A River In Egypt
Episode 5 of The Resident season 6 starts with a patient, Raja asking to be treated only by Conrad who eight years ago saved his life. Conrad accepts his request and starts treating him. Eight years ago, Raja had bone cancer and now they have to figure out what is wrong with him. At first, they think he has pneumonia but they discover he still has a rod sticking out of his neck from his surgery eight years ago. Kitty also learns that Raja has not been going to his follow-up appointments for five years. Kitty thinks Raja chose to ignore reality because he needed a dose of denial to have hope. The debris and bacteria from the spinal hardware have traveled from his oesophagus to his brain. Conrad hopes they can still save him and they try to do a hail-mary surgery but Raja doesn’t make it off the surgery table Conrad finds it hard to understand why Raja ignored his follow-ups or why his fiancée never asked about the apparatus hanging from his neck. He tells Billy that Raja’s situation has made him want to ask the people in his life everything even though he is afraid of the answer. I am sure Cade will not like the answer if Billie speaks her truth. Meanwhile, Irving is feeling a little frustrated that patients tend to overlook his services. He works full time in the E.R so he doesn’t get to spend much time with the patients. He spends a limited time with each patient before he helps discharge them or hands them over to other doctors for further treatment. As Irving laments about not being seen by his patients, Pravesh wishes he could escape Marco who believes is on the verge of “fixing’’ aging and humans will be able to live forever. Marco is 72 but can easily pass for 50, isn’t that remarkable? He wants Pravesh to help him to answer the scientific question of immortality through a clinical trial. As Marco works out to prove how fit and healthy he is to Pravesh he passes out and they are forced to admit him to the hospital. They run a series of tests but they have a hard time pinpointing why he is sick. Irving is intrigued by this case and opts to stay back and help Pravesh. They discover Marco’s strict diet and medicine intake are the cause of his medical problems and they are able to save him. Marco once again, asks Pravesh to help him with his trial and in return, he will fund his other projects. Kitty thinks this is great and wants to make it work. On the other hand, Padma is finding parenting a bit challenging. AJ and Leela are trying to be as supportive as they can be but they are swamped at work. AJ is worried that she is overwhelmed but Leela thinks that Padma is okay. As it turns out, Padma is far from being okay and he finds this out when he goes home to find her crying in the dark. Cade is happy her dad passed the drug test and thinks that she overreacted. She tells Conrad for a long time she overlooked and made excuses for his addiction. She can understand why Raja wanted to ignore his cancer. Conrad assures her that she is not in charge of her father and at some point she will have to let him face the consequences of his actions. The episode ends with Randolph surprising Kitty by coming back home early and he looks great. This is awesome because they can finally plan their wedding.
The Episode Review
The medical cases in this episode gave the doctors and viewers a lot to think about. We all have things in our lives that we choose to ignore or questions we don’t want to ask. In this case, it cost Raja his life. Billie and Conrad’s conversation about things they are afraid to ask left us with a question of our own. Is Conrad aware that Billie has feelings for him? Marco’s pursuit of immortality and nearly dying from it was another reminder that even the best-laid plans can apparently end up killing you. Padma needs help, she probably has pregnancy-related PTSD and I am surprised that all the doctors around her are missing the signs.
