Date of airing: August 30, 2011 (Global)
Audience viewership information: 1.548 million viewers
This was another very interesting episode, even though it wasn’t a life-changing episode for the characters, or even for the viewers to think about for a couple of days. As the penultimate episode of the season (and, ultimately, series), it was a good one, dealing with life and death for once, and bringing two military officers into a crossfire of sorts, making it difficult for them to not only work properly, but also react with caution when one of them is making life-and-death decisions and the other is screaming at the former for making the wrong decisions. I loved it when Rebecca had to take over triage at the hospital and was about to run the entire building by herself, tasting what it’s like to be in the position of Colonel Marks (and being groomed to potentially take over for him at some point), and I loved that she got into a conflict with Marks about her decisions, because he wasn’t able to give up the position, even when he is lying on a gurney, feeling that he needs to puke. I loved that Rebecca and Marks’s positions were switched for an episode and that the writers created a chance to play with the characters for a bit. How would Rebecca do in Marks’ position, and how would Marks do when he is not able to do his job or when he is too worried about a colleague and friend and is unfit to be a commanding officer?
The initial part of the story was okay. When Fitz and Marks were in the building, I was wondering why they were sure it had been searched for explosives (especially after Fitz was removing his vest and helmet, which would have signaled “safety,” even though nothing and nowhere in Afghanistan was safe back then). After all, they were walking freely within it, so it must mean that it had been searched for explosives. Until Marks noticed that it might not have been, and then there was the big boom. It was certainly a heavily constructed story, especially with Marks’ radio signal not getting to the guys outside who eventually triggered the explosion, but I didn’t mind, because it brought some nice tension into the first two acts. I never knew if Marks could hold it together in the field, or if he would fall unconscious at any second and be a critical patient for Rebecca and the other doctors.
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| The boss does not have patience for treatment, he needs to work. |
In addition, it was obvious that Fitz would fight for his life and eventually lose that fight, bringing not only more tension to the story and then into the hospital, but also a bit of emotional, life-ending drama. And seeing Marks at Fitz’s side, telling him that they won’t be able to get to him in time, even got me a little sobby. However, the rest of the story was a little ridiculous. Marks clearly had a concussion, he was not well, he was weak on his feet, and thanks to some very annoying, but effective audio effects, he had tinnitus. Yet he was walking around like nothing ever happened and started to work again, utterly rejecting his medical condition. For some reason, the doctors under him did not immediately see that Marks was unfit, or maybe they decided to not care because he was their commander. Why it took so long for one soldier to speak up to him is beyond me. Then again I don’t know what the protocols in such cases are, and if a commander can still perform their duties, even with constant vertigo making them feel pukey, and a possible concussion stealing their balance every once in a while.
This could have been the episode in which Rebecca proved what she could bring to the table during a difficult situation, like having to decide to save an American soldier or an entire Afghani family (although the decision is an easy one in this case). She succeeded, but only on a medical level. Maybe it shouldn’t have been so wrong to give Rebecca more to do than just triage though. After all, she is a Major – high enough to run a place like this when the actual higher-ups are out, and talented enough as a doctor to also take over as an attending physician. Then again, the higher-ups probably don’t think she has enough experience to run a place like this.
Then there was Simon, who was in the middle of getting rejected by Rebecca and trying his best to convince her that she has a place in his heart if she wants it. It looks like he and Rebecca are about to have a fling for a little bit, although I appreciate that the two seem to begin something while they are under some emotional pressure. Plus, a love story in the middle of a war-torn Kandahar seems kind of intriguing. You would think that such relationships don’t stand a chance, but here we are. Maybe Rebecca and Simon just need warmth and a hug for a change.
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| Rebecca is taking over triage. |
In the meantime, Bobby’s anger issues were problematic for me story-wise. It’s nice that he gets more screentime, but I found it to be a generic storyline that didn’t get any meaningful attention, outside of his anger issues being a recurring issue. In the previous episode, he may have found out about his emotional issues, but he never cared enough about them to deal with them, which I don’t get. Maybe he was lying when he said to Grace that this person on the hockey field wasn’t him, or maybe he doesn’t even know he has anger issues. And while I see this as part of his character arc, there wasn’t anything to be taken out of it in this episode, since Bobby was in the same position at the end of the episode as he was in the beginning, with the difference that the viewers got to see how his anger manifests itself when Aref was with him. Also, Grace was a little weird in this episode. I know she was testing Bobby, trying to find out if he would go mad over little things (however, I was amused by the “Yeah, you disturbed me” part when he got into her office), but I didn’t even know she would even do such a thing, or if it is an ethical thing to do in the first place.
