S01.E06: Anthropocene

[Whimsy]

The pressure is on as Max takes on his first annual fundraising gala at the hospital and emotions are high as some of the doctor's families join them for the event. Iggy struggles to break difficult news to his daughter and Bloom and Reynolds continue to deal with the fallout of their argument. Meanwhile, Kapoor and Dr. Sharpe work together to find out what is making a father and son duo so sick.

[LexieLily]

Look, Bloom, you are the one that made the call against protocol and just because the patient lived doesn't make what you did okay. Why does Reynolds have to apologize to you?

[catrice2]

I'm sorry I know it's shallow but I was just distracted the whole episode by Max's wife's terrible makeup and hair. What was that all about?!

I wish they would realize that no one is interested in Bloom and Reynolds. I thank the person before me for even telling me what their names are. I'm hoping they realize their mistake early on and her introducing him to someone else is a way for them to correct that. Alas I know that's wishful thinking.

I always fast-forward through the psychiatrist or whatever he is so I'm assuming that he's gay and his parents don't accept that? And there are three kids but only one at the dinner? 

Clearly they chose to bring the most annoying one.

[doodlebug]

I found it somewhat amazing that the father/son duo arrived at the ER with life threatening infections of unknown cause shortly before the hospital benefit began.  Were not only evaluated and results obtained for a number of infections within an hour or two (amazing lab able to get cultures done in hours instead of days), were then treated for the wrong thing, the son goes into complete renal shutdown and is comatose within minutes of being given the wrong treatment, the team discovers the proper treatment and both father and son have recovered so well that they are both chatting about their next trip together; all in the span of maybe 6 hours.

This is one of the problems I have with these dramas that insist on playing out over the course of a single day.  I don't mind them taking a little dramatic license with the medical details, but anyone whose ever had strep throat knows that even the best antibiotics are not instantaneous.  It would've been far more dramatic, frankly, had this story played out over the course of a number of days as it would have in real life; with multiple docs scratching their heads and trying to figure out the confusing issues rather than showing them working at the speed of light to solve the problem between cocktails and the main course. 

As for what's-her-name, Max' wife; I won't even get into her magical placenta with the teeny tiny feet marching all over her uterus while she was on bedrest unnecessarily.  I don't know if it's the actress or the writing, but she leaves me cold and completely disbelieving that she somehow charmed the billionaire into donating a wad of cash to the hospital.  This is in addition to the fact that this is not how hospital fundraising works when it comes to big donors.  Folks with millions of bucks to spare are not going to be talked into parting with it over dessert; it's a lot more involved process than that.  Hospital fundraisers aim for the mid-level donors; people with a couple hundred to some thousands to donate; the big guns are not courted there.  Also, where was this fundraiser?  In the hospital cafeteria?  Otherwise, I couldn't figure out how they were all running back and forth between the hospital and the banquet all night.

Back to the wife: I think it is mainly the actress who has all the charm and charisma of a stump, I find her annoying in all ways.  If you plan to come to help at the fundraiser, tell your husband, don't just drop in like you're the Queen inspecting the troops.   And, if you have finally manage to forgive your husband for the tremendous offense of working hard; you don't have to act like you're the governor granting a last minute stay of execution.  Also, it is HIS apartment you've been staying at; you apparently moved out, he didn't.  Therefore, inviting him to live with you in HIS apartment is not as big a deal as you seem to think it is.  At least, it looked like she maybe was upset to hear about his cancer.  Then again, maybe she was just devastated at the thought that she might have to do something for him for once.

[doodlebug]

1 minute ago, catrice2 said:

I'm sorry I know it's shallow but I was just distracted the whole episode by Max's wife's terrible makeup and hair. What was that all about?!

I wish they would realize that no one is interested in Bloom and Reynolds. I thank the person before me for even telling me what their names are. I'm hoping they realize their mistake early on and her introducing him to someone else is a way for them to correct that. Alas I know that's wishful thinking.

I always fast-forward through the psychiatrist or whatever he is so I'm assuming that he's gay and his parents don't accept that? And there are three kids but only one at the dinner? 

Clearly they chose to bring the most annoying one.

Yes, the psychiatrist is gay and he and his husband have adopted 3 orphaned siblings from Bangladesh or somewhere.  The little girl wanted to dress up or something and thought the grandparents would be there which is why she came, apparently the brothers don't like to dress up and/or don't like the grandparents.  I like the actor who plays the shrink (not enough to remember the character's name, however), although I think they overplay the cool, doesn't care about the rules, dresses like a slob persona.  However, we've seen this story many times before; older generation rejecting their children's families for being racially, religiously or sexually different.  And it's been done way better than this.  Anyone wanna bet that we'll soon be seeing the shrink's grandparents come around and learn about love and family and adorable grandchildren?  The Hallmark moment will probably happen before the first commercial break on the next episode considering how fast this show runs through this stuff.  It will not only happen at breakneck speed, it won't be done nearly as well as other shows have done it.

