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Reviews
Code Black: Cardiac Support (2015)
"My one wish for you is to live--really live" ~ Jesse
This one was yet another tear-jerker, with a lot of heart-stopping moments for us viewers. As we were rattled at the thought of losing Jesse, it brought many challenges for the doctors of Angels Memorial, as well as some emotional moments. One of the most emotional being the exchange between Jesse and Leanne in the O.R.
...
Jesse: Before I'm dead, there's something I got to tell you.
Leanne: Shut up. You're not dead.
Jesse: Neither are you.
Leanne: What are you talking about?
Jesse: You're alive.
Leanne: I know that.
Jesse: I don't think you do. You're alive. They're not.
Leanne: Jesse, what are you doing?
Jesse: What I'm telling you is that if I die today, my one wish would be that you live. Really live. I'm pretty sure that's their wish, too.
...
This episode was breathtaking. Every week, this show delivers. It delivers material better than the last episode. I am glued to this show. It only keeps getting better.
Code Black: Life and Limb (2016)
"Life and Limb" is a step in the right direction for Code Black
A major accident puts the entire team to the test, and Savetti has to face his deadbeat father in a tough episode of Code Black.
It's time for another massive vehicular accident on Code Black as a school bus full of soccer players collides with a semi-truck on the I-5 freeway. And when we say massive, we really do mean massive.
The whole team is summoned to Center Stage as victims arrive at Angels Memorial in waves, and the camera crews on this show deserve an award for being able to navigate throughout the chaotic ER so fluidly. There is almost nothing but ER work in the teaser and it's a thing of beauty.
When the initial storm subsides, we meet our principal characters for the episode. Team captain Holden Paxton might lose his leg, and Willis rakes Charlotte over the coals for it, which doesn't go over well with Rorish.
After Campbell can't save the limb in the OR, he recommends amputation. The doctors have to break the bad news to Holden's father, Alex, who thinks his son would "rather die than do what you're asking."
Willis appeals to Alex to try to talk some sense into his son, but the father shifts the blame back to him. "I consented," Alex retorts, "but you have to make him do it. You're the doctor. I can't. For the rest of life he'll know me as the guy who convinced him to take his leg off."
Holden is soon being wheeled into surgery, and Willis is covering for Charlotte with Campbell, or trying to. "I've been treated special my whole life. I don't want that here," she insists before Campbell warns her not to say anything and Willis realizes what we all know: Campbell's a jerk.
He then calls some of his military colleagues - who are themselves amputees - to show Holden that he has options for his future, before revealing to Rorish that the Army "decided to park me" in the hospital and making sure that Charlotte doesn't lose faith in herself after the events of the day.
Alice Williams is the distraught wife of the truck driver, who can't handle the idea that her husband was responsible for the collision or that he might still lose his own life because of it.
When her husband comes to, Rorish placates him by telling him that no one died in the accident. Malaya asks why she lied when they know he was on amphetamines, and Rorish explains that she "decided to choose grace."
Elsewhere, there are still other cases to be handled and one is particularly close to home. Mario's father, Vince Savetti, turns up for the first time in two years injured and looking for money. "You'll never be able to pay back what you owe me," Mario snarls after Vince's arrival allows an out of control patient to escape.
But despite the animosity Mario still jumps into action when his father's condition worsens. "His liver's failing," Angus says to which his BFF replies, "That's what happens when you're an alcoholic." The arguing continues even after the diagnosis, with Vince referring to his son as "a disappointment" and Mario responding, "Yeah, well, right now I'm your doctor."
Once the crazed patient is sedated, Noa, Angus, and Rollie identify him as Mark Goddard and locate his brother Brian. Mark is eventually up and at it by the end of the episode and literally plays us out.
Beth comes into Angels Memorial with severe abdominal pain and is shortly revealed to be transgender. Unfortunately, her girlfriend, Rose, wasn't aware of that and runs off.
Jesse has to bring Rose back around, just like he did for the married couple in the season premiere, while Beth gives Mario someone to connect with when it comes to not being understood.
Moreover, lest you think Code Black has forgotten, Mike Leighton remains in a coma but at least he's moving his hand.
Code Black: Exodus (2016)
"Exodus": A fun, lighthearted, but also intense episode of Code Black
Feel free to join me in blaring Tall Heights' "Spirit Cold" after this episode.
There's something about the dark that gets people to open up.
The docs on Code Black were no different. In the dark, Jesse found a way to win over Campbell, Mario found some confidence, and Amanda convinced Ethan to try something different.
While "Exodus" certainly pushed the boundaries on how many medical show tropes could be squeezed into one episode, the writers managed to avoid being too predictable. Some ground was retread, but overall, it was a solid offering.
