Episode Report Card Heathen: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Beyond Repair
By Heathen | Season 8 | Episode 11 | Aired on 01.09.2002
Downstairs, Dr. Kerry Weaver has arrived, and is slightly appalled that Abby brought Douglas up to the morgue. "He didn't believe his mom was dead," Abby defends herself, although as Weaver points out, Abby could have called a Psych consult. Abby subtly berates Weaver for not attending to Douglas yesterday, when his mother was admitted and died. "She vagaled in triage," Weaver says. "No one told me she had a kid." Because Abby is frantically trying to locate another family member, she hasn't called Social Services, which annoys Weaver. The two bicker over each others' voices, with Abby arguing that shipping Douglas off to Social Services is unfair because he has dealt with enough strangers for one day, and Weaver deciding that a holding facility is less intimidating than the ER or the morgue. "Call now," Weaver orders.
Randi appears for two seconds, long enough to read out horoscopes. It's irritating, so I'm skipping it, especially because she offends Frank, and today Frank is my best friend because he's been cute with Douglas. Yeah, I'm that easy. Basically, Abby avoids confessing her sign to skirt the birthday issue, then realizes Carter is about to go investigate why a patient got moved out of the suture room. Abby diverts Carter from going there by lamely asking him to check on a man with explosive diarrhea. "He's pretty miserable," she says. "She," corrects Carter, bemused. Abby shrugs and watches to make sure he doesn't hit the suture room. Question: why did they put him in the suture room if it involved evicting another patient? As Chief Resident, Carter would naturally find out and check into it. Maybe age has addled Abby's brain; I mean, she is an entire year older today.
Douglas still sits alone in the waiting room, playing "My Mama Done Left Me" on his banjo. Haleh asks Abby for a favor, and in the process of completing it, she walks past Susan, who is consulting with Sobriki's case worker. He's played by Scott Bryce, formerly the dad on Popular and who also starred on As The World Turns. Scott exposits that Sobriki was found not guilty by reason of insanity, but got bumped down into a less restrictive facility after making great strides with his recovery -- and ten months after that, he was put on conditional release. Abby stops to glower fiercely at Scott and Susan. "He's agitated," Susan says, worriedly. Scott assures her that Sobriki is nervous because he just slipped, and suddenly he's back at the scene of the crime. Abby noses in and asks why he got out in two years. "Who are you?" Scott asks rudely. "I was working? When he attacked my friends?" Abby says strangely, sounding awfully Clueless for a second there. Scott kindly gives his condolences, and shares that because Sobriki was a law student -- and because he was apparently doing well on his meds -- a professor did some pro bono work and got him out on a writ of habeas corpus, which releases a man from unlawful restraint. But is it really unlawful restraint if the guy killed someone? My instinctive reaction would probably be horror, matching Abby's. There's a quick shot of Sobriki in bed looking very placid. "Love me," he is saying telepathically. "The drugs stop the voices!" Scott insists that most schizophrenics aren't violent at all. "This one was, wasn't he?" Abby snaps. "If they are, they usually aren't twice," Scott says with a twinge of anger. "He's not a danger to himself or others -- not on his meds. There are safeguards in place." Abby is pissed that Susan isn't sticking up for the hospital and for Carter, but hides it. Gallant decides that this is the perfect moment to display his incompetence: A Foley is overflowing. "Clamp it," Abby spits. "I did," he says. "It's overflowing." Fuming, Abby hisses for Susan just to get Sobriki the fuck out of County. Scott asks that the restraints be removed, which stops Abby dead in her tracks. She refuses to allow it, which is a bit presumptuous of her, but Scott swears his patient is lucid, and that a guard outside the door will suffice. "He needs reassurance and respect right now," Scott says. "'Respect'?" Abby seethes. "YES," yells Scott. Susan makes Abby leave. What a bitch. Yes, Abby is taking it to the extreme, but Susan has to realize that she's reacting out of fear -- and fear for Susan's own boyfriend, no less -- and deal with her a bit more sympathetically. Susan's just being bratty. It's like she's disagreeing with Abby just because it's Abby.
Abby bursts into Trauma Yellow in a right old snit. She takes over for the inept Gallant in trying to fix whatever's wrong with Miranda's Foley -- a catheter which apparently helps drain urine and other fluids from the bladder. Tense and pale as a tissue, Miranda asks if the fertility drugs are messing up her system; Abby crabs that the doctor needs to review her labs before making that diagnosis. Miranda's lip trembles, and she starts weeping softly. Abby clearly regrets being so cold, and nicely asks whether Miranda wants Abby to fetch Luka. But Miranda writes off her crying jag to hormones. "Sometimes being a woman sucks, you know?" she moans. "You grow up praying you won't get pregnant, and then when you do want [to], you can't." Abby gazes thoughtfully at her as Miranda anvils that she had her chance and might've blown it -- she aborted a fetus a few years ago when she got pregnant at a really bad time. Abby blinks. "It happens," Abby stammers, affected. Again, remember that abortion? Abby does, too. Miranda sniffles that she only did it out of concern for the child, so she could wait and reproduce at a time when she'd be the best mother possible. "I'm sure you're going to be," Abby smiles. Miranda starts banging Abby over the head. "Unless I waited too long," she weeps with one final thwack. As blood trickles down her forehead from the Gaping Head Wound of Hey, Abby, Hope You Got All That, Abby stares sadly at Miranda and ponders her own decision.