‘Saving Hope’ S2 Ep 17 recap: Love and loss

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What did you think of “Saving Hope’s” supernatural free episode? (Photo credit: CTV)

I’m pleasantly surprised, Hopefuls. Despite being 100% supernatural free, Thursday’s ‘Saving Hope’ was one of this season’s better episodes. “Twinned Lambs” served up a lot of huge moments, some of which were drastically life-changing.

Although the cases differed, they all shared something in common: relationships. Whether it is professional, friendship, forbidden romance, or familial love, relationships form the core of one’s life. We turn to the people we love and care about in times of need. Relationships are always changing. They grow, they are tested, they dissipate and sometimes they are rekindled.

As “Twinned Lambs” explores the various relationships of Hope-Zion’s patients and doctors, we can’t help but wonder where they are all headed.

Right off the bat, we see Charlie double check his supernatural skills. He looks at a corpse at the morgue and makes sure the man’s spirit does not appear. After triple checking, the coast is completely clear. A great weight has lifted off of Charlie’s shoulders. Now that he has fixed his problem, he is ready to let Alex back into his new, less complicated life. Charlie asks to speak with Alex later that day and she happily agrees to meet him later to chat over drinks. With that bit of hope dangling over our heads, the show dives into an emotionally loaded episode.

Long Lost Love

Alex deals with a fascinating patient in the E.R. Fifty year old Mimi comes in with stomach pains, but her behavior indicates that she has more than your average tummy ache. Mimi has a wild panic attack, during which she delivers a swift blow below Zach’s belt.

Once Mimi calms down, they admit her and call Gavin in for a psych consult. Mimi lost her husband a year ago and her son passed away ten years ago. However, Gavin doesn’t see anything wrong with her. It is just sad that Mimi has experienced so much loss in her life.

Alex then wonders if Mimi suffered a stroke. Shahir checks and verifies that she is neurologically fine as well. Then Mimi receives a visitor who changes everything.

Claire, a friendly neighbor, saw the ambulance and wanted to see if Mimi is doing well. Upon Claire’s arrival, Mimi has another attack. Alex finally calls Dawn to see if Mimi’s heart could be causing problems. Dawn says Mimi needs a pacemaker, so she and Alex scrub in.

Every time we see Dawn in the O.R. with Alex, we can see why she still needs sensitivity training. Dawn always pokes at Alex during surgery. Whether Dawn criticizes her, gives underhanded compliments, or inappropriately comments on Alex’s personal life. This time around, Dawn point blanks tells Alex that she belongs with Joel. Dawn is waiting for her chance to get back with Charlie, she’s even been brushing up on her baseball knowledge because she knows he loves the game. I’m so glad Victor is in there to witness this craziness and give Alex a comforting nod. This is why Dawn is so easy to vilify. She keeps asking for trouble. Anyway, Alex focuses on her patient instead of Dawn’s commentary and she thinks Mimi might have a problem with her adrenal gland. The only way to know for sure is to test Mimi during her next attack.

Mimi wakes up after surgery. All seems well, until we realizes that Mimi thinks she’s living in 1985. Suddenly we see a whole new side to Mimi and we learn that Claire is much more than a friendly neighbor.

When Mimi asks Claire for a kiss, their smooch triggers another attack. Alex draws some blood and her adrenal gland theory is proven right. Mimi has an adrenal tumor. Before Alex operates on Mimi, we learn about her history with Claire. They met at a neighborhood party and Mimi was smitten at first sight. They had a secret affair for a year, but then Mimi put an end to it. She could not risk jeopardizing her family life, especially when their faith would not allow for Mimi to follow her heart.

Alex successfully removes the adrenal tumor and Mimi awakes in 2014. Alex warns Claire about Mimi’s change and we get to hear her side of the story. Claire has always loved Mimi and she never married anyone else, hoping that one day Mimi would return. After hearing this, Alex encourages Mimi to have an open mind. Repeating the words Mimi spoke before entering her second surgery, Alex tells Mimi that you can’t help who you love.

As the episode winds down, it seems as though Mimi and Claire pick-up from where they left off in 1985. They may have loved and lost once before, but now they can love each other freely.

Bad Medicine

After Maggie cleared the air with Dr. Kalfas, he continues to be her OB/GYN. Maggie and Gavin are so excited when they see their baby during the ultrasound. Gavin can’t wait to start telling people (especially his mom) about their little bundle of joy, but Maggie wants to wait. She is worried about how Dawn will react to giving Maggie maternity leave during her huge board exams. She is already stressing about how she will be able to juggle everything, but Dr. Kalfas chimes in with a suggestion. He says she should think about becoming an OB/GYN because the schedule would be better. He tells Maggie to shadow him for the day.

