The Resident Review: Rude Awakenings and the Raptor (Season 1 Episode 12)

The Resident Season 1 Episode 12, “Rude Awakenings and the Raptor,” crashes through the ceiling with shocking developments, but the plot is actually far from the most powerful aspect of the episode.

The main mystery on “Rude Awakening and the Raptor” is fine. But it is the underlying character conflict and identity development on which the main plot rests that gives the episode, and The Resident, life.

Quitters Sometimes Prosper

I am beyond relieved that the episode doesn’t shy away from portraying a doctor who is so overwhelmed by the pressure to be a doctor that he fantasizes about ending his life.

This type of despair is not often talked about, but I have seen it first-hand in the medical and legal profession. There is so much pressure to be a certain type of success in our culture that if you do not want that life, you can be considered weak, strange, or worthless.

Sometimes quitting is the bravest choice.

As “Rude Awakening and the Raptor” highlights, our professional identities can be core to our mental health.

When we are not passionate about what we do, we can suffer. When we continue to push beyond the pain, even when our bodies and brains are telling us to stop, we suffer.

Doctors and nurses feel that suffering ten-fold as the stakes are life or death and the hours are unconscionably long.

Steven Reddington as Bradley Jenkins is deeply relatable. His tears of relief and a tiny bit of shame have been shed by many of us when we finally admit, I don’t want to do this anymore.

The scene at Bradley’s hospital bed is surprisingly tender. I love how honest but kind everyone is. They get it; becoming and being a doctor is a calling, not just a job.

Each doctor has a different connection to the profession. But even in that diversity, there is unity too.

There is room to grow in this commentary on the medical profession by linking that despair to the stronghold student loan debt can put on doctors. Dr. Bell is under that financial pressure, and I hope we continue to see how that impacts his choices.

But for doctors still in their residency or early in their careers, there has not been enough time to pay off student loan debt, which is often in the six figures.

Residents are paid very little while in residency and then get a large pay jump when they become board certified doctors.

If a person quits, like Bradley is doing, they will not have the ability to be a doctor and they will still have whatever debt they accumulated during medical school.

All that to say, debt is a pressure that I hope The Resident Season 2 explores in conjunction with the high rates of suicide and depression amongst physicians.

Another reason to add to our list of 15 Reasons ‘The Resident’ Needs a Second Season!

A Case for #CoNa

The Resident has a bit of a problem on its hands. CoNic is a strong ship that the show is clearly invested in developing.

But Shaunette Renee Wilson and Matt Czuchry sizzle on screen together. Mina and Conrad’s chemistry is dynamic and fun. Every single second of them together makes me long for more.

I do ship CoNic. There is much to love about this couple. They work great as a team, they have a long history together, and, I mean, the ring.

But, I have to admit, they are also pretty trope-y. A sweet, dedicated nurse is in love with an emotionally unavailable, bad-boy doctor.

They are both white, thin, able-bodied Americans, with skeletons in their closets, but hearts of gold.

I have seen this couple before, many times actually.

Don’t get me wrong, I LIKE seeing this couple.

But, what if, stay with me, what if The Resident breaks the norm and leans into a romance between Conrad and Mina?

The most captivating scenes on “Rude Awakenings and the Raptor” are the tight shots of Mina’s face. Wilson’s facial expressions are endlessly entertaining.

Mina admits that:

Surgeons don’t make promises, but this one time I’ll make an excpetion.

After she says this she makes eye contact with Conrad and they have a wordless conversation that is, for me, more communicative than anything spoken between Conrad and Nic.

The eye-conversation between Conrad and Mina leaves me breathless and reaching for the rewind button on my remote.

They tease and flirt with each other. They get each other.

Beyond the pair’s chemistry is the possibility of breaking ship stereotypes.

Mina is assertive, blunt, heroic, non-emotional, intelligent, ambitious, and elegant. She is a black woman with an accent. She is not the type to get to be in the main ship on a medical show.

If The Resident is gearing up to have a romance between The Raptor and Mina, there will be no diverse couples on the show, as far as race/ethnicity.

I am not saying that CoNa (Conrad and Mina) is a ship that should sail in Season 1.

I am saying that letting CoNic run its course as a ship and exploring CoNa in Season 2 could lead to very exciting and barrier-breaking territory.

This would fit in well as The Resident continues to bust through the “ceilings” of the medical field that are keeping good care from patients.

Doctor’s Notes

• Malcolm-Jamal Warner is fantastic as The Raptor! The Resident continues to use guest stars impeccably.
• I am OVER IT with the discomfort with sex on this show. Another patient made into a joke because of a sex-related injury? Really?
• Nic sneaking up on Lane is proof she can, and will, outsmart the Huntress.
• Are those pictures being taken from inside the house! I am SPOOKED!
• I could watch an entire episode of Conrad doing push-ups as the camera pans his gorgeous loft. Yum.

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

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

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

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

Nominate Your Favorites! The 2018 Tell-Tale TV Awards