S03.E12: Emergent

[formerlyfreedom]

In part one of this two-part season finale, Scott and Jordan face grave danger during a rescue mission at a rapidly spreading wildfire outside San Antonio. Tensions are high between Syd and TC as they find themselves in the middle of a humanitarian crisis on the Syria-Turkey border. Paul and Shannon argue over treatment for a patient. Meanwhile a major setback threatens Drew's adoption plans for Brianna, Topher struggles to find a buyer for the hospital and medication goes missing.

 

For the record - there are three episodes listed after this, so the 'two-part season finale' is kind of confusing? But hey, let's go with it!

[Sandman]

They're doctors, dammit! And soldiers! Not mathematicians!

Edited August 9, 2016 by Sandman
Okay, I may have been rewatching Star Trek a l i t t l e too much...

[saber5055]

Could TC be more of a dick? Oh ... okay. He can. Topher smoking cracked me up. Who knew?

[Good Queen Jane]

All the regulars were real pricks this episode. I didn't like a one of them (except Topher, he always gets a pass from me.) It's not a good sign when the only character I agreed with was Syd. Maybe it would be better if the hospital was sold, Scott and Jordan go off together to Dallas, Annie goes to jail, Shannon goes back to reservation, Kenny sleeps with the fishes because he can't pay his loan shark, Drew goes on the run to keep Brianna from her father, and TC is finally put out of his misery by the border guards. Did I miss any unresolved subplot?

[Pallida]

I think Kenny stashed the drugs in TC's jacket to sell to pay the loan shark. I can't fully explain why Annie looked in the locker other than maybe she saw him do it since her job is to shadow nurses. 

[TVForever]

Sooo.....Kenny the upstanding professional nurse is mixing with criminals now? When did that happen?

TC- such arrogance. Although I agree that Sydney giving her typhus drugs to the old woman was not a very responsible choice, her sympathy for the woman aside. But don't get happy, TC. In most other things, I think you're an arrogant POS.

Is there something from last week's ep that explains why there are only two doctors in that whole camp? For some reason, my Verizon Fios will restart certain shows OnDemand if I don't watch the whole episode in one setting, so I didn't see most of the second half of the last episode. I've missed the endings of a few shows because of that. But anyway...

[dargosmydaddy]

Oh this show, and its complete disregard for characterization...

So we have Syd, who started the season being a by-the-rules military doctor and reaming out Drew for doing the "right" thing and not following protocol, deciding to do what she considers right and not follow the rules. And we have TC, who has continually "winged it" with complete disregard for his own safety (including when he let the people in at the beginning of this very episode, not to mention all the other crazy stuff he's done previously, like giving his blood to the guy last season to the point of passing out, etc.) being perfectly fine with letting the old lady die and reaming out Syd for something he himself constantly does.

I realize the TC-is-a-jerk part of that is pretty true to character, but the actions themselves from both Syd and TC are so eye rollingly plot driven and counterintuitive to who these characters have previously been shown to be that I am beyond words.

[Ohwell]

I'm sorry, but this show is slowly circling the drain, and I had such high hopes for it.

[juliet73]

10 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

Oh this show, and its complete disregard for characterization...

So we have Syd, who started the season being a by-the-rules military doctor and reaming out Drew for doing the "right" thing and not following protocol, deciding to do what she considers right and not follow the rules. And we have TC, who has continually "winged it" with complete disregard for his own safety (including when he let the people in at the beginning of this very episode, not to mention all the other crazy stuff he's done previously, like giving his blood to the guy last season to the point of passing out, etc.) being perfectly fine with letting the old lady die and reaming out Syd for something he himself constantly does.

I realize the TC-is-a-jerk part of that is pretty true to character, but the actions themselves from both Syd and TC are so eye rollingly plot driven and counterintuitive to who these characters have previously been shown to be that I am beyond words.

YES! They should have swapped! And then there's Kenny who out of nowhere is having money issues! And Paul who is his personal ATM?

I think Drew was out of line being a dick to the bio dad.  Dude just found out he has a daughter, cut him some slack!

I love that when Topher gets the phone call EVERYONE literally stops what they are doing to stand there and listen to him talking on the phone!  I'm sure there were patients that needed tending to, but they'll have to wait...

Intern Dr was soooo concerned about her patient dying because they were running out of time.  But she still had time to have a complete personal breakdown with Paul about her childhood, etc.  

Will someone please explain to me how these doctors can constantly go out in the field whether it be riots, wildfires, etc?  Don't they need to stay in the ER in case, ummm I don't know, people come in needing help?  

[Pallida]

My coworker recently mentioned a Radiolab episode that discussed triage and disaster planning.  People have very different ideas on who to prioritize first, and I can kind of see why Syd would think the most vulnerable person with prestige should be treated first.  That mentality would work if you have a guaranteed resupply, but she should have known that any resupply in their camp would have risks on timeliness.

[dargosmydaddy]

11 hours ago, juliet73 said:

Will someone please explain to me how these doctors can constantly go out in the field whether it be riots, wildfires, etc?  

