The Resident 5x21 Review: “Risk” (Difficult Truths) [Contributor: Justine]

“Risk”

Original Air Date: May 3, 2022

With two episodes left until the season finale, The Resident has its work cut out for it with wrapping up the remaining stories we’ve seen so far. Featuring a late introduction to a new character, the chaos in this episode is truly unmatched. So many characters have choices to make and the clock is ticking.

Devon (Manish Dayal) starts the episode off by getting real with himself, and it’s honestly the character growth he’s been missing for a lot of this season. His friendship with Conrad (Matt Czuchry) hasn’t been shown as much since this season’s three-year time jump. It was nice to see them have a sweet moment, with Conrad supporting Devon through his recent breakup.

Of course, as the preview tried to warn us, the main focus of this episode is Cade (Kaley Ronayne). As talented as Ronayne is, it’s been difficult to get a read on this character since she was introduced. Here, she’s up against the ropes and we’re asked to care deeply about her. Although there’s plenty of drama in the Medicaid fraud she’s gotten caught up in, we’ve hardly gotten to know her as a person. It’s sad that Cade hasn’t really been able to interact with other members of the Chastain Memorial family. Cade clearly has great chemistry with Feldman (Tasso Feldman) and Hundley (Denitra Isler). This hasn’t been shown nearly enough, however, and you can’t help but wonder if the majority of Cade’s character development has happened off-screen. 

Relatedly, Cade’s supposed romance with Conrad is still giving me questionable vibes; it feels less than genuine. The way even the dialogue is written, it’s as if the romantic elements of this story also have happened off-screen. While that may be true, it makes for less effective storytelling. Although it was weird choice to have Conrad deny being triggered by this after an entire season of him processing his grief, it actually made sense. This entire season has made a point of addressing the non-linear nature of grief. In reality, it’s completely understandable that a person in Conrad’s position probably would feel that initial denial. Every subsequent loss, or being faced with a loss, calls to mind all previous losses. Conrad is clearly experiencing this. 

The anti-vax podcast host storyline is infuriating because it is true to life. The smugness of the wife is almost too much to watch. It also doesn’t make sense that she wasn’t even the one with the anti-vax beliefs, and that she just allowed herself and her children to remain unvaccinated because of... a man? The fact that this patient was actually vaccinated, though, was perfect storytelling and a sign of the times. It’s a testament to the dishonesty that so many people are willing to embrace in the name of a tiny slice of fame. This entire storyline gave AJ (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) a chance to prove what a boss he is. 

It’s seems like the show is struggling with Leela’s (Anuja Joshi) character. Why set her up to be amazing surgeon who’s trying to pursue two surgical specialties, and... she can’t find a spleen? This episode also provided some strange hints that either Joshi or Dayal are going to be leaving the show. It will be interesting to see if Devon and Leela can come to an understanding that allows them to work together, even if a romantic reunion isn’t in the cards. 

Finally, Andrew McCarthy debuts perfectly as Cade’s father, Dr. Ian Sullivan. It’s already clear McCarthy is perfect for this role, as terrible as the character might turn out to be. I, for one, am along for the ride and welcome the weird, waxy absent father sure to cause even more chaos before this season of The Resident is over.

With two episodes left in the season, The Resident is in an interesting position. So many characters have unresolved arcs. It will be a tall order to wrap everything up in such a short amount of time. Hopefully Fox will confirm soon whether we can expect to see the Chastain Memorial family back for another season. At this point, we can only hope they will be. 

Other Things:

• Cade’s right about one thing: Devon’s hair is always too perfect. 
• Please don’t insult Devon by implying he’s comparable in any way to a certain TV grifter selling unregulated supplements and dreams.
• The KitBell moments in this episode? Swoons and heart eyes all around! It’s sad that there weren’t more, but they’re busy planning a wedding. Hopefully we’ll get to see it before the season comes to a close. 
• Two episodes left before the season finale, and still no Trevor (Miles Fowler). Seriously, where is he and what’s he getting up to?
• "Were you going to say goodbye?" "Of course, I was."
• “Donated organs cannot be wasted on patients who will not live to enjoy them.” -AJ, telling it like it is to his supposedly unvaccinated patient. 
• “I'm very worried about Cade, but I'm also worried about you.” 

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The Flash 8x13 Review: "Death Falls" (Grief Ghosts) [Contributor: Deborah M]

“Death Falls”

Original Airdate: May 4, 2022

This week, The Flash’s Deathstorm storyline comes to an end, as one would suspect with that episode title. “Death Falls” has a lot working for it, not the least of which being the fact that all the characters are finally involved in the same storyline. It’s also got some psychological horror elements that make certain scenes adequately creepy and a fairly straightforward plan that avoids the meandering plot contrivances that this show tends to use as episode padding. 