In fact, the ONLY part of the blackout storyline that bothered me was the blackout itself. The premise has been done before on ER and Grey's Anatomy. But those all had explainable reasons for the lights to go out and Code Black find a different way to present the plot.
I liked how the doctors handled the blackout. Moving the patients to the nearby Urgent Care Center was new ground, literally and figuratively. Dr. Kerry's head-butting with Leanne was a nice mark of how territorial docs can be, and it's always interesting to see Leanne interact with docs not used to her brash style.
The pilgrimage to the Urgent Care Center was also a far more realistic way to get the docs out into the field than we've seen in a while -- Ethan's field trip to a submarine was still cool, though.
It was good to see Mario regain some of that confidence in himself. I don't think I'd realized just how much his actions last season had shaken him, but he was prepared this time. Time is the best teacher after all.
Of course, the highlight of "Exodus" was the return of Jesse. I mean, it wasn't like Mama could stay away for too long. The whole ER would have fallen apart without him, and he would have lost his mind at that plastic surgeon's office.
But the blackout really gave him a chance to shine. Not only was he able to show off his excellent interpersonal relation skills by reassuring Campbell about his daughter AND making sure that a patient was kept calm during an extremely scary procedure, but he showed off his practical positives too.
After all, it's really important that somebody know where the batteries live...and knows how to "hack" into the drug locker. The best line for Mama was his correspondence with Campbell.
---
Jesse: So you want your Mama back, huh?
Campbell: I...I didn't -- I didn't say that.
Jesse: Say it. Come on. I want to hear the words.
---
Angus might have finally found an appropriate crush! Will she really be okay with his dedication to being a "great doctor," though?
I'd be a lot more sanguine about Amanda's interest in Ethan if it weren't for her boyfriend's kid. Still, she's definitely right about him needing to talk to somebody.
Mario and Noa? Still not feeling it...
TV has convinced me that pregnant women in or near labor should never ever take the elevator!
Code Black: The Son Rises (2015)
This is hands-down the absolute BEST episode of the series
Change is good.
At least that's what Rafiki said. It's coming to Angel's ER whether the docs are ready or not, with Dr. Taylor leaving due to a suspension. There's a new chief in town, and she's sure to have her own way of doing things.
Taylor is on the outs with the board following his adventures with Randall in Code Black #1.8, and we can only hope that the fact he's on paid suspension means he will be back and not banished forever.
The incoming chief, Perello seems to share some of Taylor's best attributes – the ability to make inappropriate jokes with impeccable timing first and foremost. But she's making more of an effort with the residents than is Taylor's habit, and seems like she might have a more hands-on attitude with patient care.
So the question is, how will this play out for Rorish? The other attendings will be making an adjustment as well, but Rorish is the "cowboy" of the department, in part because Taylor has allowed it. With this outsider new on the scene, will she be forced to reign herself in?
Leanne's facing change in her personal life as well. She's starting to open up more about her family, and that story she shared with Lawrence and his wife was the best use of her tragic past so far. I usually feel like it's really common when Leanne's family is spoken about, but this was so organic.
Jesse won best supportive friend of the year again when he cheered up by belting out his own version of The Lion King, and I have to say, his singing voice wasn't terrible. Anybody who will publicly humiliate themselves just to make you smile is a friend worth having.
But perhaps the most turbulent aspect of Leanne's life right now is Dr. Cole Guthrie. I'm still not really feeling the chemistry between them, but the writers are doggedly pursuing the romance, so we (and Leanne) better get used to it. At least they still fight over cases, keeping things from getting too sappy or fairytale-esque.
Of course, the fledgling romance might crash and burn once Leanne finds out that Cole wants to poach Neal from her staff. They may have clashed in the pilot, but she relies on him to be her back up -- with her patients and her students.
I was intrigued by the surgical resident, Dr. Heather Pinkney. She had some chemistry with Mario as they battled it out over procedures, so she could be a potential love interest.
Or maybe we'll be branching out from emergency and heading upstairs to the OR on a regular basis. It's far from unprecedented, but even ER took a few seasons to make that jump.
I was pleasantly surprised with how the cast of the Lion King was worked in. Based on the promos, I was dubious about the move, and afraid that it would be an artless stunt of some kind. But they really pulled it off, and even my cynical heart was touched.
Code Black: The Fifth Stage (2016)
This one...this one made me cry...a lot.
Wow...that escalated quickly.
"The Fifth Stage" left me speechless and in tears. It was one of the most brilliant episodes of the series. As predicted, the title "The Fifth Stage" had a dual meaning - referring to both Leanne's grief--acceptance--and Malaya's stalker--escalation to violent behavior.
