S02.E19: Snowed In

[Bort]

Quote

When Atlanta is struck by a severe snowstorm, Mina must perform a big surgery - without the help of The Raptor - to save the life of a young father, while Kit and Bell get stuck babysitting the man's children. Nic and Conrad experience a disagreement with a patient's treatment, causing further strain in their relationship. Meanwhile, Devon teaches an important lesson about life and death to a first-year med student.

Airdate: Monday, April 1, 2019

[izabella]

Mina was awesome in her solo surgery! 

Would med students in Atlanta be that giddy about snow falling?  That seemed over the top to me.

I have lost track of why and what is happening with Nic and Conrad.

[NowVoyager]

I must be a masochist. I watched this episode through my fingers completely certain they were gonna let those poor kids' father die. The little boy in particular was heart breaking when he cried. 

The storyline with the cancer patient was interesting because DNRs are complicated. My jaw dropped. I didn't see that coming.

Please remind me not to watch next week. If something bad happens to that new born baby or it's mother, I will lose it.

[preeya]

For a few minutes there I thought I was watching Chicago "breaking all the rules" Med.

[Jlina]

Awww….I want a man that will walk through 4 miles of blizzard for me!  And then laugh about it!  One thing they do with Dr. Austin's character is have him be kind of hilariously over the top - and it works.

The DNR hit way too close to home; from personal experience it's so heartbreaking and complicated.  Although the punch line was hilarious.

And the whole time I thought Nic would figure out how much she loved Conrad?!  And instead it looks like she's going to go with "screw you."  ARGH!!

The kids crashing the car was amazing.  And, I cannot think of a single hospital in the world that would've had them asleep on a doctors shoulder.  Show mixes medical reality and heartstring tugs.....in a weird way.

[Madding crowd]

 Nick is starting to bug me. She had no right to go over Conrad to insist this lady have surgery. Nurse practitioner ‘s do a lot but they are not in charge of doctors. Conrad could do better than someone who doesn’t respect him.

Also don’t like Dr Creepy hanging around Nic’s sister. I did like the Raptor trudging through the snow.

[Rap541]

Eh, the old lady telling Bob to go to hell after all the effort to make sure she had that last moment... reminded me of every nasty bitter bitch move ever pulled by elderly members of my family. Funny on a tv show, but too much of a reminder of how my mom intentionally gas lit me and my siblings right at the bitter end. 

Conrad's an ass so I think Nik can do better but she really needs to pick a lane. 

Mina's struggle with Austin gamely trying to rescue her was fun. I liked her affection for the heroic girl.

The rewrite of Bell as a kindly loving man continues....

[Rabithed]

45 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

 Nick is starting to bug me. She had no right to go over Conrad to insist this lady have surgery. Nurse practitioner ‘s do a lot but they are not in charge of doctors. Conrad could do better than someone who doesn’t respect him.

Also don’t like Dr Creepy hanging around Nic’s sister. I did like the Raptor trudging through the snow.

Yeah Nic’s always bugged me in that I’m the only competent nurse here attitude, that “do you need me to help or can I go save the next patient?”. I kept rolling my eyes at her. Why is she always so stressed. Cut your sister out of your life already. I thought hotshot doctor was doing something bad to her sisters meds. 

[Rabithed]

2 hours ago, preeya said:

For a few minutes there I thought I was watching Chicago "breaking all the rules" Med.

Yes I kept checking myself. Of all the medical shows to model they copy Chicago Med??? 😫

[alexvillage]

6 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

 Nick is starting to bug me. She had no right to go over Conrad to insist this lady have surgery. Nurse practitioner ‘s do a lot but they are not in charge of doctors. Conrad could do better than someone who doesn’t respect him.

Haven't watched the episode yet but what show have you been watching? 

Conrad is a resident who thinks he is in charge of attendants, and does't respect anyone, so maybe it is Karma? 

[CarpeFelis]

Did anyone else think the little girl was like a mini-Mina? She seemed like she'd grow up to take charge and not take any crap from anyone, just like Mina.

Nic is gonna give me whiplash. One week she's telling Alec to back off because she loves Conrad, and now "we need to talk"... when she and Conrad were parting ways at the end, his "I love you" sounded a lot more sincere than hers. Between Conrad and Alec, I'm still Team Conrad. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about Alec's attitude just irritates me. Conrad's also far from perfect, but he isn't hitting on someone else's girlfriend (and, as he mentioned, he's no longer getting into fights).