We’re going to ignore the part where knowing the title of the next episode, again, spoils what happens in this one a little bit. Hey, The Flash writers, you know you guys release these episode titles well ahead of air time, right? So maybe stop giving away the game in them?

OH HEY THE HAUNTING THEME CONTINUES!

Starting where we left off last episode: Eddie’s back! Eddie, Ronnie — anyone else with a double-consonant-y name gonna make a return from the dead? Anyway, this not-really-Eddie is creepy and can heat a tea kettle with his hands and if you thought this might’ve been a result of Iris’s time sickness playing with her past, surprise! It’s actually a Deathstorm trick, finally pulling Iris into the main storyline she’s been apart from since it started.

All of Team Flash is getting Deathstorm ghosts. Chester’s dad reappears, Allegra is paid a visit by Esperanza, and Barry gets a visit from his mother. Frost is the only one who gets the actual Deathstorm instead, and he tells her the reason why she has no grief ghost is because she’s not a real person and can’t feel actual emotions, only echoes of Caitlin’s emotions. I can’t quite figure out the logic of him doing this, because if it’s to make her fall into despair and stop fighting him it fails as soon as it works. I guess the writers just needed her to have an arc for the episode, which makes sense, considering.

Chester and Allegra escape their ghosts by running into Chester’s lab. The door seals behind them, trapping them together in a room with a titanium door and a rapidly rising temperature that could kill them both. Barry, who was visiting the Time Vault when his ghost-mom appeared, also gets trapped inside. Iris and Sue’s attempt at escape is immediately thwarted by a door that’s too hot to touch, so they’re trapped as well.

Wobbly-zoomy camera movements play with our sense of reality and stability as Barry is confronted by his ghost-mom on all the ways his family ends in tragedy. She’s really harping on Iris dying, adding a little “your children will never exist” into the mix to spice things up, and tells Barry his true legacy isn’t heroism, it’s heartbreak. Barry isn’t buying what ghost-mom is selling, though, so after an impassioned speech about how his heartbreak keeps him fighting, the Deathstorm apparition just crams his head full of tragic images until he screams.

Ghost-Eddie is taking a more creepy approach with Iris, lamenting the fact that real Eddie’s death was rendered meaningless by the writers’ fixation on beating the dead horse that is Eobard Thawne. Eddie’s declaration that Iris’s death will also be pointless gets interrupted when he senses happiness coming off Sue, who had managed to hit a panic button earlier that called Joe, who arrives and shoots the false Eddie. Their upper hand lasts about a second before Joe and Sue are hit with grief ghosts we don’t get to see, making them the final two sources of grief Deathstorm needed to turn Caitlin into his bride. If he just needed two more people, why’d they have to be people from Team Flash? Couldn’t he have picked any two randos in the city?

Even after Frost’s boyfriend Mark (with the awful nickname of Chillblaine, which I don’t want to use but can’t help mentioning because “Mark” is too generic for anyone to remember) helps prep the MAC for turning Frost into an anti-Deathstorm, the transformation seems to fail. Frost thinks it’s because she’s not really alive and the MAC only works on living people with real emotions. Mark disagrees, insisting that Frost is guarded because she feels so much — especially for Caitlin. 

Then he gets an idea for fixing the transformation by having Frost talk to the catatonic Caitlin about how she’s feeling. Faced with the idea of potentially losing Caitlin, that grief triggers Frost’s transformation into Hellfrost. Her new color scheme is black. Cool.

Meanwhile, everyone else is being tormented by Deathstorm ghosts. Chester and Allegra are succumbing to the heat in the room, and Chester’s ghost-dad taunts him by saying he and Allegra are going to watch each other die. Barry is losing the fight against the barrage of tragedy his ghost-mom is inflicting on him. At the West-Allen loft, the creepy Eddie develops a gunshot wound, and then Iris develops a gunshot wound, and he talks about her future dying with her. These scenes with the grief ghosts are getting quick descriptions, but they’re actually pretty good — the stuff with Iris and Eddie especially, which is a refreshing change from all Iris’s scenes being so hard to care about during this whole Deathstorm arc. Without her being a participant in the plotline literally everyone else is involved in, it just looked like the writers forgot she was a part of the show and had to tack on a quick “Iris has time sickness!” scene to make up for it. Those never made up for anything, but the Iris scenes in this episode kind of do.

