The Resident Review: And the Nurses Get Screwed (Season 1 Episode 11)

The Resident Season 1 Episode 11, “And the Nurses Get Screwed,” is strongest when it tenderly shines a light on nurses — the unsung heroes of the medical field.

Yes, Nic gets screwed as the title suggests. But in the process, the show convinces viewers of what we already suspected: Nic is the best health care provider at Chastain.

Much like Dr. Pravesh drawing blood, most attempts to draw blood on the episode are misses and some are rather painful.

A couple sticks on “And the Nurses Get Screwed” find a good vein and hopefully those can be drawn on for the final episodes of the season.

Good Sticks

I love seeing nurses supporting nurses on the episode.

The relationship between Nic and the nurses who support her is in stark contrast to the “doctors protect their own” bullying that we see between Dr. Bell and other doctors.

The nurses support Nic subtly and against their self-interest (they could get fired for helping her).

Dr. Bell uses a mutual destruction type of coercion to get people on his side, and it is ALWAYS directly out of self-interest. Dr. Bell’s comment after the fire in surgery sums up his type of loyalty nicely:

It’s unclear, but it wasn’t my fault.

The juxtaposition of ethics works well and is enhanced by Nic’s impassioned defense of nursing before the board.

Nicolette Nevin: Doctors think that patients are theirs, but they’re not. They’re ours. The nurses.

The message shines clear: hospitals violate patients rights and health by undervaluing and silencing nurses.

Nurses can be stereotyped as catty b*tches or as motherly saints.

Another strength of “And the Nurses Get Screwed,” is that nurses are not sanctified or vilified.

They are just doing their jobs well.

I also enjoy the use of Dr. Pravesh’s total ineptitude at drawing blood to illustrate the great skill nurses need to utilize daily.

I am married to a doctor and I will always remember the week he learned to draw blood — the nurses teased the medical students endlessly as they fumbled through a fairly simple task. 

This detail works for me to show, without shouting, that nurses are doing work that isn’t just window dressing.

Dr. Mina Okafor always gives us a good draw, and “And the Nurses Get Screwed,” is no exception.

Her inclusion in the A-plot adds an irreverence and dynamic energy that pushes the episode out of its predictable and basic funk.

Mina and Conrad’s chemistry is more firey than Dr. Bell’s surgery room, even a rather casual passing in the hall is electric between these two top docs.

To be clear, it is not a sexual chemistry (although I have no doubt the actors could turn it that way if desired). It is just that special kind of on-screen vibe that makes me feel joy in my whole body when they appear together.

Give us more Mina and Conrad, The Resident!

I can’t believe I’m going to write this because she makes me writhe in disgust and vomit in my mouth, but Dr. Lane the Huntress is another good draw on the episode.

Lane is unfathomably conniving and dastardly.  I love it.

The show’s creators have done their research and met with experts to understand medical ethics issues.

So, I have no doubt that Lane Hunters exist in real life, and I am happy to be enraged by the mercurial injustice that is plaguing our hospitals.

I also literally need to look away any time Bell and Hunter kiss. It’s the definition of gross.

Bloody Misses

Sadly, CoNic disappoints on “And the Nurses Get Screwed.”

It is completely unclear if they are together, figuring things out, or just had a brief grief fling.

The momentum and sexiness that was built on The Resident Season 1 Episode 10, “Haunted,” is just left off to the side on “And the Nurses Get Screwed.”

Even the very sweet hand-holding and, “Of course I believe you,” from Conrad to Nic isn’t enough to add the storyline structure this ship needs.

What is not presented, but would make their arc work, is for CoNic to have a (sensual) conversation where they put their romance on hold for a bit so they can focus on taking Hunter down.

CoNic is not in sailing condition.

Conrad is still not ready to be vulnerable. We see no evidence that he will share his ghosts with Nic.

That is fine because I think that Conrad’s walls are slowly crumbling, and he is making his way to that vulnerability.

But The Resident can’t just assume it, we have to see that development occur.

So, CoNic acting like nothing huge just happened between them and just engaging in loving, but sibling-like, teamwork is darn confusing.

They just banged! How can there be zero longing looks or sly smile references?

If there is a point to this romance hiatus, I’ll be honest, it is lost on me.

Another bloody miss on the episode is the several character choices that oppose past development.

On the small scale, Conrad says he hasn’t drawn blood since med school. However, we have seen Conrad expertly set an IV line, even in the midst of an extremely chaotic surgery.

It is as if The Resident writers have not watched the show.

Further, “Haunted” closed with Lily haunting Conrad. This intriguing and harrowing development is completely absent from “And the Nurses Get Screwed.”

While this could be intentional in order to focus on Nic’s point of view, it feels like lost continuity.

The show also forgets that Claire Thorpe is a shrewd and cunning businesswoman.

We have seen her implicitly understand Mina and then maneuver a result where Dr. Bell has to ask Dr. Okafor back, but no one is shamed.

That is some Machiavellian mastery.

On “And the Nurses Get Screwed,” it’s as if a first day CEO takes over Claire’s body and starts making defensive, brash, rookie mistakes.

I hope that The Resident brings Claire Thorpe back and shows us what a real fight between these compelling characters looks like.

Doctor’s Notes

• I LOVE the autotune video of the fire. That’s making some lemonade right there.
• What happened to Pravesh’s fiance?
• Even Dr. Okafor’s shade is above par. When she replied to Bell’s question about what she thought of his promo video with, “Well, you’re in it,” AMAZING.
• Dr. Pravesh and Dr. Levi remain completely useless. Why are they even on the show?
• Dr. Bell has already admitted that financial choices are his downfall. I am looking forward to seeing him eat dirt as CEO.
• The closing songs on The Resident have been consistently strong. We need a Spotify playlist, stat.

What did you think of this episode of The Resident? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Resident airs Mondays at 9/8c on Fox.

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