Official Synopsis
On Michael’s first day as Chief of Internal Medicine, Joan arrives at the hospital as a patient in dire straits. Amy, determined to save her, clashes repeatedly with Richard over Joan’s treatment plan. Meanwhile, Gina makes a nearly impossible medical decision for a young patient and Liz fights for her allegations against Richard to be taken seriously in the all-new “The Big Chair” episode of Doc.
Timeline
The day after Episode 19, 7 month since the accident
What I'll Remember
Joan is at her son Ethan’s house, getting ready to spend the day babysitting her grandson. As her daughter-in-law gets ready to leave for work, Joan has trouble breathing, then collapses.
At the same time, people are gathering in the IMO at Westside to start the day. Amy avoids eye contact with Jake as he walks into the room. Michael gives a speech to the whole team on his first day as Chief of Internal Medicine. He says he is excited to join them in the trenches and that his door is always open. He announces Amy and Sonya as co-Chief Residents. They’ll take over as a new class of interns starts and Jake transitions to a pediatric fellowship. This is the first we’ve heard about Jake’s post-residency plan.
During Michael’s speech, Joan arrives in the ER. Richard is assigned as her attending physican and immediately disagrees with Amy about the diagnosis and treatment. Richard thinks Joan has leukemia and wants to start chemo. Amy strongly disagrees because her condition is complicated by the high dose of steroids she took get through her final surgeries (especially Javi’s in Season 2, Episode 17). Joan goes with Richard’s recommendation. She worries that Amy doesn’t want to admit how sick she is and isn’t thinking clearly.
Later that morning, Jake texts Amy to say he’s sorry about Joan and is there if Amy needs him, a reminder of the text Amy sent him on the morning of his father’s funeral in Season 2, Episode 9. As he finishes texting, Jake talks with Sonya about the duties of her new job as co-Chief Resident. She tells Jake about her relationship with TJ, saying she’s worried about what people will think. Jake says you can’t worry about what anyone else thinks.
In flashbacks, we see Amy at her mother’s bedside in a hospital. Amy and her mom clearly have a strained relationship. she refers to her mom’s partner by his first name, indicating that he isn’t Amy’s dad. Amy tells her mom that she needs to quit smoking. Her mom says it’ll never happen. She asks if Amy should be getting back to Minneapolis. Amy says that Dr Ridley is away, so she has some breathing room. Amy’s mom has no idea who Dr Ridley is. Amy says she’s mentioned her multiple times and really wants her as a mentor, but she’s very busy and travels all over. Amy’s mom snarkily asks why she needs a mentor because when she wants something, she gets it. In the next flashback, Amy walks into her mother’s hospital room to find that she died of a heart attack while Amy was out.
Later in the flashback storyline, Amy and Gina talk about Amy’s mom’s death. It’s been a couple weeks, and Amy hasn’t even cried yet. Gina tells Amy that she needs to feel her feelings. Amy says she’s fine. She needs to focus on work and that hot bartender (who we know is Michael). In the final flashback, Joan calls Amy from a medical mission trip to tell her how sorry she is about her mother’s passing. Amy is stunned because she didn’t think Dr Ridley even liked her. Joan tells Amy that she has greatness inside her, and she is going to help her realize it. We now know that Amy and Joan’s relationship was solidified around the time of Amy’s mother’s death, explaining a lot about their dynamic.
At first it seems like Richard was right about Joan’s diagnosis, and he’s happy to rub it in Amy’s face multiple times. Not convinced, Amy goes behind Richard’s back and has Dr Franco run a blood test. Richard finds out and gets extremely upset that Amy went around him. Michael walks in on their fight . After Richard leaves the room, Michael calls Amy out for lying to him on their first day working together (earlier in the day, she said she was with a patient, when she was actually in the lab with Dr Franco). Amy apologizes, saying she’s not handling Joan’s situation well because every time she looks at Joan in the hospital bed, she sees her mom. She says she wishes Michael had been there back then when her mom died. Michael says he’s here now. Amy says she knows.
