Date of airing: August 2, 2011 (Global)
Audience viewership information: 1.409 million viewers
It was a surprisingly great episode for a couple of reasons. First, the depiction of an impromptu military tribunal before an actual military tribunal intrigued me, with Rebecca having to fear the consequences for potentially not having done her job well, even though it seemed pretty clear to me that she did her job the way she was supposed to. The writers never overplayed that story or made a big deal out of it and that made me happy – possibly because the story itself was almost minimalist when the premise sounded like the MP was about to storm into the door and arrest Rebecca. Second, the relationship stories were handled with respect once more, and while COMBAT HOSPITAL was finally able to get into its “Grey’s Anatomy in Afghanistan” tagline, almost making something out of it without ever going down into the soap opera regions of the genre. Romance was allowed to be part of the characters’ lives, but it never felt like the usual standard TV romance.
In fact, Bobby and Suzy only had a “fling” that was not destined to be anything more, and Rebecca and Joe seem like they are always in the wrong place at the wrong time for something to happen. And finally, I loved how the episode interchanged between the dramatic and hilarious moments of the narrative. In one scene you had something to laugh about with Vans and Simon doing the JERRY MAGUIRE thing, while another scene delivered some nice and tense medical procedures, with Colonel Marks and his flight surgeon finally getting into ER-territory action for a change.
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| Get some action while and wherever you can. |
Bobby’s little fling with Suzy was good, and peppered with some interesting moments when he talked about it with his comrades and colleagues. It almost seemed like Bobby saw a friend in anyone he was talking to about his little experience with Suzy, and at one point the entire base knew about what was possibly happening between the two. The previous episode established that all Bobby wants is to be liked by other people. This episode clearly showed he is liked by everyone, even his patients. They all want to pick apart his thing with Suzy, having something to say about it. Besides, I loved the notion that, while a serious romantic relationship could be considered a problem on a military base, the Bobby/Suzy thing was not such a thing. The writers made it quite easy for themselves to just ship around the soap opera and go for the sexy stuff, leaving room in the narrative for all the other things with all the other characters. It’s like someone in the writers’ room knew that putting Bobby and Suzy into a romantic relationship would kill screentime for some of the other characters, so it was turned into just a “fling,” meaning sex. That’s one way to kill the drama.
The writers were also able to extend the character pool this way,
which they succeeded to do with Graham Kelly. I didn’t expect Ariel to
be his ex-wife, and even though I didn’t like some of their moments in
Grace’s office (Bobby and Suzy weren’t given the romance, so the premise
was handed to Graham and Ariel instead), it brought Graham front and
center for an hour. He has been a main character who wasn’t the focus of
the show. Until now, although it meant he had to get a gay ex-wife for a
day. Both stories reminded me of the fact that a “friends with
benefits” plot device in a show like COMBAT HOSPITAL wouldn’t be that
wrong and should be used more often. Not only does there need to be a
little more sex in this show, but it seems realistic that people on the
base would just get involved with one another on a sexual basis, since
there is no time for romance, let alone the power to keep such a
relationship afloat in the middle of a war zone. Kind of like how Simon
operated on a patient while flying in a helicopter earlier in the
season. Simply get it whenever and wherever you can, because in Afghanistan, your next patrol could be your very last in life.
Joe’s return was nicely done as well and I just love the chemistry he has with Rebecca. The two should definitely be going on a date in the near future – alternatively, cast Adam Beach and Michelle Borth in a different project, just so I can see if it’s the chemistry between the two or if they were just given good material to work with here. That Joe’s medical case would turn out to be one of the funny ones on the show so far... well, who really cares? It was just a plot device to get Joe back to Kandahar to flirt with Rebecca anyway. Now I know what to expect when I eat like a Rhinoceros, but can’t get my legs up and walking. I already hate the thought of having a tapeworm inside me.
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| This foul milk is possessing its victims. |
The investigation into the chopper crash that resulted in Captain Ray Ludford’s death was also interesting, although I would have liked to see a little more military politics, even if Colonel Marks mentioned that his base should never be about politics. But for that to be established in the show, there needs to be a bigger case written around it. I guess that the death of one pilot is not enough to put on an actual tribunal, with Rebecca sitting in the center of it all. Maybe it was a good choice to not go deeper into that story, since it would have taken away a lot from what I currently like about the series.
For example, the writers could have done without Vans and Simon’s story. It seemed a bit unrealistic (would they just let two random Afghanis roam around the base like this?) and there wasn’t much of a purpose behind the story, except maybe giving Vans a story, considering he was somewhat absent lately (and he hasn’t been much of a character ever since the show started). What it did prove though is that Simon seems to lose control and interest in what’s happening around him. He doesn’t care about deals he made outside the base, and he doesn’t want to deal with problems himself (so he sends Vans in his stead). The “something is wrong with Simon” premise from previous episodes continues.
