The Resident Season 2 Episode 10 Review: After the Fall
Jasmine Blu
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Whoa!
The sophomore season isn't f**king around. The Resident Season 2 Episode 10 is all the proof you needed if you had doubts, and if you ever had doubts, why?!
It wasn't just that shocking ending that sealed the deal, but the entire hour was a perfect setup for the back half of the season, and we should be thoroughly engrossed in all things Chastain from every angle from this point forward.
First off, Marshall lives!! We knew that either Marshall or Julian would die when the series returned, and I'll venture a guess and say most of us were hoping Marshall was the one who made it out unscathed.
Bell did his thing and reminded folks that there was a reason he was one of the best doctors out there before he took a nosedive. Also, the banter between Bell and Marshall is hilarious. Deep down those two like each other; they don't want to admit it though.
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Marshall survived his ordeal, and it was touch and go for a bit after he got out of surgery, but it's not a full sense of relief. Each Conrad and Marshall interaction was more emotional than the last, but Marshall's stern request that Conrad not use aggressive means to save him the next time that happens proves to be ominous.
Marshall: If something like this happens to me again, I don't want my life prolonged by aggressive measures.
Conrad: That's a long way off.
Marshall: I'm serious. I need to know you'll respect my wishes.
Conrad: Of course.
Marshall: Thank you.
We know that there will be a next time. It's not a matter of if it will happen again but when, and we also know Conrad. It's going to take all of his close ones to remind him of the promise he made to his father at that time because he is not going to want to give his father up.
The unbearable flashbacks of Conrad trying to save Lily (which almost reduced a girl to a puddle of feels reliving it) making a reappearance in the same hour couldn't have been a coincidence. Oh, Conrad.
Jeebus, protect him! Once again, Czuchry killed it with his emotional performance, and it's getting to a point where acknowledging that is getting redundant. The man has crazy range, but what he does with the heavier, somber moments will get you every single time, without fail.
Czuchry's performance when it explicitly relates to Conrad and Marshall's complicated relationship is often the season at its best. There are these moments when Conrad comes across like a teenager bucking against his father while holding onto the past.
But the Conrad who rushed into the hospital with Nic and Mina flanking him and nervously watched Bell operate on his father with his face plastered to the glass letting all that doubt and worry creep in was like a small child. He captures scared little boy so well.
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Their one-on-one scenes where an upbeat, positive Conrad spoke about what their future together would be like and their second chance had Conrad at his most earnest ever. He was excitable and reminiscent of a young child who doesn't know his world could come crashing down again or refuses to acknowledge it.
Conrad: I spent half my life without a father.
Marshall: We're going to fix that.
Conrad: I'm gonna hold you to that.
Finally, Conrad is all in with Marshall. It was clear with his response to nearly losing Marshall, his confession to Nic, his and Marshall's conversations, and the tender way he tended and fussed over his father by the end of the hour.
He's all-in, and he won't be able to deal if his father falls ill again. Damn this show for making us happy, suspicious, and worried at the same time. It's too good to be true, yes?
Conrad could distract himself with the case with Natalie but not by much because of the ties to Lane. Natalie was such a spitfire, and I instantly wanted her to be able to walk again. Can you blame the woman for never wanting to step foot in Chastain?
We know all the others aren't the same as Lane, but many outsiders would be concerned about what types of doctors Chastain produces given those circumstances. She was a victim of Lane's, and she didn't want to be a victim again.
Natalie had a few great moments, but when she listened to Conrad as he spoke about Lily, it was special. Her relationship with Roger was special too. I couldn't help but wonder how she would have reacted if she saw Lane flouncing through the hospital on her way to Bell's office though.
Natalie brought Mina, AJ, and Kit together again for another surgery, and for that, she's an MVP. The three doctors have such fun chemistry with one another in the OR. It's funny how one learns more about one or all of them when they are operating together.
For one, it was surprising that AJ isn't much of a risktaker.
Perhaps it's because of all of his bluster and bravado, but I always assumed he was more daring than he was when he was working on Natalie. He went along with Kit and Mina, no doubt, and Mina had to remind him a couple of times that he was more qualified than most to pull off the procedure, but AJ Austin was the voice of reason.
The surgery was exciting, but on a personal level, Mina unwittingly gave him conflicting advice on how to proceed with his feelings for her. His empathy for Devon was strong, but Mina wasn't the least bit sympathetic and was so blunt about her solution that it caught AJ off guard and gave him pause.
He left a fine woman at the altar last night in front of both their families. I have no sympathy.
Mina
Devon was in a relationship. The moment he started feeling something for Julian, he should have avoided her. Period.
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AJ even attempted to do that when he shipped Mina off to Kit for the day. However, in the surgery, Mina (and Kit) were talking about taking risks and chances and going after what you want. You only live once, and all that good stuff.
It appears as though AJ might be reconsidering his inaction. There might be a little more heat to that slow-burn, and where does Micah fit into all of this? They're both so shippable with Mina. Decisions, decisions.
Speaking of poor Micah, somehow, Devon moved in with Mina before he got an opportunity to do the same. To whoever decided Devon and Mina should be roommates and wrote Mina's spiel about the do's and don'ts of living with her, thank you for eternity!
Hawkfor will forever be the GOAT of The Resident friendships, and their friendship has been noticeably absent in favor of other dynamics, but Devon and Mina are adorable. They have this sibling thing that is too precious, and the big sister came out when Mina wasn't having any of Devon's moping.
