The Resident Season 3 Episode 1 Review: From the Ashes
Jasmine Blu
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If you had any doubt that The Resident wouldn't return stronger than ever, why?
Also, sorry not sorry, you were wrong. It happens to the best of us, excluding Conrad Hawkins.
What was the take away of The Resident Season 3 Episode 1? It's still in it to win it. You have to appreciate a series that grows and improves the longer it sticks around.
At the risk of sounding redundant, if the premiere is any indicator, the third season will be promising.
The Resident always feels like the little medical drama that could. It always faced the fire, but despite it, the series knows what it wants to be and what it wants to do, and it does it. It commits.
It's that type of commitment, writing, and of course, it's fantastic cast that allowed the series to make it to its third season when many counted the series out.
But nevermind that, let's delve into the first hour of the season. The hour takes place a month after the events of The Resident Season 2 Episode 23. We found out in the first few minutes the fate of the Nevins members whose lives were hanging in the balance.
Usually, bait and switches like the opening scene are clichéd and irritating, but Nic sitting in a field Black-eyed Susans talking to what we learn is her dead sister is beautiful.
Nic: I keep trying to rewind the clock. It must have been something I could have done differently.
Jessie: Remember what I told you? This is not your fault.
For those of you who guessed Jessie was the one who died, you were correct.
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Jessie's death is one of many things that will make the season engaging. The back half of The Resident Season 2 left many of us disillusioned with Nic and the trajectory of her arc; however, based on the premiere, it could be rectified.
She doesn't have that to do anymore, and not only has she lost what she has deemed as her purpose in life, but she also blames herself for it. She thinks she has failed.
Nic has to work through the loss and figure out who she is outside of Jessie's big sister. She also has to figure it out and grieve with Kyle there.
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We don't know how long Kyle will be sticking around, but he's a walking reminder of her sister's death. Part of Nic resents him for being the one to survive. He also reminds her of how she feels as though she failed her sister.
Nic: My whole life I had one job. Take care of Jessie.
Mina: OK, that is not your only job. You take care of so many people.
Despite Kyle being the adult and parent, Nic took on the parental role. She feels as though Kyle believes she's to blame for Jessie's death too.
All of her guilt and pain led to Nic struggling to let go of her sister. She couldn't spread Jessie's ashes the way that she wanted. It worked best that the hour ended with Nic being able to lay Jessie to rest with the support of her found family and friends.
It's what she was missing when she tried to do it before. Conrad and Kyle tried to be the support Nic needed, but Annie and Mina are who helped her most.
Mina: And how are you? We've all been worried.
Nic: You're probably the only person I know who understands how I feel. Does it ever get easier?
Mina: I wish I could promise you that it would.
The series continues to be at its best when these different relationships and friendships thrive. We're three seasons in now, and this batch of people have been through hell and back together. They are every bit a found family as they are work colleagues and friends.
The dynamic between Mina and Nic is already off to an emotional start. For Mina, the way she has evolved as a character and has gone from a bit of an anti-social sort to a close friend and confidant is a journey of hers that is noteworthy though subtle.
The first season, she was the closest to Conrad. The second season we saw she and Devon became something akin to best friends. If season three is the year of the Mina and Nic friendship, it's something of which to look forward.
It's always nice to have a strong female friendship in a series, and they were it even when it wasn't as prominent as other dynamics, but what bonds them now is a mutual pain and understanding.
You can't stop living your life just because someone you know has lost theirs. You gotta remember the good times. Get rid of the bad times, and go on.
Annie
Mina speaking to Nic from a place of experience in losing her sisters was one of the most emotional scenes of the hour.
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To put it bluntly, they're in the Dead Sisters Club together, and in addition to Nic embarking on a path of self-discovery in the absence of her sister, it's refreshing to have her do it in a relationship outside of Conrad.
Yes, we love CoNic, but it's better when they aren't the be-all and end-all of each other. It's an individual path for Nic to work through outside of Conrad, and she can have support from someone who understands where she is now.
Grief and how to deal with it varies for each person, but Mina knows Nic, and what she needed to do was get back to work. From the sounds of it, she hadn't been back since her sister died, and she couldn't bring herself to cross the threshold to the hospital.
It is a lot to ask someone to return to the same place they lost a loved one and work there, walking the same halls and everything. On top of everything else, RRMM shut down the free-clinic, which was Nic's baby.
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A mother almost lost her baby because of her inability to afford anything beyond the free clinic. Nic needs to throw herself back into work since caring for people is her passion and purpose.
When my sisters died, I could hardly get out of bed for two years. I do not want that to happen to you.
Mina
Finding a way to reopen the clinic, RRMM and budgets cuts be damned, is the perfect project for her to embark on with Mina.
The effects of the RRMM merger have already made things tense at Chastain. They wasted no time setting it up as the next threat to rattle Chastain and our beloved gang.
At the helm of it is Barrett Cain. First of all, it's damn good to see Morris Chestnut in another project after the unjust cancellation of The Enemy Within. Also, he's so damn attractive, it's maddening.
Barrett is a character. He's an arrogant, Type-A sort who as money-focused as Bell, maybe even more, and cunning. It's almost like he has many of the traits of some of our favorite characters here blended up together, and served to us in the form of the person who will disrupt everything we love.
I'm telling you, Randolph. Stick with me and we'll rise together. Sky's the limit for men like us.
Barrett
It's comical in a way how wary the gang are of him. AJ is no longer the arrogant new kid on the block with unorthodox practices and an inability to play well with others. He's part of the cool kids now, and even he has reservations about the new guy.
Barrett has the same type of arrogance of AJ and Conrad in his abilities and skills, but he doesn't appear to have the same compassion and care. He has the same profit before patient mentality of Bell.
