St. Denis Medical Season 2 Episode 14 Review: Happy Birthday, Matty

St. Denis Medical Season 2 Episode 14, “Happy Birthday, Matty,” sees a birthday party turn heated when a rival threatens to ruin the proceedings. It’s one of the season’s strongest outings thus far, bolstered by solid comedic performances and a really focused and tight narrative. 

St. Denis Medical, “Happy Birthday, Matty” 

This is the first episode, at least in recent memory, in which the entire story took place outside our titular hospital. This works in the episode’s favor, to be sure. It’s a welcome change of pace and a fun subversion of the episodic format. Each respective plot also seamlessly feeds into the other, converging at the outing’s climax. 

It’s great to see Joyce put herself out there in the wake of her breakup with Sanderson. Her interactions with Ron are also fun, and he even drops his prickly facade to offer Joyce a confidence boost. Wendi McLendon-Covey and David Alan Grier are a blast together. They have compelling on-screen chemistry. The season is seemingly planting seeds for a potential Ron/Joyce coupling, which could be interesting to explore. 

Joyce also does the Walk of Triumph (no shame here) the next morning after her tryst with Arcade Dude (his government name, of course). St. Denis Medical rightfully reminds viewers that women don’t wilt in their 50s — they’re still just as desirable as they were at 25. 

Chaplain Steve Sucks 

On the short-lived love triangle front, Steve stirs the pot a little too much for his own sick satisfaction. Of course, he’s not completely oblivious; he puts two and two together after Serena’s remarks about going easy on the PDA at Matt’s birthday party. Thankfully, the show doesn’t milk this love triangle for all its worth and mercifully puts it out of its misery by the end of the episode. 

Matt is such an endearing character. That said, it’s fun for us as viewers to watch him step outside his comfort zone, personality-wise, and upend our expectations. His fight with Steve is pretty tame (it is a network sitcom, after all), but Matt gives it his all. As usual, the chemistry between Mekki Leeper and Kahyun Kim is as sweet as apple pie. The road is potentially clear for Seratt. Merena? 

Bruce kicks Steve to the curb to support his nerdy bestie. It’s more wonderful growth for ole Brucey, and watching him turn on Steve in laser tag is so satisfying. Josh Lawson is adept at playing the lovable “douche” who acts pompously to mask his insecurities. Season 2 of St. Denis Medical really delves into those insecurities, too.

Meanwhile, Stephen Schneider is a pro at portraying the seemingly cool dude who’s actually a douche, and the mask slips on this episode. Bruce and Steve are mirrors of each other, in a way. 

“Happy Birthday, Matty” is quick on the hilarious one-liners and visual gags. Of course, an arcade is ripe for comedic shenanigans, and the outing delivers on that front. Happy Birthday, Matty, indeed. 

Stray Observations: 

• Hearing the words “women’s vegan shelter” together made me crack up. 
• Alex would be a laser tag expert. Perfectionists are usually super competitive, too. 
• “Big J Is Looking for a D(ate)” — put it on a t-shirt. 
• Laser tag is inherently a Christian youth group activity. I don’t make the rules. Ask any Midwestern Millennial (me). 
• I would’ve loved to see Matt shuck the celebratory corn. Let the adorkable recovering cult member have his corny traditions. 
• I fear this episode has only stoked the fires of my shipping Ron and Joyce. 

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What did you think of this episode of St. Denis Medical? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

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St. Denis Medical airs Mondays at 8/7c on NBC, with next-day streaming on Hulu. 

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