When a heat-wave boils over Toronto, the doctors of Hope Zion are forced to work under the extreme restrictions caused by a major blackout. In “Bed One,” outages have forced other hospitals to redirect incoming patients to Hope-Zion, causing Alex to step it up as the new head of trauma. Alex takes the lead and keeps the E.R. in check in her new multi-faceted niche. Charlie and Dawn work together to save their patient’s life under challenging circumstances in the O.R. Meanwhile, Joel and Maggie get trapped in an elevator with a friendly patient in dire need of dialysis.
Heating up the E.R.
Joel puts Alex in charge of the E.R. when Zach says he’s too tired to take the lead after working all night, but he still wants to stick around to help Alex out since he doesn’t have a home to return to. As patients flood into the E.R., Alex remains clam and keeps a clear head, while making sure everyone has a chance to be seen. Her brother, Luke, works as an EMT and offers to help out, so he’s put in charge of passing out the triage cards identifying the severity of patients’ injuries and the order in which they will be submitted into the hospital. At first we wonder if this episode will provide more patients than we will be able to keep track of, but we soon realize that one case receives more attention than the rest.
Graham Kennedy carries a homeless man into Hope Zion. The local old bum tried to cool off in a pool and the young man saw he was drowning, so he saved the man and carried him 12 blocks to the hospital. Graham even hurt his head saving this supposed stranger, so Alex insists that he stay and be taken care of. Eventually, Alex discovers that the two are actually father and son. They became estranged after the old man endangered one of Graham’s little kids, but he has still been keeping tabs on his dad from a distance. Alex urges Graham to give his father a second chance and she arranges for him to be placed in hospice care. As the episode closes, father and son seem to be making amends. The Kennedy’s ends up being one of Alex’s smoother-going cases in the midst of a chaotic E.R.
As Alex and Zach try to help an overdosed junkie, they struggle to find the right treatment under the blackout’s problematic conditions. Luke says they can inject the junkie with insulin, but both Zach and Alex tell him it is too risky. Luke does it anyway and it works. Nonetheless, he disobeyed his superiors and put the patient in danger, so Alex tells him to get out of her E.R. and go back on the road with other E.M.T.s.
Later that night we learn more about the siblings when Luke apologizes for disrespecting Alex like that and letting her down in general. It turns out that their mother was a alcoholic. When Alex was 8 years-old and Luke was 6, their mom went on a bender and he promised Alex that he would never be like their mother. He apologizes for being a burden to her, but she insists that he is not a burden and he is not like their mother.
It is fun to see Alex in command as the Chief of Trauma. She managed the E.R. with ease and still maintained a personal relationship with her patients like we’ve seen her do throughout the series. It is also cool to discover that saving people runs in the family. Seeing Luke as an EMT was surprising because he came off as a goofy, slacker type. Clearly he knows what he’s talking about, he just seems to struggle with authority. Perhaps we will have a chance to see the Reids team up in the future. It would be great to learn more about their upbringing as well. The revealing scene at the end of the episode taught us quite a bit about the obstacles Alex and Luke have overcome over the years.
Hot and Cold
Charlie and Tom tend to a patient with internal bleeding and a severe arm injury after getting into a car accident. As the paramedics roll Bonnie into the E.R., she calls out for Jackie until she blacks out from the pain. Charlie and Tom rush her to the O.R. to save her arm and repair her internal injuries.
In the O.R., Charlie and Tom find water around Bonnie’s heart and then her spirit appears, so Charlie calls in Dawn for help with her heart. They need to run her blood through a pump, which will temporarily act as her heart. Unfortunately, Dr. Larry, the guy who knows how to do this tricky procedure can’t make it to the hospital, so Charlie has Larry walk him through it over the phone. You can see Dawn fall deeper in love with Charlie as she watches him work, even when they disagree over what to do next, she is still clearly hung up on him.
