The Resident Season 5 Episode 7 Review: Who Will You Be?
Jasmine Blu
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Welcome back, Dr. Conrad Hawkins!
By the end of The Resident Season 5 Episode 7, Conrad concluded that Chastain does need him, and he sure as heck misses it and his family there, so he announced that he would be returning.
Kit will be ecstatic, and Bell deserves extra snuggles when she learns the good news (and how little Bell had to do to get Conrad back).
It wasn't all smiles throughout an hour that shook the last of the first day of school vibe of this time jump. Some of the developments are upsetting or annoying, depending on how you feel about matters.
But one thing we can cling to is that Conrad will be at Chastain again.
Conrad still intends to figure out how he'll get by, setting his hours and all while he has Queen Gi, but all of this is something he can work out. He's not the first single parent to work at a hospital, after all.
Bell: How did it go?
Conrad: Gigi had a great day.
Bell: And you?
Conrad: I wouldn't call it great, but it was important. I'm needed here. I'm ready. I'm ready to suit back up for Chastain.
Bell: Uh, so what about the work/life balance.
Conrad: I have no idea. But we'll make it work.
Bell: Welcome back, Dr. Hawkins.
Plus, Gigi loves Chastain and had a blast at the ever-evolving pre-school setting that they've established over time.
Kit truly thinks of everything and consistently proves why she's been the best person in charge of the hospital. She comes at things from a different perspective, and by making an environment that's beneficial for her employees and staff, patients benefit from it.
Kit wasn't even in the hour, and she rocked. The downside is that we didn't get to see Gigi with her "Aunt Kit," After that reference, one cannot wait to see those two share the screen so that it hits home how much of a family everyone is to one other.
We need some Aunt Billie and Uncle Devon, too.
Bell: I have hope because you came today. If you weren't even going to consider it, why even show up?
Conrad: Same reason you did? You don't say no to Kit Voss.
The second he walked through those doors again with Gigi, who refused to let her father's goldish bribes make her lie for Conrad's benefit, you knew Conrad would decide to rejoin Chastain.
On the one hand, it would've been nice to see more of him in his concierge gig to understand what he's been doing all of this time and show the different sides of that. He kept mentioning that his patients weren't all rich people who needed silly or superficial things, but we never got to see it.
However, the series didn't need to separate Conrad from the others for too long. It was only so many times they'd find ways to bring him back to the hospital and have everyone pressuring him to return before it got redundant.
It was an effective day for him, and part of that was the time he spent with AJ. The ConRaptor friendship is an underrated dynamic, and the hour delivers the goods.
We learned a lot of things. It seemed as if Conrad and AJ had grown closer over the years, not that they didn't have a nice friendship before that.
Again, the maternal energy that often surrounds Conrad, particularly this season, seems notable and lovely.
You see a softness with Conrad when he's interacting with certain women (not necessarily older, if that needs clarification, but it's all in what they give off). It often comes when it seems he's conflicted or going through something on a personal level.
We saw it with Cherry, Magdelena, often with Kit, and now Carol, too. They remind him to take care of himself, which he needs, especially in the wake of Nic's absence in his life.
As much as he was there to figure out what was happening with Carol, she extended a level of care and tenderness to him as well, and it was sweet.
Cementing her connection to others is what makes Carol's impending death all the more disheartening. It's heavy, you know? All this loss.
Carol beat the odds thanks to her immunotherapy, but the irony is it was killing her in a way, too. It bought Carol some time, and she managed to outlive her husband. You felt this tug of sadness when they mentioned that AJ's father passed away unexpectedly.
And now, he's losing his mother, too. It was the most difficult choice. The immunotherapy caused multiple organ failure, thus killing her. But if she didn't take it, then she risked her cancer returning goodness knows where, and that would kill her, too.
It was a matter of choosing how she wanted to die, and it was heartrending. AJ is such a confident man who manages to keep it together all of the time, but he was in shambles on that rooftop. Conrad hugging him as he broke down, made a lump form in the throat.
Conrad: I'm sorry.
AJ: My mother dying, and she won't face it.
Conrad: She just needs time to process. You both do.
AJ: I don't like being on this side of the curtain.
Czuchry and Warner have such fantastic chemistry with each other, and this hour put it to use.
Tying in Trevor -- it was one of those things that proved essential to attempting to soften his edges again. However, I'm resigned to the fact that Trevor will perpetually rub people the wrong way and be the most intolerable character of the series right now.
Who needs a villain of the season when Trevor makes himself readily available with how offputting he is? And hey, I'm on record as trying to give the kid the benefit of the doubt, but good heavens, he makes it hard.
His introduction as an intern proved that he's still arrogant as hell and incapable of talking to people properly. If anything, it felt as if he got worse. I still maintain that some of his behavior with his friend wasn't as terrible as some folks and Irving made it out to be.
Conrad: He felt pain for Carol and AJ, he wanted to help. I could see that, but it'll be a journey with him.
Devon: Yeah, I"m conflicted. I'm thinking about my first day. God knows I screwed up.
Conrad: You screwed up because of a desperate need to help, your empathy got you in trouble, not your self-interest. As for Trevor, it's your call.
But this installment felt as if they doubled down on Trevor being an asshole for no reason, and it was indefensible, even for me. Sorry, Trevor. I tried, bro.
He undermined Devon the first chance he got while Devon was making his introduction speech to the interns.
It's always amusing and cute when attendings recite the same spiels they heard from their mentors on their first day as an intern. It speaks to impactful those people are on them -- how they've molded and shaped them, and there's no greater nod at that than carrying on that knowledge.
He and Janice are brasher than Zach and Gemma.