In this case, they did mention that Scott and Jordan were about to go off shift (so presumably others would be coming on shift to take their places at the hospital). But yeah, overall they do this way too often.

10 hours ago, Pallida said:

My coworker recently mentioned a Radiolab episode that discussed triage and disaster planning.  People have very different ideas on who to prioritize first, and I can kind of see why Syd would think the most vulnerable person with prestige should be treated first.

Oh, I can understand her thinking, but it still seems a bit ooc (when she knows that she's one of two doctors that a lot of people are depending on, and that they're in a spot where resupplies are not a guarantee), and way ooc for TC, who is ALWAYS making similarly questionable decisions about prioritizing patients, to get so angry with her about it.

[Rapunzel]

I am so sick of Shannon and the actress that plays her is bloody awful. Okay, she didn't grow up in the best circumstances, but her whole community (which is by no means a wealthy one) pitched in to send her to uni and to medical school. How many people get that opportunity? I remember one episode where she was actually complaining about it since she would have rather done something else, but since her community needed doctors, that's what they raised money to help her go to school to become. So may people would love to have such an opportunity and all she does is find something to whinge about in every episode - and badly. Paul needs to run away fast.

The way she was hell bent on this firefighter patient having this specific diagnosis and was so blinded by it (and too busy feeling for sorry for herself that she may be out of a job) that she didn't even bother to check for other issues/complications that could be tied to her injuries and/or that condition nearly killed the patient - Paul was right to kick her out of the OR. Also, why are the ER docs always in the OR anyway? It should really just be any required specialists, perhaps a trauma surgeon, anesthesiologist, and the OR staff. I have gone to surgery straight from the ER myself and my ER doc is never there - they never even come to see me afterwards as you're under the care of the specialist/other hospital staff. The ER docs generally are not fully trained surgeons and need to be in the ER where their skills and expertise are needed (they may have done a surgical rotation and can perform certain procedures if they have to in a pinch, but most don't do the extra training needed to be a full surgeon in a specific specialty - if I had ever discovered that an ER doc performed delicate brain and spine surgery on me, I would not have been happy at all - and me, being an attorney, pull all my records to check that just such a thing never happens). If the ER docs on  this show actually stayed in the ER treating those patients (especially when they are always so busy with multiple traumas coming in, etc.) maybe their waiting room wouldn't always be packed full. Don't pick ER Med as your specialty if you want to spend all your time in the OR.

I also have an issue with how they handled the guy who needed the sign off on the physical. They just said they were getting slammed with wildfire victims and all talking about how busy it was, yet Topher takes the ex-military guy back right away to do his physical - that's something that any other ER would tell them to go see their primary care doc for - or make them wait until they had handled all the more critical victims. They triage for a reason, and there is no way they would take a doctor (especially a skilled, experienced one who is familiar with trauma and likely burns given his time in the military who also happens to have the added responsibility of running the ER and coordinating things when traumas come in) away with mass traumas coming in to perform a routine physical in the ER. If they pulled anyone, it should have been the intern - Shannon should be capable of handling a simple physical. Hell, a med student can do that.

This show is just so unrealistic in so many ways. It can't make up it's mind whether or not it wants the hospital to be all military only or if it is supposed to be a genuine ER and Trauma Center to serve  the entire community. It seems they constantly let their friends just come right on back to be treated, even for minor cuts and scrapes, no matter how busy they are. It's also too similar to Chicago Med - I keep finding myself watching an episode of Chicago Med and thinking, hey, there was no Topher in this episode? Then I remember that Topher isn't on Chicago Med - he's on that other, kind of lower-rent version. The fact that they are on the same network doesn't help either. At least Chicago Med overall has a better cast - much more talented actors - however, the shows do a lot of the same storylines and both also have military components.

I'm also sick of Annie and don't see what purpose she serves. She got clingy with Scott way too fast. When he mentioned that if the hospital was bought out he may move back to Dallas, she was all "well what about me?" They've known each other for five minutes and both have substance abuse issues - it is highly unlikely anything good will come out of that relationship. I could see Annie turning into a bunny boiler if Scott tried to break up with her - the fact that she couldn't believe he dared to leave the hospital AFTER his shift was over because he was the only one that believe she didn't steal the meds and wanted to go help in the field with the wildfire victims and then also got jealous that Jordan was going along is not normal behavior. Also, having her "shadow" nurses? With no medical background, training, etc.? Really? Even if there were a legitimate program that allowed her to do such a thing without any medical training or knowledge (I've seen EMTs do it, but they have EMT training - I've never just seen someone off the street come in and shadow a nurse or doctor), no way would they allow her near the Pixus (where they keep the meds - especially the controlled substances). They couldn't risk her seeing a nurse's code put in which would give her free access, though of course the fact that they were short of something would be noticed and investigated, which is what they were doing here. However, the regulations around C2 drugs (narcotics, benzodiazepines like Valium, etc.) are getting so strict in most states now, that some even require sign off and review by a pharmacist even after the doctor orders them before the nurse can even pull the drugs out of the Pixus.

