Remember how I said Kristine crossed a line by kissing Charlie in the last episode? Well, that attempted peck is nothing compared to the lengths she goes to in “Goodbye Girl.” We knew from the start that Kristine had issues, but now she is dragging Charlie down with her. There are a lot of aggravating moments in this episode, so feel free to scream aloud at the screen along with me…okay? Inhale. Exhale. Here we go…
Charlie is chilling on the couch, enjoying beer and pizza after settling Baby Luke into a peaceful slumber. Alex calls saying she is ready to come home for some good times, so he speedily tidies the place up and pours red wine for two. It feels like it’s been forever since Charlie and Alex had a romantic night together, right? Charlie excitedly answers the door and finds a very drunk Kristine on his door-step. Gulp!
Kristine stumbles in and tells Charlie that he cannot disappear on her like that. He says Alex is on her way, so he’ll call a cab. Obviously she’s in no condition to drive and she needs to leave before causing a scene. As he dials the phone, Kristine grabs Baby Luke’s blanket and storms out. She barely manages to dodge Alex in the hallway and takes the stairs down.
Yikes! Way to cut it close. Also, did she expect Charlie to chase after her or something? He’s made his intentions pretty clear, so what is her endgame with him? He can’t give her what she really wants, which is someone to love her and fill the void her baby left behind. We all know no one can fill that void and she really needs to let him go.
The next morning, Kristine is wheeled into the ER and Alex finds Luke’s blanket in her purse. Once the EMT identifies the patient, Alex’s concern grows. While Kristine keeps asking for Charlie, Alex confronts her about the blanket. This is where Charlie should’ve clued Alex in to all the drama with Kristine because now she is pissed and confused. Kristine has a hematoma in her liver and needs surgery. Again, Kristin asks for Charlie, claiming, “I can’t do this without him.” Oh boy, the look on Alex’s face says it all. This is just one of the reason why we love Erica Durance as Alex (and Lois Lane).
Alex operates on Kristine and when complications arise, she doesn’t wants Cassie to call Charlie, instead they ask Kristine’s co-workers on the 8th floor about her to see if she has an underlying condition that could cause such excessive bleeding. The nurses don’t know anything and there is no emergency contact on file. She really is all alone. Then Charlie finally sees Kristine’s ghost and she says, “I need you.”
Charlie rushes to the OR and asks about her leg, then he scrubs in to fix the fracture. Cassie knew they should’ve called him…not the best time to sass your boss, Cassie. While Charlie is scrubbing in, Alex scrubs out and asks him what the deal is with Kristine after telling him about finding the missing blanket they were searching for all night. He fills Alex in on the kiss and awkwardness between them. Alex declares, “I’m gonna fix that liver, and then I’m going to find out what’s going on.” Hell yeah she is! Kristine messed with her man and her baby. Alex will not let this go.
While everyone in the OR is trying to save Kristine’s life, her ghost asks Charlie to let her die. All she wants is for him to be there when she crosses over. At this point, we realize that she probably drove herself into a tree. Alex is determined to save her and Charlie uncharacteristically says this is a losing battle. Don’t think a surgeon is supposed to say that mid-surgery. Plus, it really isn’t Charlie’s style.
Cassie watches the couple’s interaction and grows increasingly confused. She wonders if it possible for Kristine to die simply because she won’t fight to come back to life. Yeah, she’s a little late to our metaphysical and existential party, but she’s catching on pretty quickly.
Kristine nags Charlie to make Alex stop. He looks distracted, so Alex asks if there’s a problem. Of course he says there is no problem, but Alex should be able to tell that he is really struggling here. If the surgery doesn’t work, then Kristine will go on the transplant list. Again, a moot point since she wants to die. Okay, now this is where things get really scary.
A bunch of creepy ghosts ambush Charlie in the OR and tell him to let Kristine go because it’s what she wants. She warns that they’ll keep coming until she gets what she wants. Wow! Crazy in life and limbo. She is really pushing it. Poor Charlie finally loses it and screams, “Get out!” Stunned into silence, Alex and Cassie simply look at him. He’s done with the leg and asks them to close up as he heads out.
Cassie asks Alex, “What the hell was that?” She calmly replies, “Get back to work.” Now Kristine is jeopardizing Charlie’s personal and professional life. She needs to back off. Instead she’s bringing more people into the haunting. This is wrong on so many levels. He really needs Alex to be there for him through this. So far, she handles the outburst in front of Cassie pretty well. When Cassie asks how Alex deals with Charlie’s “quirks,” she shrugs it off saying, “We all have quirks.” Way to stand by your man, Alex!