Maggie works with Dr. Kalfa on a special patient. Sarah and her husband are ready to welcome their little one into the world, but they have one request. Sarah wants a natural birth. When the doctors discover a complication with the baby and placenta’s positioning, Maggie realizes that a C-section would be safer. However, Dr. Kalfas throws the rule book out and has a clever trick in mind which involves using the baby’s head as leverage. Um, yeah, that does not sound cool, Doc. Maggie has her reservations, but she admires his ambition and trusts his instincts after so much experience. Plus, Kalfas is just trying to please Sarah.

Dr. Kalfas works his magic and Sarah naturally delivers a healthy baby boy. They step out to give the parents a moment. He kisses Maggie in celebration of a job well done and apologizes for overstepping. Then he tells Maggie to deliver the placenta on her own. First off, don’t kiss a pregnant woman with a loving boyfriend. Second, don’t send her in to finish up your risky job. It feels like he is setting Maggie up in case something goes wrong, which of course it does.

As Maggie delivers the placenta, Sarah starts hemorrhaging, so they rush her into surgery. Maggie searches all over for Kalfas and she finds him shooting up in the bathroom. Wow. Dr. Dimples can’t swagger his way out of this one. Maggie takes over in the O.R. and she fulfills Sarah’s second wish. Sarah wants to have a large family, so Maggie finds a way to save her life without performing a hysterectomy as the rule book suggests.

After the surgery is a success, Maggie goes straight over to Dawn and tells her about Dr. Kalfas. Dawn appreciates her bravery and honesty, but asks that Maggie doesn’t enter her office with bloody scrubs. Maggie looks down and tells Dawn that she thinks she is having a miscarriage. Nooo!

Poor Maggie and Gavin. My heart truly breaks for them. This is so terribly sad. I wonder how this will influence their relationship. Will they stay together or will this tragedy tear them apart? Alex is the only other person who knew about the pregnancy, so I can’t help but wonder if it will make Alex reexamine her life as well.

Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em

Charlie and Joel work on a pair of best buds, Marcel and Sandy, who suffered the exact same shoulder injury in an attempt to win a bet. These guys bet on everything, big or small, and after every bet the winner can request something (within reason) of the loser. Ultimately, the two knuckleheads bet on their doctors to see which one can set their shoulder the fastest. Joel and Charlie calls them idiots, but then they get competitive, particularly after Joel gloats about his expertise in the area.

Joel and Marcel win the bet. Marcel asks Sandy to perform his monologue from Shakespeare’s ‘The Winter’s Tale.’ You see, Marcel felt a little jealous that Sandy got the lead. When he insists on performing his audition piece for Joel, it is clear that Marcel isn’t as great an actor as he thinks. As Sandy recites a fitting passage about “twinned lambs,” a pair of inseparable best friends, we can see that Marcel admires his friend’s talent.

Later in the doctor’s lounge, Charlie compliments Joel and says he’d like to learn that shoulder trick. In response, Joel tells Charlie how he can fulfill his bet by giving Alex some space. Joel says her relationship with Charlie is over, so he needs to back off. Whoa! Does that request fall within the unspoken limit? I think not. Joel has crossed a line and Charlie is livid. It is the moment we’ve been waiting for the entire episode.

Charlie asks Joel if he has slept with Alex since their break-up. The smirk on Joel’s face does not make him look innocent, so Charlie punches that smug look right off. Granted the punch didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but Joel deserved it. Unfortunately, Alex witnessed the punch without knowing the lead up to it. I don’t think she’d like Joel interfering with her relationship with Charlie. But I also don’t think she’d condone Charlie’s punch either.

Next week’s season finale looks like another intense episode. It will be very interesting to see what happens when Alex becomes the patient. Will Charlie and Joel put their differences aside in order to help her? Will this health scare help Alex choose between Joel and Charlie?

What did you think of “Twinned Lambs”? Did the punch live up to your expectations? Were you surprised by Maggie’s miscarriage? Do you think Gavin and Maggie will stay together? Did you suspect Dr. Kalfas was lying to Maggie about his addiction?

Share your thoughts below and stay tuned for more news!

The ‘Saving Hope’ finale airs Thursday, Feb. 27 at 10 p.m. on CTV.

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