And the moment we’ve dreaded is finally here, maybe.
The end of The Resident Season 5 Episode 2, the second part of what should’ve been a two-hour premiere, thank you very much, showed the cops informing Conrad and sweet baby Gigi that there’s been an accident.
Yes, we have to wait until the third episode to get more information about that and perhaps an answer to what’s going on with Nic.
Conrad’s playing with sweet Gigi, doing that adorable flying thing that dads do as he headed to the door — not considering that his wife wouldn’t ring the doorbell to their home at night when an infant resides there — it elicited a mix of emotions.
And the camera panning past that happy CoNic wedding photo didn’t help matters at all.
The pain is coming, and we need to get on with it already. With respect to whatever they may or may not have had to shift around to adapt to this news, it’s the not knowing that makes us an impatient and antsy bunch.
Given how the hour played out, you knew it would be the cliffhanger, and yet it still didn’t prevent the clenching of fists when the time came for the blurry-looking officer to utter that line before the gosh damn credits rolled.
But alas, we had other things to attend to during the hour, including the rescue of Devon and Winston.
As predicted, Leela was the first one to show concern when she never heard back from Devon, and while the others were initially assuming he fell asleep in an on-call room somewhere, her quick mind went to the darker places.
Conrad Hawkins, there’s been an accident.
Police officer
But thanks to Yancy responding to Kit’s complaint about the elevator, they wheeled Devon, who made it up to the roof floor, into the ER and got to work on him.
We all knew Devon wasn’t going to die during this installment. They’ve already lost too many characters, and Devon and Leela are the only other couple outside of Kit and Bell serving us the good romance (I refuse to acknowledge whatever could go on with Billie and AJ).
But it was still stressful as hell to see Devon still looking as handsome as a Disney Prince, lying on the gurney like Sleeping Beauty. Why is this entire cast so hot? Sorry.
He was seizing, coughing up foamy blood, and he couldn’t remember anything. He had the others nervous for a bit there, and it was sweet when he and Conrad shared their little moment where Conrad expressed how glad he was Devon didn’t die.
Their bromance warms the cockles of this cold heart.
Fortunately, some of the ludicrousness of this plot got addressed. We learned that Devon was in the elevator and on the rooftop floor because he went to get help and smashed the wrong button, and he was lightheaded and hit his head before collapsing in the elevator car.
Maybe he regained consciousness long enough to crawl out of the elevator a little before passing out again, and that’s why he was hanging out of the elevator.
And Winston survived an even longer period inhaling Hydrogen Sulfide because a heroic Devon hit the ventilation before he left the room, so that’s the only reason sweet Winston wasn’t dead.
And the reason Conrad managed to drag Winston out at all and without passing out is Conrad must have better upper body strength as a veteran. Also, he’s Conrad — the lingering fumes refused to attack him, and also the ventilation helped.
But it’s still bizarre as hell that everyone in radiology just disappeared without reporting that everyone was feeling sick, and they left Winston there before they left. Also, it’s odd that no one else went down to radiology and casting in the entire time it took Conrad and Kit to retrace Devon’s steps.
But somehow, that nurser or orderly was around just in time to hear Conrad call for help. What in the ghost town is up with that place?
The “W” of the hour was that Winston survived, and he was as wholesome, and understanding, and precious as ever.
It would’ve been devastating if something happened to him, especially after that tragic case from The Resident Season 5 Episode 1, to which there was no other mention of at all.
Conrad: If your breathing gets worse, you can tell me right away.
Leela: He can tell me. I’m not leaving his side until he walks out of this hospital. Probably not then either.
And this scare prompted Leela to express her feelings on a deeper level when she professed she would not only (avoid her shift?) stay by Devon’s bedside the whole time, but also forever?
It won’t be a surprise if we get a Devon and Leela engagement by midseason, and hell, maybe a full-blown wedding that he goes forward with by the end of the season.
But for now, they’re moving in together, and good for them.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate that Matt Czuchry has chemistry with anyone and anything. The interactions between Leela and Conrad were great.
They’re both certified geniuses in their own right, and as they spent time trying to brainstorm what was going on with Devon, it made you want to see this pair work together more often.
They could be a great team when they share more screen time. It’s a different type of dynamic for the series to play with, and with Nic gone, a bright spot will be seeing Conrad spending more time building up other dynamics.
Too often, his relationships with other characters felt like rare treats. Most of the time, Conrad splits his scenes with Nic and patients.
Another win for those of us fans of Kitbell was that they continue to work well together, like an unofficial married couple of Chastain running the entire hospital.