That tough love Mina we were looking for jumped out, and it was a win. She told him about himself, refused to coddle him, and then gave him a place to sleep because no matter what, he's her friend. That's what it's all about.
Devon is going to need all the support when he realizes that Julian is presumably dead and Gordon is pinning her death on him. Gordon is a despicable piece of crap! Can anyone at Chastain avoid a trip to the pokey?
It's infuriating how cruel and cold this man is. Did you catch the deal he may make with the freaking military who think his device may help with soldiers and PTSD? How much lower can this man get?!
Devon should have left well enough alone. I sat stupefied and agitated by Devon's behavior. What was he thinking? Did he think he could shack up with Julian, and they could give it a go days after his broken engagement/wedding?
It sounded as though he believed he and Julian had a real shot, and I'm honest to God trying to figure out at what point he developed serious feelings for her. He hasn't connected her disappearance with her job trouble yet, so he was texting and calling her incessantly for love/lust.
Cop: So this is about one of your employees?
Gordon: Julian Booth. She never showed up at work today. She is not the type who would just disappear.
Cop: Do you have reason to believe someone could have hurt her?
Gordon: There's a guy you may want to look into. He's an intern at Chastain. His name is Devon Pravesh.
AJ was right about him overdoing it. If she were alive, he wasn't respecting her wishes to not speak to him which is creepy and gross, but to be fair, I'm having flashbacks to when I reviewed YOU months ago before the popularity.
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Devon's obsession has landed him in Gordon's crosshairs, and he handed him ammunition without realizing it. He broke off an entire wedding and has been calling and texting Julian at obsessive levels, so he does appear as the scorned lover or obsessive stalker type.
Since we now have to put all of our energy into hating Gordon with a passion, Lane had to appear one last time for her final swan song. What a way to go!
It's too bad she didn't cross paths with AJ so he could confirm whether or not that woman has a heart at all. She was so unaffected by the hundreds of people protesting when she was released. Her first order of business was to call up Bell and harass the hell out of him.
The woman is probably making Satan himself quake in his hooves. She is such an evil person! Lane didn't show a trace of remorse since the cops hauled her in. She's a certified sociopath.
It was another exceptional hour for Bell. The hour was well-balanced and hit all the notes with all the essential characters while managing to have Bell feel as though he was at the forefront, and it worked. Bell was reeling from Lane showing up at the hospital and trying to blackmail him.
Bell: You're a monster.
Lane: Look around Randolph, either you agree to tell the jury you were wrong about me, or all this disappears.
There was no getting from underneath her, so he would've been taken down anyway. If he got on the stand and said he lied about her actions, he would have perjured himself, and he also would have opened the door up for the prosecutors to dig deeper into his past. His record would have come up, and the fact that he lied to the board.
His medical errors would have come up too. Lane would have been the death of his career whether he lied or not. Plus, she wasn't above blackmailing him over and over again to get what she wanted out of him. He always would've been under her thumb.
It's insane that Lane didn't have any security. It struck me as odd that she didn't wear a kevlar vest when she was released. Anything could have happened in that short walk to her vehicle. But no security at her location knowing that she was in the middle of a high-profile trial? That's ludicrous!
It's always the quiet, sweet, unassuming ones. Roger not only took Lane out while she was basking in the luxuries of her expensive hotel suite, but he got away with it without being caught. Yup, it worked to his advantage that he was unassuming among other things.
Bell was beside himself because he couldn't think of how to get out of it. Of course, it led to another moment where he butted heads with Conrad again. Didn't his outburst and comment about Conrad being a resident remind you of when he chewed Conrad out in The Resident Series Premiere?
Guess what, I am sick and tired of you thinking you have any right to question me. You're a resident who I would love to fire except your father, whose life I just saved thank you very much, would fire me.
Bell
Bell writing his resignation with the classical music playing in the background was so dramatic, but nothing was funnier than when he deleted it when Grayson showed him the news of Lane's death. That man has more lives than a cat!
Last but not least, I hate to say it you guys, but Nic and the new guy had some strong vibes. He's a cool guy, too. He's likable, and whether he realized it or not, his viewpoints aligned with our core gang at Chastain.
He's perfect for the clinic. Aside from being indignant when challenged on his methods and his judgment of those who work for establishments, he has the best experience, and there isn't a doubt that he's in this for the right reasons. Bai's choice was a win!
He's intrigued by Nic, though. You can see it in how he looks at her. He also enjoyed the fact that they worked so well together at his mobile clinic and at the new one when the guy came in with the eye thing that had me closing mines and wincing a lot.
Alec: Every time I got close to making things better, I saw another patient lose to a broken system. So yes. It's about the patients for me. But you're crazy if you think you can change things.
Nic: Maybe I am.
Alec: I like crazy.
Obviously, most Resident Fanatics are diehard CoNic 'shippers, but I do like Alec so far, and I look forward to his storyline involving the clinic.
Not to hit a sore spot, but this clinic is Nic's baby. It's something she can control when she can't control anything else (and suffers from panic attacks because of that), so this angle of showcasing patient care will be a refreshing change of pace from the usual.
How long can we expect Alec to stay around and what can we expect from his interactions with Nic?
Over to you, Resident Fanatics! How deep in trouble is Devon now that Gordon is setting him up? Do you think Marshall will make it to the end of the season? How shocked were you by Lane's death?
Hit the comments below with your thoughts and reactions. Also, don't forget you can always 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.