I don't think this show will last much longer - even for a summer show, it's pretty awful and there are really no compelling characters. I like Topher, but he alone can't keep this show going.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Rapunzel

[juliet73]

And out of nowhere, Paul's father is part of a company/board that buys hospitals in trouble? What? Last I heard,  his dad was just a surgeon, not some 11th hour corporate hospital saver businessman! 

I wish they would cancel this show and Topher could transfer to Chicago Med. 

[Rapunzel]

2 minutes ago, juliet73 said:

And out of nowhere, Paul's father is part of a company/board that buys hospitals in trouble? What? Last I heard,  his dad was just a surgeon, not some 11th hour corporate hospital saver businessman! 

I wish they would cancel this show and Topher could transfer to Chicago Med. 

Good idea to transfer Topher to Chicago Med Juliet - he's about the only decent thing left in this show and I think he would fit in so nicely with the cast on Chicago Med. :-)

On another note, since when did Kenny become indebted to loan sharks? If he needed money to help keep his gym afloat, why not just ask Paul first as Paul was clearly more than willing to give it to him. I get the whole pride thing and not wanting to borrow from friends, but he ended up doing that anyway so he should have just started with Paul.

[Ohmo]

On 8/27/2016 at 4:25 PM, Rapunzel said:

I don't think this show will last much longer - even for a summer show, it's pretty awful and there are really no compelling characters. I like Topher, but he alone can't keep this show going.

Quote

Over on NBC, the aforementioned AGT returned from its Olympics break to 10.7 mil and a 2.1, up 12 and 17 percent from its most recent Wednesday outing. The Night Shift returned to 5.5 mil/1.1, up 10 and 22 percent to mark its best numbers since July 13.

TVLine

I think the show will be back.  It seems to do well for a summer show.  Sorry, but I hate the idea of Topher on Chicago Med.  The whole Chicago franchise has gotten impossible for me to watch.  I started it, but there are too many crossovers, and I don't want to have to watch 3 new shows.

ETA: Forgot about Kenny: I'm hoping that is a red herring meant to make us THINK Kenny took the drugs.  I'm hoping he was referring to borrowing the money from Paul.

Edited August 29, 2016 by Ohmo

[DeLurker]

I miss S1 when it was gloriously bad and Topher & Drew seemed like they had accidentally walked on the the wrong set.

So Scott & Dr What'sherface go to triage at a wildfire just after they get off shift. And both go for the mile run to recover the firefighter who can't walk.  With burly guy who plans on carrying her.  Curious allocation of triage resources.

Drew was pretty douchey to the Dad from nowhere, but since the adoption was to happen the next day, I think it is understandable.

Edited August 30, 2016 by DeLurker
Curious repetition removal

[thuganomics85]

Finally got around to this, and my biggest takeaway frankly was when in the hell did Kenny get indebted to loan sharks or someone even worse? I would think they would have build up to this, but there wasn't any signs in past episodes that Kenny was into some shady stuff, so all of it threw me for a loop.  I wonder if he's being set-up as another future suspect for those pills, assuming Annie ends up being a red herring.

Nice, T.C.  You are in Syria for only a few minutes and are already "winging" it, which leads to hostile and dangerous results.  Brilliant strategy, dude.  But now Syd just let herself get typhus due to bonding with a woman, and now their cure is on the opposite side of the fence.  I'm sure T.C. will somehow "wing it" again, and it will all work out.

Best part was easily Shannon being a complete asshole, only to be dead wrong.  Ha!  I know I'm suppose to feel conflicted, but whatever.  If Paul was smart (I know, that seems like a stretch sometimes), he would stay clear away now that she dumped him.  Maybe find someone who doesn't treat you like complete shit, Paul.

Poor Topher's just trying to hold everything together, all while getting grief from the doctors, nurses, and his buddy who took a bullet for him. Oh, Topher.  No one appreciates you!

Sure enough, Drew's grand plan to adopt Brianna falls through, thanks to her birth father coming back into the picture, and claiming he never knew about her, and wants to get custody instead.  I get this sucks, Drew, but try to be a bit more professional about it.  Plus, he's Charles Halford a.k.a. Chas from Constantine, and you don't want him calling up his buddy John to start some shit.  Especially during an episode set around fire!

Big cliffhanger with Scott and Jordan being trapped by a fire.  I'm sure they'll survive.  And make-out.  Because this is so where it is heading.
  

[Ashura77]

Pretty much everything has been said, it's a show I watch because... Yeah, not sure why but I do and I kinda like it, not sure why, probably like The Following or other shows that you just ended up watching to shake your head :)

My little thorn with this episode though, probably the only one wondering about it: Didn't Mac, the ex-military hottie get shot in his leg in Afghanistan? I rewatched that episode and yes, it was only his right leg, so why is he now talking about an arm wound Topher owes him for?