S03.E05: Mountains and Molehills

[WendyCR72]

When a young woman with HIV symptoms and no insurance refuses to take the test, Goodwin and Dr. Choi attempt to treat her without taking a toll on the hospital's resources. Natalie and Will try to diagnose a young girl with increasing paralysis. Noah deals with his first death as a resident and takes it upon himself to inform the family. Sarah continues to avoid work as her fear over the hospital's security increases.

[Chas411]

Do Natalie and Will ever work with anyone else?

[Guildford]

2 hours ago, Chas411 said:

Do Natalie and Will ever work with anyone else?

Maybe no-one else can put up with their incompetence, moral grandstanding & the general aura of annoying they exude?

[Netfoot]

Gird your loins; incoming cleptomania and NRA-itis themes ahead!

[Chas411]

19 minutes ago, Guildford said:

Maybe no-one else can put up with their incompetence, moral grandstanding & the general aura of annoying they exude?

It's certainly possible :)

[Lady Calypso]

5 hours ago, Chas411 said:

Do Natalie and Will ever work with anyone else?

I've been asking the same question about Ethan and April. It seems that both couples seem to only work with each other this season. 

So, I've basically missed the last three episodes but decided to tune into this one. I ended up skimming the episode. 

I see Reese is still annoying. I guess, gathering from what I missed since the premiere, that she got attacked by a patient and is now scared for her life? What, is she going to be monstrously stupid and put the pepper spray in her coat while she works? 

Oh look, Connor gets to come down to the ER for once to work with...Noah? Why him, of all people? Connor's barely worked with any of the other characters, and he gets saddled with Noah? How can Noah be giving Connor instructions on if he should be tending to the other patient? 

Will and Natalie still don't irritate me like they have the past two seasons. April and Ethan piss me off more. Wah, wah, all I hear is whining from April and Ethan's no better this season. April sucks the good out of Ethan. 

[RedbirdNelly]

I've noticed the same thing re Natalie and Will. Anyone remember a time where Natalie treated a patient by herself? I don't.

Based on lots of ER-watching experience, it seemed like they gave up on the car accident causing boy quickly. Normally people pound away for 45 minutes or something.

Somehow it was obvious that the paralysis story line would be wrapped up within the episode.

I'm a bit surprised we're sticking with the "Reese is scared of patients" storyline for so long. It's kind of odd. She doesn't look stable at all.

[rhys]

Maggie is absolutely gorg when she is glammed up. Were we supposed to know what the party was for?

[RedbirdNelly]

the other nurse was hosting it but I can't remember if it was birthday or if we were given a reason. I did like it when Maggie told her to pick her chin off the floor. I like Maggie (most of the time). She needs a real story line.

[mysticalflute]

It does seem odd to me that Reese seems to be having more PTSD-ish symptoms than Dr. Charles... you know, the one that got shot and had to go through months of rehab and then a trial for his assailant. I loved Goodwin at the end of the ep with the HIV patient. Was anyone else expecting that the aunt was going to say "I know this isn't the flu and something worse is going on" and not the immigrant thing?

 

Will and Natalie at the end of the episode? Gross.

[marionette]

This show is getting really terrible.  Don't like any of the characters except Latham, sometimes Dr. Charles, Maggie and Sharon.  Will and Manning are so juvenile.  I hate them together, or apart for that matter.  Don't like Choi and April together.  This just ruined their characters that I used to find ok to watch.  Noah is just a waste.  Reese needs to go.  She has too many mental issues to be trying to help others.  On the whole it is getting hard to stay invested when it is so irritating to watch.  We just all sit and criticize everything going on and everyone.  I guess it is a hate watch for the time being.

[RedbirdNelly]

I didn't like Goodwin showing the HIV patients the files since Goodwin was the "we need to comply with HIPAA person"--it didn't make sense to see her violate HIPAA on the same episode. Its not been 50 years since they died so still a HIPAA violation. She should have talked about them on general terms.  But, I realize this is TV so . . .

[HipOldBat]

The character I dislike the most is Reese.  She's supposed to be a psychiatrist but now she's afraid of psychotic patients?  She also doesn't seem to have very much clinical knowledge, and her annoying lack of insight into her own issues makes her uniquely unsuitable to work with, well, anyone really.

A close second on my hate list is Natalie.  Her moralism is unprofessional and off-putting.  Close behind her is Robin, who doesn't even have the brains to do reality checks when it comes to "hearing things" (the episode before this, I was yelling at the TV, "maybe there actually IS something in the ceiling, why don't you just look??"), and now she's shoplifting.  