Meanwhile, the rest of the staff deals with various rumors flying around, and with the obligatory tough ethical issues.
Leanne's journey finally provided the payoff for the painfully drawn story of her family's death. The resolution was touching, and I appreciated that it acknowledged that there is no correct timeline for grief.
One particular line that brought me to tears was this one:
"I've let this...this place fill the vacuum that my family left behind. I never figured out who I am without them. I need to do that."
Of course, as Malaya pointed out, there are no secrets in a hospital, so word of her leaving quickly got around. The Armenian crime family's feud allowed Mike to show everyone, including himself, that he was qualified to take over for her.
Except that it didn't really explain why a hospital would choose someone with only a few years experience with someone with decades. Rollie's absence was felt again, and it didn't seem fair that he wasn't even there to promote himself for the job.
Setting Mike against Neal could have worked if it was dragged out a little longer since it would have meant Neal having to choose between a position he's coveted and his burgeoning romance with Christa. That kind of strife always makes for some good drama.
Of course, we all know that it's even odds that Neal is going to end up heading to the surgical department, at least part-time. Or maybe he'll have to step up into another role in the ER.
Malaya's stalker was not at all subtle, but somehow she missed it. I know that we have the benefit of omniscience, but Gordon was pretty obviously creepy, with his shifty eyes and manic attitude, not to mention the touching.
The ending was breathtaking, and, as I said, escalated so quickly. All in all, this episode was perfect. Between Leanne and her touching realization that she never took the time she needed to grieve the loss of her family, but also the events of the stabbing at Angels Memorial.
Code Black: The Devil's Workshop (2017)
This episode is AMAZING!
CBS's "Code Black" begins its two-part Season 2 finale event with an episode that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. If part one is any indication then this show may be continuing to somehow top itself as well as set the bar for what audiences should expect from their hospital dramas.
"The Devil's Workshop" begins two days after "Vertigo" left off, with Dr. Leanne Rorish finding out just what happened to Ariel after the pilot. Rorish has taken Ariel in and is determined not to let her fall by the wayside again, whether in a group home or by her running off to Oregon. She persuades Ariel to stay at the hospital for the day, but it's going to be one heck of a day.
Dr. Rollie Guthrie and Dr. Malaya Pineda treat Bill, who was trying to bond with his future son-in-law before he ended up in the ER, with heart failure. Will he make it to the wedding?
Dr. Mario Savetti lands hotshot basketball player Russell, but Russell refuses to take anything seriously. Dr. Noa Kean, who brought him into Angels Memorial, to begin with, thanks to her new job, refuses to take Russell's crap or Mario's opinion.
Also, Col. Ethan Willis, Dr. Angus Leighton, and Dr. Elliot Dixon are riding in the ambulance this week. Where is it taking them? Try to an exorcism gone wrong in the back of a local market. Could somebody page Ben Daniels?
They bring Yolanda (Gabriela Banus) back to the hospital, which proves to be a dangerous choice. She bites Dr. Heather Pinckney, and that's just the start of the havoc. It's not Satan and it's not rabies – welcome to an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever.
Working with the CDC, in the persons of Dr. Kerr and Deputy Director Reddick, the Angels Memorial team tries to handle its biggest crisis yet without starting a panic. And each case is affected by the disaster in different ways, on top of the problems they came in with.
Noa gets Russell to admit he's been intentionally overdosing on Zoloft, while Campbell breaks his tough-guy mold in breaking the bad news to his ex-girlfriend Heather. "I'm not giving up," he assures her, and it's probably as close to sweet as either of these two will ever get. Speaking of cute, Angus' would-be girlfriend Kelly (Meg Steedle) is among those stuck in the hospital thanks to the quarantine. Well, this is an awkward first date.
Yolanda dies from the fever, which doesn't bode well for her also-exposed friend Alicia or Heather, as Willis and Kerr go back to the market to trace the outbreak to its source. All they need is the creepy horror movie- type music as they wander around in the darkness, finding the rest of the people who were involved in the exorcism. Two are dead and one dies shortly after making it to the hospital. But Campbell is not going to give up, dang it.
Especially when Dr. Kerr says that other members of the Angels team have also tested positive and will need to be quarantined. Mario, Malaya, and Elliot get to be dragged on the other side of the plastic wall, and the law of large numbers indicates that with four major characters in the red, not all of them will make it out alive. "What do we do now?" Mario wonders, to which Malaya replies, "We do our job." And it's moments like that which make Code Black great.
