‘The Resident’ Recap: Is There Hope for Chastain After Governor Election?

Jane Leeves and Manish Dayal in The Resident
Spoiler Alert
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Resident Season 6 Episode 2 “Peek and Shriek.”]

Just as things are heating up between Conrad (Matt Czuchry) and Cade (Kaley Ronayne), he and Billie (Jessica Lucas) share a moment in the elevator that leaves us feeling for her in Episode 2, “Peek and Shriek” on The Resident.

Also, in the latest episode, Cade grows increasingly suspicious about her father Ian (Andrew McCarthy) due to his addiction, while Kit (Jane Leeves) worries about how the governor election will affect the hospital. Plus, Padma (Aneesha Joshi) worries about her twins and what happens after she gives birth.

Second Guessing?

While Conrad and Cade may be together (what could be his first serious relationship after losing Nic), Billie is asking about his daughter Gigi and her nightmares, as well as him dealing with parenting alone. Gigi misses her, he says, but Billie’s hesitant to make plans, suggesting his weekends are probably full (the “with Cade” is implied … only he doesn’t pick up on it).

Later, as they’re heading home, Conrad checks on how she’s doing after a patient threatened her with a scalpel (and he saves her). Then, he admits, “you were Nic’s best friend, so every time I see you, it’s like Nic’s watching me through you or something, I don’t know. I know that sounds weird.” Though Billie tells him to let that go, he continues, “it makes me second guess everything, like would Nic approve of me with Cade?” As Billie sees it, “I just want you to be happy, whoever you’re with. So would Nic.” Aww, poor Billie!

Kaley Ronayne and Matt Czuchry in The Resident

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Concern for Ian

After noticing her father taking pills, Cade now sees a bump on his head. He just hit it on a cabinet, he claims, while he was doing too much at once. Everything is fine, he insists, but Seattle was a long time ago.

At the end of the episode, however, after Cade goes to Conrad’s for dinner (but Gigi’s already in bed), she can’t sleep. Conrad refuses to let her run away and gets her to open up. Back in Seattle, Ian got really attached to a patient who died. He took it hard, started drinking too much, and then began writing prescriptions for himself. He claimed he had it under control and never hurt anyone, just himself. Cade doesn’t know if he operated under the influence, but it’s possible. Then, he quit, all on his own, cold turkey, five years ago. Ever since, Cade’s been on the lookout for any signs, and she admits to Conrad that she saw him take a pill and noticed the bruise on his forehead. Plus, he seemed jittery. If he’s using again, it’s a problem.

The Election & Chastain’s Future

Everyone’s heading to the polls to vote for the governor, and Kit’s fear is that the billionaire and real estate and finance entrepreneur, a first-time candidate with plans to slash the hospital’s budget, will win … and she’s right. But what Devon (Manish Dayal) tells her as she admits her concerns for Bell (Bruce Greenwood), undergoing treatment for his MS, is true for the hospital as well: “There really is hope.” His clinical trials may also be just that for the hospital.

“[Devon’s] a problem solver, and he’s going to try to be part of the solution because successful clinical trials can make hospitals a tremendous amount of money. They’re all gonna pivot and fight for each other and for Chastain, and his clinical trials will be part of that,” executive producer Amy Holden Jones told TV Insider. “He has a fascinating person who comes into his life who is interested in something that is kind of big in Silicon Valley now, which is the search for eternal life or at least for much longer life. Clinical trials are being done to see what prolongs longevity, and that person is a potential help to Chastain if he can make it work.”

Also, a potential help for Chastain is Ian, which is why his addiction is a great concern. “So trying to save Ian is both about the story of the man and the peril he poses to the hospital and the salvation he could pose if he can be saved,” Jones added.

Plus, as Kit points out at the end of the episode, “that little untested real estate developer has no idea who he’s dealing with.” Our money’s on her.

Aneesha Joshi and Anuja Joshi in The Resident

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How’s Padma Coping?

While the premiere surgery may have been a success in helping Padma, at the time, there’s still reason to be worried for her as her pregnancy progresses. Still a patient at Chastain, she starts to worry about the babies when she can’t feel them moving. Her twin Leela (Anuja Joshi) checks; both heartbeats are strong. But Padma’s also concerned about everything that can still go wrong and that she won’t be a good mother. She’s not doing any of it alone, Leela reminds her. And to make her feel better, Leela and AJ (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) ensure she has everything she needs to cope.

“The birth is not gonna be easy,” Jones warned. “Leela will be involved in that. Padma is a free spirit who didn’t think that far ahead, and everything is not always easy in pregnancy. There can be problems, and there are. The health challenges she faces teach Padma that things can go wrong, that it’s not all a fairy tale necessarily when you have kids. We wanted to do a postpartum depression story with Padma, which is all the more poignant given how sweet and happy she was. What happens when she’s a very young woman with no husband, really — Raptor supports her and is the dad, but he’s not married to her — and twin babies and a fraught medical history? How does she come out through that?”

The Resident, Tuesdays, 8/7c, Fox