Nurses Season 1 Episode 7 Review: Lifeboat
Leora W at .Poor Grace. Nurses Season 1 Episode 7 was another Grace centric episode, and man, did we feel for her. She's trying so hard to be strong, but she's been through so much.
Grace blames herself for what Dr. Hamilton did to her. That isn't an uncommon response to an assault, unfortunately. Thankfully, Grace has Ashley and the rest of her friends to tell her that it wasn't her fault.
What happened with her patient, Nic, however, was. We can sympathize with Nic. Between living in a hospital and dealing with a chronic condition, it must be the worst. Plus, losing your toes? Nobody can blame her for wanting a day off.
Nic: Two toes down. Pedicures will never be the same.
Grace: Maybe you'll get a 20& discount.
Nic: You know, when you're going downhill, you don't ever think that you're literally going to fall apart.
Grace: (Laughs) Sorry. I shouldn't laugh.
Nic: Really. It's the only thing that gets me through.
Grace: Life is hard. You have to laugh. And then buckle down, take responsibility, and be your best you. You can't just do whatever you want because it feels good in the moment. You have to make choices and stick with them.
Nic: Oh, good lord!
Grace: I'm just saying, life is all about accepting how things are.
Nic: Okay. That's enough! You want me to give up?
Grace: No. No, you misunderstood me.
Nic: No, no, I understand. In fact, suddenly everything has become very clear, so, thank you.
Grace: What are you doing?
Nic; I have become a professional patient. I eat, drink, and crap on a schedule!
Grace: You live in the hospital. It has to be on schedule.
Nic: Yeah, but, is that a life? Well, I can tell you, it's not. No. No. God. I'm getting out of here.
Grace: Okay, well, you can't just leave. You have to get a signed release from a doctor.
Nic: Who cares? I don't care. I don't care. I don't.
Grace: You should. You're a diabetic with chronic renal failure. You're a long-term patient; if you leave, you're gonna lose your bed.
Nic: I don't care. This place is keeping me alive, but I am dying inside.
Had she gone to the Bed and Breakfast Grace recommended, she might have been fine. That wasn't what Nic wanted, though. Nic wanted to party.
Grace should have known better than to indulge Nic. Drinking with your patient, who shouldn't be drinking at all, is not a good idea. Also, bringing a patient to the home of someone who works at the hospital crosses a major line.
Health care professionals need boundaries between their work-life and their home-life. Grace had no right to bring Nic to Ashley and Wolf's house.
Ashley was super understanding, though, and we get why. Grace has been trying so hard to hold it together. She used her relationship with Kabir to get through, but that wasn't working anymore, so she ended it.
It's a good thing, but it does mean she doesn't even have that anymore. She feels alone in her pain, and a part of her believes she deserves it.
Grace: I'm just so tired of holding it all together. It's become who I am.
Nic: Then be somebody else.
Logically, she knows that's wrong. She knows she didn't deserve what happened any more than Naz would if history repeats itself.
Naz was shaping up to be Dr. Hamilton's next victim, and Grace could see it coming. She ran interference, but she knew she couldn't do that forever.
Thankfully, now Naz knows what Dr. Hamilton did and what kind of snake he really is. She hates him now, and we agree with her. Hopefully, knowing what he's like will protect her going forward. He's definitely got his eye on her.
It isn't just Naz or Grace, though. We learned on Nurses Season 1 Episode 6 that this happens all the time. Some of the nurses try to take action, but they never win. It's disheartening, to say the least.
Nurses might be trying to make a point. Maybe this is something that goes unaddressed in hospitals all the time, and they're going for a realistic situation without closure because real-life assault victims of doctors don't get closure.
Grace: Ruined your party. I brought a patient into your home; so, so dumb!It's like I want to lose my job. Dr. Hamilton will take the first opportunity to fire my ass, and I took a chronically ill patient on a bender. Why am I so stupid?
Ashley: You're not stupid, Grace. It was sweet.
Grace: It was naive! I knew. I always knew. Why did I get a spot on his team? Because I'm so smart? I knew what he wanted. All that attention, the hand, the graze, always finding a way to touch me, And I thought that I was so talented. I never did anything about it. I would just stand there, and smile, and laugh, and I never said anything. And every time that he crossed the line, that I knew he was crossing the line, I just, would just freeze. So stupid! and that was six of us in this room, and it was open-heart surgery, so nobody's looking at me. And he was behind me, and his hand on my back, down my waistband, and he's touching me, and I didn't do anything, I didn't say anthing. I didn't tell anybody. I knew. I knew. I always knew!
Ashley: So what if you knew? That doesn't make it okay. Nothing makes it okay.
More likely, and hopefully, we will get some closure on this. They've been beating this horse for a while, building up to it, and with Dr. Hamilton on staff, it won't go away until they do something about it.
TV is about shining a spotlight on real issues, but it's also about wish-fulfillment. Hopefully, we get to see that dirtbag get what's coming to him.
The group finally knows about Grace's assault, which is a relief. It makes sense that they didn't know before. Grace wanted it to be a secret.
However, it is surprising how little they all know about each other, considering how much time they spend together.
Only Ashley knew about Wolf's childhood struggle with Leukemia, and nobody knew Grace had a boyfriend. The five of them have tough jobs that only other nurses can understand. They are each other's village.
Grace: I broke up with my boyfriend.
Wolf: Wait, you had a boyfriend?
Grace: Wow, we all really need to talk more.
That seemed to be the message of the episode. It's a great message, but it only works if they are comfortable leaning on each other.
Naz was so embarrassed that she showed up to a casual party in a fancy outfit with a hostess gift. It was only after Grace's secret came out that she admitted her social faux-pas.