Bill's future son-in-law Jeremy collapses in the waiting room and is added to the list of victims, just as Heather takes a last-act turn for the worse. And then Reddick walks in to be the resident jerk taking over the situation because he knows better. The one time we all want Campbell to be as itinerant as possible, he, Willis and Leanne leave everything in the hands of the CDC - including Ariel, who's the last revealed patient.
At least Bill and his daughter get to share a heartwrenching dance together - to Nashville singer-songwriter Caitlin Canty's cover of "Stand By Me" - but everything else looks pretty bleak. Like Heather finally crashing and Campbell not wanting her to die alone. You know, This Is Us has the reputation for being the tear-jerking show, but we'd argue Code Black does it just as well and just as much (maybe even better at it than This Is Us). At least Jillian Murray gets a great final voice-over, which is the Hippocratic oath. It was one of the best moments of the season, Heather's speech.
Oh, and 'Patient Zero' is out roaming the streets, which is a wonderful place to leave this episode, right?
Code Black: Fallen Angels (2017)
What a way to end season two...
Season 2 of Code Black ends with an episode that wraps up the show's first two-parter and, in fact, much about the show to date. Where will it go from here?
The second season of CBS Code Black has broken a lot of new ground. Thus it's fitting that the season finale "Fallen Angels" helped turn the page on not only the season but several important aspects of the series. And as the show fights for Season 3, it leaves a clear path to where we could move forward.
Picking up where part one of this episode left off, Angels Memorial Hospital is now under a full-scale quarantine with big guns and bigger panic. Mario is taking the death of ex-fling Heather particularly hard. "I miss her," he tells Malaya and Angus. They also reminisce about how Heather suggested yoga.
"Yeah, she, uh...she wanted me to take yoga with her."
"You and yoga."
"Yeah."
(Sniffles, laughs) "She said it would mellow him out."
Leanne is still trying to get through to Ariel, who's in full- fledged 13-year-old brat mode and walks away from her. So Leanne hooks up with the rest of her team to try and come up with a solution to the virus that doesn't involve letting the CDC run the show. Mario, Malaya, Elliot, and Ariel have about ten hours left in their lives unless something drastic changes.
Mario gets the address of Yolanda, the first victim we were introduced to, so that Leanne, Willis, and CDC doctor Gretchen Reed can check it out. Gretchen can't believe there's a CDC van in the driveway and realizes that the outbreak is the result of her agency losing a container of the virus. Well, that won't look good on someone's performance review. Neither will Patient Zero attacking Leanne.
Willis jumps on CDC Deputy Director Reddick for not being honest about the missing truck and an available vaccine. Of course, it's Willis because busting balls is what Willis does as a hobby and of course Reddick doesn't budge because the bureaucrat never does.
So Willis goes over Reddick's head, which prompts Reddick to reveal that he didn't mention the vaccine because it wasn't really a cure. In some cases, it actually sped up the virus and killed people faster.
The news of Leanne being potentially infected spreads like wildfire, but she swears up and down that she's fine, because that's what a leader does even as the CDC pushes her into the quarantine tent. "I was feeling a little left out," she tells her team. But at least she's there as Ariel coughs up blood. That prompts Leanne to volunteer as a guinea pig for the vaccine.
Back in the rest of the hospital, Rollie's patient Bill is the first person to get any good news. He's supposed to be getting a new heart but Reddick wants to stick his nose in there too, saying the transplant helicopter won't be coming. And it doesn't matter because Bill dies a few moments later. Man, Campbell's gonna choke somebody. So it's time to call in Chief Morale Officer Angus Leighton.
Jesse administers the vaccine to Leanne, who begins to realize how isolated she has been since the deaths of her family as initial tests of her blood show that the vaccine is a failure. With that news, Reddick and Reed declare their intent to walk away from the hospital and let the remaining victims die. Oh, heck no. That's not how this show works!
Willis has a declaration of his own. He's not going to stop until he finds someone in the hospital with a natural immunity to this particular strain of the virus, even if he has to test everyone in the building. Reed agrees to help him, Angus, Campbell, and Jesse go through hundreds of samples for that one last chance. Lo and behold there's a match.
But the situation gets worse when Bill's daughter Anna tries to run into the quarantine tent and is shot in the back by an overzealous soldier, and inside the tent, Leanne collapses. We're ten minutes away from the end so we're due for something to look up, right?
Anna gets her pulse back while Willis finds Pedro Chavez, who's got the antibodies that everyone needs. He sets up a person-to-person blood transfusion from Pedro and Leanne.
Take a few steps forward and the quarantine is over. Campbell tells Leanne that no one else died from the virus thanks to Pedro. Anna gets her fiancée back, Noa finally kisses Mario, Campbell has to take Heather's name off the board, and life returns to normal at Angels. Because there's always another patient to save.