It seems like Deathstorm is winning until Frost/Hellfrost blasts away all the ghosts with her new cryo-flame powers. Team Flash (minus Iris still) reconvenes at S.T.A.R. Labs to enact the last effort against Deathstorm, with newly-created Hellfrost being the primary offense and Barry remaining ready for backup. Mark learns that Barry is the Flash and is actually pretty endearing in how cool he finds the whole Team Flash setup. Barry just does a cute little shrug when Mark connects the dots, because he’s learning that the “secret” part of his secret identity is merely a façade.

Deathstorm shows up to make a creepy speech at Caitlin, but it’s not Caitlin — it’s Frost, taking Caitlin’s form with that face-changer device we haven’t seen in a few seasons. Way to go on remembering convenient tech, show writers. Frost grabs Deathstorm and they have a fast CGI fire battle in the sky for a bit before landing on the ground, where Frost yanks off Deathstorm’s quantum splicer then sucks up all his energy.

It’s all post-victory smiles until Frost collapses, apparently overwhelmed by the power she got from Deathstorm. Caitlin stabilizes Frost just long enough for Frost’s normal look to return, but then she crashes and she can’t bring her back. Frost is gone. The show does a weird thing where we see Frost die, but then it cuts to everyone on the team not knowing Frost is dead yet, which I think slightly undercuts the emotional impact of the audience learning that she’s gone. Maybe it’s the world’s most depressing attempt at situational irony?

Caitlin and Barry deliver the news of Frost’s death and everyone comforts each other, with Caitlin and Mark crying the hardest. It’s an effective scene, especially when Cecile — the empath — realizes that Caitlin is crying alone and runs over to hold her.

Other Things:

• I get it was probably a thing with staging, but it’s weird that neither Iris nor Sue were sleeping in the bed that presumably exists in the West-Allen loft and were instead sleeping on the least comfortable looking living room furniture ever. 
• Rick Cosnett was uniquely creepy as ghost-Eddie in this episode. Great job, dude.
• Chester and Allegra being trapped together in a boiling room, about to die and comforting each other in their last moments would’ve been a perfect time for those two to finally kiss and we got nothin’. It’s like these writers have never read a fanfic before.

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The Resident 5x20 Review: “Fork in the Road” (Cautious Hope) [Contributor: Justine]

“Fork in the Road”

Original Airdate: April 26, 2022

With so few episodes left before the season finale, The Resident seems intent on dialing up the chaos to the maximum. Before the season comes to a close, the challenge has been set to wrap everything up with a nice bow. Can The Resident do it? Only time will tell. 

KitBell shippers had a lot to celebrate this episode, and they may have been the only ones. Finally, after being the romantic center of the show for much of this season, they’ve decided to make it official and get engaged! Everything about this was perfect, from Bell’s (Bruce Greenwood) deference to his fiance’s wishes to Kit’s (Jane Leeves) sweet restaurant proposal, complete with getting down on one knee. If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of KitBell shippers everywhere still swooning. 

AJ (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) once again took his place as the emotional heart of the episode, following up his spectacular performance last week. Seeing him receive all the love and support from his friends and colleagues at his mother’s funeral was further proof that at their best, the staff at Chastain Memorial Hospital are family. This was another opportunity for AJ’s chosen family to show their total support and the character deserves nothing less. 

The Cade (Kaley Ronayne) and Conrad (Matt Czuchry) story is getting less interesting every time it’s given the spotlight. There’s barely any romantic chemistry between these two characters, although they generally work well together as colleagues. We already know that Emily VanCamp will be reprising her role as Nic in a flashback in the season finale. Hopefully this won’t be some sort of torch-passing. What Conrad and Nic had was special. It’s more than fine to explore Conrad moving on romantically but it shouldn’t come at the expense of the story itself.

Another part of this episode that mostly fell flat was the Medicaid fraud storyline. Although it was helpful context to see exactly how the mechanics of this fraud plays out, this episode made an arguably questionable point about American healthcare. There’s a stereotype of greedy people simply taking advantage of the system, and that this a far more common occurrence than it actually is. In the end, the patient caught up in it all was portrayed as an otherwise good person who fell on hard times and needed to survive. The shift in tone read as too little too late however. 

The sperm donor story went completely off the rails this episode, and that’s saying something considering it was always a little chaotic. While Devon (Manish Dayal) actually came out looking very much in the right, this episode was basically proof that it was unsustainable as a storyline all along. If there was any benefit, it was seeing AJ open up and be vulnerable with Padma (Aneesha Joshi). 

