The Resident Round Table: Should Conrad and AJ Have Struck

The governor presented AJ and Conrad with an offer they couldn’t refuse.

By the end of The Resident Season 6 Episode 12, the bad boys of Chastain strike a deal with the devil to save the hospital. Meanwhile, Ian and Padma saw some possible closure for their arcs. And Devon compromised, for Bell’s sake.

Join Laura Nowak, Leora W, and Meaghan Frey as they discuss the hour.

Do you think dividing up the two-hour finale worked better for building up momentum?

Laura: I would have rather had it as a 2-hour finale. Plus, I feel awful that the 9-1-1:Lonestar fans got the premiere pushed back again.

Leora W: It worked, but I’m also biased because I don’t have time in my busy schedule to watch two hours of the Resident in one night, so it worked out well for me!

Meaghan: This episode worked well enough as a stand-alone episode, so I’m OK with them stretching it out two weeks. I’m not usually a fan of two-hour episodes unless there is action throughout most of it. While this episode was great, it felt similar to a standard episode of The Resident.

With AJ’s prodding, Conrad returned to form with that deal struck with the governor. React!

Laura: I loved that AJ and Conrad were willing to take a chance for the greater good of Chastain and other Atlanta hospitals. I loved AJ reminding Conrad that they had dirt on the governor. Those two are such a fun team.

Leora W: I feel like there will be consequences, and those consequences better not kill off Sammie! I do not miss Conrad being a renegade. I like that he’s grown, though he grew the most when Nic called him on his shit.

Meaghan: I fall somewhere in between Laura and Leora. While I understood why they made the decision that they did, you know there will be consequences to their decision.

They’re putting a lot of trust in the governor, and that man hasn’t earned an ounce of it. AJ can say they will just blackmail him by threatening to expose his health history, but I don’t think that would be enough.

What if the governor goes downhill before getting the heart? He could expose what they did and say they made the decision for financial gain vs. doing what is medically necessary, which could, in turn, set Chastain up for a major lawsuit.

Did they rush the resolution with Ian? Should he have told Kit the truth instead of resigning?

Laura: I’m curious why/when Cade changed her mind on keeping his secret, or did that only apply to telling Conrad? She finally seemed at peace with her dad, even with him resigning, which was nice. I wish he’d owned up to it as part of his amends, but things were so chaotic there.

Leora W: It was so weird that Ian and Cade seemed on good terms at the end, given how they left things the last time we saw them. I expected her to blow up at him about not telling Kit, which would have been deserved. It was realistic for him to back out of coming clean. I won’t miss Ian, but I will miss what he brought to Cade’s arc.

Meaghan: In a perfect world, Ian would have come clean to Kit instead of resigning, but he isn’t there yet. He is still early on in this phase of his recovery. It says a lot about how seriously he is taking his recovery; he knew returning to work right now would be detrimental to his sobriety, so he is taking a step back.

Eventually, Ian will feel stable enough and have better-coping mechanisms in place to be able to re-enter that environment. I would feel differently if he had decided to return to work and kept the truth from her.

Or, I could be reading the whole situation wrong, and he only quit to avoid telling Kit and will move to another hospital where he will fall back into old habits. For Cade’s sake, I hope it is the former.

What are your thoughts on Cade and James’ sudden pairing and James potentially becoming serious with Cade? Did you enjoy it? Did it feel contrived?

Laura: It probably was contrived, but at least they had chemistry. I didn’t mind it, but it’s no secret I love Ian Anthony Dale (James).

Leora W: Pair the spares is a classic trope, but it worked well enough. Both of these characters deserve love, though it did feel like James was more invested than Cade at this juncture. That makes sense for her character, though. It would be weird if she were all in.

Meaghan: I instantly liked these two together more than James and Billie or Cade and Conrad. The chemistry just felt way stronger. I’m more than happy to see these two continue their relationship if we get another season.

