Date of airing: August 23, 2011 (Global)
Audience viewership information: 1.240 million viewers
This was quite the unique episode for COMBAT HOSPITAL. It was easily only the best episode of the series so far, but also something entirely different from the rest of the show – an attempt at creating a narrative that doesn’t necessarily have to be carried by the war in Afghanistan. This was an episode that wanted to tell a different story, from a different point of view, with a character we haven’t met yet and who turned into a central figure during this hour. And once more, COMBAT HOSPITAL puts the focus on one of its main characters. This time it’s Simon, and the writers made him the “star” of the episode by finally getting into his backstory and what makes him tick – something that has been teased ever since his fling with Tia Carrere seven episodes ago and now comes back to haunt him emotionally. COMBAT HOSPITAL has been character-driven for occasional episodes now, turning into a different drama show than it was during the opening hours, and it’s quite lovely to see that development happening. Who could have known that an episode built on manipulating the audience emotionally actually worked as intended?
This episode served a lot of emotions on the platter of storytelling. Seeing a broken and shattered Simon at the doorsteps of Chaplain Plottell, finally ready to talk to someone and be more than just the sleazy asshat who hides his feelings behind a wall of controversial jokes, was almost heartbreaking to me too, and besides learning more about his character, it was also an attempt at removing COMBAT HOSPITAL from the “GREY’S ANATOMY in Afghanistan” tagline by focusing on stories that don’t necessarily have anything to do with Afghanistan. Sure, you will find conflict with religion in the war zone as well, but it’s something of an evergreen story – drama you could find in any other show. And while that may mean the writers filled their “Afghanistan hospital drama” with stories that could have been set on Wisteria Lane or Sunnydale instead, getting an F for “missing the point of the show,” it was great to see for a moment that the show was able to do something wholly different.
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| This is for the greatest library in Afghanistan. |
But that’s not the only thing that I loved about this episode. The writers decided they would create a new character with Captain Plottell and go into the more religious type of storytelling. Even though she only showed up in this episode, she wasn’t written like a throwaway character – it felt like she has been part of the show for a while now, and the writers have finally decided to shine the spotlight on her as well. The job of a Chaplain in an Army base could be considered an intriguing one, because it’s an angle of war you never get to see in scripted programming. The belief system among Army members might be stuff that writers don’t really care about, or maybe producers think that the audience won’t care about that stuff, since the theme of war and the promise of violent scenes already fill the quota of what the viewers want to see. But as it turns out, a Chaplain in a medical drama set in Afghanistan can bring a whole lot of drama into a story, especially when said Chaplain has a crisis of faith.
I knew there were/are Chaplains on every Army base (I met and had conversations with the Chaplain of my base when I served, but not for reasons of belief), but I never asked myself what their job really looks like, and if they ever ask themselves if their beliefs contradict with the events of what happens to soldiers and civilians. Soldiers drop like flies or experience sheer amounts of pain, and yet the Chaplains have to do their jobs, have to believe in the greater good and God’s plan, and have to show that they believe. I don’t even know if I should use the word “want” instead of “have,” because I don’t know how much Chaplains on military bases are doing their job (and what the job entails), and how much they just get together with soldiers for a therapeutic session or a prayer circle.
That’s why the conflict between Simon and Plottell was so interesting. LOST had a “man of science, man of faith” conflict in its second season, and this episode was sort of the same, but abridged into a one-hour show. The difference was that Plottell questioned her faith and was fighting it even more than the soldiers injured and praying for survival were. There was excellent acting from the actors here (from the guests Camille Sullivan and Mpho Koaho, in addition to regular Luke Mably), as well as some really dramatic and emotional moments that got to me as well. This was surprising, since I wasn’t expecting at all to shed a single tear for the show at the end of an episode. After this hour, it kind of makes me sad that COMBAT HOSPITAL never lived to see a second season. Episodes like these are what makes television so beautifully unpredictable. You never know when a great show might get born. If COMBAT HOSPITAL had been a long-living show, this episode would have been the beginning of something beautiful.
The rest of the episode was alright. I didn’t make much out of Bobby’s efforts to make a heavy guy look more fit for his wedding, but it was a comical storyline, bringing a balance to the episode and giving the audience opportunities to not sink into the dark hole of crises of faith. The “break-up” between Suzy and Bobby could be worth mentioning here, since it is one of the ongoing storylines of the show, but for some reason, it felt out of place, and then I don’t know if it was a serious storyline or not. First of all, Suzy is behaving like she is in a relationship with Bobby and it means something to her (something she said she didn’t want when Bobby believed they were having a serious relationship that he didn’t want), while Bobby is of the opposite spectrum. Somebody needs to make up their mind here.
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| Visual confirmation that this episode is a tearjerker. |
Rebecca’s story was a little boring, and almost got lost under all the other drama and attempts at comedy in this episode. I can understand that sexy underwear magazines can bring trouble for Afghani villagers and school students that don’t want their faith to be steamrolled by Western sins, but for some reason I found this story to be extremely overdone and convenient. I was already questioning Suzy’s decision to put a magazine with half-naked bodies on the cover into the book pile, because it seems logical that you wouldn’t do such a thing if you know a single thing about Afghani culture. Also, did no one check the box with the books about the titles that were among them? The box was small enough for Rebecca to easily carry it around, so I believe she would have found the time to check out the titles, let alone her patient to whom she gave the books. All this time that has gone by and no one noticed the magazine with sexy ladies on the cover... Yes, it was very much a constructed storyline for the sake of someone blowing up into Rebecca’s face once more.
Is this episode one of the best ones from the year 2011? I can’t
remember a lot of television from that year, but a surprisingly
emotionally heavy episode like this surely will be a contender. And
definitely one to remember. Especially after I wrote about them for this review blog.