Finally, this episode was a tough one for Leela (Anuja Joshi) fans. It’s such a shame to see her character going in this direction since she’s been set up as such a confident and dynamic character. In this episode, she’s reduced to fighting with and ultimately breaking up with her boyfriend about something he was actually right about. While it may have been an interesting direction to explore the fact that this character can’t possibly do it all, including specializing in two surgical specialities, this episode made her storyline falter.

Ultimately, the fact that Devon and Leela are no longer together may be for the best. Although these two are undeniably compelling characters individually, they’ve struggled since they’ve been together. They’re clearly on different paths in life. Better to realize it and acknowledge it now than to wait until it’s too late. 

This was a surprisingly uneven episode for The Resident, since the second half of this season has generally featured strong storylines and character development. At least KitBell fans have a wedding to look forward to. With the season finale rapidly approaching, The Resident certainly has a massive undertaking ahead to wrap up everyone’s arcs. 

Other Things:

• We’re that much closer to the season finale and still no Trevor (Miles Fowler). Nothing good can be coming.
• Did Cade not realize the mob boss also saw Conrad? Why would she not suggest just running away together if she wanted to skip town? This is another reason why logistically these two just don’t work as a couple.
• The second half of this season hasn’t featured nearly enough of Nurse Hundley (Denitra Isler). Seriously, she’s the boss. 
• "So this is the way you ask me? No fancy dinner, no ring, just didn't even get down on one knee." "I love you to the moon and back, but I kneel for no man."
• “Look, I don't know anything. I'm a nobody. I'm a little cog in a very big machine. I can end up in the bottom of my lake with my feet in concrete.”
• "You're so lucky to have had such a wonderful mom." "Not everyone gets that." "Yeah, I'm holding onto that."

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The Flash 8x12 Review: "Death Rises" (For Now) [Contributor: Deborah M]

“Death Rises”

Original Airdate: April 27, 2022

After a short break, The Flash is back with the continuation of that little “accidentally provided a physical body to a murderous sentient fire” issue from last episode. Many people die. Caitlin, for grand evil plan reasons, is not one of them. Is the tension of this episode undercut by knowing that the next episode is titled “Death Falls”?

GOT A REAL ‘BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN’ SITUATION HERE

The episode begins with Caitlin getting totally engulfed in black flames, but looking unharmed in the aftermath. Caitlin explains Deathstorm to the others and how he said he was never Ronnie, but Ronnie gave him life. And even though Deathstorm isn’t Ronnie, it still seems to have some kind of fixation on Caitlin, which means Frost puts herself on guard duty while the rest of the team tries to figure out Deathstorm’s plan and how to stop it.

We see Deathstorm kill an old man waiting alone at night at a bus stop with a bouquet of flowers. Aw, that’s some poignant storytelling with very limited cues. Good job, writers. Also great storytelling, from the other side of the tragedy-comedy spectrum: a bunch of CCPD officers are, absolutely straight-faced, taking calls about various attacks from “a skull-faced guy” and “a living skeleton” killing people around town. The deaths aren’t funny, of course, but just the idea that these sorts of reports are the day-to-day for these officers is hilarious. What’s the police training like for CCPD officers in this post-metahuman emergence world? Do they have to take courses in how to recognize actual reports of metahuman attacks vs. the drunken ramblings of people on street corners?

Kramer is struggling with the “weird stuff” aspect of being Chief of Police in Central City, but Joe and Barry reassure her that she’s capable of handling everything and they’re around to help. Her debriefing to CCPD includes a warning that if anyone is currently grieving a recent loss they could be a potential target, even though we established last time that the grief doesn’t have to be all that recent and could happen to people who have largely accepted it and moved on.

Team Flash is on the Deathstorm search and failing miserably because the new physical body ol’ Deathstorm got means he can’t be tracked the same way he was when he was just a lot of fire. When Cecile comes in and mentions how Caitlin is still emotionally hurt, Barry has a little eureka moment and realizes that Cecile’s powers could help because Deathstorm absorbs grief and grief is an emotion Cecile can trace. You know, on paper I would not expect the empath character to be anything more than the standard therapist archetype, but it seems like Team Flash’s plans very frequently rely on Cecile.

I guess Frost and Caitlin are sequestered from the rest of the team for Caitlin’s safety. Caitlin is beating herself up over accidentally setting Deathstorm free and she’s also hurting because experiencing the hope and happiness of getting Ronnie back only to realize he was never back is like losing him all over again. Frost tries to comfort her. Dangerous time to be feeling so much, what with a grief-eating fire demon running amok, but we’ve already established that Deathstorm has a fixation on Caitlin so I guess it’s just redundant.