Are you relieved that Devon compromised with Marco, for Bell’s sake?

Laura: Yes. While Devon has his morals, Chastain is a family. As you mentioned in your review, I wish we could have seen Devon tell Bell the news. Those family moments between co-workers mean so much.

Leora W: I don’t know. I feel like a lot of people were compromising their morals, and with how they deliberated about it, it feels like consequences are coming. That said, I’m less nervous about Devon’s comprising his morals having consequences than I am for AJ and Conrad.

Meaghan: I’m OK with this one. Sure, Devon will be wasting time and resources on a cause he doesn’t believe in, but it doesn’t actually hurt anyone — other than Devon’s sanity.

Should we have spent more time with Padma and her PPD arc?

Laura: I wish we could have seen AJ visit her. Hopefully, we’ll see that in the finale, but I do appreciate the focus on the twins. This episode was pretty packed, so I’m glad we got what we did.

Leora W: Absolutely. It hasn’t even been a week, and suddenly she’s fine? No. Too easy. It needs to take more time. Also, Padma did knitting classes as therapy?

Sorry, but as a friend of mine pointed out, no psych ward is going to give a woman who tried to kill herself a week ago a needle, be it for knitting or any other reason.

Meaghan: This is something I was worried about. I can, reluctantly, get past them skipping to the end of her treatment so that we can see her in a better place before the end of the season. If they were going to do that, though, they needed to have more time pass since the last episode.

As Leora said, a week is not enough time, and it feels like they are just trying to wrap it up in a neat bow rather than show that it’s a process that takes time.

Did you like Cade and Billie working together on Thea’s case? What are your thoughts on it?

Laura: I enjoyed them immensely and wish we could have seen more of that. I hate women fighting over a guy and prefer them supporting each other and working together.

Leora W: I agree with Laura. I hope we get more of this dynamic if the show is renewed.

Meaghan: I loved it. These two should’ve been friends from the get-go instead of pushing the Conrad-Cade-Billie love triangle. Please give us more of this. We haven’t had any strong female friendships since Mina and Nic left. We are overdue for one.

What are your predictions for the finale? What would you like to see? How do you want the season to be wrapped up?

Laura: When I said I wanted to see Sammie, I didn’t mean I wanted her to become ill. I hope that Greg, Jake, and Sammie make it and reunite with Kitbell and see Gigi for her 6th birthday. I love that they are one big happy family.

Leora W: Not really sure. I want Sammie to live and the hospital to be saved. I also think I’m ready for Bell to retire but still be on the show, just not operating anymore.

Meaghan: All I could think of when they showed Sammie in distress is how you said you wanted to see her again, Laura!Sammie better live. If next week is the series finale, I don’t want to see it go out with Jake and Bell having to mourn Sammie’s death.

I hope the hospital gets through this governor storyline in one piece, especially because it doesn’t feel likely to return.

I, too, would like Bell to retire from surgery and take on more of a teaching role. He still has so much to offer to the hospital, but he needs to accept his limitations for the sake of patients.

Is there anything else you’d love to address?

Laura: So far, this hour felt very much like it could be a season or series finale. Most of the characters are getting a resolution to their arcs.

Leora W: I’ve been rooting for Billie and Conrad for a while but seeing them in bed together made me miss Nic. I’m not sure if I want another season. The show hasn’t been as good these past couple of seasons. That said, if it happens, I’ll watch it.

Meaghan: It feels like the writers are resigned to this being the last season, and I think I’m OK with that. The Resident has told some incredible stories and left its mark on the medical genre. I personally never got past Nic and Mina leaving.

It just hasn’t been the same for me since. Their departures just took away too many of the show’s best dynamics. However, if the show does continue, I’ll be right there with them.

Over to you, Resident Fanatics. Do you agree with us? Do you disagree? Sound off below!

The season finale of The Resident airs Tuesday at 8/7c on FOX.

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

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