I freaking love Mina and the Raptor. If there were ever a spinoff starring those two I would so be there for that.

The writers seem to be retconning Bell's personality. I can't imagine season 1 HODAD having one minute's patience with little kids. Yelling at the bowling med students was more his style.

And I kinda wanted to smack Erik the vulture watching the surgery and waiting to do the death exam. I hope they don't make him a recurring character, but it looked like he probably will be.

[Madding crowd]

During season one I didn’t like Conrad but this season he has matured and I do like the character now. They also seem to be changing Bell which seems a little weird.

The old Conrad would have been upset when Nic went over his head, but last night he didn’t react. Nic bugs me and I think she holds herself as being above the other nurses and even the doctors.

[Ohwell]

I think the old biddy must have led a pretty sad life when her final joy is telling someone to go to hell.   So I didn't think she was funny; I thought she was sad.

There's something creepy about Alec and I just don't like him.   

[luvapickle]

"Break all the rules" is standard. Or did none of you watch ER ie Dr Ross? Conrad's face at the end made me sad for him. In all the shows I've seen Matt Czuchry in, never seen him have that expression, & I literally felt for him.

[TVForever]

12 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

 Nick is starting to bug me. She had no right to go over Conrad to insist this lady have surgery. Nurse practitioner ‘s do a lot but they are not in charge of doctors. Conrad could do better than someone who doesn’t respect him.

Also don’t like Dr Creepy hanging around Nic’s sister. I did like the Raptor trudging through the snow.

5 hours ago, alexvillage said:

Haven't watched the episode yet but what show have you been watching? 

Conrad is a resident who thinks he is in charge of attendants, and does't respect anyone, so maybe it is Karma? 

3 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

During season one I didn’t like Conrad but this season he has matured and I do like the character now. They also seem to be changing Bell which seems a little weird.

The old Conrad would have been upset when Nic went over his head, but last night he didn’t react. Nic bugs me and I think she holds herself as being above the other nurses and even the doctors.

Both Nic and Conrad act like they're the only ones who know medicine, and all the other MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS in the hospital are just there to follow their orders.

When Nic asked Conrad if he was pulling rank during their discussion on treating the cancer patient, all I could think was, "Yes, you arrogant girl. That's what rank means. Everyone gets to have an opinion, but at the end of the discussion, one person gets to make the final decision. In your personal relationship, you can go back and forth all day. In your professional relationship, sorry, but Conrad outranks you. If you want to change that, go get your MD." I find myself yelling the same thing at Chicago Med when Dr Choi is continuously justifying his decisions to Nurse April (I just realized I don't even know her last name).

By the way, please don't let Alec turn out to be 'evil". Let him get over his crush on Nic and just be another hotshot doc on staff with different girlfriend. Or none at all. He and Conrad could become frenemies who have a begrudging respect for each other's abilities, without Nic being any part of that equation. I could work with that.

Edited April 2, 2019 by TVForever

[Lemur]

We seem to be cycling though old ER storylines rather quickly - junkie sister, hemorrhagic fever, blizzard.  I wonder how long before Bell loses an air to his medivac copter?  Or are they saving that for the big season opener? Maybe we're teeing up the "child born with disability" storyline?

[Driad]

Here, when a blizzard is on its way, many hospital employees go in early, planning to spend several days working there if necessary.  For example, a real-world "Raptor" might go in before the snow begins. The news sometimes shows rooms full of cots and truckloads of supplies. Many medical dramas have blizzard episodes but I don't recall seeing much about the preparations. Of course there is more drama if they don't prepare. [/snark]

[alexvillage]

3 hours ago, Lemur said:

We seem to be cycling though old ER storylines rather quickly - junkie sister, hemorrhagic fever, blizzard.  I wonder how long before Bell loses an air to his medivac copter?  Or are they saving that for the big season opener? Maybe we're teeing up the "child born with disability" storyline?

I guess this happens to pretty much all hospital shows. 

[Mellowyellow]

Oh Raptor you walked 4 miles for Mina you soppy romantic you!!!!! I adored that they had already established his romantic side in the Valentine's Day episode.

I loved everything about this storyline. His walk, her nailing it and then him not being needed but happily congratulating her. It was all so romantic but ultra supportive (which imo is a much more important building block for a relationship than romance itself) and made me sooooooo happy to watch. 