He's a beast who is familiar, but he's charming in a way that makes him appear less threatening than he probably is. He kicked ass in Annie's surgery. He removed her brain tumor in under five minutes and was out the OR without a second thought, leaving the residents to stitch her up.
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You would think he didn't care, or he would drop the ball with his bedside manner, but based on Conrad's observations and Annie's comments, he's good at that as well. At least, he's great at faking concern with his spiel about positivity.
Bell: Healthcare is a business. I'm a realist. This is what is happening from coast to coast. They're recruiting doctors like Cain.
Kit: And doctors like me who put their patients first are collateral damage.
Bell: Please don't --
Kit: I'm sorry, but I don't belong here.
We don't know enough to get the best read on Barrett, but it's intriguing how he's the little horned devil to Kit's haloed angel whispering in Bell's ear.
Bell spent most of last season coming into himself and softening. He had one of the best arcs and displays of character growth and development as he evolved into a person who considered patients more.
Kit affected him as well as his colleagues and the loss of a friend. However, Barrett threatens that. The aptly named Cain could easily lure Bell back into his former ways, but he also seems like he'd turn on Bell the second it suits him.
RRMM has most of the power at the moment, which is something Bell was wary of with the merger. Their objective is to shift the hospital into overdrive with its earnings.
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Barrett brings in an INSANE amount of money. He bills $80 million a year which had Bell's eyes popping out of his head. Barrett's presence could benefit the hospital, but at what cost?
I fully admit, I live for days like this. That's why I love my job.
Kit
He runs multiple OR's at once, which may bring in more money, but it also could pose a risk to the patients. It comes at the expense of the best possible patient care.
He's also looking to make some changes, and damn it, one of those changes is Kit! She doesn't make the hospital a lot of money, but we know why she's the best at what she does and why she's so valuable.
She saved little Jonah whose effect from the explosion was internal decapitation. DECAPITATED! The kid was as good as dead.
Kit is our Ortho Queen, but she could be a casualty to the merger, and after her less than pleasant interaction with Barrett, it's all but inevitable.
Bell is torn between Kit and Barrett, and he wanted to protect Kit, but at the expense of his friendship with Kit, Barrett's allure, practicality, and like-mindedness may prevail.
Conrad may find himself torn as well. Our boy had most of the action during the hour with the heart-pumping gas leak explosions. Yes, there were two explosions!
It's a miracle Conrad got away from the ordeal with a fractured rib and a few bruises. Nothing keeps that guy down for long!
He got to play hero at the front of the hour with those intense moments of him saving Annie and Jonah, but most of the hour had him sitting back.
Usually, that can be a bit annoying, but it worked this time around. We were also given some tender moments with Nic to make up for them.
It seems the pair are back on solid ground, and I'm distant enough from last season to go along with it. Right now, Nic appreciates Conrad more than ever; he's alive and there.
Conrad: Stay with me.
Nic: When I saw you lying on the ground, I was so scared.
Conrad: I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me. I love you.
Nic: I love you too.
She loves and has him. She doesn't want to lose him, and she's clinging to him in the aftermath of her loss.
Maybe that means she appreciates what she has in him now; it's what their relationship needed. Her concern for him had her running to the hospital; rather than following his instructions, she refused to leave him.
CoNic, they know how to get you in the feels.
Conrad serves as a buffer to Nic and Kyle though, and it's hard to say how his relationship with Nic will be affected if he looks into Jessie's death like Kyle requested.
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Nic wasn't wrong to assume her father wanted a lawsuit. It fell in line with something Kyle would have done, but the man wants closure.
What does he hope to find, though? Is it what we already know about the hinky drug trial Jessie was in that is partly the fault of Chastain, or is there something more about Jessie's death we don't know yet?
Conrad was reluctant to take her autopsy report, but if something else happened, then Conrad will want the truth too. Will he be looking into it behind Nic's back, though?
Devon is on his way to being a resident too, and that is the best news. He's such a great doctor.
Don't tell me we got this woman through a fire, an explosion, and a life-threatening injury only to find out she has a brain tumor.
AJ
His relationship with Eloise was sweet, and it's cute how he's taken her under his wing.
Eloise was the super-smart patient with Cystic Fibrosis, and it's understandable why everyone was getting on her case about being exposed to so much when she's sick, but Team Eloise all the way.
She's making the best of her life while battling the disease, and she's always at risk. She has to live.
She was right about them treating her like a patient instead of as an intern. She's intelligent and knows her own body, and it's something they had to take into account too.
Like she said, her body, her choice.
Additional Notes:
- AJ referred to himself and Mina as the Wonder Twins and my heart is happy about the reference. Yay!
- Don't you love it when AJ and Conrad work together?! GOALS!
- Conrad's silver chain, rings, black jeans, bad boy aesthetic when he's not in scrubs is sexy as hell.
- Can Barrett be that bad if he has such a kickass playlist? Barrett revealing he's "Texan born and bred" after Old Town Road starts blaring in the OR will go down as one of the funniest moments on the series.
- Why do they keep giving Kit cases with children? Why must they tug at her maternal heartstrings every damn time?
- The explosion and missing kid angle made me think of Grey's Anatomy Season 13 Episode 24.
- Should we be concerned about how thirsty Barrett is? The Resident has never had a hospital horndog.
- Kudos to the series for always infusing the city into the show organically. It's always a lovely touch.
We're back in business, you guys! Were you surprised over who died? What do you think about Barrett?
Is there something else we should be concerned about regarding Jessie's death? Are you a fan of the Mina and Nic friendship?
It's been ages, so let's discuss in the comments!
Also, check back in later for our The Resident Round Table!
You can watch The Resident online 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.
