Billie’s powerful arc came to a mostly satisfying and emotional conclusion.
As we saw, The Resident Season 5 Episode 14 juggled a couple of storylines. They ranged from the nurse shortage that prompted Jessica to negotiate a better paycheck to Padma’s shocking request of Leela. However, Billie’s fight against Porter was the most prominent and captivating.
Jessica Lucas was phenomenal during the hour, and Miles Fowler was excellent.
The hour also served as star Manish Dayal’s directorial debut on the series, and it’s always exciting when a star of a show takes a spin in that director’s chair for an installment. It’s such a noteworthy achievement.
The hour mainly was light on medical cases, which worked given everything else. The incident with the window washer was eye-grabbing at the start of the hour, though not nearly as much as ConRaptor “bro-ing” it out and exercising in a scene that felt tailor-made for my interest. Thank you, The Resident. Thank you.
We watched Tara dangling and wondered if her conditions would decline from that point forward. It must’ve been a feat to get her down, and gravity did a number on her when the cord that saved her also caused the most damage — keeping it tied around her held things together but also made them worse.
We didn’t spend much time with the patient. Tara served as a way Billie could step into a surgery that called for her expertise despite all her surgical cancelations and show off why she’s an exceptional doctor despite the rumors circulating about her.
She needed a win and the chance to show that no matter what was happening around her, she could focus and not only do her job but succeed at it. Bille could still save lives and remain Leela’s mentor.
Typically, The Resident excels at endearing viewers to their medical cases and patients. Still, this time around, one didn’t mind that Tara didn’t stand out as much or have one’s undivided attention. If not for the fact that it’s customary to insert other storylines into the mix, we probably could’ve done without Tara the window washer.
It was amazing that Jessica got another arc, making back-to-back hours of the underrated character getting some significant screentime. It was nothing remotely wrong with that either because who doesn’t adore Jessica?
It’s only because of Billie’s arc being so engrossing that Jessica weighing job offers as they nailed home that there are nurse shortages paled in comparison and was the type of filler you patiently sat through until they got back to the Porter saga.
We’ve all heard about the nurse shortages, and the traveling nurse gig is on the rise as more of them opt for that rather than overworking themselves in hospitals these days for little pay. Chastain was understaffed well before the pandemic, so it’s not surprising that things have only gotten worse.
With Nic gone, Jessica is the face of the nurses, excluding, of course, Hundley, so it’s cool that she gets to carry a storyline from that angle. You could see how overworked and tired Jessica was, so it made sense that even though Chastain was her home and where her family was, gigs like the one in Sacramento enticed her.
Randolph Bell, the man, the myth, the scrub nurse.
AJ
Who wouldn’t want to get triple the pay for working two days a week with all moving expenses paid and benefits? The Sacramento offer was almost too good to be true.
I love that she knew how to take that offer to negotiate some new terms for herself at Chastain. The hospital couldn’t afford to lose her, and Bell would’ve lost his mind without his favorite scrub nurse.
I appreciated that Jessica delved into things like the difference in the cost of living to weigh her choice, as typically in shows like this, they’ll toss the considerable figure number out there and exclude those facets of something that are relevant and make a huge difference.
And it’s good on her that she was able to talk Bell into hiring an additional three nurses while increasing her salary. Jessica did well for herself. On the flip side of things, my mind kept going to single mother Hundley, who also runs the hell out of that hospital who didn’t get to do the same.
The E.R. wouldn’t function without Hundley either, and it sucks that because she couldn’t up and relocate because of her daughter, she’s exempt from all the wooing and getting paid her worth.
Padma and Leela’s storyline was probably the one that didn’t need to be in this installment. We haven’t caught up with Padma in a while. Showing her again to introduce this new obstacle between the sisters felt out of the blue.
It’s nice that Padma wants to settle down, and it seems as though that includes being there in Atlanta with her sister. They’ve gotten much closer as we’ve learned. We know Padma is a free spirit, so the notion that she wants a child does feel worrisome.
Where is this coming from, and is she doing this for the right reasons? It feels like it came out of nowhere, and we don’t know how settled she is in her life to have a kid. But you feel for her as someone whose history of chemotherapy would prevent her from having one of her own.
Billie: You didn’t have to do that.
Trevor: I did.
Billie: You were incredibly brave.
Trevor: So were you.
Billie: I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you from this, but I’m proud of how you handled it. Are you okay, Trevor?
Trevor: Uh, honestly, I don’t know. Sorry, I just think I need some time away from all of this.
Initially, I thought she would ask Leela to carry the child for her or something, which would’ve been off the wall and threw a real monkey wrench in Leela’s plans. Padma is asking for an egg. It’s not insignificant, that’s for sure, but it isn’t as bad as one would think.
