The Resident Season 6 Episode 7 Review: The Chimera

Perhaps it’s because the installment befittingly fell on election day, but the political fatigue is real.

There were some great moments in The Resident Season 6 Episode 7, mainly as it focused on the medical components of the hour. And I couldn’t be more pleased by Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s directorial debut on the series!

But the personal elements felt redundant and slow-moving, and the governor storyline is downright upsetting!

Governor Betts is awful! He’s genuinely just the worst.

We haven’t had a villain in a long time on the series, and that’s been refreshing because life lobs enough obstacles to be an antagonist without villainous people being awful.

Are any of you thrilled with the notion of a cartoonish, one-note caricature of a villain, one step away from mustache-twirling coming after Bell?

I want to sue!

And kudos to them for making their governor a slimy-enough political figure to feel all too familiar with what we’re dealing with in reality regularly.

Perhaps that’s one of many reasons Betts elicits repulsion, unease, and fatigue.

And this was all before he committed himself to not the people of Georgia or literally anything else that he could be doing but rather directing his attention and time to the undoing of Randoph Bell because the man embarrassed and challenged him.

I don’t know if I should be grateful or miffed that he flicked his hand dismissively at the threat Kit posed to him, and his sense directed all his attention to Bell. Is it some twisted sense of honor and chivalry or sexism? The lines blur.

Find me every ounce of dirt on that, Dr. Bell. I’m going to destroy him.

Governor Betts

He was only focused on humiliating Kit and appealing to his fanbase publicly when he called her into a meeting with him. The second they walked into the room to a frenzy of reporters, it was obvious who and what they were dealing with here.

He was a petulant, condescending moron when speaking to Kit. The seemingly random comments about her accent were meant to imply she had no place there or had a say in American politics.

And maybe that’s why Bell couldn’t help himself and unleashed the dragon to protect his wife and call this jerk to the carpet. He spilled all the tea about the governor’s Medicare fraud and shady business dealings.

Bell turned the narrative back on Betts, and the press feasted off this news. It’s not surprising that Betts wants to get back at Bell.

But things have strayed even further from medicine, healthcare, and people, and it’s become this mess that could expose and ruin Bell for good.

Because heaven forbid Kitbell are happy for too long. We got our wedding as a treat, but now they’re ready to give us more pain.

Betts enlisting the assistance of some dense surgical tech prime for manipulation and blackmail was cringe. You can tell he didn’t want to come after Bell, but he feels he doesn’t have a choice because of whatever happened to him that required a coverup when he was elsewhere.

Now, they used this case with Claire, which was straightforward and no murky at all, to open the floodgates of things they could investigate and unearth about Bell.

Claire avoided American healthcare because of the cost, and it killed her.

Kit

It’s only a matter of time before his HODAD era comes to light. But by now, as biased as it may sound, we’re so far removed from that period, and Bell has spent most of the recent seasons making amends on that front that it’s irksome to rehash all this again.

The case with Claire and her husband was a sad one. However, I didn’t have the emotional connection to this sweet couple enough to connect with the visceral reaction montage and so forth that they had when Bell and Devon told her husband that she had died.

They had some thin commentary about unaffordable healthcare and the differences between American healthcare and the NHS.

It was a method of pointing out how much of strain healthcare is on Americans. What good is the system if people die rather than get checked out because they fear their bill?

They made the obligatory criticism of the NHS by referencing their long waiting periods, which ironically, still could’ve resulted in Claire’s death. And then their positive point for Americans was that our money buys all the best technology and is worth it because of the advanced equipment, maybe?

Conrad and AJ’s case was a truly intriguing one from start to finish, and there’s a reason why they’re such a dynamic duo when they’re together. Seriously, one could watch those two onscreen together for hours.

Czuchry and Warner have some of the best chemistry on the series, and that deep, easygoing friendship between the two always shines through clearly. AJ put it beautifully when he stated how much he loved with medical and surgical meld.

AJ getting to connect with Conrad through fatherhood makes for amusing scenes. AJ is such a genuinely happy father, and this era of his life looks good on him.

Conrad: This next chapter looks good on you, AJ.
AJ: Thank you, my brother. And what about your next chapter? What’s the status with you and Cade?
Conrad: We’re having fun. She’s really great.
AJ: Hm. You know it’s funny, I thought you and Billie would end up together, but I adjusted, told myself I was wrong. But then I saw you and Billie dancing at the wedding.
Conrad: Cade wanted to be at the wedding, she just had to work.
AJ: Ah, yeah, that explains everything.

It was a relief to hear that he hired a babysitter to help Padma. Although, it sounds like she’s still struggling as she doesn’t trust anyone to watch the twins even though she can’t bring herself to do it all the time either.

AJ’s determination when helping Janaya with her brother was touching. He was there for her the way she was for him when his mother died.

Without his and Conrad’s assistance, it’s doubtful Bobby would have ever learned about his chimerism or had a chance of release after discovering that the DNA evidence that put him away was the key to freeing him.

It was a lot to be said about the terrible treatment of inmates. As a death-row inmate who was scheduled to die, it was like the correctional officers and doctors were okay with Bobby suffering until that day came.

So we make him sicker to make him better. I love when a medical and surgical mind meld!

AJ

They didn’t get preachy about this whole situation. They let the situation and simple plot play out for itself and viewers to draw inferences where necessary.

