The Resident Season 5 Episode 3 Review: The Long And Winding Road
Jasmine Blu
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Rest in Paradise, Nic Nevin.
As expected, Nic succumbed to her injuries after a mysterious car accident (where there are more questions than answers), and The Resident Season 5 Episode 3 served as a swan song to lay this beloved original character to rest.
And despite the circumstances and respective feelings about how Nic got written out of the series, the series delivered a beautifully devastating, or is it a devastatingly beautiful hour.
How are you all doing after that emotional affair? Personally, the hour was packed with so many stunning performances from Czuchry and the rest of the cast, who literally served as supporting roles in this feature, that the sadness didn't hit until the Honor Walk.
Between the circumstances, all of Nic's loved ones in the hall sending her off, many of them with flashbacks to moments they've shared, and that stunning cover of Goo Goo Doll's Iris, it was that precise moment when the tears came.
Of course, the rendition of Boy Dylan's Forever Young, while not as impactful, still packed a hell of an emotional punch, particularly when little Gigi bid farewell to the helicopter carrying her mother's organs with a simple but effective, "mama."
Give the baby an Emmy. Hell, when exactly is Czuchry going to get his?
Whether some of us were fans of the inevitable direction Nic's storyline would go to adapt to VanCamp's departure or not, one thing that was never up for debate was the incredible performances to come from the ordeal.
And Czuchry knocked it out of the park. He was the clear standout here, from the pulse-pounding car ride as he chased the chopper that held Nic to a similar one on foot as he zipped through the hospital to the rooftop.
Billie: I can't reverse the injury. Nic won't recover from this, Conrad.
Conrad: That's my wife in there. Gigi's mother! The center of our world! We are not giving up on her!
Damn, this series loves to make Matt Czuchry run, but it sure as hell sells the emotion and urgency of the plot.
It was captured beautifully as a wordless Conrad had tunnel vision while everyone around him got their alerts a split second after passing them.
By the time AJ physically held Conrad back from flinging his entire body toward Nic, it was apparent we would have a phenomenal hour in store for us.
Interestingly, Conrad's connection with the guest characters carried as much weight as those we know and love. His time spent in the helicopter with a fellow veteran felt like a pivotal moment in the hour as it set the tone for things later.
And Conrad's moments with Cherry held all of the maternal, feminine energy that Conrad needed in a time like that. It also served as this reminder of how he doesn't have a mother of his own.
Conrad lost his mom, Nic, too, and now Gigi has lost hers.
But Conrad is in a position of knowing what's in store for Gigi as a kid who lost a mother while in a place where he understands his father. He now knows what it's like to lose a wife and have to raise a child, too.
You could see how that resonated with Marshall as he watched his son walk into Nic's room with Gigi one final time.
You felt the hurt Marshall did as a father watching his son endure that loss -- join a club no one wants to extend membership for, and it was all those little nuances and interplays that made the hour pop.
Conrad went through so many stages in coming to grips with what happened to Nic, and each one of them was heartbreaking. The denial was palpable for so much of the hour as he clung to any semblance of hope that she'd come out on the other side despite how bleak her prognosis was by the minutes.
Everything about Conrad's behavior was true to character for him in such a seemingly unimaginable time. It made sense that he'd try to micromanage and insert himself in every aspect of her care.
He would see the best outlooks in the grim charts and scans. It was so typical of Conrad to drudge up his worst possible case of a TBI patient to dissect it and find anything that could help him figure out how to save Nic.
Kit: This is unsurvivable.
Bell: Yeah, I know. These images make it clear. Nic is gone.
He pushed and challenged Billie at every turn, and initially, he didn't respond well to Devon or Bell's logical, reasoned conclusions.
Conrad would do whatever he could, exhaust everything and everyone to save his wife -- and that speaks to him as a character and their love.
You could appreciate how everyone was there for him and processing what happened to Nic in their own ways.
Devon barely got discharged out of the hospital before he was rushing to support his brother. And when Conrad didn't respond well to Devon's response to the scans, he attempted to find some ground to figure out what Conrad needed from him emotionally at that time.
Leela: Are you sure you're up for this?
Devon: Am I up for it? No. Is it going to destroy me? Yes. But it's not about me. It's about two people I love and their child, and I'm going to do it for Nic, Conrad, and Gigi.
A fondness for Leela and Devon aside, Leela almost felt overbearing in her attempts to hit home how much she felt a similar fear when he was unconscious. It felt unnecessary.
By then, Devon was fine enough to be by his friend's side. Sure, he needed rest, but who would go home to sleep during a time like that?
