What do you do when you're a medical show and you need a big season ender? Hospitalize a Senator, a Governor and their families, and then say "Guys, have at it."
An explosion in the middle of a Presidential debate causes chaos at Angels Memorial, to the point where we get time codes on the screen as patients roll in. Once the initial "oh my God all these things are happening" passes, Code Black actually gets us into the treatment of all of the victims - including the janitor. It would have been too easy to make this episode all about the VIP's, but the script makes sure we know that this was a crisis that affected more than just the politicians.
At the same time, it does what has set this show apart from the pack – shine a light on the issues that surround the practice of medicine. In this episode we see how outside pressures try to impact medical decision-making. Does Neal choose which patient to take to surgery because one is a politician's wife and the other isn't? Would Campbell allow Neal to scrub into that surgery and not assist his own if his patient wasn't a VIP? Their choices are worthy of being second- guessed, and there's a great scene where Neal does just that after finding out that the janitor died.
Speaking from an audience perspective, you probably knew not everyone was going to make it just by the sheer fact that this is a season finale. There are a total of three on-screen deaths here - one candidate, the other's wife and the janitor - and they all get equal weight in the script, if not from the characters themselves. For all the stuff that "Blood Sport" throws at the doctors this week, it also sorts it all out by the end to where we feel like we've gone through the shift with the main characters. Is it a novel concept? No, but is it an adrenaline rush? Definitely.
Then there are the subplots that need to be resolved. It's been a while since Heather got Angus hooked on Adderall (she says she gave him more pills "three weeks ago"), which is enough time for Savetti to recognize that he's on something. A further lapse in judgment has Rorish calling him on the carpet, for the 20 seconds she can spare between cases. It's so weird to see Angus being a tool in this episode since Angus is usually so adorable, but at least he comes to his senses by the end. The last scene between Angus and Mike just reaffirms that we need to keep both Leighton brothers around.
And here's the first time I've ever been on Team Campbell. He's found out that Heather has been using his prescribing information to cut people pills, and he burns her in public, in an OR without even having to stop his procedure. Does she learn from this? Nope. Instead, she plans to blackmail him with photos from their affair. This is the only part of this episode that is just beyond frustrating.
Meanwhile, Jesse is starting to plot a nurses' strike, so Gina's predecessor Mark Taylor (Kevin Dunn) comes back at Leanne's request to try and find enough money in the budget to stop it. With his help, Leanne comes up with a solution for Harbert (Jeff Hephner), whom I love in this episode for telling the Secret Service guy to shut up and defer to Dr. Rorish. Again, it's another moment when he could've been a bureaucratic jerk and he's thinking like a doctor. Plus, note the final scene where he's actually on the hospital floor and not in his office.
This is a strong piece of storytelling that makes good use of all the major players and that open-ended conclusion gives the audience that sense that Angels Memorial is going to go on, whether we're there or not. We don't think about how hard it is to write finales when you don't know if the show is coming back, and this one pulled it off almost perfectly.
An explosion in the middle of a Presidential debate causes chaos at Angels Memorial, to the point where we get time codes on the screen as patients roll in. Once the initial "oh my God all these things are happening" passes, Code Black actually gets us into the treatment of all of the victims - including the janitor. It would have been too easy to make this episode all about the VIP's, but the script makes sure we know that this was a crisis that affected more than just the politicians.
At the same time, it does what has set this show apart from the pack – shine a light on the issues that surround the practice of medicine. In this episode we see how outside pressures try to impact medical decision-making. Does Neal choose which patient to take to surgery because one is a politician's wife and the other isn't? Would Campbell allow Neal to scrub into that surgery and not assist his own if his patient wasn't a VIP? Their choices are worthy of being second- guessed, and there's a great scene where Neal does just that after finding out that the janitor died.
Speaking from an audience perspective, you probably knew not everyone was going to make it just by the sheer fact that this is a season finale. There are a total of three on-screen deaths here - one candidate, the other's wife and the janitor - and they all get equal weight in the script, if not from the characters themselves. For all the stuff that "Blood Sport" throws at the doctors this week, it also sorts it all out by the end to where we feel like we've gone through the shift with the main characters. Is it a novel concept? No, but is it an adrenaline rush? Definitely.
Then there are the subplots that need to be resolved. It's been a while since Heather got Angus hooked on Adderall (she says she gave him more pills "three weeks ago"), which is enough time for Savetti to recognize that he's on something. A further lapse in judgment has Rorish calling him on the carpet, for the 20 seconds she can spare between cases. It's so weird to see Angus being a tool in this episode since Angus is usually so adorable, but at least he comes to his senses by the end. The last scene between Angus and Mike just reaffirms that we need to keep both Leighton brothers around.
And here's the first time I've ever been on Team Campbell. He's found out that Heather has been using his prescribing information to cut people pills, and he burns her in public, in an OR without even having to stop his procedure. Does she learn from this? Nope. Instead, she plans to blackmail him with photos from their affair. This is the only part of this episode that is just beyond frustrating.
Meanwhile, Jesse is starting to plot a nurses' strike, so Gina's predecessor Mark Taylor (Kevin Dunn) comes back at Leanne's request to try and find enough money in the budget to stop it. With his help, Leanne comes up with a solution for Harbert (Jeff Hephner), whom I love in this episode for telling the Secret Service guy to shut up and defer to Dr. Rorish. Again, it's another moment when he could've been a bureaucratic jerk and he's thinking like a doctor. Plus, note the final scene where he's actually on the hospital floor and not in his office.
This is a strong piece of storytelling that makes good use of all the major players and that open-ended conclusion gives the audience that sense that Angels Memorial is going to go on, whether we're there or not. We don't think about how hard it is to write finales when you don't know if the show is coming back, and this one pulled it off almost perfectly.