Bonnie’s heart has frozen and stopped beating, so they need to operate fast and warm her up. While they keep trying to save her life, Bonnie’s spirit chats with Charlie. First, this new limbo world seemed cool, but now something is starting to feel wrong. Charlie tells his team that he is going to talk to the patient like she is awake. He explains to Bonnie what they are doing to her body to help. Bonnie tells Charlie that this is all her fault because she felt like taking a drive in the middle of the night to cool off and she forced her girlfriend to go with her. Then she asks how her girlfriend, Jackie, is doing. Charlie tells the team he needs to step out and he asks the E.M.T.s to go back to check the site of crash because they left Jackie behind.
While, Charlie and Dawn fight to save Bonnie, the former Mrs. Harris is trying to remind her ex of the good old days, hoping to rekindle an extinguished flame. As they keep working on Bonnie, Charlie can see that her spirit is starting to give up because she thinks she killed Jackie. Charlie steps out and checks the E.R., luckily, they found Jackie and she will be just fine. When they return to the O.R., Bonnie knows that Jackie will be fine and Dawn’s efforts finally breathe life back into her heart. Bonnie thanks Charlie and promises never to forget this. Charlie mutters, “you will.” It is always bittersweet to see Charlie try so hard to help the spirits, only to know that his efforts will be forgotten. Ironically, he prefers for them to forget their time in limbo, but it still must bum him out a little.
After the surgery, Dawn confronts Charlie. She notices how he has changed since the coma and says he’s been acting strange. She worries about him and thinks he might be having a breakdown. Then Dawn kisses Charlie, but he immediately pushes her away and shakes his head. He says he is still in love with Alex. Dawn says that Alex doesn’t know what a mess Charlie is. But it doesn’t matter, at the day of the day, Charlie is happy to go home to Alex, even if her obnoxious brother tends to invade their personal space.
Do you think Charlie will have a change of heart? Will Dawn try to sabotage Charlie and Alex’s relationship in order to win him back? Should Charlie tell Alex about Dawn’s advances?
Frozen in place
Although Maggie has been suspended from active duty, she still visits one of her patients, Roddy, to see how he is feeling. The moment we meet Roddy, it is clear why Maggie would be keen on visiting him. Despite suffering from a painful flesh-eating disease and dealing with dialysis treatment, he is still a jolly sweetheart who thinks of others.
While Maggie checks on Roddy’s health, he quizzes her for upcoming exams. He knows how hard she has been studying to become a surgeon and offers a helping hand. Roddy’s dialysis is one floor up, so Maggie rolls him into the elevator to take him upstairs and Joel joins them. Suddenly, the back-up generator burns out and the elevator stops. Joel tries to see if he can bust the overhead latch open, but has no luck. Maggie calls Gavin and asks him to bring supplies to the elevator door, but the doors are sealed shut and he can’t get them to her. Meanwhile, Roddy maintains a cheery disposition and thinks of others.
Roddy tells Joel to quiz Maggie for her exams instead of wasting time with an elevator that can’t be moved until the power turns back on. During the quiz, Roddy loses his pulse. Maggie tries to resuscitate him, but there is nothing they can do to bring him back. Moments later the power turns back on and the elevator doors open on the fourth floor where Gavin awaits with the supplies they needed. Joel applauds Maggie’s efforts, says she proved her skills in the elevator and removes her suspension, but it doesn’t seem to matter in a moment like this. Maggie laments that they were merely ten feet away from saving Roddy’s life the whole time.
We’ve seen loss on ‘Saving Hope’ before, but Roddy’s case was a tough one to watch. He was so sweet, generous, thoughtful and lively. It would’ve been nice to see him stay on as a regular patient Maggie could check in on from time to time.
Did you expect to see Roddy die or did you think Maggie and Joel would’ve pulled off a last minute save?
What did you think of “Bed One”? Were there any surprises or disappointments? There was a brief mention of Melanda and Zach’s blossoming relationship. Do you hope to see more of their life outside of the hospital?
Share your thoughts below and stay tuned for more news!
This article was originally published on Examiner.com on
UPDATE (Summer 2016): ‘Saving Hope’ now airs on ION Television in the U.S. and still airs on CTV in Canada. Visit ‘Saving Hope’s’ ION TV homepage (HERE) or CTV Homepage (HERE) for details.
