S02.E03: Natural History

[WendyCR72]

Dr. Manning and fourth-year medical student Jeff Clarke are forced to figure out a mystery illness when an Indonesian man who doesn't speak English arrives at the hospital in dire straights. Maggie takes Dr. Halstead to her family reunion where he meets her sibling Denise and uncovers deep-rooted family secrets. Meanwhile, Dr. Rhodes takes on a complicated heart surgery without consulting Dr. Latham and Dr. Reese and Dr. Charles encounter a woman experiencing an unusual pregnancy.

[statsgirl]

Where do these titles come from?  I have such a hard time relating them to the episode.

I love Dr. Charles but when Reese failed at delivering the "you and not pregnant" speech, he really needed to take over.  Yes, beginning doctors need to learn to do things but that couple needed help and there was nothing to indicate that they would be coming back once they calmed down.  They got short-changed.

I like Halstead in this episode and I wish he would stay with Dr. Patty because he and Manning make each other even more annoying.  I'm glad they 're keeping Rhodes humble. I guess they learned from Halstead last season.

In one of the hospitals in my city, there is a shabbat elevator.  It intrigued me endlessly as  child.

[Lady Calypso]

I felt bad for Reese, who really was trying to deliver the news to the couple, but clearly she wasn't ready. In a situation like that, Dr. Charles needed to take over a little earlier than he did. But good for Reese for talking to the woman afterwards. 

Dr. McDouche was not a McDouche so I can call him Halstead. He actually had some decent moments. His crush on Dr. Patty does soften him up. I kind of hope now that him and Manning never get together, or they only have sex once. I think both don't have chemistry and are much better off with different people. I also like Dr. Patty and want her to stick around. 

I also liked Halstead's story with Maggie and her sister. That was definitely surprising and I was afraid of it getting into preachy territory, but they handled it very well. I like when we learn more about the doctors' personal lives.

I felt bad for Connor and his situation in the ER. He just wants to be the best but he's not quite there yet. The show is still handling him very well. Plus, I didn't mind his new mentor this time. 

[BooksRule]

When Denise revealed herself to be transgender and mentioned still having a prostate, I immediately thought of last night's 'Code Black', where there was a woman who had (if I remember correctly) an infection in the prostate which had not been removed during her surgery.  Both characters were played by the same actress, Alexandra Grey, who is transgender.  Both storylines were interesting, but it would have been better if the episodes hadn't been shown basically back to back (even though I know the shows are on different networks).  It just took me out of the story a little.  That being said, I did like the glimpse into another character's personal life.

Edited October 7, 2016 by BooksRule

[rhys]

Yeah, booksrule, that was odd to have transgender story lines twice in a week. I didn't catch that it was the same celebrity. But, dang, Denise, tell your doc all your surgeries.

Did the fake preggo woman have a fake doula too?

[RachelKM]

16 hours ago, statsgirl said:

I like Halstead in this episode and I wish he would stay with Dr. Patty because he and Manning make each other even more annoying.  I'm glad they 're keeping Rhodes humble. I guess they learned from Halstead last season.

OMG I was thinking the same thing.  And oddly, in my opinion Halstead is more variable based on the proximity.   When they are near one another or interacting significantly, I find Halstead vastly more annoying.  When they are in separate stories, I sometimes like him whereas Manning still annoys me slightly. 

Also?  Nina the pathologist is adorable and she should be on more. Seriously, I sometimes bristle when a grown woman is referred to as "cute", but Maggie calling her "the cute pathologist" was wholly accurate.  I mean the actress is beautiful and definitely a grown woman, but she is truly adorable.  Colin Donnell is also adorable. They are well matched humans.

I really like Reese.  But there is a limit to how long her stuttering and floundering will remain sympathetic.  I realize this was a particularly hard thing to tell a person; but they've gone to the Reese is socially awkward and timid before having an important insight and/or learning moment a LOT.

Edited October 7, 2016 by RachelKM

[starri]

I'm wondering if I just recognized the actress from Code Black, because although I didn't realize it was the same woman until I read it here, I knew she was trans from the jump.  Maggie has often annoyingly been portrayed as Super-Nurse, and it was kind of a nice change to find out she's not a Mary Sue about everything.  I actually found Denise really appealing as a character, and I kind of hope we see her again.

Natalie doesn't totally annoy me, but she did something I totally hate, and addressed the cousin who was translating instead of the patient.  I'm not totally deaf, but I am hearing-impaired and I've actually corrected people who do that to interpreters.  It's just very rude.

I think Sarah is just adjusting to her new job.  I'm sure she'll find a balance.  They've done such a good job with her character, I don't think they'll totally screw it up now.

