This season of The Resident isn’t shying away from the dark realities our society.
Last week, the episode lifted the curtain on the effects of gun violence, while The Resident Season 6 Episode 4 touched on the hard truths surrounding addiction and the people we live.
Ian, Cade’s father, was going through severe withdrawal while gearing up for his follow-up drug test.
The thing about addiction is that it can happen to anyone, no matter your race, age, education, or status. Ian was just as much of an addict as Diana, the heroin addict that was brought into the ER and gave birth to a baby, who was simultaneously going through withdrawals. When Ian held baby Jane and told her he knew the pain she was in, he wasn’t lying.
Ian, however, thought he was better than Diana because, in his mind, his addiction wasn’t as bad. In his mind, pills weren’t as bad as heroin, and thus, he talked down to Diana and judged her for her addiction.
He didn’t put himself in the same boat as the “other” addicts, possibly thinking that as a doctor, he had more control over it, but the withdrawal symptoms indicated otherwise.
Ian was a mess, and the creative forces behind The Resident were determined to convey that raw pain and emotion through the screen and onto viewers. Every editing effect allowed audiences to feel a sliver of what he was going through and feel equally as unsteady.
You would hope that as his condition worsened, it would help him realize that he really did have a problem and was a danger, but the only thing that he could focus on was getting that fix.
It was a terrible situation because, addiction aside, Ian is a phenomenal doctor who actually cares about the job, but, at the same time, his actions are putting patients in danger.
When the pressure was on, he ditched the drug test, popped some pills, and waited till they kicked in before offering hands-on assistance in baby Jane’s surgery. On one hand, I’m glad those were the steps that he took because it showed that he didn’t want to put Jane in harms way—he was aware of all the ways things could go wrong because of the withdrawal symptoms—but he shouldn’t of allowed himself to get to that point to begin with.
The right thing would’ve been to own up to his addiction and seek out the necessary help rather than thinking the best-case was operating under the influence.
Instead, Ian pursued every single option to prevent anyone from catching onto his pill-popping addiction, including stealing another patient’s urine to submit as his own and ordering synthetic urine for next time.
He seemed pretty pleased with himself, but I find it wild that an esteemed doctor doesn’t realize the very real risks with what he’s doing. Addiction is a nasty disease, and one that’s getting the spotlight on The Resident in a way that cant’t be ignored.
Ian’s failed drug test wasn’t common knowledge to the staff at Chastain, so I’m not surprised that no one picked up on the fact that his nasuea and lightheadedness were withdrawal symptoms; they could’ve been anything without any context, but Cade should’ve definitely caught on with his outburst.
She’s seen the effects of addiction firsthand, including the clouded judgement and irritability. How did she not realize what was happening right in front of her?
And she knows her father better than anyone else, so she should’ve considered that it’s possible he might try to rig the system so that it works in his favor.
He may have taken the win today, but it’s all bound to catch up to him. I just hope it isn’t at the sake of another tiny little patient.
The scary part was the Ian was handling AJ and Padma’s NICU twins. Imagine if something happened then—AJ would undoubtedly come for Ian with his bare hands. Leela also delivered the update that the family was settled into their new condo, and I can’t wait till we get to see more footage of AJ as a proud dad. I hope his mother is watching and smiling down on them.
Baby Jane’s situation was heartbreaking. Diana’s addiction hurt the baby in so many ways from the moment she arrived. Thankfully, Billie, with Ian’s assist, was able to successfully perform the surgery to repair the sac of fluid on her back.
Meanwhile, we saw Diana go through the motions of fighting to get her baby back before the addiction took hold and all she wanted was her bag with the drugs in it.
Cade, who knows all too well what it’s like to lose a mother to addiction, didn’t want to make things harder for Diana then they needed to be at first, but even she lost it at one point telling her that unless she got clean and stayed clean, the best place for Jane was not with her mother. It’s a harsh reality, but it’s one that needs to be conveyed so that Diana is no longer living in denial thinking that after everything, they were just going to hand her baby back without putting in the work and making amends. I hope that there’s a happy ending for Diana and baby Jane, but I also know it’s a long road ahead and that this sometimes doesn’t always end on a happy note.
Pravesh jumped into action, filling in for Conrad, who prioritized helping Gigi build the confidence to get her next tae kwon do belt.
Irving gave Pravesh so much flack for “not being a real doctor” anymore, which was uncalled for. Pravesh may have embraced the science a bit more than the medicine, but your instincts and desire to help a patient don’t just go away because you’re not practicing full time. In fact, it was nice to see him back in the swing of things as he took his time with Marty. While another doctor may have dismissed her because her symptoms presented as textbook myasthenia gravis, Pravesh didn’t give up in trying to help her find out why her treatment wasn’t working.
Pravesh knew something wasn’t right, so he went back to the basics of trial and error. It may have been painful for his patient, but he believed that this was the only way. And again, it was bogus of Irving to come for Pravesh for “harming” a patient when he was simply doing what he thought was right. The invasisive and painful procedure didn’t give them the answers they needed, but it forced Pravesh to think even deeper, recalling a study that once linked cancer to mimic neuromuscular symptoms. An MRI later, and Marty had the correct diagnosis after being misdiagnosed and mistreated for six years. And while cancer is never technically good news, there was hope that she could finally get her life back, or, at the very least, her independence. Pravesh’s time and dedication to the patient was life-changing!
As for Conrad, man, I’m a sucker for Conrad as a dad because he’s so good at it. That’s a man who loves his daughter more than life itself. When Gigi revealed she wanted to skip her belt ceremony because she lacked confidence that she could break the board, nothing else mattered other than getting her to practice, train, and believe in herself. Conrad dedicated his whole day to giving Gigi the tools she needed to succeed. It was such a selfless act of love, and while not all parents can afford to ditch work for the day to help their kid suffering “Ferris Bueller syndrome,” the fact that Conrad could and did is such a blessing and something he doesn’t seem to take for granted.
He then supported Gigi at the ceremony with his camera on record like a doting father that he is. Nic would’ve been so proud, and I’m still so bummed that she left the show, er, died, and isn’t around for these moments. While Conrad seems to have this whole dad thing down, there was also a point in the episode that underscored just how difficult it is to navigate all these parenting challenges without the partner you thought would always be around to help and bounce ideas off of. I think Conrad would’ve always been a great father, but when he finds himself at a crossroads with how to deal, he’s definitely inspired by “what would Nic do,” so, in a way, Gigi always has both of her parents with her every step of the way. She’s a lucky girl that one, though, admittedly, I was expecting Cade or Pravesh or anyone to attend the ceremony and cheer her on.
Pravesh, however, was celebrating his diagnosis with Leela, who led her first solo surgery because Nolan was too busy researching bidets. Honestly, what’s with Irving and Nolan this season?! Either way, Pravesh and Leela are a power couple of the series now, and they deserve all of it.
What did you think of the episode? Share your thoughts with me in the comments!