Once again, I am also left with the question as to why the grandparents would agree to attend the fundraiser and back out at the last minute.  If they don't have a relationship with their son and his family, why would anyone think they would want to be there?  Also, tickets to those things are usually a couple hundred bucks apiece and, contrary to popular opinion, EVERYONE, including the docs, pays for their ticket.  That being the case, who paid for the tickets that didn't get used by the grandparents and why would they do that?  Why would the shrink tell his little girl the grandparents would be there if he knew they might not come?  So many questions, so little sense.

[Biggie B]

Always glad to see Neelix (the character from 'Voyager,' the guy who was the father of the sick father/son duo, ) still actively working!

I agree with everyone about Max's wife - just awful. There is NO connection between them whatsoever, and she somehow needs to be eliminated from the story line. His cancer is ENOUGH of a personal storyline to keep us occupied. We don't need this nonsense on top of it. I haven't read the book upon which the show is based, so I have no idea how closely, if at all, they are keeping to it, but if the book is merely the basis of the idea of the show, then they totally goofed by introducing the wife. She adds absolutely nothing and it drives me crazy to see how Max loses his dignity and inner strength in her presence. I get that she's carrying their baby - but that just shouldn't have been part of the show at all.

The psychiatrist's husband was VERY good looking. Lucky, lucky Iggy. I did like how Iggy said to his daughter that her grandparents "don't understand our family." I thought was age-appropriate for the daughter and was relatively diplomatic.  

I can't take one more moment of Bloom and Reynolds. I like him but cannot stand her. She needs to be written out along with Max's wife. He can do A LOT better than her, and it has nothing to do with her not being African-American. She's just so damn annoying and brings out the worst in him - another man reduced to a blubbering fool by a woman completely NOT worthy!

I found this a seriously weak episode and didn't even enjoy Dr. Helen that much (she's pretty much the one character I like so far). I've lost patience with the Indian doctor as well but perhaps he'll actually develop a relationship with the coffee lady. Anything to keep him from being such a downer.

That stupid jazzy music between scenes is worse than nails on a chalkboard.

Edited October 31, 2018 by Biggie B

[eel2178]

9 hours ago, doodlebug said:

I found it somewhat amazing that the father/son duo arrived at the ER with life threatening infections of unknown cause shortly before the hospital benefit began.  Were not only evaluated and results obtained for a number of infections within an hour or two (amazing lab able to get cultures done in hours instead of days), were then treated for the wrong thing, the son goes into complete renal shutdown and is comatose within minutes of being given the wrong treatment, the team discovers the proper treatment and both father and son have recovered so well that they are both chatting about their next trip together; all in the span of maybe 6 hours.

 

Not to mention, their entire treatment was done by an oncologist and a neurologist. Why wasn't Infectious Diseases consulted?

[starri]

2 minutes ago, eel2178 said:

Not to mention, their entire treatment was done by an oncologist and a neurologist. Why wasn't Infectious Diseases consulted?

Especially since ER Doc Lady (Bloom?) was apparently overseeing them in the ICU until she peaced out to the gala.

7 hours ago, Biggie B said:

The psychiatrist's husband was VERY good looking. Lucky, lucky Iggy.

I was surprised they let the two of them kiss.  Lucky Tyler Labine getting to peck Mike Doyle on the lips.  I think they said that they have four kids.  The little girl had two brothers and I though they mentioned she had a sister as well.

I liked that Vijay was wearing an achkan instead of a tux.  

Can the wife, like, go away?  Max is clearly going to be Helen's sperm donor, right?

[Dowel Jones]

10 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Also, where was this fundraiser?  In the hospital cafeteria? 

They spent the last fundraiser on a cavernous convention hall one floor up from everything at the hospital.  Or maybe it was one floor down.

If everyone checking in to the Corrections wing of the hospital has to surrender everything in their pockets, why are the CO's walking around inside with guns and such?

That was some might effective defib work.  Two shocks and he's back from asystole.  And no drugs, either. 

16 minutes ago, starri said:

Especially since ER Doc Lady (Bloom?) was apparently overseeing them in the ICU until she peaced out to the gala.

4-5 drinks in and she can still walk and talk without slurring?  I'm impressed.

[txhorns79]

Quote

I was surprised they let the two of them kiss.

Maybe I'm watching different shows, but I don't think it's treated as a big deal anymore when a same sex couple kisses on network tv.  I remember Iggy's husband from his being a tech on SVU until they killed him off forty seven seasons ago.  I like to think that relationship is the same sex equivalent of when a schlubby guy ends up with a hot wife on one of those awful sitcoms. 

The episode was kind of meh.  Why would the head of the cardiology be the one being paged for cardiac emergencies in the prison ward?   Aren't there typically like 30 or 40 people below him who would typically be on that type of duty?  And why wouldn't the big celebrity cancer doctor be attending the fundraiser?  You'd think she'd be a huge draw for people.     

[starri]

1 minute ago, txhorns79 said:

Maybe I'm watching different shows, but I don't think it's treated as a big deal anymore when a same sex couple kisses on network tv.  

