As the illicit x-ray begins, Elizabeth shows up to tear Luka a new one. Except she sort of doesn't, which is amazing to me. She was way, way bitchier to Mark when he was dying of the tumor; I know she's capable of a lot more. I give her a D. Come on, Elizabeth. Your bitchiness would finally be useful. Elizabeth overly politely clarifies that Luka did override her order for the CT, and then informs Luka that Appy's appy blew itself up and sent him straight up to surgery. Luka totally doesn't care, because he's way more engrossed in administering an unnecessary x-ray to a moppet who probably just wants to know if something inside his head is forcing his hair to grow out that unfortunate way. "Your actions made his life and mine a lot harder," Elizabeth says stiffly. She informs Luka about the no-anesthetic rule, and of the greater risks to Appy himself, but Luka still maintains that the tests wouldn't have been conclusive. As he talks, Elizabeth notices with shocked eyes that Alex is frolicking in the x-ray room. Oddly, she doesn't say anything. Come ON, Elizabeth! Find the inner bitch! She can't be far away! "[Appy] came back as directed," Luka points out. "The system worked." Elizabeth is angry that the system ended up dumping fecal matter into Appy's belly that she now has to fish out instead of having dinner with Ella. "Score one for your bloody mission," she complains, flouncing out without even hinting at the delicious confrontation we'd been anticipating. That's so disappointing. That is every bit as depressing to me as all the other crap we've had to endure in this episode.
Susan tries yet again to telephone the IRS, but this time she's interrupted by Pratt, who wants her to do the rape exam because Romano seems unwilling. "Homephobe," she curses under her breath. Rolling her eyes, she agrees to do it. Abby trots up with Colin's films under her arm and asks if Susan can help her read them; Susan spies a passing Romano and asks Abby to wait one second.
Flagging down Romano, Susan sasses that she's taking the rape case that he refused because he's either afraid of the gays or can't do it with his Go-Go-Gadget Please For The Love Of Mary Get Those Pincers Away From My Ruptured Ass. With the latter argument, I have to say he might have a point. "Pratt doesn't know what he's talking about," Romano spits. He says he'll finish what he starts, and snatches back the chart. Okay. As Romano walks back past Pratt, he makes a finger gun and shoots it off. Oh, yes, that's very tasteful.
Sam demands to know where Alex is. "Stalling Kovac," Frank complains. Sam doesn't seem bothered by this, because she's a bastion of unprofessional selfishness. She's no better than Crappy Last-Season Abby.
Susan rushes up and asks if the IRS called. Frank gives her the delightful news that it did call, and that it's going to penalize her monetarily at her earliest inconvenience. I can only pray that this is the end of her dramatic tax-problem storyline, so that week we might get into something a little sexier, like Susan Gets A Mortgage. Frank also tells her that Bob called to cancel dinner.