Holy moly, Hopefuls! A season-long twist in the making was finally revealed in “Anybody Seen My Baby.” We should’ve seen it coming, but we really didn’t (or at least I didn’t…did you?!) Charlie postpones his possibly life-altering surgery, in order to help Kristine’s spirit resolve her unfinished business. After dealing with a difficult case of her own, Maggie turns to Zach for comfort and inadvertently causes tension in his blossoming romance with Dawn. This is an intense episode all around, so hang on for another wild ride full of feels!
Finding peace
Charlie’s big day has arrived. Or as Shahir puts it: “This is a very important day for me.” Sigh. Classic Shahir! Charlie’s Hope Zion family is very supportive and caring as they help him prepare him for surgery. Asha will take on Charlie’s patients in his absence. Dawn clears him, saying he’s in excellent health for the operation. She even tells Alex to postpone her fellowship pitch, so she can focus on Charlie. Awww look at how much has changed over the years. Dawn and Alex have really grown close and genuinely respect each other. Alex appreciates the offer, but would prefer the distraction. So Charlie’s operation is set for noon and Alex will deliver her pitch at 5 in the afternoon. Everyone is ready to roll…until the unexpected happens.
Kristine has been in a coma and her spirit has been laying low since “Goodbye Girl.” When she suddenly suffers a stroke, her ghost reaches out to Charlie. She says, “It’s finally over, Charlie, now help me get to my baby.” Shahir confirms that she is brain dead. They’ll run a test, but the odds of recovery are slim. Charlie walks into Kristine’s hospital room, Alex says she paged him and asks everyone to clear the room so he can say goodbye and then go prepare for his operation. If only it was that simple.
Charlie agrees to help Kristine resolve her unfinished business. This may be his last chance to ghost whisper, so he is Kristine’s only hope at finding peace and letting go. He bumps his surgery to later that evening, claiming that he wants another patient to get the OR while Shahir is still fresh. When Alex hears about it, she seeks out Charlie and finds him in the morgue. Uh-oh…
We fear that Alex is going to be mad as hell, but instead, she’s totally understanding of the situation. Charlie blames himself for turning Kristine away the first time. Alex even wants to help him with one last ghost. This is how I wanted all of Charlie’s special cases to go after he shared his secret with Alex. Better late than never.
She wonders if life support is holding Kristine back like it did with the last patient he had trouble sending over. Kristine’s spirit is on hand for their conversation. She is not sure why Alex is helping, but is grateful and apologizes for causing tension between them. Charlie says they’ve weathered so many storms that it would take a hurricane to tear them apart. Awww…ChAlex feels! This is why they’re such a great couple.
Alex talks to Dawn about speeding up the process to take Kristine off of life support. Things like this are one of the benefits of marrying your best friend. Dawn and Zach may just follow in ChAlex’s footsteps, especially since they can’t stop exchanging puppy-eyed glances and stealing secret kisses. So cute! Seems like more hands than usual are on deck to help Charlie with his potentially last ghost case.
Dawn called in favor with HR and they tracked down Kristine’s ex-husband, Arlo Fields. He rushes over to Hope Zion. He hasn’t seen her in years and he’s glad she’s not in any pain. He introduces Charlie and Alex to his to new wife, Julia, and Maddie, his daughter with Kristine…WHAT???!!! How?! Wait for iiit…..
Kristine was the one drunk driving with Maddie. Arlo left her and took Maddie with him because she was an unstable alcoholic. He reached out, but Kristine never returned his calls or anything. Maddie hasn’t seen Kristine since she was four years old. Whoa! We did not expect this at all.
Charlie is livid. He confronts Kristine and is pissed at her for manipulating him. She’s confused, so Charlie coldly clarifies things for her. He shouts, “Maddie’s alive! Games over. I’m done.” Kristine is now heartbroken and baffled: “Why would you say those things. Why?” Her spirit disappears.