Yet it still has Leela reeling, and Devon arrived home before she and Padma could discuss it further and what it all means.
It was one of those hours where you almost wished they devoted the entire thing to Billie because she was going through it all!
Porter was diabolical for his smear campaign, and it was disturbing how he got Billie trending enough on Twitter where her colleagues and patients were looking at her with new eyes and judging her. Seriously, how did everyone at the hospital get alerts about her before she even did? Yeesh!
It was disturbing to see all the tweets pop up, reaming her out and implying that she wasn’t worth her position or didn’t face the consequences of her actions.
You got to hand it to them for capturing the essence of people lambasting others on Twitter, from all the stupid hashtags to the misogynoir. They had a ball accusing her of sleeping her way to the top and implying that she only succeeded because of affirmative action and “Wokeness.”
All it took was a few people to jump on board the hate train when talking about that one incident she paid for as a resident. It’s incredible how they took that moment to call her a killer and other things without others giving her the benefit of the doubt as a doctor who sometimes loses patients.
It wasn’t as if she was Dr. Death or something! Hell, she’s not even Bell during his HODAD period or Cain.
Conrad: Hey.
Billie: Hey.
Conrad: You know I care about you, right? What is going on here?
Billie: I wish I could tell you, Conrad.
Conrad: You can.
Billie: You wouldn’t understand. Actually, the only person who did was Nic. Times like this I really miss her.
Conrad: Nic wouldn’t want you to carry this weight alone. Talk to me.
Janice was the most annoying and insufferable, and you’d expect her to know better than she did. She almost jumped at the chance to think the worst of Billie and gossip about all the rumors.
Fortunately, after she eavesdropped, she put the pieces together and viewed the smear campaign for what it was, but it was still irritating to hear her spreading more gossip around.
Porter wasted no time coming after Billie even though she never confirmed or denied continuing with the suit after their talk. Interestingly, you would’ve expected A.J., who knew all the details before anyone else, and Conrad to be Billie’s biggest support throughout all of this.
Instead, our “parents” Kitbell stepped up and again proved why they are the absolute best. They followed Billie’s lead the whole time, respecting her wishes and sticking by her even when the fallout affected them, too.
The board opting to bench Kit felt like some lowkey misogynistic bullcrap. They always have it in for Kit despite her tireless work salvaging the hospital and making it as successful as it’s been. The brief cameo by Marshall as he advocated for Kit was enough to make a girl smile.
Bell had quite the spin during this hour as he went from a surgeon to interim Chief to scrub nurse all in a day.
Jessica Lucas was fantastic, capturing Billie’s quiet dignity and resiliency in the face of the onslaught of attacks directed at her. She walked through those halls with her head held high, but she wasn’t unaffected.
The quiet moments when she was alone, that great shot of her in her office internally reeling, or the one of her on the hospital roof not far from her face on the building noting her excellence, touched on those moments when you could see it weighed heavily on her.
Naturally, she was strong throughout, but in those moments where she was by herself, you saw how vulnerable she was and how things were catching up to her. It’s the quiet moments that reveal the most.
Billie: I am willing to take any blow myself. I am tough enough to handle it, but I can’t inflict damage on you or Chastain. I won’t fight a battle I can’t win if it means hurting the people I love.
Kit: We’re not afraid.
Bell: We’re fighting with you.
Kit: Billie, has something else happened?
Billie: I got pregnant when I was raped and had the baby, and we reconnected, but he’s starting to ask questions and figure things out. If he finds out how he came into this world, it might destroy him. I have to protect him. I have to put an end to this.
And her scene with Conrad, where she longed for Nic and gave him bits of what was happening, also was one of her most vulnerable scenes. You got the biggest feel for how much they’re like family to one another and that amid the community they’ve built around them, they’re all each other has in that way.
It speaks volumes about Billie’s character that she was okay facing the heat, but she didn’t want to back down until it posed a threat to the people she loves. She didn’t want Kit to lose her position as Chief, not Bell as the chair. But more importantly, she wanted to protect Trevor with every fiber of her being.
I also loved the shot of her meeting with Porter. Their height difference as they stood in front of one another and Billie was willing to fall on her sword embodied this fight’s David vs. Goliath feel. Billie was one flawed female doctor standing up against a powerful man with connections and reach.
But it also hit home what he had done to her as this powerful, towering grown man assaulting a young, petite girl barely into puberty. And even still, Porter wasn’t above gaslighting her. How does one misremember an adult male making any romantic overtures on a young teenager? What he did isn’t up for debate.
