The Resident Season 1 Episode 9 Review: Lost Love
Jasmine Blu
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How can an hour start off making a girl coo in delight over the fluffiest, cutest, tiniest little puppies on Earth and end with me figuratively in the fetal position as emotionally wrecked as our protagonist?
Sh!t got all too real on The Resident Season 1 Episode 9, and the back half of the season is bound to be a whirlwind of drama that will keep our heads spinning.
Holy. Crap. Let's talk about it.
I'll try to put something out there for you guys, but honestly, I'm just waiting to read all of your reactions to this installment in the comment section. We're going to need a The Resident emotional support group in the comments.
Lane Hunter is a mother fudging monster (and something else, but we'll keep it PG)!
She has been manipulative, cunning, and clever since she was first introduced. We knew she was overdosing her patients, and we knew that she was profiting off of her oncological study. We knew all of this.
Yet, knowing something and seeing the lengths she went to destroy Nic out of pettiness, spite, and pure unadulterated evil was something entirely different. There was no question that when the other doctor contacted her and told her that Lily had sought her out for a second opinion, Lane was going to get her revenge.
No one thinks about the effects on doctors when they have to watch their patients suffer.
Conrad
We knew Lane wasn't planning on killing Nic with kindness despite her syrupy sweet half apology to Nic and putting her on Lily's case.
Related: The Resident Review: Family Affair
Absolutely nothing prepared me for that ending though. I was frozen in horror when she gave Nic the verbal commands on how much potassium to give Lily. She didn't put it on the chart, and at that moment, my jaw dropped because I suspected how it would unfold from there.
I was also frustrated with Nic. She's been at odds with this woman for so long, and she knows the woman is inauthentic to the very core. How did she not see any of this coming?!
I adore Nic, but I expected more from her. She questioned it once but went along with it. Lane threatened Nic as if it was her personal mission to destroy her once before. Nic had to have known that woman wouldn't turn on a dime like that.
Perhaps she allowed Conrad's words to settle in. Conrad wasn't as suspicious as literally everyone else when Lane conjured up a few fake tears while talking about losing her patients like she gives a single damn.
Related: The Resident Review: The Elopement
Conrad concluded that Lane would be equally as convincing on the stand if it came to it.
Maybe Nic got sidetracked thinking about Conrad, Catherine, and that ring. I don't know. All I know is I expected Nic to be more cautious than she was, and now she's in a bind that'll cost her the job.
Lily died of a potassium overdose. It's not uncommon in a hospital, but the way this will reflect on Nic has me physically ill. She gave her that dosage and left her for the night to go home.
Lane heading out to dinner with Bell to cover her tracks was diabolical in its genius. I mean, it's not just me, is it?
We knew Lane was a despicable person, and as the season progressed, it became evident that she was worse than Bell, but deliberately killing a patient to set up a nurse surpassed the expected villainy.
Lane realized everyone was closing in on her. Lily was questioning her judgment (the way Lane ignored Lily begging her to stop the chemo was stomach-turning). Devon couldn't hide his feelings on the matter.
The last straw may have been Conrad approaching her because he's like a dog with a bone; he doesn't let go.
We saw that when Lily coded. It was like everything was happening at once, but time stopped too. Conrad refused to let her go. That was the most intense scene of the series so far watching Conrad beating on this frail girl's chest willing her to live while everyone in the room looked on.
Related: The Resident Review: No Matter the Cost
It's surprising that no one dared to intervene, but perhaps they knew it would be a futile attempt when it's someone like Conrad in that state. When he finally called it, I realized I was on the edge of my couch and had been holding my breath the entire time.
The moment that hit that wrecking ball to the gut feeling home was watching precious, fluffy Cookie scamper through all the remnants of the commotion to get to a completely wrecked Conrad. If I were capable of it, I would have bawled my eyes out at that moment.
Matt Czuchry sold the hell out of that scene. He had a rough day, so he was emotionally drained to the point of appearing vacant behind the eyes.
Conrad's ex-fiancee was a sweet woman, and I was all prepared for her to be dead by the end of the hour.
Did anyone else guess that she had an ectopic pregnancy?
