Doc’s Most Polarizing Character Is Westside’s Last Line of Defense

There are some characters whose importance can get lost in the sea of emotions they evoke in viewers.

And while Doc has a handful of characters who sometimes fit that bill, none more than a polarizing figure like Michael Hamda.

Michael epitomizes what it means to hold the line. What often gets lost in big emotions and frustrating plot points is the simple fact that if Michael Hamda falls, so do the safety barriers for many of our leading players.

Since Doc Season 1, it’s been evident that Michael, bless his heart, has been holding onto his position as CMO at Westside by the perfectly groomed whiskers of his salt-and-pepper beard.

Michael’s position as Chief Medical Officer/Director is to serve as the bridge between administration and back house (specifically the board) and the front house and medical staff.

It’s his job to smooth things over, foster strong relationships, and serve as an advocate.

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And whether you love him or loathe him, he’s been nothing if not an advocate for the staff of Westside. Michael tends to lead more as a fellow doctor with an understanding of how hospitals and patient care work than as someone with business acumen.

He has too much heart and empathy, ruling more by emotion than by pragmatism, which is ultimately why he’s usually at odds with the board, namely Max.

The board prioritizes public image, capitalism, and the bottom line over people.

Doc gives us just a taste of the power plays and bureaucracy behind the business of medicine.

While shows like The Resident spent entire seasons devoted to this, Doc is more subtle. It unintentionally downplays the significance of Michael’s role at Westside and the impact he has in this position.

We know that Michael trained to be a doctor but realized he could do some real good from an administrative position. And it’s because people like Max dominate, centering profit over people.

So Michael’s job security in this specific role has always been tenuous. Clearly, his hiring had less to do with faith in his leadership and more to do with managing Amy — a brilliant doctor the hospital can’t afford to lose, until it decides that it can.

He got the job before Amy’s accident, which means that it was likely some strategic decision to put someone with ties to Amy who could potentially “rein her in” at the helm, and someone whom they assumed they could control.

The problem is that Michael has been pushing back against the board frequently ever since.

And that’s even when we set aside the litany of issues that he’s faced in this position since he was appointed: Gina’s lawsuit after the mass casualty train event, Miller’s Dixon wrongful death suit and cover-up, a hostage situation, a hospital hack, and a host of workplace tension by keeping Amy on post-accident.

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During Doc Season 2 Episode 2, even after the board denied Amy’s re-entry to the hospital, Michael fought for her. He relays to Max that Amy is invoking her ADA rights. It’s ultimately what leads to Amy being able to return to the hospital at all.

It’s the impetus for Michael’s political capital with the board evaporating, right along with the assumption that he could be a puppet who falls in line.

Every move he makes that challenges the board or protects anyone puts him in a worse spot than before, and he doesn’t get a moment to get his head above water or even toe the line enough not to make waves.

He rolls from one conflict or crisis to another.

Is Michael a great CMO? Not necessarily. There are way too many fires that crop up, and he doesn’t always succeed in putting them out in the ideal way.

And his bias for Amy is apparent to everyone; it’s literally why he likely got the position in the first place, and now it’s the very thing everyone lords over him. In that regard, he can’t win.

When he caters to Amy’s needs, it’s because he’s biased, but when he tries to perform his job as impartially as possible, it also means he doesn’t back or support her or anyone else.

Michael has to walk a tightrope just to maintain his position, and even when he’s tapdancing to appease, it doesn’t guarantee him anything.

It’s a political game of diplomacy and bullcrap, and if you veer too far off-script in either direction, everyone suffers for it.

We rarely see Michael cater directly to the board, a sign of his impending downfall. Yet, ironically, he only faces criticism when he’s not immediately backing Amy and others to the degree that viewers or even Amy would like.

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Michael’s choosing ethics and justice over optics is what prevented a full-blown Miller cover-up.

The board itself was ready to focus exclusively on Amy for violating protocol by speaking to the widow on her own and to punish her accordingly, while sweeping the Miller situation under the rug.

We saw during Doc Season 1 Episode 10 that Michael protects Gina from much of the fallout from the Ian train situation, and on Doc Season 2 Episode 7, he orchestrates a plan to protect her job during the abuse case.

Then we saw that grapple between board expectations and what was morally right during Doc Season 2 Episode 1.

He committed to lying to UNOS about an organ, and Jake risked himself to lie about it and back Michael (and Amy), too.

Michael put his neck on the line, for good reasons, and he was even willing to go down for it to protect Amy and Jake, ensuring the latter wouldn’t face any blowback for following his orders.

Doc Season 2 Episode 6 dug into this deeply when they lost UNOS accreditation, and the board wanted to make Michael the fall guy.

He once again stepped between the board and his staff, willing to get fired to spare Gina and Jake any blowback, and it’s his natural state — being the plexiglass between the board and staff and patients.

And the episode before, Doc Season 2 Episode 5, had Michael fumbling the donor opportunity with Sonya’s father because he chose to put her needs and familial issues ahead of securing money for a specific department that the hospital needed.

His opportunity to show that he could play ball with the board went up in smoke because his compassion overruled his pragmatism.

He’s also behind securing Joan’s position, so the inevitable fallout when her diagnosis is revealed will fall on him. The pure messiness of this entire hack situation has placed him in the crosshairs.

The board has always treated Michael like an extension of Amy, and he’ll be punished accordingly.

I don’t think anyone is prepared for what it would mean if he were stripped of his position, though. Michael is a “friendly.”

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What makes him respectable, even when he fumbles, is that you can count on him doing the moral and ethical thing rather than what’s right for the board and public image.

You can always count on him to protect the leading players.

If he’s gone, so are Amy’s protections, her ability to move freely, and her ability to have more leeway. And the entire medical staff won’t have someone who shields them from the board; they’ll have someone who does the board’s bidding.

Michael is polarizing, and it’s easy to get wrapped up in the personal conflicts, but he’s the guy you want on your side.

A Westside without the man who stands in the eye of the storm, fielding off corporate overlord foolery, is a worrying place.

And it’s likely where we’re headed. Doc thrives on conflict. At this rate, the best way to destabilize Amy is to take out Michael.

A new CMO feels imminent. Whether it leads to installing someone like Richard Miller or to an entirely new person, the conflict is there and inevitable.

Whether you love Michael or loathe him, his worth in the grand scale of Westside’s professional politics is undeniable.

Because if Michael falls, everyone pays the price. He’s someone we can’t afford to lose.

Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
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