We have a new character who may shake things up at Chastain.
Ian Sullivan made his debut on The Resident Season 5 Episode 21 after a harrowing hour of Cade fighting for her life.
Join Carissa Pavlica, Leora W., and Meaghan Frey as they discuss it all.
Did Cade’s shooting and the dramatic, all hands on deck, race to save her have you on the edge of your seat?
Carissa: Honestly? No. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat, but it’s always fun watching the whole team work together. Was the last time we saw it when they worked on Nic?
Leora W: I think it was hard because we haven’t really been invested in Cade, but it was dramatic in how all near-fatal patient cases are. I was watching with a friend who is new to the show, and she was way more invested in the outcome than I was.
Meaghan: Not really. There wasn’t any point in the hour when I actually felt like she was in real danger.
That’s been a major problem for me with this entire storyline. The stakes never feel that high. Everything always just feels quickly glossed over to get us just the necessary amount of information and nothing more. It is so hard to get invested.
I agree with Carissa, though, that it was nice to see the team all come together to work on her. That said, I was totally thrown off by the heartfelt goodbyes between her and everyone before the shooting.
We have barely seen her with anyone other than Conrad, and she hasn’t worked there that long. It all felt bizarre.
What are your thoughts on the parallels they attempted to draw between Cade and Nic?
Carissa: I didn’t see parallels between Cade and Nic, but I did see that people were worried that seeing someone else he cared about in the same position as Nic could be upsetting for Conrad.
Maybe they’ve forgotten that Conrad was on his game even as his wife was dying before his eyes. Or maybe they know that he held it all together because of Gigi, and now that she’s grown a little, he’d get sidetracked with grief he once didn’t allow himself to experience.
Leora W: It was poorly done. I saw what they were going for, but we still barely know Cade, and the staff barely knows Cade, and while Conrad knows her better than Irving or Hundley does, he doesn’t know her that well either.
I disagree with Carissa about Conrad being on his game when Nic died. I remember him being a total mess and in denial, until he had to be a doctor with Nic’s father (side-note, are we ever seeing Kyle again? Did he and Conrad make up? Is he in Gigi’s life?).
I like what we’ve seen of Cade as a character, but the show tried to get us too invested in her and the ship too quickly.
Meaghan: I don’t even think that they’ve tried to get us invested in the ship too quickly, Leora. I think it’s that they just haven’t earned that investment.
I’m a cheap date. All it takes is one good episode, and I can get invested in a ship, no problem. With Cade and Conrad, they basically just keep telling us we should ship them instead of showing us why.
While I can understand the parallels they were trying to draw in some sense — it is another person that Conrad cares about that is on the table at risk of dying — comparing his attachment and feelings for Cade to Nic is a huge stretch.
How do you feel about how the series is addressing Conrad’s love life?
Carissa: Well, it’s been years, and Conrad has been gettin’ his groove on, so he does need to consider what the future will look like for him and Gigi.
They could use someone else in their lives, and if there’s anything we know about Conrad, his ability to love goes very deep. It’s something he deserves. I’ve missed his longing looks and that gruff voice he gets when he’s in love. Bring it on!
BUT. All we’ve seen between Cade and Conrad are longing, looking through a veneer of fear of getting too close to something they couldn’t continue.
But at least I can see in Conrad an appreciation for Cade as he mulls over what it means. What I have not seen is anything from Conrad for Billie other than friendship.
Poor Billie, though, seems to have developed some level of feelings for Conrad. She’s all job all the time, so it will likely turn out to be placing her need for love in the wrong place. If she steps back and allows herself some time to do anything other than her job, she might find someone of her own to love.
Leora W: I feel like many people tuned into this show mainly for Conrad, whereas I tuned in mostly for Nic, so my opinions haven’t synced so much with others.
That said, I’m not opposed to Conrad moving on, and they are handling how he’s feeling about having to move on, guilt and fear, very well. The relationships they have him trying to move on with are problematic.
Have I been shipping him and Billie a little lately? Yes, I have. Is it mostly because I really, really don’t want to see him with Cade. Your darn tooting it is!
It’s hard to get a read on Conrad’s feelings for either girl, though he does seem more sold on Cade; hell if I know where that derives.
She’s awesome, but they are not well-suited. Nic made Conrad better. Cade and Conrad work as friends, but he brings her down, making him seem worse.
As for Billie, I got the feeling he knows she feels something and that he wasn’t just talking about Cade when he was explaining why he hasn’t gone for anything real with anyone.