The surgery is a success, so Alex says the rest is up to Kristine. This is the first time we see the doctors talking about a patient’s will to live so much. Except for when Charlie and Alex were the one’s fighting for their lives, we haven’t really seen the doctors get too philosophical about a case. However, there turns out to be another catch with Kristine that we had no clue about.
Shahir looked at her head CT and found a tumor in her brain. The tumor’s location can cause mood swings and depression. Okay, so that explains some of Kristine’s wild behavior. Then Alex asks if it could cause hallucinations. Shahir says that it can. Oh no. Don’t do that, Alex. Don’t start doubting Charlie again. Ugh. This is going to get annoying, isn’t it?
Charlie finds Kristine and confronts her. “This was never about us. Was it?” he asks. Nope, of course it isn’t. It has been three years since her baby girl Mattie died and coping with the loss just keeps getting worse. Kristine even admits to driving into the tree on purpose. She acknowledges the gruesome irony that she could’ve killed someone the same way Mattie was killed. Charlie tries reasoning with her. He understands her pain, but there is no guarantee that Kristine will end up with Mattie. They don’t know how things work once spirits cross over. But it doesn’t matter. Kristin is tired of living without her and asks with anguish, “Why couldn’t you just let me die?”
As if this isn’t rough enough on Charlie, Alex asks him to do something he thought they had finally gotten past. She shows him Kristine’s CT and wants him to take one too. Charlie insists that they’ve been over this. Ghosts are not imaginary and Shahir thoroughly checked him out. He is not dying. He pleads, “Sweetheart, I thought we’re done trying to explain this thing I have.” Still, Alex is afraid that the tumor might have developed or grown after those tests, so she wants him to be safe than sorry. She won’t let it go, especially not if it could kill him. Well, given how persistent she’s been with Dana, we know she won’t stop until Charlie is all checked-out again.
After Shahir removes Kristine’s tumor, Cassie wonders if patients can will themselves to die if they don’t have anything to live for. Shahir pragmatically states, “She’s not dead, she’s in a coma.” Well, yes, but so was Charlie and he wanted to live so badly that he fought his way back to life. Kristine wants to retreat into death. If she doesn’t return to her body, will the doctors decide to pull the plug after a certain period of time? Or if her brain remains active, will they keep her body going until she surrenders and returns to life? This is such a complex scenario!
As the episode closes, Charlie and Alex are waiting for him to take the CT. She thanks him for doing this and putting her mind at ease. He sweetly tells her not to worry. But as Charlie walks down the hall to radiology, we can clearly see that he is upset. Kristine’s spirit is walking by his side and she understands how he feels.
Poor Charlie! Yes, realistically, I understand Alex’s point of view. Even when she said she could accept Charlie’s gift, she admitted that she couldn’t be hands-on or involved with it at work. They have worked so hard to get this far and now this feels like they are taking a big step backwards. You can’t help but wonder if Alex will ever be satisfied with Charlie just as he is.
What if these tests come back and everything is physically normal with Charlie? Or if they do remove a tumor and his gift remains intact…Will Alex finally accept his inexpiable ability and let this go? Or will she always think there might be something wrong with him? Will she be able to love him completely with even that little bit of doubt in her heart?
How do you feel about this, Hopefuls? It is easy to understand and sympathize with both Charlie and Alex…what would you do in their shoes? Moving on to the other storylines…
Maggie finds herself in hot water when a former patient, Lois, returns and causes trouble. She performed a gastric bypass on Lois and now e patient has returned with complaints galore. Maggie explains how the procedure was done to avoid heart problems, but Lois is experiencing tightness and burning sensations in her chest. Upon further observation, Bishop and Maggie discover a blockage in her esophagus and operate.
During the operation, a sponge is found inside Lois’ body. This could be the cause of her complications and Maggie is at risk of losing her medical license. Bishop advises her to leave the OR and get a lawyer. Ashsa scrubs in, but Maggie still observes the operation from the viewing room. Afterwards, she consults with Hope Zion’s lawyer who tells her to find her own legal representation because the hospital will not be liable for her wrongdoing. Oh boy! This day just continues to bear bad news…or maybe not.
Bishop and Asha examine the sponge and realize that it is different from the kind used at Hope Zion. Maggie has done nothing wrong. Furthermore, it seems that Lois has a habit of raising hell wherever she goes. In this case, she went to the Dominican to have the surgery done again when she didn’t see any results after Maggie’s first procedure.
Maggie confronts Lois, who still blames the innocent doctor for providing false hope. Okay, it is not Maggie’s fault if Lois’ life didn’t change after the surgery. Every person’s body is different and it takes a lot more than just an operation for that kind of procedure to have long-lasting and life-changing effects. Geesh, lady…Not cool. At least Maggie gets justice in the end. Lois backs down and opens up to the idea of getting some therapy for her addiction.
