St. Denis Medical Season 2 Episode 3 Review: Get Me in the Pod, Brother

St. Denis Medical Season 2 Episode 3, “Get Me in the Pod, Brother,” is a delightful concoction of chaos, comedy, and character-driven moments. If there’s anything we should take away from this outing, it’s that some secrets should stay buried. Or locked in a safe box and tossed into the sea. 

St. Denis Medical, “Get Me in the Pod, Brother”

“Get Me in the Pod, Brother” is stronger and tighter on all fronts than the double-episode premiere. It’s more cohesive, with the separate storylines organically branching from a single narrative source: a full-body scanner. For the most part, the three episodic arcs are solid on their own. However, the Ron/Alex/Serena/Tim story rightfully deserves the A-plot here. 

After Ron insists that the full-body scanner could cause anxiety instead of helping patients feel informed, Alex makes a bold statement. The conversation pivots to whether we should know everything about each other. Alex asserts that she doesn’t hide anything from her husband, prompting Ron to play devil’s advocate. He pushes her to tell Tim about “Hot Gary.”

Chaos Reigns Supreme

What transpires next is a slow downward spiral into abject chaos. St. Denis Medical naturally whisks us away to the climax and resolution of this arc. Each falling domino leads to a more impactful set piece with resounding repercussions. You can tell David Alan Grier is having a blast in “Get Me in the Pod, Brother,” as Ron revels in said chaos.

Kahyun Kim takes on a new role in the comedic scheme of things, playing Serena as the “straight man” to Allison Tolman and Kyle Bornheimer’s unraveling Alex and Tim. This reversal of sitcom character archetypes is a ton of fun. It subverts audience expectations. We usually expect Serena to be more of a “wild card” character, albeit with a laidback edge. This keeps things fresh from a storytelling perspective. 

Alex inadvertently spilling the dirty things she and the nurses say about Hot Gary while he’s behind her gives us secondhand embarrassment. Comedically, of course. The arc culminates in Alex and Tim attempting to clear the air with Serena, who wants nothing more than to disappear into the ether out of sheer awkwardness. It’s hilarious in its execution. 

Proper Spinal Alignment

St. Denis Medical Season 2 seems to be leaning hard into Bruce’s insecurities. Josh Lawson is no stranger to inflated pretty-boy-type characters. Exhibit A: his character on Superstore. He’s a pro at playing this type. On the episode, Bruce is excited about taking advantage of the Tomo pod.

However, he’s uninterested in keeping abreast of his health. He wants someone to compliment him—to stroke his ego—because external validation feeds his self-worth. When Bruce learns that Matt’s spine is in better condition than his, comedic hijinks ensue. Lawson and Mekki Leeper are paired together quite a bit on this show, but that’s because they work so well as an odd couple. 

As these secrets come to light, Ron’s endeavor to prove he’s right comes back to bite him in the ass, figuratively speaking. Ron loudly admitting to sleeping with Joyce over Serena is a hysterical turn of events. If anything, it does prove he’s right. He’s just the next victim on the oversharing list. 

“Get Me in the Pod, Brother” is brimming with awkwardness from start to finish. If you find yourself cringing, you know St. Denis Medical has done its job to great effect. After all, comedy and cringe go hand-in-hand, especially at this hospital. 

Stray Observations: 

• I would like 10 therapy ponies, please and thank you. Code Browns and all. 
• Ron’s got it right. Having access to a full-body scanner would fortify my anxiety, not allay it. That’s a one-way ticket to Anxiety City. 
• If the camera panned to Ron munching on popcorn during the climactic — and awkward — confrontation between Alex, Serena, and Tim, I wouldn’t have been surprised. He’s living for the chaos he fomented. 
• My headcanon is that Teddy from Brooklyn Nine-Nine relocated to Oregon, changed his name to Tim, and married Alex. 
• If I were that nurse whom Joyce was about to fire, I’d be ruminating on what she was going to tell me for days. That poor woman.

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St. Denis Medical airs new episodes every Monday at 8/7c on NBC, with next-day streaming on Hulu.

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