It is difficult to be “Fearless” in life, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. People hide their true feelings out of fear of rejection or fear of hurting someone they love. Others hold nothing back. They lash out, criticize and belittle their loved ones without hesitation. But that behavior doesn’t make them fearless, for they are only masking the truth. In “Saving Hope’s” penultimate episode of the season, doctors and patients discover what is worth fighting for.
Mama Drama
It is another busy day in Hope Zion. Alex is surprised with a baby shower in the doctors’ lounge and welcomes the brief break from freaking out. She’s juggling her pregnancy, patients and loads of paperwork. Poor Dr. Reid is overwhelmed. Luckily her friends and colleagues have her back.
Dana asks for Alex’s help with her outspoken, rude, pain-in-the-butt patient, Theresa Badali. At first Alex feels like she’s getting special treatment, but once we meet Theresa we realize that Dana isn’t doing Alex a favor. Theresa’s outrageous behavior and cruelly critical mothering raises some of Alex’s own mommy issues. Alex is almost ready to give birth and she still hasn’t told her mother that she’s pregnant. As expected, interacting with the dysfunctional Badali family makes Alex have a change of heart.
Despite Theresa’s heartbreaking and appallingly awful attitude towards her daughters, they are both there for her. Christina has dutifully been by her mother’s side, enduring years of verbal abuse. Lauren was practically disowned by Theresa when she wound up being single and pregnant. Nonetheless, Lauren puts their differences aside and comes to the hospital and donates extra blood after Theresa experiences post-surgical complications. As Alex draws her blood, Lauren explains their family dynamic. No matter what happens, Theresa is still her mother. Blood is blood.
As fate would have it, karma gives Theresa the payback she deserves. The mouthy mother won’t be able to speak for months, so for the first time ever, Christina and Lauren have a chance to openly speak with their mom. For once, she can listen to the pain and disappointment she caused her daughters without spewing out her harsh criticisms in return. Seeing how things turned out relatively well for the Badalis, Alex decides to give her mother a second chance.
Throughout the day, we learned more about Mama Reid. Alex says her mom never recovered after her dad’s death. She had a revolving door of boyfriends and Alex ended up raising Luke herself. This admission offers a lot more perspective on her relationship with Luke and enhances the severity of the flashback she experienced in limbo. Alex is not destined to follow in her mother’s footsteps and she’ll be an amazing mother to her baby boy.
After a long day with one terrible mother, Alex musters up the courage to call her own. They haven’t spoken since Luke died a year ago (We still miss him too!). Unfortunately, all we know is that this call leaves Alex in a flood of tears. She is emotionally spent, so when Joel enters to ask her a question, Alex says she’ll be happy to answer as long as it is nothing too deep. As tears still stream down her cheeks, Alex says that all she wants is to have a heathy baby and be a great surgeon. Nothing else matters.
Well that quickly puts a pause on Joel’s plan! Everyone in the hospital was encouraging him not to propose right now anyway. Now destiny is hitting the breaks for him. If Joel wants to get down on bended knee, he’ll have to wait for a more opportune moment. Alex is overwhelmed enough as it is. (Which is why Dawn’s baby shower gift is so thoughtful and perfect. Giving Alex a binder of completed paperwork may be one of the nicest things Dawn has ever done. So sweet!)
Love is Worth Fighting For
When Joel isn’t running around with a huge ring box poking out of his pocket and stirring up chatter, he’s helping Zach out with a major case in the ER. Two hockey players and best friends, Sean and Hayden, are involved in a multi-vehicle car crash. When Dawn bumps Theresa’s surgery so she can quickly operate on Sean, the mean-spirited mother hopes that the boy dies. Whoa! She’s definitely the worst person we’ve ever seen on “Saving Hope.” As Theresa wishes death upon Sean, the young man dies and his spirit appears to Charlie.
Sean has been like a brother to Hayden, he’s always protected and watched over his friend, on and off the ice. Even in death, Sean refuses to let go until he knows Hayden will be well. He assumes responsibility for Hayden’s potential paralysis because he caused the accident by texting while driving. Now he’s begging Charlie to help save his friend.
Joel was supposed to start a long operation to repair Hayden’s spine, but Shahir postpones it in order to operate on his brain first. Charlie takes a look at Hayden’s CT and offers a compromise. By using new technology (a 3D navigator,) Joel can take care of Hayden’s spine in half the time. Shahir agrees and gives Joel two hours.
While the doctors tirelessly strive to save Hayden’s life, we learn more about the people who care so deeply for him. His girlfriend Cheech stays steadfastly by his side. When she learns of Sean’s death, she begs Joel not to tell Hayden. She fears he would simply give up if he knew his best friend had died. Joel has a rough time lying, but eventually does what is best for Hayden in that moment. As Joel sacrifices his ethics, we discover how much Sean has sacrificed for his friend’s sake.
Sean tells Charlie that he’s in love with Cheech. He never told her how he felt because he loved Hayden more. In death, he now realizes that love is simple. He made a choice. His brotherly love for Hayden was more important than his love for Cheech. However complicated Charlie’s situation seems to be, Sean tells him to follow his heart and fight for love. Because love is always worth fighting for.
Sean fought for his dear friend and it paid off. Charlie’s suggestion helped Joel and Shahir save Hayden just in time. Once Sean sees that his friend will be well, he is able to move on.
Time for Confession
Dr. Katz’s fiancé, Hershell, comes to the ER with severe stomach pains. He feels like he is dying. When Maggie comes to assist him, Hershell asks for a man to be present. In their Orthodox tradition, a man and a woman should not be alone. So Maggie brings in Nurse Jackson. As they run some tests, Hershell asks Maggie not to tell Katz about his hospital visit because he doesn’t want to worry her. During the examination, Hershell says he knows all about Maggie. Katz has told him everything, like all the details people notice about someone when they’re in love. Yikes! Alarms start going off in Maggie’s head and she decides to bring Katz in on Hershell’s case.
A brief cancer scare arises and Hershell fears he is being punished by God. Katz views this as a test rather than a punishment. But Hershell is still freaking out and wants to confess something to Katz. After a suspenseful build, we learn that Hershell ate pork by accident. He enjoyed the bacon so much that he went back for more. Katz lashes out at him, clearly she’s looking for an excuse to break-up with Hershell.
Maggie tells Katz that she’s projecting her feelings onto Hershell and it is not fair. They soon realize that Hershell is cancer-free and his illness has been caused by a tapeworm (Ewwww!). After Maggie removes Hershell’s tapeworm in private (He’s made progress quickly!), Katz comes in to have a chat with her fiancé.
Katz tells Hershel she can’t marry him because she’s gay. Whoa! She just came right out with it. Hershell begins putting the pieces together and understands why Katz has been talking about Maggie so much. Katz explains that she is more scared of the life she’ll have if she stays with him. She’d rather live an honest and difficult life, than a false and miserable one. And with that, an understandably upset Hershell tells her to leave.
Later Katz tells Maggie about it. She feels like she’s free-falling and she’s kind of okay with it. Sometimes you need to feel a little lost in order to find yourself.
What did you think of “Fearless”? Were you surprised to see Katz tell Hershell the truth? Do you think Maggie has romantic feelings for Katz? Did you expect Joel to propose to Alex? Will Charlie put up a fight for Alex if he does? Were you also disturbed by Theresa’s horrible behavior? Did your heart break for Alex? Were you moved by Sean and Hayden’s friendship? Share your thoughts below!
“Saving Hope” airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on CTV.
This article was originally published on Examiner.com on February 20, 2015.
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.