Chester hooks Cecile up to a monitoring thing so they can use her to find Deathstorm by getting her to focus on “large pockets of grief.” I guess that makes sense to an empath. Not even a minute in, things start to go wrong. Cecile is possessed by Deathstorm, who still wants Caitlin and won’t let a little thing like Team Flash stop him from getting her.

Our primary hero is at a loss for what to do next and we’re in the last third of the episode, which means it’s time for a pep talk! Classic recipe this time: Joe West pep talking Barry out of his “we have no way to stop this murderous fire-skeleton” funk. Joe lists all the terrible big bads Barry has fought and won against over the years, tells him to trust himself, so on and so forth. I wonder if the writers have a quick key for this section of the script.

Deathstorm finds Caitlin, knocks Frost out, and flies away with her. We get a very brief action sequence set to Metallica’s “Ride the Lightning” where Barry, well, rides some lightning. Or at least uses lightning as a staircase into the sky, where Deathstorm and an unconscious Caitlin escape through a portal. The Flash has really cut down on their needle drop action sequences this season, perhaps because news came out last year that the CW is phenomenally in debt. Anyway, Deathstorm and Caitlin re-emerge at a carnival, where Deathstorm wipes out four of the visitors and then declares that Caitlin will be his bride.

When Barry finds Caitlin at the carnival, her eyes glow with that Deathstorm silver-black fire and she relays Deathstorm’s message that she’s “not ready yet.” Back at S.T.A.R Labs, Caitlin has run tests on herself. She’s not aging anymore, she’s stronger, and she’s chock full of grief that isn’t hers. She tells the others what Deathstorm said about traveling across the stars for her, they all realize that her not being “ready” means he’s going to kill more people and like... inject grief into Caitlin, I guess? To transform her? I will say this is probably the most weird villain the show’s had in a while.

Barry thinks the portal Deathstorm goes through is a singularity and realizes that Deathstorm and Ronnie really are connected; Ronnie created Deathstorm with grief and science fiction nonsense and Deathstorm has taken seven years from the point in space where he was created to get back to Earth and Caitlin. Chester wants to use the MAC device from his introductory episode as a weapon against Deathstorm. They just need someone to serve as the “anti-Deathstorm” and Frost quickly volunteers. Yay, a new plan! How long will this one last?

IRIS UPDATE

A brief update on Iris’s time sickness situation, which is so disconnected from what everyone else is doing that it feels pointless even though I know it has to be a big deal later: When Iris was sucked into the Still Force after Tinya’s retaliation, she could see her past and her present but not her own future, implying she doesn’t have one. She calls on Deon, who is late showing up and comes with the bad news that the time sickness is infecting the Still Force. Deon installs a metaphysical tracker in Iris in case she disappears somewhere again, but I’m not sure how much that’s going to help because then Deon bursts into a cloud of green sparkles and vanishes.

At the end of the episode, Iris wakes up from sleeping in an incredibly uncomfortable-looking chair to find Eddie Thawne standing in the dark. He says it’s good to see her. I tell myself I should’ve predicted this when he showed up earlier this season because The CW wouldn’t waste hiring an actor back for only a single episode.

Other Things:

• Special mention to the writing of the scene where Iris almost disappears from time sickness: Sue’s ability to go from joking about buying a castle to being an emotional anchor for Iris without seeming disjointed or inconsistent is pretty impressive. That’s a really good character, there.
• Will Esperanza showing up to fight Allegra mean anything? Unclear. Maybe it’s connected to the Eddie thing.
• “Trans-dimensional particles!” “Okay, now you’re just making stuff up.” Allegra, is that really your breaking point for the technobabble Chester spouts?

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The Resident 5x19 Review: “All We Have Is Now” (Love and Loss) [Contributor: Justine]

“All We Have Is Now”

Original Airdate: April 19, 2022

The Resident is back with one of the most emotionally devastating episodes this season. This is certainly saying something, considering that this season has almost exclusively consisted of stories designed to inflict the maximum amount of emotional damage on viewers. We knew this episode was coming and yet it made it no less devastating. It was a testament to the talent to all involved that the story was enthralling right to the end. 

The focus on Carol was just so poignant, sweet, and a lovely tribute to a supporting character who has been among the best. Denise Dowse is such a star, and the depth of love she’s brought to this character is astounding. The way that this show made a point to portray palliative care, something that is still seen as scary and unknown, is great. At its best, it’s an approach to care that fully centers the patient and allows them to live life to the fullest. Carol deserved nothing less, and it was so touching to see her final days surrounded by so much love.  