Alex isn’t giving up. She’s going to help him with Kristine. Alex reasons with him, arguing that Kristine must have deep seeded psychological issues to be in that kind of denial. I really wish Alex worked with Charlie like this more often. I think now that Charlie is in jeopardy of losing his gift, she is starting to realize just how important he is. Sure, he’s a brilliant surgeon, but this gift helps him save even more lives in a different way. Maybe if he continues to see ghosts after the surgery, she’ll be more open to helping him out.
Charlie goes back to Kristine and apologizes. He says that maybe it’s the tumor and he’s really starting to lose it, but he might not see her after the surgery. He doesn’t want to leave her stuck in limbo. He knows how to get her back to Maddie.
Arlo fills out the paperwork to take Kristine off of life support. He says he’d always tell Maddie that Kristine loved her and never stopped thinking of her. She was just too sick to care for her. Alex can relate and tells him about her dad’s suicide. So we begin to learn even more about Kristine. She grew up in foster care and started drinking at 13. She fought so hard for sobriety and was the most amazing woman when she was sober. Maddie was light of her life. Oh wow, she really has had it rough…That’s heartbreaking.
Luckily, Maddie only talks about the good times she shared with her mom. He signs the form and hopes she finds peace. Maddie comes in to say goodbye to her mom. Kristine thanks Charlie. Her spirit holds Maddie’s hand and tranquilly moves on to the other side, finally finding the peace she has been desperately seeking.
Kristine had quite a turbulent arc this season. She played many roles in Charlie’s life. She was a friend and confidant that he could relate to, but then she betrayed him by outing his gift to a stranger and pushing him to share more than he wanted to. Nobody blamed Charlie for pushing her away, but then she came back with a vengeance. She went from stalking to haunting him. The one constant with Kristine was that she was always in pain. She reached out to Charlie because she needed him much more than he needed her. Maybe she knew from the start that he’d be the one who could help her find peace. This was definitely the most personal, living, limbo and death cases we’ve ever seen on “Saving Hope.” It is one we won’t forget.
Another heartbreak
Maggie asks Zach if he wants to grab drinks after work and he says he can’t, adorably bubbling through an unintelligible excuse. Maggie doesn’t have time to dwell on it because a patient rolls into the ER. Billy has brought in his pregnant wife, River. She has liver disease and Hepatitis B. She’s currently on the transplant list, but it looks like she’ll be needing that liver sooner than later.
Bishop joins the treatment team and will drain the fluid out of her belly that is putting pressure on her lungs. While waiting, Billy tells the story of their romance. They’ve been married for 2 years, but been together for 26. When they were young, they made a pact to get married if they were both still single at 30. So sweet!
After hearing their story, Maggie longingly looks at Zach…is she in love with him?! She tends to crush on her co-workers and friends, but Zach has always been her buddy. Maybe River and Billy have given her a new idea. Back to the case…
River thought she was infertile so the pregnancy came as a pleasant surprise. However, it causes complications with her transplant. She will have to carry her baby to full term and then do liver transplant. They can’t operate on her pregnant. But she’s next on the transplant list and can’t miss her chance at this liver. River will do anything to save her baby girl, so Maggie comes up with Plan B. River is 25 weeks in, so a premature birth is possible if she goes into labor during the procedure. If that happens, they’ll deliver her baby and hope for the best.
Maggie calls Cassie to join her and Bishop in the OR. While operating, Cassie casually asks Bishop if he wants to have kids, in general. Geesh, first they’re “eye-banging” and now they’re having personal date conversations in the OR. Come on guys, this is not the right place or time for flirting. Just get a room already!
River is forced to deliver her baby during the operation. Unfortunately, their little girl doesn’t make it. Perhaps she’ll be able to have another baby after the transplant. I know it doesn’t make up for the one she’s lost, but still…We can only hope they’ll find a way to fill the loss they feel after such a tragedy.