[Lady Calypso]

11 hours ago, RachelKM said:

Also?  Nina the pathologist is adorable and she should be on more. Seriously, I sometimes bristle when a grown woman is referred to as "cute", but Maggie calling her "the cute pathologist" was wholly accurate.  I mean the actress is beautiful and definitely a grown woman, but she is truly adorable.  Colin Donnell is also adorable. The are well matched humans.

Agreed. Patti Murin is pretty cute and she's hilarious. I can't believe I've only just started following her on Twitter last month, because she's really funny, insightful, and a great actress to boot. Her and Colin make one hell of a couple. Which is why I'm hoping for at least one scene of Dr. Nina and Connor interacting. 

[Dowel Jones]

On 10/6/2016 at 9:09 PM, rhys said:

Yeah, booksrule, that was odd to have transgender story lines twice in a week.

Is she intended to be a series regular on either show? Both series are out of CBS, so maybe they made a deal with her to avoid some future scheduling issue.  Who knows.  Maybe it was a checkoff list thing for the writers.

[DearEvette]

On 10/6/2016 at 10:48 PM, statsgirl said:

I love Dr. Charles but when Reese failed at delivering the "you and not pregnant" speech, he really needed to take over. 

I was cringing.  LOL.  But it reminded me of an episode of Grey's Anatomy where there was a whole series of scenes of the doctors teaching the students how to give bad news to the family when a patient dies.  They were like "You have to say the word: Died." you can' t say "passed on" or "perished" or anything else like that,  You have to give it to them straight out "your father/mother/sister/brother died".  And then later I was watching a different  show where a student stumbled through telling the family abut the death of an uncle and she used the word "expired" and the family was so baffled.  It was a comedy, but still is made me understand you just need to say stuff right out in these instances.

[tribeca]

Thought they were setting it up for Maggie and Halstead to get together .  Nurse who plays by all the rules.  Doctor who breaks them.   I could go for that.   They seemed to lighten each other up. 

[RachelKM]

On 10/8/2016 at 2:39 PM, tribeca said:

Thought they were setting it up for Maggie and Halstead to get together .  Nurse who plays by all the rules.  Doctor who breaks them.   I could go for that.   They seemed to lighten each other up. 

I've considered this too.  But, despite what I said about almost liking him when he's not in Dr. Manning's orbit, I want better for Maggie than putting up with Halstead in her personal life as well as professional.  The benefit of that relationship would be almost exclusively in his favor.

Edited October 15, 2016 by RachelKM

[statsgirl]

I get an older sister/younger brother vibe from Maggie and Halstead.  While that works in some relationships, I think they both would be be better with someone who was a better match.  I have the feeling that it's going to be long time, unfortunately, before Maggie gets a romantic relationship. She's older and not a stick figure.

I know that Halstead is going to end up with Manning but I actually like him when he's with Dr. Patty.  (Kudos to Dick Wolf or whoever hired Colin Donnell's wife to be on the show.)

How realistic is that video-translator?  In every large hospital I've worked in, you had to put down if you spoke languages other than English and the first go-to was a real life hospital employee.  Maggie immediately went to the translation services.  The video is also something I haven't seen before.  We use telephone, not skype, and while it is old school, it has the benefit that the doctor/nurse is looking at the patient when he/she replies so you can see if there is some non-verbal cue rather than watching the interpreter.

I was shocked that Reese hadn't studied Bowlby before, but that was knocked out by Charles suggesting that Darwin was more important. Huh?  Darwin is interesting when you study biology but Bowlby's attachment theory is ESSENTIAL if you're trying to work out people's relationships with others.

17 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Is she intended to be a series regular on either show? Both series are out of CBS, so maybe they made a deal with her to avoid some future scheduling issue.  Who knows.  Maybe it was a checkoff list thing for the writers.

Code Black is CBS.  Chicago Med is NBC IIRC.  But it's weird how often both shows have similar storylines at the same time.

7 hours ago, DearEvette said:

I was cringing.  LOL.  But it reminded me of an episode of Grey's Anatomy where there was a whole series of scenes of the doctors teaching the students how to give bad news to the family when a patient dies.  They were like "You have to say the word: Died." you can' t say "passed on" or "perished" or anything else like that,  You have to give it to them straight out "your father/mother/sister/brother died".  And then later I was watching a different  show where a student stumbled through telling the family abut the death of an uncle and she used the word "expired" and the family was so baffled.  It was a comedy, but still is made me understand you just need to say stuff right out in these instances.

Too often empathy and how to talk to patients is considered to be a minor part of medical training.  Dr. Robert Buckman developed a whole course for medical students on how to give bad news; it should be taught in more places.

Edited October 8, 2016 by statsgirl

[starri]

27 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

How realistic is that video-translator?  In every large hospital I've worked in, you had to put down if you spoke languages other than English and the first go-to was a real life hospital employee.