Am I the only Arrowverse watcher who thought of a certain scene between Oliver and Felicity in Arrow Season 2 after a certain incident in Russia?
So I guess you could say I’m invested in Conrad’s love life, but it’s despite the show, not because of it. They aren’t handling it well.
Meaghan: I’ve always been fine with them having Conrad move on. It’s been years since Nic died, and he deserves to be happy. So the problem isn’t him moving on; it’s the execution.
When Conrad was having fun casual sex with the babysitter, it worked; it was light, and they didn’t try to force it to be something it wasn’t.
Unfortunately, with both Cade and Billie, they have dropped the ball on the setup. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but at this point, I think they should have focused on the Billie relationship and left it at that.
At least with Billie, I can see them slowly building it up at a snail’s pace, but there are glimmers of a real attempt.
With Cade, they’re working quicker but haven’t built a real foundation. I realize that it must be difficult for the writers’ room because they didn’t plan to lose Nic, but if they didn’t have a good solid plan, they probably should’ve kept things loose for a season until something fell into place.
What’s your first impression of Cade’s father, Ian?
Carissa: Oh, he’s a trip. I can’t wait to see what he brings to the table.
Leora W: Bad father, but interesting character, who I’m sure will find redemption just as Conrad and Nic’s fathers did. (Again, when will we hear about Kyle?)
Meaghan: The man clearly has a God complex, so I’m anticipating OG Bell 2.0, but it will be a lot of fun.
Discuss Devon and AJ’s antivax podcast patient.
Carissa: It was aggravating, and here’s why – the majority of cases that were in the news about similar stories weren’t similar.
They were people who were on the list already and whose doctors told them they might not fare well with the COVID vaccine. THAT was all political, and it was devastating to people who had been on the list already and who had done everything right.
It was a confusing time, made even more confusing by fly-by-night decisions regarding masks that made no sense. Wear it to the restaurant, take it off when you’re seated, put it back on for your restroom trip. Just ridiculous.
And then you have New York City easing the mandate for sports teams but not other businesses. Those things put vaccines and transplants up for discussion, not a loudmouth making waves who suddenly needed a transplant.
And trust me, if his wife were suffering from COVID and fighting a blood clot, THAT would have been his big vaccine time in the spotlight, not his look-at-me garbage in the hospital this time. Way overdone and not at all worthy of The Resident.
Leora W: I’m so sick of this argument in real life. I don’t want to see it on TV.
Meaghan: It lacked nuance for me, which is never a complaint I have about The Resident.
I appreciate what they were attempting to do because it’s important to highlight the dangers of people with large followings pushing dangerous agendas based on misinformation like their patient was, but it could have been handled better.
Did you think Leela and Devon handled each other maturely post-breakup?
Carissa: Nothing about Leela feels mature right now, and I’m beginning to wonder if she’ll depart Chastain, leaving only Padma behind to be AJ’s baby mama. The years haven’t been kind to Leela, and I wouldn’t miss her.
Leora W: I’m more concerned with the fact that Leela was just let back in the operating room after almost killing a patient due to sleep deprivation. That’s where the attention needs to go. The breakup should not be the priority in her life right now.
But yeah, minus that one really annoying and inappropriate moment, they handled it okay. I feel like they’re trying to leave the door open for them to get back together, but I don’t see how that could happen, given their differences.
Meaghan: They did fine, but I think that has to do with the circumstances of their breakup. No one did anything wrong.
They still love each other. It just comes down to them wanting different things from their lives. While it obviously will be awkward, I think that neither one of them really did anything to hurt the other will prevent it from getting too messy.
What was your favorite moment from the hour? Do you have anything else you’d like to address?
Carissa: Jasmine wrote in her review that she believes that Billie has a fully developed character arc, and I have to disagree.
Other than being friends with Nic and her assault and son storyline, she’s mostly worked. I don’t feel any more connected to her than I do to Cade. They’ve both gotten the short shrift and fall short of Nina’s and Nic’s exploration.
Leora W: The second we saw Nic in a flashback! I’m kidding. I don’t know that one scene stood out to me. I liked the episode as a whole, but I couldn’t pinpoint a scene specifically.
As for what Carissa said, I think Billie has had more of an arc than Cade, but yeah, she needs more too. I hope for more from both ladies and less of the role they play in the life of Conrad.
Meaghan: This episode wasn’t my favorite, but I appreciate getting all of the characters in one place anytime we can.
Over to you, Resident Fanatics. Do you agree with us? Disagree? Hit the comments below.
The Resident airs Tuesdays on FOX.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.