They haven't explained Bell getting rid of his shakes but I still thought he was very in character this episode. He wasn't thrilled by the kids but we've seen that he does have a softer side and he was still kinda wary of them and slightly uncomfortable which to me is in character. 

He also made sure the lady's surgery was paid for before operating. 

I like what they are doing with Bell. I feel it's interesting for them to show how his friendship with Kit pushes him to be more decent.

In s1 he was a lone wolf and then paired up with evil Lane. After the events of S1 he's been thrown into the "team" more and it's interesting to see the changes this has brought about and whether he will revert at any point because he is still Bell and you never know with Bell. 

Curious and worried to see where Nic and Conrad are headed. Aside from the Devon/Julian debacle the show hasn't failed me so I'm really hoping they'll 

Edited April 2, 2019 by Mellowyellow

[meatball77]

22 hours ago, izabella said:

Mina was awesome in her solo surgery! 

Would med students in Atlanta be that giddy about snow falling?  That seemed over the top to me.

I have lost track of why and what is happening with Nic and Conrad.

In Atlanta?  Yes.  It snows enough to actually accumulate only every several years so everyone gets excited.

[cathmed]

The previews for this episode seemed much more frantic than it actually was for me. but anyway....

The things you do for love!   Walk 4 miles in a snowstorm with almost frostbitten fingers - yeah, he really likes her!   Raptor arrives to "save the day" but majestic, masterful Mena already did--and he had the utmost confidence in her abilities (that she would succeed anyway)--loved it!!  Love their banter and respect for each other!

Bell's reluctance to engage with the kids, i.e., was that to show his reluctance/hesitancy on interacting?  was that to be sweet, touching and heartwarming?   Please get rid of this saccharine Bell and bring bring back the villainous Bell!

Hospice patient finally had her say, 30 years later; not what I expected and really, that's what you've been waiting to say--to the love of your life, who yeah, broke your heart--on your death bed?  Bittersweet??

Lastly, I'm with some of the other posters:  WTH is going on with Connic?   Does she want to be with Conrad or not?  And wasn't it last week's episode that she informed Alec they needed to keep it professional, that she was in love with Conrad?   What happen ed to change those feelings?  I thought they were passed this dilemma or had discussed it--even if "off screen"--but guess not.   She's started to tick me off!   Let's hope they (writers) don't drag out this scenario too long.

Edited April 3, 2019 by cathmed

[alexvillage]

Nic: I made a decision!

Anyone who cares about professional ethics: you are fired!

This show: Awww, nurse cares so much about this lady who knows exactly what she wants...Let's give the episode an awesome ending so people forget what a crap nurse Nic is.

In a very personal level,  and way beyond TV land expectations: what Nic did, on the surface, can generate anger, disbelief, or maybe no feelings at all. They did try to redeem her by having the old lady being spunky, it probably made everyone grin. But think about it: a nurse made a decision that that woman should live, despite a legal document stating that nobody had the right to keep her alive. She was put on a ventilator, FFS! Whoever makes this type of decision, can also make the opposite of that. If Nic believes that her decisions are for a "greater good" and based on how "humane" she feels, she could also make the decision of allowing someone to die, based on her beliefs and her feelings about the type of life the person lives, or how the person wants to spend the rest of their days.

I see this happening with disabled people way to often to avoid such thoughts, to just go with the story. I have seen doctors and interns telling disabled people to simply deny treatment and die, I have seen disabled people being outright denied treatment because of "too many complications already", so they will die anyway (in this particular case the disabled person was denied treatment, wants to keep living, keeps going to the ER every week, basically). And of course, disabled people are denied organ transplants because of intellectual or developmental disability all the time - even when the donor is a living relative. Not to mention the euthanasia that already happens in the name of "dignity" and "right to die" - when the person is disabled and deemed incompetent they don't have choices and people are being killed by families and doctors, with the praise of judges.

I think this type of writing, supposed to be heartwarming (maybe?) is at best, unthoughtful, and at worst, dangerous. It also makes nurses look really bad. I like nurses, my experience with them are about 80%  positive.

[sempervivum]

14 hours ago, cathmed said:

Hospice patient finally had her say, 30 years later; not what I expected and really, that's what you've been waiting to say--to the love of your life, who yeah, broke your heart--on your death bed?