Her best moments, ironically, weren't the ones with Conrad. While they had a few nice exchanges, they weren't very forthcoming with background information during their scenes, and the chemistry wasn't there at all.
Related: The Resident Review: None the Wiser
No, Catherine's best scenes were with Nic. It's funny that it took Conrad's ex to be the one to bring Nic and Conrad closer together.
Catherine: How long have you been in love with him?
Nic: What makes you say that?
Catherine: You're wearing the ring he gave you. It belonged to his mother, did you know that?
Nic: No.
Catherine: He loved her very much. You must mean a great deal if he gave it to you.
Nic needed the chance to better understand Conrad, and it's a relief that she has a grasp of who he is now compared to before.
Many of you guys sympathize with Nic when it comes to all that good CoNic angst, but I always found Conrad to be the most relatable. He's not someone who wears his emotions on his sleeve, but if you're paying attention, he shows his feelings through action.
He gave Nic his mother's ring. Not only did he give it to her when they were together, but he never dreamed of asking for it back because he believes Nic is the love of his life, and that's who the ring is meant for whether they were together or not.
He also made the big move of giving Jude the OK to pursue Nic if he wanted to because he knows Jude can give her something that he can't.
I don't usually have strong feelings either way for the two of them as a couple. Obviously, they're the show's endgame, but outside of that moment where Conrad held her hand and expressed how much he needed her, this was the first time their romantic relationship made me feel something.
That scene where she asked him about the ring, and he told her about it and why he wanted her to keep it was one of the best of the hour.
Nic: Hey Conrad?
Conrad: Yeah.
Nic: When did your mom give you this ring?
Conrad: When I left for Afghanistan.
Nic: Why didn't you tell me it belonged to her?
Conrad: I wanted you to feel like it was your own. She told me to give it to the love of my life.
Nic: You want it back?
Conrad: No, you earned it.
Catherine was the third party who could bring the two of them closer together, and I like that. It would have been devastating if she died. It was such a close call, too.
Not only would that have been a blow for Conrad, but it would have been one for Jude too. It's a pity that Warren Christie is so underutilized because Jude has the potential to be a fascinating character.
Related: The Resident Review: Identity Crisis
He has Conrad's back more often than not, and he comes when someone needs him. His relationship with Nic is undefined, so it's hard to see him as the third point of the love triangle. Jude's professional side is what's most intriguing.
Jude keeps losing patients or coming close to it. That's not to imply that he's doing something wrong (like Bell), but it takes a toll on a doctor mentally, and when we do see Jude, he seems like he's struggling. He was positively gutted when he thought he was about to lose Catherine.
Wait, about Nic, two women left me for the same reason. You deserve Nic. You can give her what I can't.
Conrad [to Jude]
It would be nice if the series elaborated on that a bit more because there's something there.
Wouldn't it be interesting if Jude was one of the doctors caught up in Claire's new plan? For one, shouldn't Claire have had cameras installed in the OR rooms anyway? That seems like common sense.
How has she gone this long without noticing the hospital's medical error record? One minute, she's suspicious of Bell because he finds ways to avoid surgery, and the next minute, she consults him for every little thing like he's not guilty of half the crap she's trying to prevent.
Bell going toe-to-toe with Conrad only to walk away relieved because he wouldn't have to operate under the new cameras made me laugh. This guy is unbelievable. He can't avoid being caught for long. Something has to give.
I can't go without discussing those darling puppies.
Who named those cuties? They named them after sweets, and I legit squealed when I heard their names. I squealed whenever they were onscreen.
Little Cookie was an absolute doll. Can Conrad keep her/him? He's going to need a furry friend as a therapy dog after what he went through and what he's about to go through.
Didn't it seem like Cookie was attempting to track down Mina? Cookie was going to make Mina love her whether she wanted to or not. I just knew Cookie would go home with Mina when she was done having her hospital adventure.
Cookie and her furry friends brought much-needed joy to an hour that destroyed fans otherwise.
OK, Resident Fanatics, I'll see you in the comments. Let's discuss!
The Resident will return April. 16. If you need a fix until then, you can watch The Resident online right here via TV Fanatic.
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.