The dual focus on AJ (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) and his grief was what elevated this episode to another level. Warner is an absolute star, and you can’t help but feel so deeply for what his character has gone through. The show didn’t really go deep into the loss of AJ’s father. He was given an opportunity to grieve this loss and it was beyond heartbreaking to watch. This particular story was such an honest portrayal of grief from beginning to end.

Elsewhere, Devon (Manish Dayal) and Conrad (Matt Czuchry) were making medical miracles happen by teaming up together again, something this season has focused less on. Their mission was to save a patient from rabies after... connecting with the Earth didn’t exactly go according to plan. This story was a perfect venue for these two to show off their diagnostic prowess. Janice (Mick Szal) was the resident who got the spotlight and for a while, it was unclear if she’d be able to prove herself. She managed to rally and we love to see it. 

Bell (Bruce Greenwood) continued his crusade for medical justice, and upped the ante in his advocacy for one patient who was the victim of one terrible doctor. Though the decision ultimately cost him his coveted seat on the Georgia State Medical Board, it was so satisfying to see Bell choose to do the right thing. He rightly called out physicians who take advantage of the blind trust of the public they’re often given. As a side note, it was great seeing Bell back on TV, using his image for good rather than promoting snake oil salesmen. There will no doubt be consequences for his actions here, but right now Bell doesn’t seem to care (in the best possible way).

If this episode had any weakness, it was the continuation of the sperm donor story. It was great to see Devon finally supporting Leela (Anuja Joshi), even if it was ultimately misguided. It was a shame we’ve only gotten to see Leela recently in the context of this story, rather than on her making her goals a reality. A balance can surely be found somewhere. Padma (Aneesha Joshi) was the voice of reason, and her advice to simply trust the universe to provide ultimately proved to be right. If anything, this episode gave somewhat of a resolution: AJ had a moment of clarity and would only agree to be the sperm donor if he could be a present father.

The Resident has not disappointed yet with the second half of this season. So many characters have gotten a chance to go on deep, meaningful journeys that so many viewers will be able to relate to. The emotional devastation we’ve seen so far has never veered into emotional theatrics. Instead, we’ve been gifted with a venue see emotions and the human experience mirrored back at us. Hopefully this trend continues. 

Other Things:

• We now know that Emily VanCamp will be returning for this season’s finale. This is just further proof that this season isn’t finished taking viewers on an emotional rollercoaster.
• The less Trevor I see, the more nervous I get about what he’s getting up to off screen. It can’t be anything good, and it will likely be a massive bombshell.
• “All doctors benefit from the shield the white coat provides. I have too. Malpractice breaks our oath to do no harm, but it also destroys the public trust in even the best doctors. And the bad ones are few. They need to be weeded out, and the guard dogs need to be reminded of who they're meant to protect.”
• “I realize I don't like being alone. So if we're going to do this, I don't want to just be a donor. I gotta help you raise this kid. I want to be a father.”

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The Flash 8x11 Review: "Resurrection" (Ronnie’s Return?) [Contributor: Deborah M]

“Resurrection”

Original Airdate: April 13, 2022

We’ve got a Caitlin-centric episode of The Flash this week, something I don’t think we’ve had for quite a while. Unfortunately, slightly sloppy writing undercuts any tension early on and we’re left with some bad circumstances we saw coming from a mile away. Meanwhile, not really appearing in this review: Iris’s time sickness is getting worse. Green sparkles everywhere!

THINK TWICE BEFORE RAISING THE DEAD

It’s flashback time! Wow, the show is flashing back to season one quite a bit these days, huh? Well, I guess technically the flashback we get to Caitlin meeting Ronnie for the first time is pre-season one. Anyway, it’s a pretty cute little scene between the two of them and, since they’ve been seeding the idea of her finally moving on from Ronnie this season, it’s good to remind everyone what she’d be moving on from.

Back in the present, Caitlin is chatting with the killer black flames. In Ronnie’s voice, the flames ask her to join them in order to save them, then say something about “memories in the snow.” That’s nicely cryptic, well done. Later, when Team Flash is discussing their black flame problem and find out there are possible victims that predate the O'Shaughnessy's Bar victims this plotline started with, Caitlin sweeps in with a fully-formed theory on why she thinks the black flames are actually Ronnie. The theory is backed up by the fact that Caitlin recognizes all the victims, including the newly surfaced ones.

Basically, Caitlin matched the radiation of the black flames to that of a singularity, which is what Ronnie died in. She theorizes that, since energy can only be changed and not destroyed, Ronnie could have been transformed into the black flames when he died. When Barry mentions the whole “killing people” hobby the black flames have but Ronnie certainly did not, Caitlin just dismisses it as Ronnie being confused and full of a grief hormone at his time of death. The grief hormone reacted with the singularity and resulted in a being that feeds off the same hormone in others — i.e., a being that eats grief like the black flames do.

