Lea and Shaun on their camping trip
Lea and Shaun on their camping trip

6 Comments

  1. When I think of Jordan’s faith, it strikes me that until now she mostly used it for virtue signaling but rarely lived up to it: she had an abortion (on which most Christian denominations frown on at least), she lied about it to her superior and she lied without hesitation to a patient. When the show is about to explore religion with Jordan, the path would lead to her hypocrisy and how she deals with that.

    Now, with Claire and Morgan’s potential, we’re on the same page. Their relationship isn’t based on sexual tension as with Melendez (R.I.P.). Claire and Morgan complement each other in many character traits. This causes tension and them butting heads is highly intriguing and satisfying for the audience, but it also offers the characters potential to grow on and with each other.

    In this a pairing of Morgan and Claire would be comparable to Shaun and Lea: they can make each other more.

    Though, I guess what you saw back then in 2.12 Aftermath with Claire wasn’t attraction, but Claire realizing that Morgan isn’t pure evil. As we have seen lately, Claire tends to either idolize or condemn people, but rarely sees them as the complex characters they are. That realization about Morgan sure made Claire very uncomfortable.

  2. I think Jordan’s unique feature, as noted in press releases about her becoming a series regular, is her faith. Religion isn’t really something noted on this show much but her and Jordan made it part of the conversation. Be it Asher escaping from it or Jordan embracing it.

    A part of me honestly wants them to revisit Claire and Morgan as a thing. They had vibes, when Claire’s mother was alive, that made it seem Claire recognized something was happening and she was uncomfortable.

  3. A funny afterthought, Amari, as someone lately suggested to me that with their crappy track records in romance, Claire and Morgan might finally decide to give it a try with each other… Can you imagine Morgan becoming a mother? That would be even more hilarious than Shaun adapting to fatherhood.

    But joking aside, what is apparent in the recent episodes is that the show is building a solid foundation for a friendship between Claire and Asher in season 5.

    Makes sense for both: Claire’s primary platonic friend from early days, Shaun, is less available now. Asher is a very complex character and thus empathetic Claire is well suited to explore that. Also, both characters’ central conflict is their relationship to their parents. With Claire making some good headway in that regard now, she can mentor Asher in more ways than only professionally.

    Unsurprisingly, Claire also connects well with Lea. Yet, what did surprise me was that Jordan took some interest in connecting with Lea as well. This is something to keep an eye on in the upcoming season since Jordan is somewhat free-floating right now. She has strong opinions (like Morgan), good bedside manner (like Claire), and likes to make a dollar (new), so what will be her specific role in the regular cast that makes her unique?

  4. I concur, Amari, this season featured so many pregnancies, babies and minors as patients, it is hard to ignore. And courtesy to the promotion material for the finale it is safe to say that this will be carried over into the finale. There are two underage patients featured in the promo pictures as well as a newborn.

    There’s a lot of chatter going on within the fanbase that Shaun and Lea might end up adopting a child from Guatemala, but for me this is just wishful thinking, since it would mean that season 5 does a re-run of season 4 – not very likely, even with an older child that could be an active character instead of a mere plot device. I also suspect that this season is building towards a marriage proposal instead. Perhaps subverted by Lea being the one to propose – although is more likely that it will be Shaun as he is the lead character.

    Now, Claire adopting instead is a compelling and unique idea! I haven’t thought of that. My bet was on Andrews either deciding to adopt or burying his dream of a family completely. Though, this sure would resolve the problem of a story arc for Claire next season.

    Since we’re now in the realm of speculation – here are my thoughts for the finale, based on the available material:

    The team has 10 days for 12 chosen patients. The general setup is about limited resources, working against the clock, tough ethical decisions and personal bias interfering.

    Shaun and Lea encounter a newborn in need of immediate medical attention and that opens their wounds again. The baby isn’t one of the 12 chosen ones, but Lea advocates to treat them anyway, with Shaun agreeing swiftly, causing friction within the team. Lea’s involvement might culminate in her expertise with cars allowing her to restore emergency power (since hospitals use diesel engines for that purpose) when a power cut during Shaun’s surgery hits the hospital, or she personally helps to keep the newborn alive (she can be seen ventilating the baby with an Ambu bag). Either way, Shaun and Lea again succeed thanks to their teamwork, the baby lives and this gives the couple the consolation to finally move on.