But at least Leanne finally takes a day off and we find out that she's let Ariel move into her kids' old bedroom. They've got their own family unit going. Leanne has found what the heck she's been looking for since Season 1.
Code Black: One in a Million (2017)
Woah! What an emotional thrill ride!
In "One in a Million," Leanne actually appropriated a helicopter against Dr. Campbell's direct orders. A friggin' HELICOPTER.
Normally CBS's Code Black is the show that punches us in the gut first and yanks out our hearts second, but with "One In A Million," it's the other way around.
Willis is on the scene of a terrible medical helicopter crash and mobilizes the rest of the Angels Memorial team to help him with the badly injured victims. One of them is a man who was injured on a cruise ship and is desperate to contact his wife and young daughter, while another is the pilot and the third is actually melted to the copter seat thanks to the heat from the crash fire. Leanne says something to Willis, which is something we are all thinking at this point...
Leanne: Another ride-along? You need a hobby.
After the initial emergency montage - which includes the hard-to- watch sequence of having to remove the seat from the third guy's back - Rorish reveals that the pilot has died, which left us all heartbroken. And the first guy finds out he's now down his appendix and several bits of his intestines.
As for Savetti and Angus, who are arguing over a potential job in the athletic department of a local university, while Campbell saddles Elliot with handling a kid injured in a spat and his equally childish father, Willis moves on to treat a young girl who's autistic and only wants to communicate with her cell phone.
But wait, we're not done! Rollie is back, getting a consult from a new doctor played by new recurring actor Jay Harrington about an experimental surgery. He's not interested in the risk.
Cruise Ship Guy starts hemorrhaging everywhere which prompts Rorish to tell her team that they need to retrieve his family from the ship before he dies. Campbell, naturally, does not give a damn about the family and compares the ask to an expensive Uber ride, using the old "It's not good for the hospital" excuse.
So that means Rorish has to explain to Cruise Ship Guy that there's nothing more they can do for him and that if he wants to see his family, he has to live long enough for them to get back.
Meanwhile, Willis finds a way to use his phone to communicate with his autistic patient and find out what's wrong with her. Yay technology! He theorizes that she may have cystic fibrosis. Maybe he can use that to communicate to Savetti and Angus that they're being boneheaded idiots. Oh wait, that's what we have Jesse for.
We find out that Leanne sent the chopper anyway which proves to be a wise move because Cruise Ship Guy is getting worse. His wife and son arrive at his bedside and are told the terrible news. It's a huge downer, so Code Black shifts us to happy mode with Rollie mending fences with Jesse and Jesse encouraging him to take the surgery. But Rollie says he has "some unfinished business" first. (Interestingly enough..."Unfinished Business" is the name of the next episode...)
Savetti and Angus finally make up, with Savetti theorizing that Angus's father is pushing him for the new job because Mike has gone "out of town" since leaving the hospital. He also tells him that he's a "great doctor" which incites a round of ribbing. And just like that, the bromance is back.
While Elliot's patient makes it through surgery fine and makes his father stop being a jerk over his injury, Willis confirms his patient's case of cystic fibrosis. "Why is she so unlucky?" her mother has to wonder. But he's not going to let her get down on herself and gives her a phone so that she can finally speak with her daughter for the first time ever. We all weep.
But there's one last piece of business to get through. Rorish fetches Cruise Ship Guy's wife and son so that they can see him, and what was supposed to be the last goodbye turns out to be a happy ending because he's miraculously recovered. From a writing standpoint that might feel like a cop-out, but from an emotional standpoint we don't care because how great is that for this guy, his family, and the flight nurse we forgot about who's still over there doing okay.
Rorish walks away from the scene to remind Campbell that medicine is about a lot more than just medical science, and of course, he can't be that mad at her. So Jesse just reminds her of the time he (or was it they?) hijacked an ambulance for a taco. Now that's a story we need to hear someday. Just after she absolutely doesn't tell Savetti and Angus which of them got the university gig, because it actually went to Noa!
"One In A Million" is a different kind of episode for Code Black. It's one that trades on heart and emotion rather than the show's usual intellectual and ethical challenges. This is the kind of stuff that you might expect to find more on Chicago Med than here. But there's nothing wrong with that. The fundamental question we have to ask about any episode of television is if it's worth our time, and this one definitely is. It breaks our hearts early with the bleak prognosis from the helicopter crash and the plight of the autistic patient no one can seem to get to and then spends the rest of the episode slowly piecing them back together until at the end we're sniffling right along with the families.