After dismissing Barry’s idea that the flames could just be messing with her like they did with Chester (I almost thought the show had forgotten about that bit), Caitlin says she thinks Ronnie wants them to save him with the quantum splicer that allowed him to be Firestorm years ago. She even punches a few keys and pulls a blueprint of the quantum splicer up on a monitor to jog everyone’s memory. I swear only a few hours, tops, could have passed between Caitlin’s scene with Ronnie-Flames and this one, so how in the world did she manage to put this whole theory together, complete with visual aids ready to go on the Team Flash command center computers? I bet Caitlin was a dream to have on team projects back in school. 

While the rest of the team is on board for this plan to essentially bring Ronnie back to life, Barry is wary and — since this episode is not about Barry learning a lesson — we know from the start that Caitlin’s plan is a bad one. Basically announcing that this whole thing is going to fail or backfire in some way by depicting Barry as so completely against it kind of ruins the story, in my opinion. We’ll get more into that later on, though.

Even if I couldn’t predict bad things to come by the way Barry resists Caitlin’s plan, I’d still probably consider her breaking up with her new boyfriend jumping the gun a bit. Without waiting to see if Ronnie can actually be saved, Caitlin meets up with Marcus, tells him everything that’s going on (including her side job helping the Flash, although if Marcus could meet Frost and not assume Caitlin’s got some connection with the Flash he’d be pretty dim) and then they break up. He seems to take it well, though he’s certainly weirded out by the fact that his relationship is being ruined by a resurrection, and leaves her with a poignant Plato quote about tending to one’s heart like a plant or something.

Because he’s the correct one in this situation, Barry is double-checking that the modifications to the Fusion Sphere are complete and ready as everyone’s backup plan. He raises some good questions to Frost when she finds him, such as why Ronnie took seven years to show up again if he turned into the black flames as soon as he died. Even more questions are raised when Cecile gets bombarded by Ronnie’s voice and the undeniable feeling that Ronnie doesn’t want to be saved; he wants to die.

This splits the possible plans of action in two: either follow Caitlin’s heart toward rescuing Ronnie, or follow Cecile’s powers and destroy the black flames, freeing Ronnie from his torment. Since we really need an either/or situation for the drama, it’s also revealed that using the quantum splicer on an unwilling participant will cause an explosion. The team seems to fall in with Barry and Cecile while Caitlin and, later, Frost, decide to work alone and save Ronnie.

There are a couple more flashbacks to moments during Caitlin and Ronnie’s relationship, including one where the two of them have gotten their car stuck in snow on the way to a romantic bed and breakfast. Caitlin is especially upset because she planned to propose, but a romantic little conversation with Ronnie has her kneeling in the snow and proposing anyway, only to have him present her with an engagement ring. It’s a really cute little scene and, combined with the earlier quote about “memories in snow,” tells Caitlin where she’ll find Ronnie next.

The Flash finds Ronnie first, though. Barry uses the Fusion Sphere and successfully captures Ronnie, but Frost shows up and freezes the sphere, releasing him. Caitlin approaches the black flames, has a few more flashbacks (some of which were actually on the show) and places the quantum splicer on him, regaining his body.

Even though everyone is all smiles and “we can’t wait to get to know Ronnie” after, Caitlin’s happiness is cut short when she finds Ronnie staring creepily out the window. When he turns around, he reveals that he’s not actually Ronnie — Ronnie is really dead — and that he calls himself Death Storm.

Okay, here’s the thing: the show has established this pattern of Barry being right all the time and the audience gauging how they’re meant to feel off Barry except for episodes where it is patently obvious that Barry is wrong and needs to be wrong in order to win a lesson. This means that, for anyone who watches this show regularly, we all knew less than ten minutes into the episode that Caitlin/Ronnie wasn’t going to work out. It’s incredibly frustrating that the writers would completely deflate the tension in what would otherwise have been a pretty intriguing episode, and a rare spotlight episode for Caitlin to boot.

Anyway, in other news: Iris has gotten disappeared by Tinya in revenge for Iris disappearing Tinya’s mom.

Other Things:

• Paused to read Chester’s livestream chat again. Poor Techluver5898 is still mourning the drone killed by their cat.
• Caitlin and Ronnie after simultaneously proposing to each other: “My answer’s yes, by the way.” “So’s mine.” Genuinely really cute.
• Joe’s joke-gasp when Allegra calls him “grandpa” was the funniest thing in this episode.