I just don't care about most of these characters.  I watch because I like medical shows, in general, but this one needs a major character overhaul.

[Texasmom1970]

Ethan you deserve better. If I was dating him it would not be a secret to anyone. I would rent billboards!

[GalvDuck]

On 1/4/2018 at 0:26 PM, RedbirdNelly said:

I didn't like Goodwin showing the HIV patients the files since Goodwin was the "we need to comply with HIPAA person"--it didn't make sense to see her violate HIPAA on the same episode. Its not been 50 years since they died so still a HIPAA violation. She should have talked about them on general terms.  But, I realize this is TV so . . .

Since the patients were from the 80's, back when HIV/AIDS was still new, there's always a remote chance that those patients gave consent for their case studies/photographs to be used for teaching purposes.  I don't remember if she gave first and last names or just first, but case studies often use a first name alone.  I have to admit, the photos were a stretch.  Those aren't necessarily teaching tools unless they were photographs of Karposi's lesions or something similar.

I know somewhere out there in a medical journal is my case study from when I was in an NICU and received an experimental bovine surfactant to treat hyaline membrane syndrome.  I don't know if the article calls me by my first name or "Baby G" or "Infant G" or what.  But, my parents gave their consent for me to be in the trial and for my case study to be submitted for publication.    

[RedbirdNelly]

59 minutes ago, GalvDuck said:

Since the patients were from the 80's, back when HIV/AIDS was still new, there's always a remote chance that those patients gave consent for their case studies/photographs to be used for teaching purposes.  I don't remember if she gave first and last names or just first, but case studies often use a first name alone.  I have to admit, the photos were a stretch.  Those aren't necessarily teaching tools unless they were photographs of Karposi's lesions or something similar.

I know somewhere out there in a medical journal is my case study from when I was in an NICU and received an experimental bovine surfactant to treat hyaline membrane syndrome.  I don't know if the article calls me by my first name or "Baby G" or "Infant G" or what.  But, my parents gave their consent for me to be in the trial and for my case study to be submitted for publication.    

It's possible. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure she gave full names and it looked like full files--not just "here's a write up on John Doe" and the picture is definitely revealing. And she wasn't teaching staff with those. . . so I still call HIPAA issue but it's something I deal with in real life, so I like kicking it around.

[Ailianna]

Is HIPAA retroactive to before it was enacted?

[spunky]

After this episode hopefully Noah has matured, I do have some hope since he wasn't in the party mood after loosing a patient. Can Will and Natalie be any more unprofessional? And can Natalie stand on her own two feet and treat patients without Will holding her hand? Ethan and April have the chemistry of paint drying, writers please stop the madness! Sarah is unraveling due to a series of unfortunate events, first the young doctor commits suicide and she feels guilty for missing the signs, then Dr. Charles who is more of a father figure than her mentor gets shot, then an unstable patient threatened her, and lastly she saw her friend being attacked. Unfortunately most Psychological professionals and Social Workers are great at helping others but horrible at seeking help for themselves.

[SnarkySheep]

I am now really confused about Will's and Natalie's living arrangements. By the way they are going at each other at work, I'd imagine we are to assume Will is still living with his dad. But doesn't Natalie have her own apartment? Even if she is expected at home by a certain time to let Grandma go, can't Will come to her place afterward? Owen is barely two; he's likely long been asleep by then and would have no clue what's going on anyways.

Re: the whole car thing - Considering the frozen tundra that's been Chicago recently, I find it REALLY hard to fathom that they'd be willingly going to make out in a car that wasn't even in a parking garage, just out in the open. And THAT said, with the way the camera panned to the front of the building, it made it seem like Natalie was parked pretty close to the hospital. Did they have no qualms about being seen by someone?

Re: Will's paralysis - Nobody even MENTIONED calling Jay?? For all they knew, Will was about to die. 

(Yes, yes, I know...I'm more worried about the details than the actual people in charge...)

[RedbirdNelly]

On ‎1‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 9:28 AM, Ailianna said:

Is HIPAA retroactive to before it was enacted?

It applies to any info held by a covered entity--regardless of when the info got created. So if the person has been dead for less than 50 years and the hospital has a record, it's covered.

I kind of wish show writers would never get characters pregnant because they always do a horrible job of making the parent's life realistic. It's like that on Grey's. Parent works long hours but never really has a problem going out to eat etc because baby is fine on their own for a week or two. . .

[statsgirl]

Noah telling the mother and brother that the young man was dead was awful.  Sadly it's probably quite realistic but someone should be teaching the interns how to break bad news.  Noah should have told them that it was something no one could have predicted. (Except the doctors who prescribe blood thinners in case this happens.)