It was still surprising that Devon was the one to perform the final test to conclude that Nic was braindead. Jessica and Hundley accompanying him was one of many touching scenes from the hour.
It at least gave Billie a break, as she exhausted herself beyond her emotional limits taking the lead with Nic's care.
One of these days, one will see Billie and not immediately consider what things would've been like if Mina were there, but today isn't that day.
It would've been nice if we at least had a single mention, but that's not to say it won't come at some point down the road; that's a possibility.
Conrad shouldn't have been on Nic's case; that makes sense, but it also made you wonder if Billie should've been either.
Nevertheless, she had some great moments, too. Also solid was Billie's scene with comforting Conrad while expressing how devastating all of this is for her as well.
But her moment with Bell when he checked in with her to see how she was keeping it together was a favorite. Jessica Lucas is such a pretty crier.
Bell excelled in the role of the person who shuts off their emotions and handles everything else. As someone who has seen their mother in that role with every crisis, his behavior was so familiar.
Greenwood killed it as per usual, and he, too, had was a standout performer in this hour.
Bell's natural leadership won out, and it was all in the little things.
Bell was the glue keeping everyone around him together, cool, calm, and level-headed in this emotional storm. We saw it with his scene checking up on Billie enough to know that she couldn't handle running the final test later, to his heart to heart with Conrad --exposing how far the pair have come in their relationship and respect for one another.
Bell: At some point, we'll have to intervene. He can't take control of Nic's care.
Kit: I know. And we will once we know what we're dealing with.
His compassion and heart came through, too, and it's so hard to nail that balance when depicting that, so you don't come across cold and heartless.
Bell was also the one to keep Kit on solid ground, knowing the calls required and keeping her on that path.
And Kyle, good heavens, how much more can this poor man take?
Kyle's denial ran deep, but in a way, his inability to see everything for what it was finally pushed Conrad into acceptance as he overcame his own.
Kyle reacted as most people with no medical knowledge would in that situation.
The way Nic talks about you, she thinks you're a miracle worker. You can save everybody in this damn hospital, but you won't save her!
Kyle
He saw Nic appearing as if she was asleep, and he clung to that. He knew her hand moved once, and it was enough for him to feel hopeful. Kyle couldn't process Nic's herniated brain, her dismal scans, or that there was nothing mentally left of her. She was gone.
The second he came rushing to the hospital with the bouquet, you knew Kyle's devastation would be too much to bear. And when he lashed out at Conrad, it was expected.
Kyle thought about Conrad as the great and powerful healer who always pulls the impossible out when no one else can. He couldn't reconcile that with the man telling him that it was time to let Nic go.
The worse part about Kyle's emotional tirade is that you know Conrad will be beating himself up over this, too, even if logically, he understands that there was nothing else he could do.
Conrad spending the rest of the season trying to maintain this newly strained relationship with a grieving, historically depressed, suicidal Kyle could be compelling.
He's Gigi's grandfather, and Gigi is all Kyle has left, but Kyle's anger at Conrad may linger for a bit for the sole fact that he needs to be upset with someone.
It'll also be compelling to see the Chastain family rally around Conrad as they did throughout the hour. Conrad had meaningful moments with almost everyone.
Initially, the long-haul COVID case felt as if it didn't need to be in an hour devoted to sending off Nic, but it worked much better than one would expect, well before Gabe got Nic's trachea.
Leela: She's going to save so many lives.
AJ: Exactly.
The parallels were evident between the two couples.
Cherry wouldn't stop trying to save her husband, and you felt for her instantly. They also hit home how dire COVID is. Even though The Resident is in a post-pandemic world, the seriousness of COVID shone through with this case.
Long-Haul COVID is a fascinating ailment that we'll likely see explored on series for years to come.
The case took AJ away from most of what was happening with Nic, and it sucks that he was one of the people not included in the flashback sequences with special moments with Nic.
However, the case dovetailed nicely with what was happening, especially when Nic's parting gift to a patient she loved was a literal piece of her.
Even in death, Nic gives and saves lives, and that was a beautiful sentiment to express for the character's final hour.
After the disappointing sendoff for Mina, it's a relief that, despite how tragic it was, the hour did Nic justice with a proper goodbye.
And if this review seems scattered, well, sincerest apologies. It was one of those hours where you feel it more than try to summarize it, you know?
Over to you, Resident Fanatics.
Did you appreciate this sendoff for Nic? How great were the performances? Let's mourn together in the comments below.
If you want to relive the best Nic moments, 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.