I'm just very pessimistic about the whole thing.  TV has come a long way when it comes to female/female couples, but male/male still seems like a rarity.  The CW is probably the most egalitarian about queer content, but even they've had trouble with gay men.

[Biggie B]

I just finished watching tonight's "Empire" episode and there was plenty of kissing between two gay African-American men - and it ended with them getting engaged. And one of them is HIV positive. While this still isn't seen as often as straight characters, I'm glad to see any such characters. Some is better than none! Still a long way to go, of course.

[Texasmom1970]

His storyline with his wife already drags this show down. How boring is it going to be when the baby arrives!

[doodlebug]

4 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

They spent the last fundraiser on a cavernous convention hall one floor up from everything at the hospital.  Or maybe it was one floor down.

If everyone checking in to the Corrections wing of the hospital has to surrender everything in their pockets, why are the CO's walking around inside with guns and such?

Who knew that it was even possible to combine a huge hospital with a party center/ ballroom? Very convenient.

Of course, New Amsterdam is so very special that the guards in the prison ward have easy access to controlled substances as well as the paraphernalia necessary to inject it into prisoners without a doctor’s order nor the actual training or licensure required. In real life, the guard wouldn’t have been fired, she’d have been arrested for assault and possession of a controlled substance.

I trained at a hospital that had a locked ward for prisoners complete with armed prison guards.  I remember we had a prisoner who’d had a massive MI and was comatose on a ventilator with an aortic balloon pump in the ICU. The guards insisted that he be handcuffed to the bed rail with a guard at bedside at all times even after the Director of the ICU told them repeatedly it wasn’t necessary.  The guy never woke up, of course, but remained chained to the bed until he went to the morgue. We used to joke that the guards were scarier than the prisoners.

[eel2178]

21 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

That was some mighty effective defib work.  Two shocks and he's back from asystole.  And no drugs, either. 

 

As I've said before, Hollywood only cares about the drama, not the accuracy. Compressions and defibrillation are more exciting to watch.

[eel2178]

23 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

That was some mighty effective defib work.  Two shocks and he's back from asystole.  And no drugs, either. 

http://www.toolivenurse.com/music/Asystole_128kbps.mp3

Edited November 2, 2018 by eel2178

[IDreamofJoaquin]

They need to pick a different venue for the gala next year.

[LittleIggy]

On 10/31/2018 at 10:10 AM, LexieLily said:

Look, Bloom, you are the one that made the call against protocol and just because the patient lived doesn't make what you did okay. Why does Reynolds have to apologize to you?

I can’t stand Bloom. BTW, not a very good idea for an attending to go to an official event in a dress cut down to her navel and then get drunk.

Iggy and Dr. Kapoor are still my favorites. 

Edited November 4, 2018 by LittleIggy

[LittleIggy]

Ethan Philips (“Neelix”) was on a couple of episodes of “Better Call Saul” this season. I like seeing him, too.

[Danielg342]

So I missed the last few episodes...most of that was dealing with personal issues, but sometimes I wonder if it's the show itself.

I mean, make no mistake- this show is as treacly as they come. It's clearly designed to tug at your heartstrings and bring out the softie in you, with a drama that is incredibly over the top. It's as soapy as a show can get without actually being a soap opera, and it's one that sells and oversells you on "hope" that you are overwhelmed just thinking about it.

Yeah, it's hokey. Campy even. The cynic in me says there's no such world where everything is so hopeful. Not even Scrubs was this hopeful early in its run, and that was a comedy.

Yet, for some reason, it all just works.

I really don't understand it. Maybe it's Ryan Eggold's charm. Maybe it's the acting that actually brings life to the characters and elevates material that's pretty rote.

Case in point- Iggy having to tell his daughter that her grandparents don't approve of his relationship. That's been done so many times before on TV that I had the scene written out in my head before it actually transpired, but Tyler Labine nailed those lines and made them very real.

Then there was Ethan Phillips forced to recite the usual, "you know, I never did tell my son I loved him and I just hope I get a chance to" line, but he was so skillful in making it work that it, well, just worked.

It's performances like these that make this show as watchable and as enjoyable as it is. The question is, can they maintain it?

[zillabreeze]

On 10/31/2018 at 9:35 AM, doodlebug said:

Back to the wife: I think it is mainly the actress who has all the charm and charisma of a stump, I find her annoying in all ways.  If you plan to come to help at the fundraiser, tell your husband, don't just drop in like you're the Queen inspecting the troops.   And, if you have finally manage to forgive your husband for the tremendous offense of working hard; you don't have to act like you're the governor granting a last minute stay of execution.  Also, it is HIS apartment you've been staying at; you apparently moved out, he didn't.  Therefore, inviting him to live with you in HIS apartment is not as big a deal as you seem to think it is.  At least, it looked like she maybe was upset to hear about his cancer.  Then again, maybe she was just devastated at the thought that she might have to do something for him for once.

Thank You!  Well said.  She is the turd in the punchbowl of every scene.   My biggest gripe is that she looks way too long in the tooth to be a "ballerina".  Blech.  Bad character, bad storyline and zero chemistry.