Kit is the perfect person to run this hospital, and she’s fabulous at all aspects of it. But it’s also nice that she has Bell as her “work husband” and second in command, to whom she can delegate things.
They work together like a well-oiled machine, and Bell has a way where he respects her position as his boss and the chief.
When Bell’s offering to help out, it never comes across as if he’s undermining her, or that he’s condescending, or even that she’s incapable of managing all of this on her own and requires the aid of a man.
They feel like partners and friends who genuinely love each other and this hospital, and it works well.
Bell: I just wanted to apologize for yesterday, asking you out. We have such a good thing together, and I don’t want to mess that up by stepping over the line, so I promise that won’t happen again.
Kit: Oh, really. Because I was wondering if you would want to have dinner with me tonight?
Bell: Yes, I would.
He didn’t hesitate to take over vetting Browner when she had her hands full with the gas leak situation.
And everything about Browner seemed suspect, so I was thrilled when Bell noticed how it was too easy for him to convince Browner to come to the hospital, and he bypassed more of the other references and went straight to asking his friend.
It reminded you of something ripped from Dr. Death, where everyone gave glowing reviews and failed to mention all of the lawsuits and other disturbing things in an attempt to get rid of a doctor they despise.
Bell saved Kit and Chastain a liability with Browner. He also cleared the air with Kit. He didn’t want to ruin the relationship by making her uncomfortable with his inner invite.
But finally, Kit asked him out instead!
But if we’re moving from the happier tones to the more complicated ones again, we got our introduction to Billie’s son, Trevor, and the verdict is still out on how this storyline will play.
One of the most distracting aspects of this storyline was the response to addiction. And here’s the thing, you can understand how aggravating it is for first responders dealing with addicts.
You see the same people coming in over and over again, and your attempts to save their lives always feel futile. The opioid crisis has only risen with time (it certainly has during the pandemic) and is getting worse and direr by the day.
Patient: I was fine.
Irving: You weren’t fine. You were dead.
Anyone who has ever had to deal with addicts at all knows how draining, frustrating, and enraging it is. None of that is up for debate.
And, of course, everyone is entitled to feel how they do about addiction. However, the bleak take with how the doctors responded to Janie was a bit disheartening.
It’s not the first time Irving was downright callous about an addict who walked through those doors, and I don’t know if there’s a personal reason for that or he’s sick and tired as an ER doctor of seeing addiction day in and out at work.
Janie was a brat who wasn’t forthcoming with information, but Irving did everything but tell her she may as well have stayed dead, and it was a lot.
Trevor: You told me no more dope.
Irving: A junkie broke a promise. I’m shocked. I’m going to go check on Devon.
And as much as they expressed annoyance that Trevor was interjecting into their conversation about whether or not it was worth it to bother fixing Janie versus putting a band-aid on her issues, they were having this conversation in an open forum where anyone could hear.
Yes, there are protocols and decisions made for a reason regarding addicts, and there’s validity to them, but it is a case of the others playing God and determining who is worth it and who isn’t.
The hard thing about addicts is that you never know what could be the defining moment that changes everything for them, and it’s disconcerting to know that they could be deprived of them when the people who should save them give up.
Janie could be a lost cause, or maybe not. And who’s to say how and why Janie became an addict in the first place.
It’s increasingly harder to see callous attitudes toward all addicts in this day and age when you consider so many different factors that lead to addiction.
AJ was the least judgmental about the ordeal, but by the hour’s end, even his outlook on Janie wasn’t favorable. He directed his concern and attention to Trevor instead.
It was a heck of an introduction to Trevor, considering we last knew of him pestering Billie to the point of harassment and then showing up at her house.
The hour added more dimension to this character so that he doesn’t come across as a disturbing stalker who doesn’t respect boundaries.
Billie: Why are you here?
Trevor: I’m not here to see you!
Billie: Lower your voice.
Trevor: You think I’m stalking you in an ER? Are you really that self-absorbed?
Billie: I know this is hard, but I can’t have you in my life right now. I can’t do that. I thought we had an agreement.
Trevor: Get a grip. I am not trying to reconnect with my birth mother. I gave up on that. The sign out there says this is a hospital. My friend’s o’ding, she’s dying, so maybe do your job and help her?
Ironically, Trevor’s initial treatment of Billie was one of the things that made her sympathetic and helped me warm to her a bit, but by the end of this hour, I found Trevor far more compelling than Billie.
Somehow, I went from sympathizing with Billie when her biological son wouldn’t respect her boundaries and harassed her to feeling awful for Trevor — a smart but complicated kid who is hurting.
It matters neither here nor there what the deal is with Billie and Trevor, though, right?
