Christa's.  It was just so heavy-handed.

 

I was kind of annoyed that Paula Newsome didn't get a higher billing in the guest credits, given that she probably had more lines than even the Senator.

 

If the show comes back, Mike needs to keep the beard.  Although I might have been losing my mind, but it looked like it was changing lengths between scenes.

[Happy Harpy]

*This is actually my biggest/only complaint about the show - the keep their characters too siloed. You've got a Neal/Crista silo, a Mike/Angus/Mario silo, a Leanne/CEO silo, etc. I get that not everyone has personal relationships with each other, but it's like they don't work together, either. I think it's a product of the "medicine-focused" storytelling device, which I generally love, but...

Take Crista, for example. She lives in a Neal-shaped bubble. In order for her to interact with Neal, her cases all have to involve Neal, because otherwise they won't interact. Have we even seen her have one good scene with Mike, her new boss? She and Angus are supposedly friends. Has she noticed he's acting erratically?

I actually really love the medicine-focused storytelling, but I think it means they have to work harder to integrate everyone. So far, I think they're not quite there.

 

I agree about the integration of the characters. I think it's unavoidable in this kind of ensemble show to a certain extent, because with the limited screentime, it's impossible to develop everyone and have everyone interact in the same episode...but it can be balanced and imo, it was more or less for two-thirds of the season.

There were some staples (Leanne/Jesse, Neal/Christa, Neal/Leanne, Leanne/Christa, Angus/Mario and Angus/Malaya, Jesse/Malaya, YMMV) and the interactions were fluctuating around those axes until episode 13 imo. There were important/interesting/promising moments with everyone, Jesse/Mario in episode 2, Mario/Neal in episode 10, Malaya/Leanne in episode 12 etc.

 

Every recurring character (aside from the nurses like Amy) given too much importance disturbed that order imo. I loved Carla, but I have to admit that her presence sidelined Malaya at one point. I didn't get either why Gina had to be more present than Taylor, whom I vastly preferred to her.

 

But the problem with the latest "recurring" is for me that they are treated as "main" so they completely perturbed that order. Grace, especially, was given imo more focus than actual main characters, but it's also true to a lesser extent about Campbell and Heather (I liked and am still entertained by her, but...). And there was imo no need, and no place for them in such a capacity.

This is why, imo, the characters became more siloed at the end of the season. There was no screentime left to develop the minor/budging relationships between the regular characters, since it was given to the new ones.

 

The most annoying for me is that the staple friendships got the boot and were replaced by garbage like the Ex drama. Leanne/Christa has been MIA for a while, Leanne/Neal barely had a scene since episode 15 and the very promising Neal/Mike is kaput since Neal is interacting with Campbell instead.

Oh, and of course there's the booting of Mark Taylor (in favor of Gina, then) and the almost disappearance of Guthrie Senior.

 

Mike is really an exception because imo he didn't disturb anything. Christa is indeed the one he interacted with less (they did have a scene together while she and Angus were operating on the stalker and Angus got a panic attack, IIRC) but otherwise he has links with everyone. I think that he also works because the show needed a new mentor for the residents, since they were shifting Leanne to direction and Neal to surgery.

 

Imo, the show would be better off exploiting and developping the relationship between the original characters (plus Mike). I do agree that more bridges are needed between "grownups"  and "young resident". It's true, for example, that Christa interacted more with Leanne and Neal than with her fellow residents, although since Leanne/Christa is MIA, Malaya/Christa made a comeback.

I love all the original characters (I do love Mario, too) and I want to see more interaction between them. There's a lot of potential and of quality potential (read: not soapy). The cast and those original characters are for me the first and best asset of the show and it would be a pity (read: stupid) to leave it to rot.

 

Now, about the Neal/Christa relationship, I'd argue that its whole build-up and getting together didn't keep them apart from the other main characters and less from their other "staple" relationships.

Examples for the big Neal/Christa episodes: in 1x02, Leanne was largely involved in the torsion storyline with both of them, so was she in 1x04 when Christa had issues working on the baby, in 1x05 during the quarantine, there were tons of Leanne/Neal friendship, in 1x12 again, Neal/Leanne had an important storyline and in 1x13 there was the Neal/Mike friendship. Even in 1x14, Neal/Mike/Leanne and Neal/Leanne were much developped. Etc.etc.

Christa didn't live in a Neal-shaped bubble imo, and all her cases didn't involve him -often, she did work with him, not always. You could have a whole episode of them not interacting and working with other characters, like 1x07, and only one or two minutes of screentime at the end (the breakfast). I know I enjoyed episodes like 1x03 or 1x11, where they barely interacted, and the point of 1x08 was that he didn't get involved in her case.

 

 

Yet I do agree that at the end of the season, they were prisoner of a romantic storyline and isolated from the other main characters. But for me, the name of the romantic storyline isn't "Neal/Christa" but "Ex Soapy Drama" (they are mere props in it, imo, Neal wasn't even given a  POV). I'd say that Christa was living more in a Grace-shaped bubble in the last three episodes; as for Neal, he was back to Surgery and effectively separated from the ER cast (integrating new character Campbell instead)...since actually, Neal/Christa barely had scenes together since episode 14 and didn't work a real case together since that episode either. Their screentime together from 1x16 to 1x18 must be ridiculously low.

(I'll make yet another parallel with Oliver/Felicity in Arrow S3. The problem wasn't how they were written, but how they were not written).

[silverbell]

 

Mike is really an exception because imo he didn't disturb anything. Christa is indeed the one he interacted with less (they did have a scene together while she and Angus were operating on the stalker and Angus got a panic attack, IIRC) but otherwise he has links with everyone. I think that he also works because the show needed a new mentor for the residents, since they were shifting Leanne to direction and Neal to surgery.

 

I agree with you, they just brought too many characters and changed too many story lines and still had a big emphasis on the medicine, ( which is the part of the series I really like)  in 4 episodes that the regular characters story lines were hurt and did not work.   

Malaya and Christa also had a small scene with Mike and Leanne on episode 16, but I think they should have used him more on the case it would have made it more interesting, the problem was they used Grace and Campbell too much in that episode ...  

[mojito]

 

I was kind of annoyed that Paula Newsome didn't get a higher billing in the guest credits, given that she probably had more lines than even the Senator.

And besides, she's the woman who looks like Oprah (Liz Lemon reference). 

[twoods]

Finally watched this episode. I was dreading it from the comments on here, especially the Christeal stuff. I thought it was rushed and ridiculous. We didn't even get to enjoy them being together after the build up all season before the ex was thrown into the mix. I know it was because of the shortened season, but the drama was so unnecessary. Plus Campbell asks out Grace then it's dropped. Same with Angus and the Adderall storyline. We didn't see a few episodes of him being on edge or making mistakes. Hopefully if there is a second season they can slow down a little.

I did like the medicine and how characters died instead of them all miraculously being saved. And as for Heather- yikes. Way to throw a perfectly good female under the bus.