Maybe they knew they didn't have someone who spoke Thai.  The most recent hospital I worked at had Russian, Spanish, and Creole pretty readily available, but anything else required some scrambling.

The video translator I'm not so sure about.  Hospitals in our network that don't have a 24/7 psychiatry service (and especially those who don't have child psychiatrists) have patients seen over Skype, but I've never heard of it for a translator.

[Ailianna]

In the court system, if we have people who speak languages that we don't have live translation for, we have a video translation system.

[twoods]

The resident who was openly flirting with with Rhodes was ridiculous. Who does that? She kept giving him google and it was making me sick.

Same with Manning staring dreamily at her med school boyfriend. Get a grip and be professional! 

Poor Sarah.

Edited October 10, 2016 by twoods

[Sake614]

2 hours ago, twoods said:

 

The resident who was openly flirting with with Rhodes was ridiculous. Who does that? She kept giving him google and it was making me sick

 

OMG yes! I thought she was going to screw up in the OR and cause the operation  to go wrong because she was soooo enamored with Connor. 'Oh I always wanted to work with the great Dr but since I can't, now I get to work with the awesome protege! ::swoon::' BARF!

[gaby4ever25]

Quote

OMG yes! I thought she was going to screw up in the OR and cause the operation  to go wrong because she was soooo enamored with Connor. 'Oh I always wanted to work with the great Dr but since I can't, now I get to work with the awesome protege! ::swoon::' BARF!

The best part was Dr Rhodes giving her the "this chick is crazy" look.  He looked uncomfortable and not interested. 

[Chas411]

I think we're going to get Rhodes/Manning at some point although I'd prefer Rhodes/April or Rhodes/Reese. 

[RachelKM]

12 hours ago, Chas411 said:

I think we're going to get Rhodes/Manning at some point although I'd prefer Rhodes/April or Rhodes/Reese. 

I agree with both sentiments, particularly the latter half.  But then I prefer people to Manning.  

[statsgirl]

I think Reese is too young, as in naive, for Rhodes. She's better off with Splendorkable.

They may go Rhodes/Manning as a temporary but I think Manning/Halstead are considered the endgame right now. Poor Halstead.

In real life, I think Rhodes/Maggie might be interesting.

Mods, do we need a relationships thread?

[WendyCR72]

12 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Mods, do we need a relationships thread?

Feel free to start one!

[backformore]

On ‎10‎/‎6‎/‎2016 at 9:48 PM, statsgirl said:

Where do these titles come from?  I have such a hard time relating them to the episode.

When a patient is admitted, you do a "History and Physical"  exam.  They referenced it in the episode as "H&P".   For two patients, when the Physical didn't give answers, the History gave a clue as to what was going on.  One doc advised the other to always go back to the history.  Being at an amusement park on the day of a measles outbreak, a woman having a prostate because she's transgender - both things revealed by getting a complete history.

[spunky]

On 10/8/2016 at 5:39 PM, tribeca said:

Thought they were setting it up for Maggie and Halstead to get together .  Nurse who plays by all the rules.  Doctor who breaks them.   I could go for that.   They seemed to lighten each other up. 

That could work if he wasn't still secretly into Natalie. I could also go for Maggie and Voight getting together.

[TobinAlbers]

It's crazy but I've been digging the potential of Halstead/April and Halstead/Maggie as he works so well with both women. 

[kgg]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to hate-watch this show (I randomly watched it for the first time on Hulu).  I had to check it out on wiki to know it "focuses on the emergency department."  There's no way to tell from watching it, it's so scattered.

My biggest beef was with the "pregnancy" storyline.  First of all, pregnant patient in the ED and something is remotely wrong with her vitals?  They are calling OB/GYN for a consult.  No way an ED physician is going to get an ultrasound to check the baby's growth.  Check for a heartbeat?  Sure.  But not growth.  Second, watching the young doctor (Reece?) bumble through her explanation was freaking painful.  And inappropriate.  Psychiatry spent all of 30 seconds with this woman and *they* are going to break it to her and her husband that she isn't pregnant?  Nope.  

[Chas411]

I was kind of surprised to learn Maggie and Will are close enough that she'd be bringing him to a family gathering.

Whats up with Oliver Platts leg?

[SnarkySheep]

On 11/7/2016 at 2:24 PM, Chas411 said:

I was kind of surprised to learn Maggie and Will are close enough that she'd be bringing him to a family gathering.

I too wondered if we'd get some kind of explanation, e.g. "Thanks for bailing me out! The guy I've been seeing had to work and I hate going to these things alone..." ANYTHING. Because in my experience, you don't typically take a random colleague to a family reunion...