The Resident Review: Whistleblower (Season 3 Episode 10)

Emotional support is required for us viewers right now!

There is so much provoking content on The Resident Season 3 Episode 10, “Whistleblower,” and all of it makes us faint. 

It won’t be off our minds until we talk about it, so let’s start with that RING, shall we? 

Everything about the reveal of Conrad’s impending proposal works on the episode. It is a super sweet moment for Devon’s last day. The relationship between the two doctors has a level of intimacy that is rare for both of them. 

Devon’s confidence in Nic’s feelings for Conrad, and Conrad’s relative insecurity about her answer, is grab-your-chest-and-sigh adorable. 

The stealth way Conrad puts the ring back in his pocket as Nic walks up is hotter than it has a right to be. CoNic is bringing us such bliss and I am eating it up!

Honestly, even Conrad’s firing doesn’t bring me down from the happy cloud I’m on knowing there will be an engagement soon. 

Mina’s heart-wrenching story on the episode brings a balance to the episode and saves it from being sappy. 

Mina loves Adaku and she has no idea how to handle the fact that saving her is out of her control. Dr. Okafor has chosen a profession where she gets to exert control. If she is perfect, she can save every patient. 

If Mina wasn’t so very close with Adaku she would have immediately agreed with the other doctors about how to proceed. It is Adaku’s express wish to prioritize the baby, and it was the right move to try and save both of them. 

This conflict pushes Mina as a person. It is incredibly powerful that The Resident uses this moment to explore Mina’s INTERNAL faith instead of relying on AJ. Mina’s moment at the hospital chapel brings me to tears.

The simply adorned room, with awkward little chairs and low light, is given reverence and import that serves to highlight the doctor’s emotional journey. 

It is the strongest beat on an episode full of big moments.

On “Whistleblower,” AJ is very much Mina’s mentor, not her love interest. Mentoring is a loving thing to do, of course, but here the way The Raptor insists Dr. Okafor figure out how to address her vulnerabilities is really inspiring. It repairs some of the hope that is lost when we realize characters like Dr. Cain exists in the real world. 

That level of malice and greed exists. Talent, leadership, and compassion like The Raptor’s exist too. This show gives us hope that the latter can stomp out the former. 

Cain is despicable. He coaches doctors like they are selling insurance. There shouldn’t be such false tactics in health care. And “The Vent Farm”? WTAF.

The thing that is catching me about Cain is how he is exploiting ALREADY EXISTING rules. Unlike previous villains, he isn’t breaking the law. Cain knows how to work the system to his advantage and the system is there bolstering him. 

This is much more insidious and therefore difficult to fight than past deadly doctors. Dr. Bell has turned a corner in a big way, but Cain is able to use his HODAD past to skillfully sap him of power. 

The suicide rule for transplant recipients is a great way to illustrate this above board manipulation.  Bad Guy CEO and Cain are in complete control as they use their levers to get rid of Conrad. 

But, there is a life on the line. They don’t even see the patient.

We do, though. 

Cayden Boyd’s excellent portrayal of Tyler Warzel, a young man who made a suicide attempt during a moment of extreme stress, highlights the need for mental health to be woven into our health care.

He is a young person who needs help to manage the difficulties in his life. He certainly does not need the hospital telling him that because he is in pain and has considered trying to alleviate that pain with suicide he doesn’t deserve an organ transplant! 

Health care providers are not there to judge the value of someone’s life or the likelihood of them changing a lifestyle. They are there to help and heal. 

Until Red Rock is taken down, Conrad will never be safe at Chastain because he is completely antithetical to how Bad CEO and Cain do medicine.

Conrad’s final walk out of Chastain is a touch heavy-handed with the combination of the striking camera angles, slow-motion, and dramatic music. It makes me giggle. 

But, Conrad and the show have certainly earned the melodrama. Dr. Conrad Hawkins, flawed as he most certainly is, honors the privilege of being a doctor.  

It is an honor to watch him. 

Doctors Notes

• Devon’s comment about how long the year felt has me rotfl! 
• I really thought Kitt and Bell were going to kiss in the surgery bay. I am so into it!!
• Nic is right, that bow-tie is a hard pass.
• Mina has an intense road ahead. She is ready; I trust her. 
• I’m actually excited to see how Conrad does on the interview circuit.
• Erinn Westbrook is once again excellent as Adaku. This show gets the best guest stars!
• I’m already planning CoNic’s wedding. There will be chickens on that aisle. 

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

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The Resident airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Fox.

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