Trevor by himself is an interesting character, and if he never spends another second with Billie, it’ll be fine. It’s Trevor and AJ’s dynamic that is captivating.
On the one hand, because of Trevor’s previous behavior, it did make perfect sense that Billie assumed he showed up at her job and was stalking her.
On the other, given the circumstances, it was funny when he pointed out that he was at a hospital for his friend and that not everything was about her.
It seems Trevor heard Billie’s message loud and clear, and he’s stoked more anger and hurt against her, but he’s fine not getting to know her.
He still has boundary issues since he told AJ who he was even after Billie told him not to, but it didn’t so much feel like a vindictive move as answering AJ’s question to defend himself.
AJ: What’s your beef with Dr. Sutton, huh? How come you keep coming at her?
Trevor: She’s my mother, that’s why. She gave birth to me and didn’t want anything to do with me, so if it seems like I’m coming at her, that’s your reason.
Miles Fowler has a striking resemblance to Lucas; you can imagine them as related. And as a character, you feel for Billie trying to close this door on one of the most painful and defining moments of HER life only to have Trevor there.
Who’s to say that looking at him doesn’t make her think of the man who raped her? He’s a physical representation of the most traumatic thing that ever happened to her, and he’s angry and demanding.
Ironically, Billie made more of a scene and pushed the boundaries with her inability to keep her feelings in check throughout the case.
Trevor’s formula for the “safer” drug to get high off of prompted Billie to fly off the handle and threaten to call the police, accusing him of being a drug dealer.
You can guess that given how he was conceived, she’s willing to jump to the worst conclusions about him because of his father.
But what makes their interactions difficult is Trevor genuinely doesn’t know anything. All he knows is that his birth mother gave him up, and he doesn’t know who his father is.
He’s alluded to some things that suggest familiarity with dealing with addicts and thus had a hard life, which only fuels his resentment toward Billie for giving him up.
AJ was the best person to integrate into this storyline. He’s a foster kid who knows how it feels to grapple with a mother who gave you up and how that shapes you for the rest of your life.
He’s an adult man who only recently worked through some of the issues because of that. He’s also a supremely intelligent Black man who knows how easily he could’ve gone down a different path if no one gave him a chance.
Trevor is brilliant; any kid who could come up with what he did is, and he’s in a medicinal chemistry program in college. He could be unstoppable if the best in him is nurtured.
AJ is the perfect person to do that, nurturing and mentoring him. And if Fowler is a series regular, then it means he’s sticking around for the long run this season.
Trevor’s scenes with AJ were electric. And while the narrative could support this notion of Billie reconnecting with her biological son, revealing why she gave him up and developing a relationship with him, it’d be more interesting if they went in another direction.
AJ: I get it, no really, I do. The defnining experience in your life is abandonment.
Trevor: I don’t know what you’re talking-
AJ: Just shut up. I was the same way, bro. I was hurt, I was alone, I lashed out. See, I used my words and my intelligence like a bully uses his fists, and it worked for a while. I felt good. But it never gave me the one ting that I really wanted, which is to belong. Look, you’re loyal, you care. Everybody sees it, but in the long run, that’s no going to end well. And I know you know that. But you don’t know me, so I’m not going to be the one to tell you ‘don’t go down that path,’ but I will tell you that if you do, brother, you aren’t going to end well either.
Billie doesn’t owe Trevor any explanations, nor should she have to relive her trauma to appease him. But Trevor is also a guy who’d benefit from knowing the truth, however awful it is, and it’d be interesting to see him dealing with it.
With Mina’s absence, and some of the activities AJ has gotten into during this spare time, it’s the potential arc for AJ and Trevor that’s captivating here.
AJ sees himself in Trevor in more ways than one, and he’s also not judging Billie either. Although, he probably read between the lines when she shared how old she was when she had Trevor.
You can easily see AJ serving as a bridge between those two, but it would be more intriguing if he cultivates individual bonds with both of them without the pressure of mending the fences between the pair.
Billie: I’m calling the police.
AJ: Do it. You know if I wasn’t a semi-observant Buddhist I’d punch him in the throat myself. But it occurs to me that if someone called the cops on me every time I deserved it, I wouldn’t be standing here, triple-board certified all-star.
Dare I say, for AJ and Trevor’s sake, I’m curious about how this storyline will play out.
Over to you, Resident Fanatics. What’s your first impression of Trevor? Are you still bracing yourself for the Nic news? Are you relieved Devon and Winston are OK?
Hit the comments below! You can watch The Resident online here via TV Fanatic! Don’t forget to join us again for our Round Table discussion on the hour.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.