This didn't sit well with me, at all. The old boyfriend traveled at his own expense, waiting through a snowstorm, to say goodbye- and the woman tells him 'go to hell'?? I would have used The Closer's great response: You First!

[Ohwell]

I'm glad that the old boyfriend didn't break down and cry when she told him to go to hell.  I don't think she hurt him like she wanted to; she just goes to hospice as a bitter old dying woman.   

[Risky Librarian]

And this week, The Raptor walks four miles in a snowstorm. The man is HOOKED. He had every confidence in her, he knew she could handle it, and he made that walk anyway. Hell, at this point, if she don't want him, I'LL take him! XD

I honestly thought that was it for Nic and Conrad. Professionally undermining him, going over his head when he made the right (and legal) choice for his patient? If that had gone sideways, Bell's ass would have been the one on the line, but Conrad might still have had some legal hassle. That's not cool. Have that argument at home, but at work? Not cute. Not cute at all. The staging of their last conversation was the absolute visual metaphor of doom as they turned and walked away from one another. They are absolutely going in separate directions right now. Love or hate Conrad, he HAS put in a substantial effort to not be the same old angry, closed-off guy that turned Nic off before, and she doesn't seem to want that either. She likes the drama. She likes the project. She likes to be the voice of common sense. Not even necessarily because she genuinely likes it, but because that's been her life and she's incredibly comfortable with that kind of dysfunction. I kind of hope that someone gently suggests that she talk to someone about that. I also kinda hope that said person is, say, Mina as opposed to Stalker Doc. 

(Speaking of Stalker Doc, the sooner he and his RV flip over 172 times and explode, the happier I'll be. Creeeee-pee.)

The cancer patient was sad. That's a long time to hold a grudge, to nurse a bitter heart. I award that resolution one big ol' yike. 

On 4/2/2019 at 8:14 AM, CarpeFelis said:

And I kinda wanted to smack Erik the vulture watching the surgery and waiting to do the death exam.

No doubt. I have known people like that. I actually really liked the way Devon handled it. "Fine, kid, you wanna know? You're gonna KNOW." I wouldn't be at all shocked to learn that Devon was similar in the beginning of his medical education and had someone give him the same sort of metaphorical smack. 

[Rap541]

On 4/2/2019 at 6:49 AM, Ohwell said:

There's something creepy about Alec and I just don't like him.   

He's clearly a secret serial rapist. Also, despite the vetting of his resume? I am sure we will found out in the season finale that he's not even a high school graduate. 🙂

This show is predictable. 

[MoreCoffeePlease]

Nic was really annoying. I was proud of Conrad staying so cool and calm in the discussion about the DNR and her saying "Are you pulling rank?!?"

He needs to dump her and find someone who wants to have his cute little babies and "raise chickens" together.

I like the saccharine Bell. Bruce Greenwood is awesome no matter how they are writing the character.

[Ohwell]

I think that Nic is somehow fascinated with Alec (I don't know why), so she should leave Conrad alone and just have Alec scratch her itch, because that's clearly what she wants. 

[leighdear]

On 4/2/2019 at 8:49 AM, Ohwell said:

I think the old biddy must have led a pretty sad life when her final joy is telling someone to go to hell.   So I didn't think she was funny; I thought she was sad.

Seriously.  How incredible could that dude have been?  And she wanted to spend her last moments in life with an asshat who probably would have eventually treated her like crap?  If he left her, then he was a tool.  Idiots. 

I just don't get the Mina we're seeing now.  She's got this whole "Austin is a GOD" mentality, (and has even said it outright), totally panicked when he wasn't right there beside her, him having to keep building her up for her to function.  That kind of hero worship coming from her is so at odds with the tough, take-no-prisoners Mina in the first episodes.  She's gone wuss compared to her attitude before he arrived. 

And they need to quit trying to make Raptor happen.

I'm getting annoyed with all of them.  Conrad's "I love you" to Nic sounded very tentative and questioning to me.  As in "Are you about to dump me?".  Her reply wasn't very convincing.  

[Ohwell]

12 minutes ago, leighdear said:

Seriously.  How incredible could that dude have been?  And she wanted to spend her last moments in life with an asshat who probably would have eventually treated her like crap?  If he left her, then he was a tool.  Idiots. 

