‘The Resident’: Kit & Bell Provide Some Much-Needed Happiness (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Resident Season 5, Episode 20 “Fork in the Road.”]
One couple takes a major step forward while another reaches a “Fork in the Road” — both inevitable, really, given the season so far — in the latest episode of The Resident.
Everyone’s looking to the future right now. Dr. Kit Voss (Jane Leeves) and Dr. Randolph Bell (Bruce Greenwood) discuss their wills, which leads to a very important question. Dr. Conrad Hawkins (Matt Czuchry) and Dr. Kincaid “Cade” Sullivan’s (Kaley Ronayne) investigation into the fake prescriptions takes a turn, but can he convince her not to leave? And Padma Devi’s (Aneesha Joshi) sperm donor situation leads to her twin Dr. Leela Devi (Anuja Joshi) having a long overdue conversation with her boyfriend, Dr. Devon Pravesh (Manish Dayal). Read on to find out where the episode leaves everyone.
A Perfect Proposal
Following the funeral for Dr. AJ Austin’s (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) mother, Bell has started to think about updating his will to ensure that Kit, his son, and his granddaughter are taken care of. And after he remarks that Georgia doesn’t recognize common-law marriage, Kit just casually suggests, “Let’s get married then.” Obviously, he’s going to say yes, but he has a bit of fun. “So this is the way you ask me? No fancy dinner? No big ring? Just didn’t even get down on one knee?” he asks. “I love you to the moon and back, but I kneel for no man,” she tells him. And while he doesn’t say “yes,” they start planning, with her suggesting a ceremony in the backyard. “I want it to be special,” he says. “It will be,” she promises. Whatever she wants, he tells her, but she insists that they have to find middle ground.
By the end of the episode, they’re out to dinner and haven’t decided on a venue yet, but have agreed that it should be small, with a few friends. “Either way, it’s going to be perfect,” he says. That’s when she surprises him by getting down on one knee in the middle of the restaurant. “I would hate to disappoint you, darling,” Kit says. “That would be a terrible way to start a marriage. Randolph Bell, will you marry me?” He, too, gets down on his knee — and takes out a ring box. And with that, we’re officially getting a KitBell wedding!
Nathan Bolster/FOX
Fight or Flight?
After the man who killed the pharmacist mixed up in the fraudulent prescriptions saw Conrad and Cade, she has an FBI escort to and from work. It’s not a long-term solution, she says, but a Medicare patient in Chastain’s ER — with one of those fake prescriptions in Conrad’s name for meds for cancer she doesn’t have — may change everything.
At first, Teri (Jayne Taini) says she’s nobody, just a little cog in a big machine, but as Conrad treats her infected wound (with maggots!) and upon hearing about hearing about Phoebe’s death, she ultimately spills all she knows about the scam (after securing a promise to keep her identity anonymous). The people behind it take advantage of good people who have fallen on hard times, taking those with Medicare to a rundown clinic where the doctors don’t even bother with an exam. Then they collect the pills after the prescriptions are filled. The recent overdoses and Teri’s are ones the people kept for themselves. Teri also followed the people behind it to a warehouse. And that’s exactly what the FBI needs to know to secure a warrant, run surveillance, and (hopefully) ultimately bring down the ring.
So now Cade can stay, right? “I know what you said about not wanting to get comfortable, but our job is done. It’s time to start living your life,” Conrad tells her, and she points out the same can be said about him. But then they spot the guy who killed Phoebe across the parking lot, watching them. Uh-oh.
Tom Griscom/FOX
After that, Cade’s ready to leave that night, explaining, “It may seem impulsive, but I’m pretty sure it’s how I’ve stayed alive so far.” Her other option: “I quit running. Try to build a life for myself. Make friends I can keep over time. Put down roots. But I’d risk that one day I’d find myself bleeding on the pavement. I don’t want to go, I’ve felt more at home here than I did as a kid in my own home.” That’s when she opens up to Conrad about her father (Andrew McCarthy starts recurring with the next episode!), who raised her. “Man-child genius surgeon,” Cade says to describe him. “I was the gardener, he was the flower.”
Conrad urges her to stay, even with the risk, especially since the FBI is searching for the man. “I’m so tired of running,” she admits to him, ultimately agreeing to at least give it the night.
Inevitable Destruction
Remember when Devon suggested he be Padma’s sperm donor after it looked like AJ might not do it? Well, that’s led to some distance between him and Leela, and she admits she’s still processing. She throws herself into work to avoid him, and that includes working a double shift and scrubbing in on surgeries with both Dr. Billie Sutton (Jessica Lucas) and AJ — and nearly making a mistake on one and doing so on the other. AJ catches the first, but Leela falls asleep during Billie’s and causes a massive bleed in the spine. (The patient will make a full recovery, fortunately.) Kit sends her home immediately.
Tom Griscom/FOX
It’s as Leela’s leaving that Padma catches up to her to confront her about Devon’s offer to be her sperm donor. (He told her after assuming her sister already had.) It would solve everything, as Padma sees it. But Leela disagrees. She’s given her everything, even her eggs, but “we cannot share this,” Leela insists. “I will not give you Devon.”
By the end of the episode, Leela’s life is falling apart, both professionally and personally. Work-wise, Kit and Bell agree that Leela needs to make a decision and stop pulling double duty in cardiothoracic and neurosurgery. And when Devon gets home, the two finally talk about what they’ve been avoiding. “I don’t want kids,” Leela confesses. “Not now, not in a few years, maybe never.” He feels she lied to him, while she thinks that he knew. While he loves her, “you want a baby more than you want me,” she says. “I want you. I want us. But I also want a family one day, and I never hid that from you. I’m not going to apologize for it,” Devon tells her. “I’m not going to apologize for wanting something different,” she says. “So are you saying that this is it? This is the end?” Yes, it is, and he walks out.
Complicated Compromising
While AJ may want to be a father to the baby, Padma always planned to raise her kid alone. It doesn’t help that AJ has already started planning for the kid’s future, opening a savings account for college tuition. He wants a family, he explains, after losing his mother (and father) and since he barely knows his bio-siblings and parents. Padma is willing to agree to visitations, on her schedule. But he insists the child know he’s the father and that she not just plan to live in her van. In fact, he offers up his mother’s house to Padma. She thinks he’s crossing a line.
However, by the end of the episode, AJ and Padma are able to start compromising. He tells her about growing up in foster care and not having a place to call home, which is why he wants stability for his child, and points out that she asked him to be the father, not a stranger. He’ll step aside if she doesn’t want him to have a relationship with her child. But she’s come around, a bit, and thinks their child should be able to witness how good of a man he is firsthand. Now they’ll just have to see if they can agree on the important things.
The Resident, Tuesdays, 8/7c, Fox
