‘Saving Hope’ S4 Ep 14 recap: Desperate measures

“Saving Hope” delivers another loaded episode. In “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” the doctors of Hope Zion have an extra busy case load. Alex and Bishop are perplexed by a bizarre case involving an overprotected mother and her ill son, Dana, Maggie and Cassie work together to treat a shooting victim, and Charlie ghost whispers a TV star who is popular in the convention circuit. As if that isn’t crazy enough, we discover that Charlie does have a brain tumor. Gasp! There’s so much to digest, so let’s get to it.

Talk About a Headache

Whoa, Hopefuls, can you believe that Charlie actually has a brain tumor?! Since this is of the utmost importance, we must discuss his dilemma before anything else. We fear this may cause a rift between him and Alex. Although the tumor is benign (phew!), she wants it removed because the tumor is growing at a 5.8% rate per year. Wow! That is fast. Okay, so you can’t blame Alex for wanting what is best for Charlie. I think we’d all want to get that sucker out of him ASAP too. However, Charlie has some reservations.

Charlie doesn’t think the tumor is causing his gift. Alex wonders if Charlie is afraid of losing his special ability. He’d have good reason to be worried about it. He’s saved so many lives because of his gift. Plus, he’s gotten used to living with it. He’s probably feeling like a part of him is missing without it. Whatever the case, he tells Alex they’ll discuss the matter later and somewhere else. At episode’s end, Alex catches Charlie examining his CT imaging. Poor Charlie, it feels like a catch-22 for him. Sadly, we have a feeling he’ll have no choice but to operate. It seems like the safest thing to do for his well-being. What do you think?

 

The Curious Case of Mordecai

Alex and Bishop treat Mordecai Poplar, a young boy with a mysterious illness. His mother, Sarah, has taken him to several specialists and no one can figure out what is making her boy sick. He seizes and presents all sorts of symptoms. Sarah dumps a heap of prescription bottles out of her purse and asks if any of the medications would help. Yikes, she’s a walking pharmacy! The doctors run tests, while Sarah prepares a full list of his medication. All we know so far is that his illness began after his father left and his mother is super careful about everything, she prepares all of his food and he doesn’t even drink tap water. Alex is up to the challenge saying, “An answer always reveals itself and I won’t stop until does.”

While under the doctors’ care, Mordecai is getting sicker, despite his treatment. Alex and Bishop review his medical history and get suspicious. He’s been in and out of 20 hospitals over the last two years. The only common symptoms are high sodium levels, so they wonder if Sarah is making her son sick to get attention (Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy). They page a social worker and Alex politely gives Sarah the third degree. Naturally, Sarah gets defensive. Mordecai is on the mend, but we can’t help to notice how he’s constantly drinking from his water bottle. Hmmm…could Sarah be dosing his water with something?

Alex and Bishop go over everything and finally put it all together. They check the water and realize he’s been inadvertently ingesting poison. Mordecai speaks up to defend his mom. He knows she didn’t do anything wrong because the boy has been making himself sick. So it turns out to be a case of Munchausen Syndrome, just not by proxy, like we normally see on TV shows. The reason for it is heartbreaking too.

Mordecai confesses that his mom sunk into a deep depression and withdrew from life after her husband left. She wouldn’t get out of bed and she didn’t snap out of it until he got the flu. Once Mordecai saw that illness got his mother’s attention, he kept making himself sick. That’s a rough one, Hopefuls. Did you suspect the kid instead of placing the blame on Sarah?

Survivor’s Guilt

Dana works one more case before she turns her badge in and focuses on her chemo treatment. She helps Maggie and Cassie with their patient, Carla, who was shot in the leg during a bank robbery. Upon examination, Maggie and Cassie believe the safest course of action would be to leave the bullet in her leg. Carla claims she cannot live with that thing inside of her. She hid behind her co-worker and friend when she saw the gun in her face. That’s all she will remember and think of if the bullet remains in her leg. Dana overhears their conversation and offers some helpful advice.

Dana believes that the bullet should be retrieved for ballistics. She insists on overseeing the operation and even pulls “the cancer card.” Maggie is afraid of getting hit with another lawsuit, so she’s taking extra precautions and keeping a record of everything. Ultimately, all three doctors are on the same page and work together to remove the bullet from Carla’s leg.

During the surgery, Dana stumbles, which distracts Maggie, so she nicks Carla and causes more bleeding. They are afraid of losing the bullet, so Dana digs it out with her fingers. As they repair the artery, Maggie feels terrible for messing up. Dana comfortingly says, “You try to be perfect, you’re going to screw up guaranteed.” Then Dana suddenly collapses. Oh no!

After the surgery, Maggie checks in on Carla, who still feels guilty. She says she would fight back if she could do it again. Maggie says she still can with the bullet and her testimony. Hopefully, those bank robbers will get the justice they deserve.

Cassie stops by Dana’s office to see if she is feeling better. She’s practically packed everything up and she misses work already. Awww, poor Dana. She really loves what she does. This must be so incredibly difficult for her. Cassie tearfully says it has been an honor working with her and takes Dana up to her hospital room. Wendy Crewson has been phenomenal this season. All the feels!

Second Chance at Stardom

 Now for Charlie’s interesting case. He treats Davey Law (Alex Carter,) a sci-fi TV star with a devoted following (inspired by Michael Shanks’ time on “Stargate SG-1” perhaps?). Dev fanboys over the guy, but Charlie isn’t fazed by his stardom. Instead, he’s worried about the struggling actor’s health.

Davey has a tumor on spine and it could be cancer. It is still small, but Charlie wants to remove it because if the tumor grows or remains untreated, Davey could be paralyzed or even die. Davey’s response is so Hollywood. He needs to run it by his agent, Penny, first. Really?!

Penny approves of operating ASAP, since Davey isn’t scheduled for another con appearance for a few more months. Dev provides the fans’ perspective and encourages Davey to have the surgery too. Eventually, he agrees and Charlie preps the OR. Moments before the operation begins, Charlie sees Davey’s ghost.

Davey has one of the funniest ghost reactions on the series so far. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anybody check to see if they were all intact haha. But on a serious note, Penny wants to delay the surgery with breaking news. Charlie wants to get to work, but Davey wants to know the new first. Davey has been offered a career changing role and filming begins in 48 hours. Well, that’s crappy timing!

Charlie is in a major dilemma. Davey wants to be woken up. How is Charlie supposed to explain this? Davey doesn’t care how Charlie does it, he just wants this chance to prove himself as a real actor. After realizing that Davey would rather die than miss an opportunity like this, Charlie takes the desperate actor’s advice. He vaguely says new information presented itself and wakes Davey up. Charlie gives Davey his cell number and will do the operation as soon as filming wraps. Davey will “knock ‘em dead or die trying.”

Charlie had to make a tough call. Ultimately, Davey has the right to choose his own fate. However, if Charlie didn’t have his gift, he would performed that surgery and Davey wouldn’t have had a choice in the matter. Do you think Charlie did the right thing?

Is it possible that his experience with Kristine influenced his thinking? She wanted to die and resented Charlie for forcing her to live. Davey makes a similar argument, he’d rather take his chances and die doing something he loves than live a miserable life. Except in Kristine’s case, she found more to live for in death and what lie beyond this existence.

What did you think about this episode, Hopefuls? Share your thoughts below!

‘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.