In an effort to save Chastain, Bell considers selling the hospital to a conglomerate, but Kit tries to make him see that the negatives will outweigh the positives. With Conrad's help, Nic tracks down Kyle and pleads for him to reconsider donating a kidney to Jessie. Mina voices her concern to Austin when Shira is assigned to Micah's surgery. Devon fights for the care of a patient whom the doctors suspect is uninsured.
In 2018, there were 495 scripted shows airing amongst the linear channels and streaming services. The way people are consuming content now is so different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, there is less necessity to provide ample coverage of each specific episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site is making the move to shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the season finale of FOX's The Resident.
"The Unbefriended" was written by Andrew Chapman & Amy Holden Jones and directed by Rob Corn
Nic has been desperately trying to save her sister, Jessie for a long time. First, it was with her addictions. Nic wanted Jessie to get the help she needed and actually stay sober. It has been an ongoing struggle with her for a long time. And then, she was dealt even more medical problems with her kidneys shutting down. That led to the rest of her organs failing as well. It's a dark place for the characters heading into this finale. Jessie has the clarity to tell Nic that she shouldn't blame herself if she dies. She did everything right to try to help her. She should try to forgive their father, Kyle, as well. He was scared. That's why he didn't want to donate his kidney to save his daughter's life. He didn't want to believe that he was her only option. He is though. And now, he may sacrifice everything in order to give his daughter life again. That's the position the show chooses to end the season on. It's currently unclear if Jessie or Kyle died from this transplant surgery. It was intense and precarious long before that cliffhanger ending. It was dangerous the moment that Dr. Shira Smook was revealed as being a part of the team working on Kyle. Her introduction and inclusion in the stories haven't been all that subtle. It's been very blunt without really flowing with the rest of the narrative in a cohesive way. The audience was always asked to look at her with suspicion and not to trust anything that she did. That was because she was an addict. She is discovered here but not before she overdoses and possibly leads to fatal complications for Kyle. He was so afraid of dying because of this surgery. Nic told him he would be fine and save Jessie's life. But it has now become clear that this surgery will take its toil on this family. Right now, things seem bleak with one of them dying. Nic will carry that burden because she was convinced this was the right thing to do. Mina was the only person who sensed that something was off with Shira. It took her car being broken into for her to be outed as stealing drugs from the hospital. That too exposes the corruption of the health care system where personnel records don't transfer from state to state. She could no longer practice in Pennsylvania but was completely able to lie to Chastain to get this job. It has compromised patients. And now, someone will probably have to deal with those consequences. It may create an expanded role for her in the next season if this truly was an outcome created by her abusive actions. Nic could blame her instead of herself. But it all ultimately depends on the fallout of this cliffhanger. Elsewhere, Bell is once again diminishing his control over the hospital because he is desperate to make the financials work once more. He has so much compassion for a patient who comes into the hospital with no one to make medical decisions for him. He needs surgery and the hospital has to take on the costs. Bell does it because he sees himself in the man. It's not some miraculous save that suddenly changes things for the hospital though. It's simply the right thing to do. Bell just has to sell another piece of his soul and the hospital in order to make it all worth it. So now, a conglomerate will own the hospital as well as many of the other medical facilities in the area. That monopoly could be very dangerous and seems well primed for exposure during the third season - even though it probably means another corruption scandal will take place at Chastain.