It's early yet, so assuming the interns are sticking around, and one hopes that they do, hopefully, we'll get more evolution with all of them as they're fleshed out further.
Right now, it's not enough to get a real impression on any of them.
Zack: I'm Zack, primary care.
Janice: Yikes! I hope you qualify for student loan forgiveness.
Zach was wide-eyed and eager, and he'll probably bring some comic relief. And Gemma is as sweet and awkward as she is cute. Is it too soon to guess that she'll have a crush on Trevor?
Trevor's issue is that he has a chip the size of freaking Texas on his shoulder and always has something to prove. He knows damn well he isn't the hottest thing since sliced bread, yet he fronts hard. The fascinating thing about him is how Trevor's accustomed to environments where he's the most intelligent person in the room.
It could result from his upbringing, and he has a full identity crisis when he can't reconcile with others rivaling or succeeding him in intellect.
It's likely the one thing he knew he had going for him, so after spending a significant amount of time with people who made him feel extraordinary in comparison, environments where he's on level-ground or less make him feel insecure and unworthy.
Devon: Wait, so you contributed to a patient's addiction so you could prove a point? Are your patients just pawns to prove how smart you are?
Trevor: What? No!
And he hides all of that behind arrogance. If he knew everything, he wouldn't need to be an intern. I don't think he has an inflated ego so much as he's incredibly insecure and afraid, and he has to hide behind something.
We know he's capable of empathy and compassion so that never seemed to be in question. But he made you want to reach through the screen and strangle him with that stunt with Hannah.
We know his background included managing his friends' addiction with a drug he created, but it was appalling that he set Hannah up to drink for the sole purpose of proving a point.
Trevor's need to be correct and prove others wrong at others' expense is frustrating. It's unsurprising that he was right about Hannah, but at what cost? You shouldn't get into healthcare if you want to make everything about yourself.
What was his thinking? What did he assume would happen once Devon or anyone else figured out what he did?
He expected a cookie for being right, but it was about Hannah, and instead of finding more constructive, less childish ways of making his case, he chose one that didn't benefit the patient at all. The irony is he got upset with Irving once for his bedside manner, but he took the wrong approach, too (though he caught the necessary flack).
Trevor announced that he was a changed man and had grown since we last saw him, but it didn't seem that way. He's lucky AJ and Conrad see something in him, and Devon gave him another chance.
The bigger surprise was where Billie factors into all of this.
Sorry if it seems like there's constant harping on Billie, but, oddly, she comes off unusually inconsistent.
One minute, it's as if we're getting her version of Mina-lite, and the next, we have something else. It's like they haven't determined who they want her to be as a character yet, so it changes on a whim.
Trevor: That was real.
Conrad: We're all going to die. One day we'll be the patient. We stand between them and the day that moment comes, and we all knew the truth, and you found it hard to give her the truth, but you did it anyway because the patient is what comes first, not us. Hey, you did good in there. Now, if your interest comes before the patient like they did earlier today, then Dr. Pravesh is right. It should be your last day as a doctor.
This time around, we had a measured, level-headed, laidback Billie. It wasn't anything wrong with that by any means, but it felt distinctly different from The Resident Season 5 Episode 6. Her behavior around Trevor suggested she sought counseling on the matter, and that's wonderful.
As a result, she didn't have any strong reactions to Trevor's presence, and they could get along well and be cordial with each other. She set her boundaries, which she definitely should've done, but there was a politeness and professionalism that was lacking before.
It was a different side of Billie. Interestingly, she's taken some interest in Trevor despite wanting to keep an emotional distance from him.
She was the one who told Conrad about Trevor and Devon when she learned Devon cut him. She recognized the kinship he formed with AJ. But most notably, she's the reason he's at Chastain in the first place.
She must've known that he struggled in medical school, and she wanted to give him a shot that he otherwise wouldn't have had. It seems she, too, sees something in Trevor. Even though she may not want a deeper relationship with him, she cares enough to give him some type of opportunity.
It leaves them in an intriguing place.
Leela and Padma's parents visiting gave more insight into Leela and her background. She's always struggled with her parents criticizing her for everything she did. We saw it in action, and it wasn't the most pleasant.
AJ: Look, I talked to your boy today. I have hope for him.
Billie: Me too.
AJ: But listen, he thinks I recommended him to Chastain. That I got him his residency. Billie, I want you to know that I did no such thing.
Billie: I know. I did.
AJ: No man wants his mother to pull his strings.
Billie: Agreed, but I'm not his mother.
But Padma mentioning her leukemia put some of it into perspective. Padma was the one they always worried about because of her sickness, and when she survived, it was enough for them to cut her slack and let her pursue whatever.
They likely shifted all of their expectations onto Leela, making her carry two children's worth of them.
Despite the different ways their parents treat them, the two sisters' closeness makes you appreciate their bond.
Through her parents' judgment, they've reintroduced Leela's dyslexia, so hopefully, that's a storyline they'll dig into further.
Padma: I threw you under the bus in there, I'm really sorry.
Leela: It's okay.
Padma: No it's not. When I got leukemia, it affected us both as children. It took my fertility, but it also gave me something far more powerful, the ability to live each day as if it was the last. That freed me from everything, including their judgment. And you're free now too. I am so proud of you for standing up for yourself today.
Leela: At the expense of ever having a peaceful family gathering again.
Padma: Peace is overrated. You demanded respect, and I've never been prouder to share your DNA.
Over to you, Resident Fanatics. How annoyed are you by Trevor? Are you grateful Conrad is back at Chastain this soon? How heartbreaking is AJ's storyline? Hit the comments.
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.
