Top-rated
Wed, Mar 9, 2011
Gabriel Monroe,blunt neurosurgeon at St. Matthew's hospital,is not noted for courtesy to colleagues,of whom only heart surgeon Jenny Bremner stands up to him. Bank clerk Alison Bannister has a brain tumour,currently mild but lethal if left for too long. However there is an outside chance of side effects if operated on and Monroe mixes honesty and flippancy in persuading Alison and husband Lee of the need for surgery. When Alison slips briefly into a post-op coma a distraught Lee turns on Monroe but shows contrition when she successfully recovers and Monroe tells him that his own daughter died on the operating table. After taking their son Nick to university Monroe's wife Anna announces that she is leaving him,citing an affair he has six years earlier.Monroe also tells his pushy junior Daniel Springer that he reckons he is not cut out for neurosurgery.
Top-rated
Wed, Mar 16, 2011
Monroe operates on 14-year old James Chadwick,who shot himself in the head after shooting his brother Danny,a patient of Jenny. The boys' parents are separated,the father aggressive and demanding,the mother grateful and pious,putting prayers for successful operations in the hospital chapel. She bonds with Jenny who explains that she must be objective and not sentimental in her work. Quizzed by Monroe James admits that the gun was given him by his father to protect his mother and brother as they live in a rough area and its discharge was an accident. Both boys pull through and no charges are made. Nick tries top reconcile his parents but the attempt is a failure and when Monroe tells him that he had had an affair it alienates the boy from his father.
Top-rated
Wed, Mar 23, 2011
Young ex-soldier David Foster is admitted with a blood clot caused when he fell off a wall whilst stoned. Monroe decides against surgery as he feels the clot could disappear but David's parents are anxious for an operation. David himself,unmarried and unoptimistic about his future,has no opinions and is not keen to see his parents. Jenny surprises her team by deciding to operate on Judith,a very elderly patient though the outcome is uncertain. Monroe and Jenny trade insecurities as they stay up all night but David's clot disappears and he is reconciled with his parents whilst Judith's operation appears to be a success. Monroe enjoys taunting Springer,who has temporarily lost a patient, but is drawn to Tatiana,an Eastern European biochemist now working as a hospital tea lady.
Top-rated
Wed, Mar 30, 2011
After spending the night with Tatiana, Monroe meets Brendan,a middle-aged family man whose tumour is giving him epileptic fits. Supported by his teen-aged daughter Phoebe,Brendan believes that the fits bring him closer to God though he eventually agrees to surgery,to Phoebe's dismay. However Springer has his doubts as to the operation's success. Jenny has two very different patients,James,an orphan with Downs' Syndrome and cocky ladies' man Alex though they hit it off through their mutual love of computer games. Jenny and Laurence do not thank Monroe for gloating over the collapse of their affair but at least they give it another go whereas all he has is his poker club,having been accused by Anna of finding a new partner too soon and by Tatiana of using her to hit out at his wife.
Top-rated
Wed, Apr 6, 2011
Sally Fortune,one of Monroe's team,collapses during an operation and is revealed to have a life-threatening aneurysm requiring immediate surgery. It is successful and even brings Monroe closer to Springer. Nick believes his father should fight harder to save his marriage, which leads to their also becoming closer. Mullery rejoices at sally's recovery whilst Jenny and Lawrence agree to carry on their relationship.
Top-rated
Wed, Apr 13, 2011
Laurence surprises Monroe with the news that he is thinking of leaving to work elsewhere but changes his mind after a talk with Jenny,where she tells him why she shies away from relationships. Despite their nerves and some subterfuge on the part of some of them the trainees all pass their evaluations but there is bad news when thirteen year old Natasha Fraser is admitted with brain damage after a car accident and Monroe,after an unsuccessful operation,has to turn off her life support machine. It brings back memories of his own daughter's death and provides a shared moment with Anna,making the divorce less painful.