The Chimera
AJ and Conrad head to a correctional facility to treat an inmate. AJ smoothly asks Conrad how he feels about Billie after their dance at Kit and Randolph’s wedding. Conrad doesn’t exactly deny, clarify or answer the question directly.
The patient AJ and Conrad are going to treat at the correctional facility is Janaya’s brother. You may remember her as the nurse who took care of AJ’s mom during her final days. Her brother, Bobby, is incarcerated for murder but Janaya is positive he is innocent even with DNA evidence proving otherwise.
Meanwhile, back at Chastain, Leela and Pravesh are heading to work and Padma is on the phone with her sister. Padma is nervous about letting the new nanny help her but Leela tries to convince her that the nanny is there to help her.
Cade is shown pictures of the wedding and is taken aback by how Conrad was looking at Billie. Hmm! It seems like they have been avoiding the elephant in the room for a while now.
However, Conrad and AJ convince him to undergo the surgery and Bobby is given a few months to live. He is then transferred to Chastain for further care. However, his cancer progresses and he dies in December of 2018.
A lab technician makes a stunning discovery when doing a test on Bobby. They realize that Bobby is a chimera after he got a bone-marrow surgery as a child. The donor of his bone marrow may have been responsible for his criminal past, and he has been in jail for more than a decade for a crime he didn’t commit. Armed with this new information and hope to prove his innocence, Bobby agrees to the surgery and it goes well. ..
Randolph and Kit are set to meet with the new Governor, Betts. Randolph was under the impression that their meeting would be private, but the Governor had other malicious ideas. He invites the press to their meeting and tries to publicly shame Kit, but Randolph steps in and discloses the Governor’s corrupt medical practices in the past. The media goes into a frenzy as the Governor is left speechless and unable to give a concise defence. ..
Governor Betts approaches a new surgery technician, Donald, to spy on Randolph and try to collect dirt on him. Donald squirms his way into Randolph’s OR and he reports to the Governor.
Conrad tells Cade that he has no romantic feelings for Billie and that they only feel close because they both feel the same sense of loss and pain. He tells her that he lost Nic and he is just trying to figure out things as they go. Conrad asks Cade to always be transparent with her and Cade agrees. ..
Later, Conrad and Billie talk about their relationship and they both acknowledge that they are confused. Billie asks him if he is happy with Cade to which Conrad replies he is. Billie says in that case she is no longer confused. Conrad tells her that he wants her to be happy as well and walks away. At the same time, a new doctor James (played by the ever-so-handsome Ian Anthony Dale) approaches Billie and asks her out on a date.
Claire was a patient at the hospital who Pravesh met while working on a case. Claire had kidney stones and Pravesh did a non-invasive surgery to break them down so they could pass. Unfortunately, Claire’s condition got worse and Pravesh called Leela and Randolph to perform surgery and save her. Unfortunately, she died on the surgery table. Donald took this opportunity to tell the Governor that Randolph is responsible for Claire’s death.
The Episode Review
The Resident delivered an interesting hour with lots to unpack. The main takeaway from this episode is that Conrad is lying straight through his teeth when he says he doesn’t have feelings for Billie. This could mean a few things: 1) He knows he is lying to himself and doesn’t care; 2) He really believes he isn’t feeling more for Billie than just friendship; or 3) There is more to the story and we will find out in future episodes. ..
It is frustrating to watch them, especially because we all know Cade deserves better. Conrad is not a bad guy, as far as stand-up guys go, he is the best but he is letting us down. The writers should decide how long they want to drag this storyline or allow us to move on with James. I mean, there is only so much pinning over Conrad that Billie can do! What do you think about James?
The episode opened up the discussion of the current issues in the American healthcare and justice system. The writers did a great job portraying the reality for so many Americans and other people across the world. Governor Bett is a prime example of bad leadership that ends up costing the people.
Governor Randolph should have known better than to air the Governor’s dirty laundry in front of the media, but he had no choice. It will be intriguing to see how this fight will end, hopefully Randolph will come out in one piece.