Billie and Cade had varying opinions about the best outcome for the patient. Still, ultimately it was Bobby’s decision, so nothing came from that moment that was likely tenses for personal reasons more than professional.

Bobby’s leukemia and bone marrow transfusion as a child was key to recognizing his issues and figuring out that he had two sets of DNA because of his bone marrow donor.

Marcus, also being an inmate who got locked away for armed robbery, felt convenient and was a neat bow to that aspect of the story.

And we never learned about Janaya and if she had the markers for cancer or other issues after that test.

Bobby got more time, but he’ll spend it fighting for justice to prevail, and it’s still possible he won’t see that day happen. It’s bittersweet.

AJ is such a Conrad/Billie fanboy that it’s hilarious. He wasn’t even subtle about all the seeds he was planting. By now, he’s as impatient as the rest of us regarding this love story and wants them to get on with it already.

We knew there would be some awkwardness when they brought up the slow dance.

Irving: I always thought there might be something between you two.
Conrad: Billie was Nic’s best friend. Irving: Which explains what exactly?
Conrad: You know , it’s possible for us to care about each other and be friends without …
Irving: Benefits?

Shipper goggles set aside, am I the only one who still didn’t find that dance or a picture of it to be incriminating enough to cause such a stir?

It wasn’t unusual for two close friends to slow dance together, and even though a picture can say 1000 words, there wasn’t anything overtly telling about the photo Irving took that could stop anyone in their tracks.

As a result, everyone bringing up Conrad’s adoring, loving, smitten look in the photo felt very high school.

AJ and Irving both said the same thing about how they anticipated something was between Billie and Conrad, and they’d be the couple.

Conrad didn’t even know how to respond to that. But he couldn’t ignore that everyone saw something there, including Billie.

It must’ve been hard for a man so in denial about his feelings for Billie to field questions about the nature of his relationship with her from colleagues, friends, and his girlfriend.

Cade couldn’t get that picture out of her head. Her expression told 100 stories, and to Irving’s credit, he tried to downplay it as much as possible.

It seemed to stick to Cade’s mind the whole day as she watched intently every time Conrad and Billie interacted. And she went into the conversations with Conrad to make sense of what was happening.

She didn’t waste any time, and you cannot blame the woman for trying to know where she stood or if she was wasting her time and exposing her heart to heartache by continuing things with Conrad.

She wasn’t even accusatory so much as she wanted to make sense of everything. And Conrad did his best, to be honest with her and reassure her.

The problem is that Conrad for a man who values honesty, he isn’t being honest with himself right now. He’s unintentionally gaslighting Cade every time he insists that they’re good and there’s nothing there with Billie.

Even Billie had to make sense of things. She was more open about addressing what was between them than ever when she told him how confused she was after that dance and wondered about Conrad’s happiness with Cade.

She made her feelings for Conrad pretty clear with that conversation. It was apparent that as long as Conrad was with Cade, that Billie knew there would be nothing between them.

But even in emphasizing that, she’s left this door open while baring her feelings to him. It was a quietly vulnerable scene. And even Conrad can’t deny how aware he is now that Billie is an option.

Conrad has convinced himself that he’s happy with Cade so much that he believes it, so he’s not willfully lying to or hurting anyone when he talks about this situation with Billie.

And the others don’t challenge him on the deeply-rooted misconception he’s harboring, where Billie being Nic’s best friend somehow means his feelings for Billie aren’t what they are.

Billie: What were you looking at?
Conrad: Just photos from the wedding.
Billie: Well, it was a lovely wedding and dance. I woke up a little confused.
Conrad: Yeah, I’m confused too.
Billie: But you seem really happy with Cade, am I wrong? Are you happy?
Conrad: Yeah, we’re happy.
Billie: Then I’m not confused.

But it means nothing, and once Conrad stops using it like it is, they can put us out of our misery and move on to the next stage of things where Conrad and Billie can be together.

We’ve had some forward movement with the arc, but it’s starting to operate at a glacial pace. I don’t know how long they will continue having these two acknowledge feelings without doing anything about them.

If I’m feeling antsy about the situation, I can only imagine what fans of both ships are feeling. The longer it drags out, the more hurtful it is to Cade.

And they must find that sweet spot where Conrad doesn’t come across as a jerk because of things. I don’t know if that’ll happen if Conrad hits his jealousy and pining era because he may want Billie’s happiness, but the looks don’t lie.

Cade: I saw Irving’s photos from the wedding.
Conrad: And?
Cade: There’s one of you slow dancing with Billie, and the look on your face, it feels like there is something between you. Conrad: We’re friends; good friends.
Cade: Is that all?
Conrad: We share something that’s hard to describe, I guess. It’s a sense of what we’ve lost.
Cade: That’s it?
Conrad: Yes, truth is important to me.

One can only hope that James’ sudden appearance and interest in Billie will kick things up a notch. Billie at least deserves someone who goes after her. James came out of nowhere, and we know he’s designed to add another layer to this triangle.

Billie didn’t even seem into him, and it came across like she only said “yes” to his dinner date because of Conrad.

It feels like we won’t see Billie and Conrad’s payoff until the end of the season, which sucks.

Over to you, Resident Fanatics. What did you think of the hour? Did you feel bad for Cade? Sound off below.

You can watch The Resident online here via TV Fanatic.

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Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.

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