The blood test Dr Franco secretly ran for Amy shows that Joan’s chemo is having negative side effects. They reduce the chemo dose. When Joan starts seizing, Richard agrees with Amy that this can’t all be from leukemia. They are missing something. Amy contacts a Spanish doctor who dealt with a similar case in a MDS patient. Jake steps in when Amy’s translation app doesn’t work, speaking fluent Spanish to the doctor. Amy is surprised, but clearly thinks it’s adorable. Thanks to the Spanish doctor and one of Amy’s last memories before her missing years, Richard and Amy finally figure out that Joan’s condition is being caused by a parasite she picked up in Ecuador in 2016. When Joan finally wakes up, Amy gives her the good news that she doesn’t have leukemia, but needs to take good care of herself from now on.
TJ and Gina are still treating Walter, the foster child from Season 2, Episode 19. Walter asks Gina why she doesn’t have kids. She said it’s a big commitment, and there are a lot of things she wanted to give her best to in life, so she decided not to have kids. TJ and Gina talk to Walter’s surgeon about two treatment options. One is more definitive but riskier, the other is safer but may require more surgeries later. Gina picks the safer option, and they prep Walter for surgery. Gina’s wife Wendy calls to tell her that she got a special dinner reservation for their anniversay that night. Gina says she can step away for dinner and go back to the hospital later to check on Walter.
Rachel brings Mia to the hospital so that she, Jake, and Mia can talk as a family about why Mia got in trouble at school. Rachel gets a little too close to Jake during their family chat, putting her hand on his leg. He moves it away inconspicuously, but the vibe is still very cozy. After hearing Mia’s story, Jake says he wants Mia to move schools. Rachel says he’s right. Jake can’t believe she actually admitted that he’s right. They share a look that could be interpreted as flirtatious. Although it’s not clear at this point, Rachel knows that Jake is with Amy (as we’ll learn in Season 2, Episode 21).
Empowered by Michael’s morning speech and thinking about what Joan said in Season 2, Episode 19, Liz tells Michael that she wants to go to HR about Richard and is looking for his support. Richard took advantage of his position of power and forced her to lie about Bill Dixon’s death. Michael’s response is that the Dixon case has already been litigated, and part of the deal was that Richard got his job back. Liz tells Sonya about the conversation with Michael, and Sonya confronts him. She is pissed. She tells him that Liz didn’t come forward sooner because she was afraid, and Michael needs to consider the power imbalance. Michael starts by defending what he said to Liz, but ultimately changes his mind and says he’ll support Liz if she brings her complaint to HR.
After Walter’s surgery, he initiatlly does well but declines quickly. He’s going to need another surgery in the morning. Gina feels responsible because she made the choice to go with the safer option. Michael says she should never have been put in position of making that decision. Wendy shows up at the hospital. Gina lost track of time and forgot about their dinner, but Wendy is very understanding. Then Walter codes. Michael manages the code, with Gina and TJ assisting. Amy walks into the room and freezes, watching Michael perform CPR on a child around Danny’s age. We see flashbacks of Michael doing CPR on Danny at the museum. It’s clear that he and Amy are thinking about the same thing. They share a heartbreaking look once Walter has a pulse again.
Amy and Gina connect about what a hard day it’s been for both of them between Joan and Walter. Gina comments on how hard it’s going to be for Walter to get adopted, even if he recovers fully. Amy can see that Gina wants to adopt him. Gina says she cares about him, sure, but knows what the boundaries are.
At the end of the day, Amy walks into the locker room to find Jake sitting on a bench. She smiles tentatively and sits next to him. Jake asks if she knew about TJ and Sonya. Amy has no idea what he’s talking about. Jake gives her a look. She gets it. They laugh. Jake says that they (he and Amy) must have set a good example. It feels like an olive branch. Amy says she heard his family was at the hospital today. He tells her that Mia got into a fight at school, and the whole thing was ridiculous. Amy asks Jake to tell her all about it…on the way home. He takes her hand. Everything is going to be ok. They walk out of the hospital together, laughing and talking. Michael sees them and deliberately walks the opposite way.