Maggie is devastated after telling them the heartbreaking news. She calls Zach and cries on his shoulder. She wonders if they could be like Billy and River…friends who become something more. Maggie says “Life’s too short” and then she kisses him. As if that isn’t bad enough, Dawn sees the kiss, but misses the part where Zach pulls away and sets Maggie straight. He’s seeing Dawn and doesn’t want it any other way. I hate it when these kind of misunderstandings happen. Now Maggie will have to pitch her project to his girlfriend… awkward!
Well, Maggie may have struck out getting what she wanted, but Cassie and Bishop go to third base and beyond. At least they finally got a room albeit the locker room. I’m always afraid of the way personal entanglements at work will affect their professional future. Maggie unknowingly messed-up and she’s about to walk into the lion’s den. How is poor Dawn supposed to remain objective moments after her heart is crushed?
Maggie’s research presentation is on cervical cancer treatment in pregnant women, so she struggles through it. Given what she just experienced with River, this is extra difficult to discuss in an objective way. Dawn suggests she take a moment and come back when she’s ready. I guess Maggie is lucky that Dawn didn’t do worse. She could’ve badly belittled her in front of the board.
Elsewhere, Zach is arguing on the phone with ex-wife, Ariel, who wants to move their kids to Vancouver. Poor Zach! Afterwards, he meets up with Dawn and she confronts him on Maggie, but not the way we expect. She criticizes Maggie for falling apart during her pitch after all of that hard work. Zach says it’s because she lost a patient, but Dawn thinks it’s because of their kiss.
We’re hoping Zach just tells her about the stupid kiss and clears this mess up, but we also understand why he wouldn’t want to cause doubt where none exists. In all honesty, Dawn really should just tell him what she saw and give him a chance to explain himself. Instead, Dawn tells him to disregard what happened between them and snaps that she should not get involved with subordinates. How annoying! They were doing so well. This is just silly. If they have an adult conversation about it, they’d still be together. Ugh!
“Here we go again.”
The time has finally come, Hopefuls. All of his friends are there as Charlie is rolled into surgery. Alex will be by his side when he wakes up and she loves him no matter what, even if his gift doesn’t go away. I’m so happy with the way Alex is handling Charlie’s gift in this episode! Charlie reassuringly says, “See you on the other side.”
When Shahir asks if he’s ready, Charlie cheekily replies, “I was born ready.” Once the anesthesia kicks in, Charlie’s tuxedo-clad spirit is back in limbo. He leaves us hanging with: “Here we go again.”
It is interesting that Charlie is in the tux again. You’d think he’d appear in limbo as he is currently dressed, but he reverts to the first outfit he wore I limbo. The clothing is the issue, I’m more concerned about what it means. It must signify something important, like he will always have ties to the other world because of his time in limbo. I wonder if this is true for all of the spirits who have come and gone from limbo. What do you think, Hopefuls? What are your theories on the matter?
This greatly moving and intense episode is a stellar lead-in to the finale. We’re on edge waiting to see what will happen to Charlie. What did you think of the episode? Were you annoyed by the Maggie-Zach-Dawn misunderstanding? Do you want to see Alex work with Charlie on ghost doctoring cases? Share your thoughts below!
Definitely surprised by Kristine’s story. When the group of ghosts badgered Charlie in the OR in Goodbye Girl, I would have guessed the young girl was Maddie. Though still annoyed by some of Kristine’s actions, her backstory makes a lot of sense…so riddled by guilt and alcoholism that she just cut herself off from reality and built herself a new one. I’m glad Charlie and co could help bring her peace. And yes, I wish Alex were that open and helpful with all of Charlie’s spirits. Despite what she says I’m sure she’s hoping the surgery will eliminate the ghosts for good.
When this and the next episode were written, it was possibly going to be the series finale. The writers said they wanted to bring things ‘full circle’ and there are a number of elements recurring from the pilot and other episodes. But I definitely think there’s something more behind the tux.
Typical hospital romance and complications…doctors act like teenagers sometimes!
That makes sense, many moments felt like they were coming full circle. Curious to see what the meaning is behind the tux!