On 1/3/2018 at 9:43 AM, Lady Calypso said:

I see Reese is still annoying. I guess, gathering from what I missed since the premiere, that she got attacked by a patient and is now scared for her life? What, is she going to be monstrously stupid and put the pepper spray in her coat while she works?

She didn't get attacked, Dr. Charles did. She's suffering his PTSD for him.

Reese seemed okay for a psychiatric residency when Charles first offered it to her.  But since then she's shown a lack of empathy, a judgemental tendency to jump to conclusions, and now irrational behaviour because of her fears.  Charles needs to sit her down,  fire her from her psychiatric residency and help her find another one. And get her into treatment stat.

[elle]

46 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

She didn't get attacked, Dr. Charles did. She's suffering his PTSD for him.

I think the patient that attacked her was the woman who stole her prescription pads.  She confronted her, there was an altercation in the lobby, the woman was let go then later she found her tires slashed presumably by the patient.

[Netfoot]

8 hours ago, elle said:

I think the patient that attacked her was the woman who stole her prescription pads.  She confronted her, there was an altercation in the lobby, the woman was let go then later she found her tires slashed presumably by the patient.

And when the show is done making Reese out to be whacko, the woman will come back and kill her.  But that's OK because Dr. Paragon Charles will come out of it smelling like a rose.

[cathmed]

I know I'm echoing some of the sentiments of others but my two cents anyway.   I don't know if this show can be resuscitated as it's struggling on life support.   The storylines and characters have become more ridiculous and asinine each week.  Manstead acting like a couple of horny teenagers; it wasn't romantic, sexy, flirty fun or sensual how they acted (car and hospital room); just crass.  Maybe the writers were going with some comic relief which imo, wasn't even remotely funny and failed miserably.  They have zero chemistry!  

Agree that Goodwin violated the HIPPA laws even if they patients died years ago.  It would have been more appreciate if she had just talked about patients who she'd lost and what a waste of life that was instead of the details she provided to the HIV patient.   Reese with her security phobia and PTSD is underwhelming; she's a psychiatrist but doesn't recognize her own symptoms, is in denial and won't speak with anyone--even Dr. Charles who has his own doubts but at least came to his senses (with Goodwin's help).  Further, just no to the "Roah" relationship, e.g., Reese and Noah!).   Choi and April - just stop the madness...and speaking of madness, why would you have a brilliant doctor like Robyn fall into this downward spiral?   I mean, I understand her illness but either move on or write her off--as they did with Natalie's ex--and ship her off to another hospital.   I hate her psychotic and erratic behavior; it's disappointing to the character.   I'm sure this will open the door for Rhodes and the S. African dr. (whose name I can't even recall which shows how much of an interest I have in that relationship "blooming").

I loved S1 but it's becoming increasingly difficult to watch this trainwreck!   I want to love this show again but if things don't change quickly, it's DOA. *sigh*

[Chas411]

Funnily enough it's doing the best out of all Chicago shows.

[statsgirl]

23 hours ago, elle said:

I think the patient that attacked her was the woman who stole her prescription pads.  She confronted her, there was an altercation in the lobby, the woman was let go then later she found her tires slashed presumably by the patient.

Reese's handling of that situation was the sort of thing supervisors show their students as a demonstration of how badly someone can handle a psychiatric evaluation interview. She jumped to conclusions, judged, completely missed that the patient probably has a personality disorder (my guess would be borderline) and then thought that her two second session would take care of the woman's problems.

Reese assumed that her tires had been slashed by the patient but the police told her that a number of tires in the area had been slashed. Maybe we'll find out who is right.

But either way, Reese is a terrible psychiatrist.  Sadly it's realistic, too many graduate who should have been stopped and guided to another specialty.

[starri]

On 1/10/2018 at 0:02 AM, statsgirl said:

Sadly it's probably quite realistic but someone should be teaching the interns how to break bad news.

I had several lectures on it when I was in med school.  You're taught to say things very directly:  "died" and not "passed," for example  We were also required to practice, and were also graded, on an interaction where we had to inform an actor playing a patient that s/he was HIV positive.

I had to do my first death notification on Sunday.  I would like to think I handled it okay, but it was tough.

[statsgirl]

From what I know of you, I think you handled it okay @starri.  I don't think a death notification is ever easy.  Or at least it shouldn't be.

The late Rob Buckman created some programs teaching medical students how to break bad news to patients and relatives because he felt it was so important to do it properly.  I was lucky enough to sit in on some of his sessions with cancer patients and their relatives.  He was an oncologist but those hours were a master class in empathy and understanding. Better than most psychiatrists I've known.