She seems to have learned that they need to be real with each other. They need each other, and they can only help each other if they are real.
Once Grace came clean about who Nic really was, everybody rallied to help. Nobody even gave her a hard time about it.
Patience is a virtue in the nursing profession, and with all the patience and understanding this group showed, you know they picked the right career path.
Keon: I lost my temper today, at work. I never do that.
Naz: I broke down in front of a coma patient's family.
Keon: This job.
Keon's patience ran out a bit at the hospital. His patient's father was emotionally abusive to his kid, and Keon took it very personally.
He doesn't usually lose his cool like that, and I can't help but wonder if he has similar issues with his own dad. Time will tell.
Naz also broke down about Veer's condition. This made sense because we know she bonded greatly with Veer and his cousin, Dev.
The sparks between Naz and Dev are adorable, and I'm excited to see more of them. I had hoped Veer would live, though.
Grace: How strong do we have to be, to face what we face everyday, treating people on the worst day of their lives, every shift?
Patient's Family Member: He has Hep C, 'kay? And he fell. He's sick and you gotta help him.
Grace: The madness of ordinary moments, accidents, incidents, unexpected pain, unknowable outcomes, and the unpredictability of human nature.
Ashley also lost her cool, but it wasn't until after she left the hospital. She had a panic attack about getting stabbed with a patient's used needle.
What happened to her was bad, and it makes sense it would affect her. However, she knew she was fine. The needle didn't puncture the glove, let alone the skin.
The plotline seemed unnecessary. Perhaps it was just there to show cuteness with Ashley and Caro, who seem to be pretty serious already.
A lot of our group are paired up now. Keon is with Dr. Banks, Ashley is with Caro, Naz might have something with Dev, and while Grace is newly single, something is brewing between her and Evan.
Nic; I think I'll just go where the wind takes me. You know life is what happens while you're making other plans. That's Lennon. John, not Vladimir.
Kabir: (Knocks on door and gets Grace's attention) You're the one who's so obsessed with returning this bag.
Grace: Just take your stuff. I don't want it at my place anymore. Get it yourself. It's in locker 26. Combination 34-54.
Kabir: Okay, hold on. Look, I'm sorry. It feels wrong for it to end between us.
Grace: Did it feel wrong to sleep with me and then go home to your fiancee? (He leaves. Grace returns to Nic) So, where were we?
Nic: A boyfriend betrothed to another. The plot thickens. I'm impressed. I didn't think you had it in you. Sayonara.
His smile watching her dance was adorable, as was his reaction to her phone call about her break up. Again, she's not really in a position to get into a relationship right now, but if the stars align at some point, they would be cute together.
Even Sinead is dating Detective Walker, though she was sadly absent from this episode.
The only one left single is Wolf. His storyline was great. Being a mother is hard, and there is no shame in asking for or accepting help. Adult couples struggle to juggle it all, so being a single young mother would be nearly insurmountable.
Sasha: Sometimes I wonder if I should have just let that couple take him. I know they were nice. Lot's of money. They seemed happy together. They would have been amazing parents, but I just ... I couldn't do it. And the thing is, he probably would have been better off.
Wolf: You'll never know. You'll never know that.
Sasha: Yeah. The path not taken, right? God, sometimes I even wonder about me. The me that I would be if I just let him go.
Wolf: There she is. What do you think she's got going on?
Sasha: Well, she's in university.
Wolf: Okay.
Sasha: Not part-time. Full-on degree with lots of parties and a cute boyfriend and -
Wolf: I heard he's a douchebag, though.
Sasha: (laughs) Yeah. That sounds about right, given my taste, but um, you know, she's having a blast.
Wolf: You think she ever thinks about that path not taken too? You know, where baby Jay is, and how he's doing? Because I bet she's looking back at you, and she's thinking she is so strong, and she is so brave, 'cause she went with her gut, and now she's making it all work.
Sasha: It's just, it's hard. And my mom keeps calling me, and I'm ike, "I got this, I got this," but, you know, I don't actually have this. I don't have this.
Wolf: But everybody needs help sometimes, right? Even amazing you needs help sometimes. And you seriously need some sleep.
Sasha was determined to be a mother to her son, but she was neglecting herself. Thankfully, her mother seemed willing to help her out in the end. Sadly, not all young single parents have mothers willing to do that.
Our society makes mothers feel guilty for needing help, but it's completely normal. Sasha would be useless to Baby Jay without sleep.
Yeah, Baby Jay, okay. You've gotta hit the hay; your mom, your mom, she's on the verge of losing her mind. Oh, you ... you understood that? Well, yeah man, You know, you've gotta look out for her. She struggles sometimes, right? But she keeps getting back up, and she loves you. She loves you a whole lot. Man, if you've got that. Man, you've got what matters. You've got what matters. Yeah, Baby Jay, you made me kind of feel like a grown-up. I like you man. Yeah, you're alright.
Wolf
You need to put the oxygen mask on yourself first before helping your child. We all know this, yet it is so easy to forget.
Meanwhile, Baby Jay was adorable. Do you know what else was adorable? Wolf with a baby! That was such a cute scene! He's such a good caregiver.
All the nurses had a hard twenty-four hours, but they learned to lean on each other when it's all over. This was a terrific episode.
Maybe it's not about how strong you need to be to face what each day brings. but who you need around you to make it okay.
Grace
Over to you, Fanatic. Do you think Keon has daddy issues? Do you expect Naz and Dev to get together? And how are they going to deal with the elephant-sized slimeball doctor in the room?
Let us know in the comments, and remember, you can watch Nurses online right here via TV Fanatic.
Nurses airs on Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.
Leora W was a staff writer for TV Fanatic..