In fairness though, we don't even know that he was an asshat; we only got her version of the story.  

[Lemur]

14 hours ago, Ohwell said:

In fairness though, we don't even know that he was an asshat; we only got her version of the story.  

That, and he hit on Nic the moment she walked up to him.  And seemed shallow AF on the walk over to the old biddie.  They very subtly hinted that he was a womanizing cad.

Alec annoys me.  I can't wait until he end up working at Mandyville Memorial with Jude.  

I also can't wait until Bell gets all settled into his psuedo-relationship with Kitt and the whole arrested-for-solicitation-but-didn't-self-report thing comes back to bite him in the ass.  They've swung him too far toward likable.

[Ohwell]

25 minutes ago, Lemur said:

That, and he hit on Nic the moment she walked up to him.  And seemed shallow AF on the walk over to the old biddie.  They very subtly hinted that he was a womanizing cad.

Yeah, I could tell from his reaction to Nic, that in his younger days he was a player and probably wouldn't have been a good match for the old biddy anyway.  However, he did travel in a blizzard to see her, which is why the "go to hell" comment was unwarranted.  That would have been the perfect time for them to mend fences instead.  Sure, she seemed jubilant right after she said it, but afterwards she might be thinking he's getting on with his life while she sits in hospice and stews in her own juice. 

[MaggieG]

I actually giggled a few times this episode. When Austin was on the phone with the nurse and he went trough his whole spiel about wading through the storm and she just rolled her eyes.

Also, when Bell yelled at the attendees when they were "bowling". He walked by and one of them zooms by on an IV drip, "I'm just putting it back!"

Ironically, this year Atlanta got no snow

[Giuseppe]

I felt like they went overboard with the blizzard. It NEVER snows like that in Atlanta, and it didn't really seem to serve any huge purpose except to make Dr. Austin's 4 mile trek to the hospital all the more dramatic. But I think they could've accomplished that with just a normal snowfall piling up 3 or 4 inches. Hell, Atlanta shuts down with just an INCH of snow, so all the storylines still would have worked. But I'm just being picky, haha. Blizzards make for better TV I guess.

I thought at first that the kids were going to have had something to do with their dad's predicament. Glad I was wrong. I must have missed it though...how did he end up frozen in the snow?

[SnarkySheep]

I have no idea how much someone like Kit would be earning...but presumably it's way too much to have her babysitting a patient's kids for hours, especially when the hospital is short-staffed. If anyone, why not have the med students watch them?

And does Nic have the leisure to watch a patient's surgery during her shift? Doesn't she have other patients?

Finally, was anyone else disappointed that they never really explained how Eva and Eli's dad got so frozen in the first place? Was he outside overnight or something? Because the condition he was in doesn't just happen regularly. And why didn't Eva just call an ambulance??

[Ohwell]

2 hours ago, SnarkySheep said:

Finally, was anyone else disappointed that they never really explained how Eva and Eli's dad got so frozen in the first place? Was he outside overnight or something? Because the condition he was in doesn't just happen regularly. And why didn't Eva just call an ambulance??

I wondered about those questions myself, especially how he got frozen in the first place.  Regarding not calling an ambulance, my guess is she figured they wouldn't be able to get there in time in a blizzard and it would be faster for her to drive.  Bad idea, and she was lucky she didn't have an accident and kill both her and her brother, but that's all I could come up with.  

Also, maybe I wasn't paying attention (I do that a lot, lol) but what did they say about the mother?

[alexvillage]

On 4/3/2019 at 7:12 PM, leighdear said:

I just don't get the Mina we're seeing now.  She's got this whole "Austin is a GOD" mentality, (and has even said it outright), totally panicked when he wasn't right there beside her, him having to keep building her up for her to function.  That kind of hero worship coming from her is so at odds with the tough, take-no-prisoners Mina in the first episodes.  She's gone wuss compared to her attitude before he arrived. 

Maybe the writers thought they needed to bing back the patriarchy. 

[SnarkySheep]

On 4/8/2019 at 3:09 PM, Ohwell said:

Also, maybe I wasn't paying attention (I do that a lot, lol) but what did they say about the mother?

The kids said "the judge" said they couldn't see her, implying some kind of abuse or neglect on her end.

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, SnarkySheep said:

The kids said "the judge" said they couldn't see her, implying some kind of abuse or neglect on her end.

Ok, thanks