The Resident Season 4 Episode 8 Review: First Days, Last Days
Jasmine Blu
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The personal drama was at the forefront on the winter finale, and goodness, The Resident's return can't come fast enough.
Yes, The Resident Season 4 Episode 8 was the midseason finale, and refreshingly, it was much quieter and grounded than the usual fare but no less worthy of investment.
Mina's life and career in America and at Chastain are hanging in the balance, and the potential war between AJ and Cain, as a result, is the kind of juicy conflict I didn't realize I needed.
Aside from the testosterone-fueled garage scene that was, to put it bluntly, hot AF, most of the men of Chastain were on one and being asses, but the women were not here for any of their sh*t and not afraid to call them on it.
Every which way a woman was checking one of the Chastain boys, and it was what they wholly deserved.
We got more Cain updates, Billie's latest appearance, the arrival of a new intern, and Princess Nadine returned with a bundle of joy.
The medical cases and even the return of Nic's assailant mostly fell by the wayside compared to the other things jumping off during this hour, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Billie proved to be a polarizing character after her introduction on The Resident Season 4 Episode 6. Thanks to the combined efforts of Nic and Kit, she's sticking around.
We figured this was happening, but her addition to the series could lead to all types of drama on a medical and personal basis.
Pravesh, I know that every broken rule tears at your psyche but she was struggling and this guy needed to go to sleep.
Billie
She's not afraid to bend or break the rules while practicing medicine. She doesn't buy into things like hospital hierarchy or most red tape, and she runs on her instincts and jumps right into matters.
She doesn't play nice nor considers others' feelings when she's focused on the task at hand of saving a patient. Personally, it often comes across as her being rude for no good reasons, but to each their own.
She's undeniably skilled at what she does, and her brazen, unapologetic, and strong personality is something Kit would respond to, especially in another woman.
Billie still has that quality of a person who comes in as if she has everything and everyone figured out. It's like she skips socially accepted norms and does her own thing.
Conrad: I thought you had eyes on her.
Billie: I was literally gone five minutes.
She still operates as if she knows everything there is to know about Conrad because of her perception and experience from years ago. Picking up where she left off with Nic with such ease as if they didn't have years of absence between them comes across odd at times.
She treats Devon as if she knows everything about him enough to make jokes or jabs about things or traits she personally has no experience with regarding him.
And something is irritating about all of that. Maybe it's because to the audience, she's still a newbie and an outsider, hell, to some of the other characters she is, but she behaves as if she's been around the entire time.
But she's the exact type of personality Cain needs if he does return to the neuro department. Billie would be another woman in a long line of them who won't take any of Cain's bullcrap, and for that alone, it would be pure entertainment.
Conrad: Are you OK?
Nic: That's the man who stabbed me.
Billie also, typically, seems in tune enough with Nic to listen to and respect her wishes. Conrad's intentions are well; however, his protectiveness has him treating Nic like a child and hasn't always respected her agency. Sometimes his care for her is lovely and sweet, and other times it's suffocating and too much.
Billie at least had that going for her, but then she resorted to being as bad as Conrad with the babying during this installment. They both spoke about her, in front of her, as if she was a child who required constant supervision.
The return of the man who stabbed Nic proved to be anticlimactic in the end. It highlighted the bickering between Conrad and Billie again, and it seemed to serve both of their characters more than Nic.
It's irksome that Conrad and Billie keep thinking they know what's best for Nic but don't listen to her thoughts on the matter.
Instead of Nic having a traumatic response to seeing her assailant, it shifted to how Conrad wanted to kill the man who hurt her and was struggling. We never got a full idea of what Nic was trying to do or maybe would've needed by seeing the man, speaking to him, or something.
Billie gave Nic advice, but it felt like she projected what worked best for her onto Nic, with the addition of sharing something so personal and irrefutably awful that Nic wouldn't have had the space to respond to Billie's opinion with anything other than acceptance and support.
Nic isn't Billie or Conrad. Maybe they can get away with compartmentalization or moving on with time, but what if she's different?
What if Nic requires therapy to help with her PTSD after a traumatic event while she's pregnant and post-pandemic and the loss of her sister?
My heart hurts for Billie and the sexual assault she experienced, and I always appreciate representing survivors.
However, I disliked how Billie's rape trauma revelation was used as a way of making her a sympathetic character, sure, but namely to support why Nic needs her and the specific advice that only she could Nic.