    Andrews is confronted with a minor as patient as well. He also forms a special connection with Nurse Morales for whatever reason.

    Lim catches feelings for The Hot Latino Doctor (nothing new to that…) and struggles internally not only with her still aching loss but also with allowing herself to loosen up a little after a particularly difficult year. After all, she is the boss and must act professionally in front of her subordinates. All the while said subordinates deviate from the plan and try to squeeze in additional patients they are compassionate about.

    Claire is probably simply overwhelmed by her compassion and tries to somehow support Lim, underlining that Claire is the Chief’s favorite for Chief Resident in season 5.

    Park tries to enjoy his new love interest Dr. Heather Boyd when episode 4.19 starts, but drafted into the Guatemala mission, he finds himself in the most uncomfortable position of having to deal with Morgan almost 24/7.

    As for Morgan, I agree that it is in her personality to put on the act of being unaffected by Park’s decision. But Morgan clearly was shaken every time Park cut their “situationship” (lol) further back. For me, this means that the plot is working towards a breaking point for Morgan. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they will get back together, but Morgan will be in a different place again at the season’s end.

  5. A part of me wonders, since there are no children on the show, will Claire adopt one. It’s a weird thought, but I think with her romantic relationships consistently sketchy, she may push for a different kind of one. For taking note of how foreshadowing is on this show, it seems someone, sooner or later, is going to have a kid. It’s just a topic brought up too much for no one to have eventually get one.

    When it comes ot Park and Morgan, I think it depends how petty she wants to be. But I think her go to might be to seem as unbothered as can be vs. give any real attention to Park and make him seem important.

    I think, since I’ve never been fond of Debbie, I didn’t factor in Dr. Glassman acting a bit weird and how there were plots that didn’t add up. Mainly since Dr. Glassman has always been a bit eccentric, and I always figured that, similar to Shaun, there are certain eccentricities that just come from living a life with traumatic losses, a bit of estrangement, and trying to bury oneself in work, and socialize just enough to keep yourself from going manic. But, either way, I remain happy and hopeful that Debbie’s exit means limited screentime since the show doesn’t have the best record of having any actor’s real spouse as their love interest on the show.

    Do you think, in the finale, Shaun may propose to Lea? I feel like that’s coming soon.

  6. Hey Emily and Amari! This episode should have made you really happy – Debbie is gone! Although, since with this show even the dead have the annoying habit of returning uninvited… so I wouldn’t close the chapter yet.

    Now since this story came as surprising as being held at gunpoint by the very own spouse, I have a theory: this story originally was supposed to happen around episode 4.05 but had to be postponed because of the real-life couple contracting Covid. Sheila Kelley back then wrote on social media that the show was forced to scrap a plot with her. She did not go into details, but I guess this was it. It explains some of the more peculiar actions Glasman pulled off this season: hiding in his office, bringing Morgan instead of Debbie to the dinner rehearsal and complaining about Shaun and Lea moving too fast, and of course his thrill-seeking in “We’re All Crazy Sometimes”. They simply couldn’t or wouldn’t rewrite the already finished or outlined scripts completely and therefore left most of Glassman’s story arc untouched.

    It also meant that “Forgive or Forget” was a little cramped because a 4th plot had to be integrated. Luckily, Shaun and Lea’s plot was played as comedy, so that they did not need to go too deep into the characters’ distress about the situation. Yet, while it was a comedic breather episode for the unlucky couple, it managed to convey how shaken both still are: Shaun and Lea are easily irritable, Shaun even had to resort to his self-soothing head-gesture – normally reserved for situations short of a breakdown – when the park ranger told them to turn around. They are better, but they are far from good. At least they realized what they have in each other.

    This comes with Claire realizing that she in fact still has a father, a resemblance of a family, if she is willing to make some concessions to him – and her own rigid belief system that has been challenged a lot lately. With Claire in a good place with Lim and her father, I also ask what comes next? Claire’s arc for this season has been neatly wrapped up with a pretty ribbon around it but still two episodes left.

    As for Park, he could not have chosen a worse point in time to shut the door in Morgan’s face. Soon he’ll find himself stuck with a very pissed Morgan in a small hospital somewhere in Guatemala – what could possibly go wrong?

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