The Resident recap: A potential operator error threatens a surgeon’s career

On this week’s episode of The Resident aptly titled “Operator Error”, Chastain reels from the death of one of their own and QuoVadis makes a move to oust one of the best doctors to protect their brand name.

The Raptor’s career is on the line after Bradley dies on the surgical table. (On another note, I really wish FOX hadn’t spoiled his death in the promo from last week’s episode of The Resident).

Obviously, QuoVadis is at fault, but they’re hell-bent on the “operator error” angle and the duplicitous Gordon Page is willing to sacrifice Austin to maintain his brand’s integrity. Last season we had Lane Hunter as the evil chemo-serial-killer and this season we have the evil corporation willing to kill people so their shoddily made medical devices can stay in circuit.

No one believes AJ would have made a mistake of this magnitude. Meaning, the heart valve he put into Bradley’s chest was likely the catalyst for his heart failure and eventual death.

The idea of Bell handling a legal matter where a surgeon’s career is on the line due to potential negligence is incredibly ironic. I don’t think Bell has ever truly suffered any consequences for the plethora of medical violations and shady practices he has committed. I was glad to see Mina defending AJ since Bell has become Gordon’s, as Mina puts it, “lap-dog”.

Even though we all know AJ wasn’t the one who messed up in the operating room, he takes the possibility of it to heart and benches himself until he can learn some humility. The guy has an ego the size of Texas, no one is denying it, but I think it makes him the excellent surgeon he is. Suddenly, he has reason to doubt himself and all because of QuoVadis’s defective equipment.

What kind of tumor is blue?

Bradley isn’t the only patient who may have suffered from operator error. Devon’s patient, Marisol, a young woman who has struggled to find a doctor to take her pain seriously, has definitely been on the receiving end of a careless surgeon. They find a surgical sponge left behind from her C-section. The pain a throbbing reminder of the child she lost.

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The realistic nature of Marisol’s story makes it all the more distressing. In our modern society, women, and particularly women of color, are often dismissed as hysterical or invalid when their pain symptoms don’t immediately align with an obvious diagnosis. There are countless stories of marginalized people being ignored, shut away, and even reprimanded by their doctors or made to feel hysterical and crazy.

Devon is the one who cut through the noise and believed Marisol. He solved, in one day, a problem no other doctor actually tried to understand, all because he listened to her and refused to believe she was faking it for attention.  Devon set Marisol free. Free of the pain, of the fear she may never have a child, and by doing so, allowed her to finally move on despite the despair of being mistreated by a hospital to such a magnitude.

And at least, for once, this operator error wasn’t Chastain’s fault.

Odds & Ends

• The second AJ threw the chair into the exam light my first thought was “WHO is going to pay for that!?” I’ve watched too many medical dramas.
• Devon has made terrible mistakes lately. To be told “he fixed everything” after having his heart broken by Bradley’s death and breaking Priya’s heart was a good moment for him. Even if I hate how he treated Priya, I still believe he is a noble man and doctor who got lost along the way.
• It was nice to see the Barnett family again, and I’m wondering if Henry may return with something more going on with him than “just a tic”. Even though I’m not interested in the strange love square The Resident is trying to force upon us, I’m always happy to see Daniella Alonso on my screen.
• Something about Alec’s character is rubbing me the wrong way. In reference to what I said above about Marisol, Alec is a prime example of a physician mistreating or misdiagnosing a non-white woman. He automatically assumes Aubrey is a stoner or on drugs simply because she is introverted and withdrawn. He’s coming off as a jerk to me and not just because (as I mentioned in the point before) I’m a fan of Nic/Conrad. If The Resident wants me to warm up to him they’re going to need to change course because thus far his arrogance isn’t charming enough to be welcome (only Malcolm Jamal-Warner can pull that off).
• How are they going to order ONE pizza, no wings, no breadsticks, for all of them to share in the end scene?

A new episode of The Resident titled “Fear Finds a Way” airs Jan. 28 on FOX.