In the end, the plot, assuming that's the end of it (maybe it isn't, and things can change), didn't serve Nic. Did one talk with Billie change her perspective enough not to face her assailant, move on, and sleep better?
I would've preferred Nic spent time with the man, and we saw where it went rather than everyone working so hard to keep her away from something she maybe could've needed for her mental health.
It took time but eventually I broke his hold over me. That's what you have to do move on because if you don't you'll continue to be a victim and you've given him control.
Billie
And we still missed out on a Mina and Billie scene. With the escalation of Mina's future hanging in the balance, it's more foreboding than ever that Billie is stepping in as Nic's closest female friend while Mina is slaying dragons.
At least on the mentor/mentee level, AJ may have a contender. He's an exceptional mentor, so if he gets to do more of the same with the new surgical intern, Leela, then so be it.
She seems like a perfectly smart, genuine, determined, and great doctor and person. She was radiating eagerness when she stepped into Chastain, and any young doctor smart enough to know that you seek a nurse for all the information is already off to a promising start.
Considering the previous interns have disappeared, it's great to have that element back through Leela, and she's already intriguing. It was hard not to feel for the girl when AJ snapped at her, which was a scene that almost felt surreal coming from him; the direness of the situation be damned.
Clearly, she's capable, so the response by both AJ and Devon to her after that one glaring moment of weakness when it was her first freaking day felt so genuinely bizarre, baffling, and annoying. AJ barking at her was jarring and uncharacteristic.
Leela more than earned respect for laying into Devon about how he was treating her. His public belittling critique of her felt unnecessarily humiliating and unconstructive.
He also expressed that maybe he figured out why she had such mixed results day, but Devon presumably didn't figure out her dyslexia until after seeing her drawings.
Leela: Hey, when you have a minute I would like to learn everything about your patients. Not just rhe medicine but personal stuff too.
Jessica: Seriously?
Leela: Yeah! Nurses always know everything right.
She verbally eviscerated him, but she showed her skillset when it mattered to AJ after Mina left, and at least with Devon in the know about her dyslexia, then maybe he can genuinely help her.
Once Devon got over himself and learned the truth about Leela, he recognized her drive, passion, and compassion aligns with his mission, and maybe this means Leela will have two mentors in the form of AJ and Devon.
Devon: If you'd rather be an artist by all means go do it. At least no one dies when you color outside the lines. Right now you really should be focused on your patients especially after today's performance.
Leela: So kind of you to give me that advice on my first day at Chastain Dr. Pravesh. Thanks so much. Do you want to see what I was drawing? You don't know me and I don't know you, but you need to understand this. There is nothing that matters to me more than being the best doctor that I can be. And as far as my performance goes, when you were an intern, did you perform flawlessly? It's a learning process and I was rather hoping you'd help me learn and not tear me down.
The Nadine shocker is something that'll take a minute to process. When she called him from her limo, you could tell she was likely holding a baby, so it was a matter of waiting for the precise moment when Devon realized he possibly has a child.
Devon and Nadine's love story was the strongest of his romantic arcs, and they were adorable together. It's good to see her again.
Assuming some of you have already surmised the mixed feelings this reviewer has about baby storylines, then you're right for guessing that this, too, has elicited some muddled feelings.
What's the timeline here? Could this baby be Devon's, or did she meet someone else, get married, and have a kid? What if it's not her child at all but that of a relative?
It's a special type of soap-operatic to have Devon, who has arguably had the best arc of the season thus far, end the first half of it with something this contrived, but again, you never know how this can play out, and The Resident finds ways to pull off the unexpected.
Let us hope that the unexpected includes protecting Mina Okafor at all freaking costs and keeping her from getting deported.
It was satisfying to have another hour where everyone basically called Cain a dick.
Oh, Pravesh. This is is that little prince your son?
Irving
Surprising no one, he's a total asshole during PT. He can't seem to help himself when it comes to speaking down to everyone around him, and for some reason, he often thinks his position means everyone should kiss his butt and deal with it.
Unfortunately for Cain, his injury means he may not be able to perform surgeries, and he's right down there with the rest of the commoners. If Rose wasn't already likable enough during The Resident Season 4 Episode 7, her standing up to Cain and dragging him by the follicles earned her MVP status.