The other thing that wasn’t so nice in this scenario was the way Asha angled for Maggie’s cases when she seemed to be in the line of fire. But I love the way Bishop called Asha out on her poor form. This guy gets more likable by the week! He clearly has his friends’ backs and his co-workers nicknames for him are adorable (Dr. Button-nose and Dr. Cheekbones). Like I said earlier this season, step aside Dr. Sexy MD, Bishop is the new cutie in town. So it is no surprise that a little certain someone is smitten with the swoon-worthy doc. The problem is, Cassie has a boyfriend and Dev has taken notice of their flirty glances.
Dev is in a mood today, so much so that Zach has to tell him to chill out and finally asks what the problem is. Dev found a pros and cons list Cassie wrote about him. Oops! Yeah, that isn’t a good sign. That morning, he made an effort to spice things up with her and she said she’s fine with their relationship. Then he saw the way she smiled at Bishop. Double oops! Here’s some irony for you…
Zach and Dev treat Carmen, a newly dumped guy who nailed gunned his hand to his face in an effort to win back his girlfriend Bianca by fixing up their formerly shared rental. This dude nearly killed himself in a desperate attempt to woo his woman. He thinks love is worth fighting for. Dev scoffs at him, saying Bianca is just not that into him. Turning into a rom-com now, are we? Zach plays nice. After all, why kick a guy when he’s down? He assures Carmen that love finds a way. He also recommends his cousin Rob, who is a contractor. Oh Zach, such a sweetie!
After Carmen is sent on his way, Zach says hunches are usually right, so Dev confronts Cassie. He shows her the list and asks if Bishop is the other man he’s being compared to. She admits to having a crush on Bishop. Ouch! Well, better that they end things now. Let’s face it, there’s been a little something between her and Bishop for weeks now, so this really is for the best. When Zach finds out that they are over, he takes Dev out for drinks. Awww. This is when we could more “Last Call”!
Finally, the most heartbreaking part of the episode: Dana tries to make goodbye videos for Molly. Sigh. Wendy Crewson is phenomenal this season. She is beautifully capturing the pain, fear, perseverance, precaution and deeply complex array of emotions Dana is going through. After several attempts ranging from TMI love stories, to silliness, to utter sadness, Dana finds the right words.
Dana delivers a bit of “advice from mom” and apologizes for being so teary because she wants to be stoic for her girl. She recalls the day Molly was born, her “perfect little face” and the “silly hat” they put on her. Dana tearfully says, “I promised I’d always be there…God I love you.” She advises Molly, “Love with your whole heart, even when your terrified…embrace imperfections and flaws…people are doing the best they can…that’s why any of us are here, to look after one another.”
Dammit, I need more tissues again. ‘Saving Hope’ is killing me this season. Moments like this just hurt my heart. Bravo!
What did you think about “Goodbye Girl”? How do you feel about Kristine and Alex’s requests from Charlie? Do you want to see Bishop and Cassie get together? Are you glad Maggie put Lois in her place? Do you think it is sweet how Cassie reached out to Dana after her break-up? Share your thoughts below!
U.S. Hopefuls, catch new episodes of ‘Saving Hope’ Season 4 every Tuesday (re-reuns air on Fridays) at 11/10C on ION Television.
‘Saving Hope’airs on ION Television in the U.S. and on CTV in Canada. Visit ‘Saving Hope’s’ ION TV homepage (HERE) or CTV Homepage (HERE) for details.
Not much to say on Kristine except that she crossed the line again but is in a bad state. Since she is in a coma Charlie still has a chance to help her.
Which brings up Alex…overall annoyed with her this episode. She’s mad at Kristine (for good reasons) but flat out refuses to go to the person who can help her until it’s almost too late. And she won’t drop the cause-of-seeing-ghosts issue. However I get that she’s genuinely worried about Charlie’s health and she went from annoyed to terrified in no time flat in the OR after his outburst. The ghosts aren’t going anywhere though and Alex needs to accept it.
Jeremy-Cassie has been a possibility since the moment he arrived. Her crush is a bit like young Alex’s for Charlie when she first came to Hope Zion. It appears Cassie’s words from the last episode had a positive effect on Zach and that’s he’s trying to pass them on to Dev.
Glad to see Asha make up for her early selfishness by finding the evidence to clear Maggie. Jeremy really is connecting to all the doctors now.
Dana’s video/speech ranks up there with some of Charlie’s voiceovers from Season 1.