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The Resident 5x18 Review: “Ride or Die” (We Are Family) [Contributor: Justine]

“Ride or Die”

Original Airdate: April 12, 2022

The Resident continues to make a valiant effort at wrapping up all of the stories that have been introduced in its fifth season. This season has essentially been unrelenting when it has come to putting characters through some of the most significant challenges they’ve ever faced. This episode featured the beginnings of the ends of stories fans we’ve followed in the second half of the season. Some characters were put center stage after a long time in the background, and others didn’t get nearly enough screen time. 

The first story that seemed to be on hiatus, if not discontinued entirely, was the mob story. In many ways, this story was, up until now, confined to the abstract. This episode dispelled any doubts of the dangers of the mob. The danger of those committing medicare fraud, and manufacturing fake prescriptions in Conrad’s (Matt Czuchry) name is never in doubt. After being in a supporting role for most of this season, Conrad was in a starring role as more of a detective. It suited him. 

For Cade (Kaley Ronayne) and Conrad, it was back to the beginning of when they first met. Since Cade’s been introduced, it’s sometimes been confusing to get a firm sense of where this relationship is supposed to go. Were they meant to be good friends? Lovers? It’s been murky. However, this episode gave viewers more clarity: Conrad realizes that Cade is just a version of him. That’s why their dynamic works so well sometimes, but falls flat at others. The show is simply trying to recreate a character that we’ve already come to know and love.  

After making a big impact in episode 17,  Zach (Alan Aisenberg) faced a trial by fire. He’s so imperfectly human, and one can’t help feel sorry for him. The teamup between Zach and AJ (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) wasn’t one we thought we needed, and yet it was played to perfection. AJ was a vintage version of The Raptor this episode, and it’s been far too long since we’ve seen him in action. He’s always been a fantastic mentor, if his teaching methods are slightly unorthodox. He shows he actually cares about patients and the resident doctors under his charge by demanding excellence from himself and those he mentors.

On a more heartbreaking note, AJ’s mom, Carol (Denise Dowse), in the final stretch of the her illness. It’s been a long and winding rode for her and her palliative care journey. The Resident deserves so much credit for not only shining a spotlight, but portraying positively an aspect of healthcare that is still so misunderstood and made taboo. The essence of palliative care is living life to the fullest, and distilling what is really important to patients in the midst of their illness. It’s in these moments that the staff at Chastain prove how much of a family they have become. AJ is in excellent hands, being loved and supported by those around him as he loves and supports his mother who is approaching the end of her life. 

On a happier note, this episode unlocked a new character that is already so lovable. New anesthesiologist Jayci (Jeena Yi) is completely whacky in the best possible way. She proved her chops as a physician working overnight. Only the best healthcare providers prefer the nightshifts. It takes a special person to have that kind of commitment. Jayci is for sure going to be an excellent addition to the family. 

Finally, KitBell shippers got a lot of content this episode. Bell (Bruce Greenwood) is still clearly getting used to navigating his professional life with a disability. It was so admirable to see Kit (Jane Leeves) insist on the love of her life being accommodated so he was still able to perform surgery. Seeing these two work together is always such a joy, and the two of them opting for the night shift when they’re such senior staff gives them a whole new level of respectability. 

One of the challenges The Resident has is having just so many compelling characters who can realistically be the focus of an episode that some things get lost. This episode was no exception. Other equally compelling characters were left on the sidelines, while their just as enthralling co-stars had the limelight. It’s always a tough balance to strike. As a benefit, fans can certainly look forward to more character-driven storytelling from this very deep talent pool. The final episodes of the season are shaping up to be a wild ride. 

Other Things:

• Devon (Manish Dayal) again proved he does in fact still have a bedside manner. Is it just his girlfriend he feels the need to put down?
• On that note, this episode didn’t have nearly enough Leela (Anuja Joshi). We’ve had so much setup to watch her change the world. It’s a shame these last couple of episodes haven’t let her character grow and shine.
• Still no Trevor (Miles Fowler). Every episode he isn’t in, I get more nervous when I think about what he could possibly be up to. I have a distinct feeling they’re saving this story for the big finale. 
• “I got this Boss Voss. Oh, no, there goes my snow bunnies. They're brand new!”
• “You need my help. Prescription drug scams are favored by the mob. They kill people who threaten their revenue stream. That's why we handed this over to the FBI.”
• “My mother and I want to thank you for the exceptional care that you provided. You've been nothing but remarkable. You've helped with some really tough decisions ... and I just want you to know that it means a lot. It makes all the difference in the world. I know my mother will hold all of you in her heart for the time that she has left.”

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