Cain is such an ass for no reason, and it was crazy how he went from being close to nice one minute and then snatched it all back seconds later. Who hurt you, sir?
Rose was giving as good as she got from the jerk, and best yet, it got to him.
Kit laid down the law. She constantly proves why she's the most deserving person in this position as, despite their issues, she genuinely wanted to keep him on.
She recognizes his importance as their neuro-department is falling apart. If Cain stopped pitying himself and did what he needed, his path to recovery could be faster.
And if he got his attitude in check, then he would probably have job security. It's like he knows he's an asshole and that at the moment, he's not good enough because of his injury to get away with his poor 'tude.
You can't be mediocre and an asshole; pick a struggle, Cain.
His skills aren't enough to save him, and Red Rock isn't behind him anymore, so he has to shape-up or get the hell out.
Cain: Do I look like a toddler? Don't talk to me like one.
Rose: Don't act like one. Tammy is just doing her job. Have some respect.
Cain: Whoever you are when I want your advice ill ask you for it.
His first step could've been ending everything he started against Mina, but he didn't even consider that until AJ confronted him in the parking lot.
Mina got blindsided with questions about her relationships with Micah and AJ and running a clinic from her home.
Mina is not only facing deportation, which would mean she probably wouldn't have a shot in hell of returning but the loss of her medical license, too.
We've never seen AJ as protective and outraged as he was when he went from reassuring Mina that everything would be okay to putting the fear of God in Cain. Basically, you don't f*ck with his woman.
AJ: Brother, I have got to admit. You have put me in a vendetta kinda mood. A rare and special brand of pissed off and I find myself with some inspired ways to make you pay for what you're doing to Mina Okafor.
Cain: Excuse you.
AJ: No, no. You don't have to run away from me Barrett. I won't hurt you, baby. Not yet. See I had an epiphany, and the irony is way too sweet. You're going to walk away from me, take the elevator to the penthouse where you will settle in at rock bottom, and I have no interest in punching down. You ruining Mina's life and career will not heal you, Barrett. If anything, you'll sink to a new low.
Cain: She tried to destroy me.
AJ: No, she called you out for all the right reasons. You're trying to destroy her for all the wrong reasons, and now I hear even Kit thinks there is no seat for you at our table. But as far as I'm concerned, that's not punishment enough. Fix it, Barrett. Now. If you don't I'm coming for you. You hear me? And you won't walk away from me ever again.
Oh, it was a Come to Jesus moment for the man who toted solidarity for why he needed to give Cain, a man who has only cared about himself this whole time, the benefit of the doubt.
AJ extended Cain a grace beyond what Cain ever warranted, and it still didn't stop Cain from actively choosing to ruin someone AJ cares about for having the gall to rightfully calling him out on his crap.
Cain must've considered the error of his ways to some degree in pissing off the one person who didn't actively hate him nor root for his demise.
As they say, real g's move in silence, and a calm, cool, and collected at times teddy bear of a character like AJ was as menacing as it gets within seconds out in that parking garage. You NEVER piss off the teddy bear. It's still a bear.
Knoll: Yes Barett.
Cain: I want you to ease up on Mina Okafor. Drop the whole thing now, the hearing, the visa, all of it.
Knoll: Sorry, Barrett that's out of our hands. It's a moving train that can't be stopped now.
I don't think we know how deeply AJ's threat to Cain went, as we're not entirely sure what AJ is capable of, but that's what made the entire exchange so effective. You can believe that AJ can make Cain's life a living hell.
As AJ pointed out, Cain is already at rock bottom. No one is interested in kicking him while he's down, but if he insists on dragging others down too, then so be it.
It opens to door for some serious tensions. No one stands between Cain and all the people he's pissed off and alienated himself from, and nothing is behind him to spare him from fallout, not even Moises Knoll.
Cain tried to call off the hounds, but it's too late. Things are about to get messy.
Over to you, Resident Fanatics. What are your thoughts on Nadine's return? Do you think the baby is Devon's?
Mina: I don't know what's worse. Being deported or losing my medical license.
AJ: Listen, Mina, you are not going anywhere. You hear me?
Are you still loving or loathing Billie? How do you feel about Billie's job offer?
What are your thoughts on the new intern? How do you feel about Mina, AJ, and Cain? Let's discuss everything below!
You can watch The Resident online here via TVFanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