Billie: Here’s the offer. You pull your name out of the running for the state medical board, I’ll say it was a case of mistaken identity and withdraw my statement.
Porter: Why do you care so much about the state medical board?
Billie: A predator like you has no business passing judgment on the ethics of others.
Porter: We remember the past differently.
Billie:I was 13. The law was clear.
Unfortunately, there was no way around Trevor learning the truth. It was inevitable, and as we know with Trevor, he’s not one to sit back and watch things play out without getting into the fight. It was perfectly on-brand for him to start looking into who was launching this attack against Billie, and he could piece everything together from there.
Trevor’s scene with A.J. was one of the finest of the hour, and both Warner and Fowler were sublime in it. Trevor has come a long way in his evolution despite not having as much screentime as you’d anticipate. It was heartbreaking to see him all teary-eyed as he made the connection.
The best thing he had going for him was that he realized who Porter was with A.J. there to lean on when it hit him like a mack truck. And A.J. was also there to remind Trevor that HIS actions dictate what type of man he is, not the circumstances that brought him into this world.
It’s such a tremendous burden on a person to learn that their conception was out of a violent act. And the hour made sure that this situation was about Billie and Trevor without minimizing their feelings and experiences with this whirlwind around them.
Trevor: You know the truth. You need to tell me, um, Robert Porter, he’s my father, isn’t he? She was 13. He was an adult. He forced himself on her. I’m the product of a rape.
AJ: Trevor.
Trevor: All this time she was protecting me from the truth and my biological father is a monster.
AJ: Trevor, listen to me. You are the product of your own actions. You hear me?
Trevor’s realization came with a new perspective and outlook on what happened to Billie, why she gave him up, and why she behaved the way she did when he found her. He recognized that she was trying to protect him as best as possible by keeping him in the dark.
And eventually, he realized that she was willing to back off Porter to save Trevor any heartache. It’s such a maternal instinct, and interestingly, Trevor didn’t hesitate to acknowledge her as his mother more than once when he showed up at the meeting.
Trevor is righteous, and he sticks up for people, especially those he cares about most. It wasn’t even up for debate that he could set aside his entire world upending to confront Porter and support Billie.
Trevor got straight to the point. He knew he was the ultimate trump card, living proof of how vile Porter is, and he was the key to putting an end to the man.
Porter: I”m sorry, but who the hell are you?
Trevor: My name is Dr. Trevor Daniels. I was born August. 3, 1995 to my mother, Dr. Billie Sutton, and Robert Porter who raped her when she was 13 years old.
Porter: OK, this, this is a ridiculous stunt.
Trevor: Test my DNA against his. I am the living proof that everything my mom says is true.
During that meeting, he shook things up, and the emotions emanating from both him and Billie were palpable. It must’ve been overwhelmingly a relief that Billie had people in her corner, including Trevor, and he didn’t waver in that.
They stood firm against Porter and the board. It was an empowering and freeing moment for Billie. They wrapped it up quickly with Kit reinstated and Porter gone.
And what are we to make of Billie and Trevor’s exchange at the end? He said he needed some space, which is understandable, but does that mean he’ll disappear again? And if so, for how long?
If you’d have told me at the beginning of the season that I would invest interest in both of these characters and their relationship, I would’ve been shocked. Id’ love to see Billie and Trevor continue to grow closer to each other and Trevor’s journey navigating this news.
It isn’t often you see that angle of things explored with a person trying to make sense of their genetics and how that impacts them. It’s normal for him to wonder if his father reflects on him someway.
I would hate if they dropped this storyline after this point. It would feel a bit incomplete. And how will Billie be able to bounce back from Porter disparaging her? Will her patients trust her again?
We can only assume that the word got out about Billie and Trevor or overheard their conversation. It was sweet that they showed up to be there for her and offered to take the day off to spend time with her alone so they could talk.
And while many of you aren’t seeing anything romantic brewing between the pair, that moment, whether it’s a reflection of their deep friendship or the familial bond they’ve formed or a stepping stone to something else, it’s a nice nugget or fans of the two characters.
Conrad: Hey.
Billie: Hey.
Conrad: You know I care about you, right? What is going on here?
Billie: I wish I could tell you, Conrad.
Conrad: You can.
Billie: You wouldn’t understand. Actually, the only person who did was Nic. Times like this I really miss her.
Conrad: Nic wouldn’t want you to carry this weight alone. Talk to me.
Over to you, Resident Fanatics.
Are you relieved they took Porter down? What did you think of Billie’s arc and Trevor learning the truth? What are your thoughts on Manish Dayal’s directorial debut? Hit the comments.
The National Sexual Assault Hotline is 800-656-HOPE or online.rainn.org.
You can watch The Resident online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.