The Resident Season 5 Episode 12 review: Chastain’s got a kid struck by lightning and a woman with BMI over 50

3.5/5

Story: A tow-truck driver chances upon a child, who was soaking wet in the rain and appeared to be in need of help. His instant reaction was to get her to the safety of a hospital, where, as luck would have it, he runs into Conrad. The child, though, doesn’t speak a word and appears to be a victim of abuse. Pravesh and Devi’s shopping trip is cut short when they have to hurry the designer of the kicks he was eyeing to the ER, following trouble breathing and a racing pulse. Meanwhile, Dr Bell’s plan to get on to the State Medical Board hits a roadblock of sorts, because he is up against stiff competition. He turns to Dr Sutton to write him a recommendation, but when she realised who his competition is, Dr Robert Porter, she decides it’s time to finally speak up about the childhood sexual abuse she suffered at his hands.

Review: Apparently, Dr Conrad Hawkins works best when the cases presented to him hit close to home. Last week, it was a race to save Nic’s heart and its recipient, while this time around he can’t tear himself away from a minor Jane Doe, who has injuries consistent with abuse, besides being apparently struck by lightning, which is causing some serious issues. With no idea about who the child is or where she is from, Conrad and Dr Sullivan are given charge of her, with Chastain allowed emergency guardianship. And with no sign of her infection getting better, it looks like Dr Voss may have to amputate the little one’s leg below the knee. Can they avoid it after all?

After the stand-off with Dr Austin over not letting his mother Charlotte into a clinical trial for her cancer, Dr Pravesh has to enlist the former’s help for a patient he encounters on a shopping trip. Turns out that he’s been eyeing a killer pair of designer kicks that had him even waiting patiently in queue for a chance to own them. At the store, he meets the designer, Roxie, who appeared to be in some form of distress that required medical attention. Problem is, Roxie is a large woman, so the amount of soft tissue on her makes it difficult to get a proper diagnosis – paramedics can’t get a vein, regular BP cuffs don’t fit her, and she can’t get a CT because of the weight threshold. Called in for a consult, AJ doesn’t see reason in beating around the bush and addresses her ‘obesity’ right away. After the initial shock of AJ’s direct approach, Roxie eventually warms up to him, opening up on her struggle to lose weight, the years of dieting, working out and finally resorting to forced purging, which has now perforated her oesophagus. It’s a masterstroke of writing in a sense, as the makers address issues with being overweight, but also bodyshaming and how, often women do not get the results they hope for from traditional weight loss methods owing to hormones, metabolism, genetics, etc., as well as the dangers of bulimia - many birds with one stone.

Last week was also about the devastating diagnosis Dr Bell got – he’s got MS and he doesn’t want to be in an OR or at Chastain again. But Kit is determined to help him fight and it appears that his treatment protocol is working well for him. So, it looks like Dr Bell will be around for a while longer. But he’s got other plans – he wants a spot on the state medical board. He’s got stiff competition, though, in the form of Dr Robert Porter, a well-connected orthopaedic practitioner. Strangely enough, instead of going to Kit, Dr Bell asks Dr Sutton to write him a recommendation, which she agrees to readily when she realizes who he is up against. It’s the man who raped her when she was still a minor and she wants to bring him to task finally. Although she confides in Kit and gets her to get the medical board Lt General to agree for a concealed testimony, Kit reminds her that it’s going to be her word against that of Dr Porter, a fight that is not going to be easy. So, now we know who Trevor’s father is, but by the looks of it, Dr Sutton does not want the whole world to know that she had a child as a result of the rape, especially not Trevor.

Verdict: According to reports, Season 5 of The Resident will get a full 23-episode run, so we are about mid-way now and it looks like the writers have a lot of twists and plot points to explore. There’s still very little that we know about the new ER specialist Dr Sullivan and going by the interest she took in little Jane Doe’s case, that’s going to be a rocky patch, we think. Overall, an interesting episode, though, right?