Season 3, Episode 6 – Facade

Walking off the elevator before her shift, Amy approaches Graham and gives him a hard time about the Twins game he attended the night before, signaling that it’s the day after Episode 5. As a consequence of his behavior yesterday, when he left to attend a luncheon honoring his stepmother and made everyone else do his work, Amy puts Graham on scut work for the day. While talking to Graham, Amy has a memory seizure. Touching her head in pain, in her mind she sees an attractive, well-dressed woman. Soon enough, we find out that the woman is Graham’s stepmother, Nina Barker.

Through a series of flashbacks, we see some history between Amy and Nina. First, Nina is walking the halls of Westside with Max when Amy confronts him, saying that Nina Barker can “throw her money around” all she wants, but it’s Max’s job to tell her that they don’t need a plastic surgery wing. Clearly, Amy has no idea that the woman with Max is Nina. Max makes the introduction. Unphased, Amy looks at Nina and says she stands by what she said. In another scene, Nina tries for a fresh start by taking Amy to lunch. She attempts to bond with Amy over the loss of a child, telling Amy that she lost her daughter and first husband. Amy rejects the connection, reiterating that plastic surgery is a waste of resources. Nina takes Amy seriously when she suggests that healthcare for underprivileged women is better use of funds. They even visit a free women’s health clinic together. The relationship sours quickly, though, when Nina hints to Amy that her stepson Graham could use help securing an internship at Westside. Amy refuses, saying it’s a conflict of interest due to Nina’s mega-donor status. As leverage, Nina threatens to expose something sinister about Amy’s involvement in Ben’s clinical trial. Shocked, Amy stares her down and walks off. “When the time comes, you know where to find me,” Amy says.  

In the present, Nina is at the hospital for a donor lunch. She introduces herself to Amy, who of course doesn’t recognize her, and explains that they knew each other well before the accident. Nina then visits Graham in the IMO. He says he really hopes there’s no bad blood between Nina and Amy because he doesn’t need any more trouble with Amy. Nina offers to help, but Graham pleads with her not to pull any strings with the board. Nina apparently ignores his plea because later in the episode, Michael tells Amy that Nina talked to Max and asked if Amy could take an “extra interest” in Graham. Amy doesn’t reveal to Michael that anything is awry with Graham. She smiles through her teeth and says she’ll “make sure he gets all the attention he needs.”

After she has the memory seizure while talking to Graham, Amy goes to Gina and asks her to prescribe a new medication she’s been researching. Gina tells Amy that she can take the medication for today, but beyond that they need to discuss it with Amy’s neurologist and Michael. Amy hates that Michael has to know everything, but she gets it. He’s her boss, after all. That doesn’t mean she isn’t pissed off when Michael asks her multiple times how it’s going with the new medication. By the end of the day, she’s fed up with him and calls him out for not trusting her when she’s been completely transparent since her return to work.

Sonya finds TJ before their shift starts, wanting to check in after they spent the night apart. TJ apologizes to Sonya for the way he acted the day before. He tells Sonya he wants to tell her something…that he loves her. She tells him not to say it just because he feels obligated. TJ assures him that’s not the case. Sonya says she loves him, too.

Sonya and TJ’s new love is tested when Sonya’s father, Harsha Maitra, comes to the hospital for a donor luncheon, the same one Nina Barker is attending. Mr Maitra’s arrival comes just after Ben loses a chunk of his clinical trial funding. Ben tells TJ about the funding loss and asks him about Sonya, knowing that her father is a wealthy donor who happens to be in the building that day and might be a prospective donor to Ben’s trial. TJ tells Ben that Sonya initially objected to her father donating to the hospital (as we saw in Season 2, Episode 5), but they are trying to mend fences, so Sonya gave her father the ok to donate as long as it’s anonymous. As they talk, Ben realizes that Sonya is the doctor TJ is dating (Ben knew from Episode 3 that TJ was dating a fellow doctor). Although he initially hesitates to ask TJ for a favor, he eventually asks him to talk to Sonya and see if she can influence her father’s donation.

TJ talks to Sonya about Ben request. She knows how promising Ben’s trial is and how much this could help TJ’s career, so she agrees to talk to her dad. TJ says he wants to be the one to pitch Ben’s trial to Mr Maitra. It’ll be a good introduction since they’ve never met. Of course, the meeting doesn’t go as planned. While TJ does a great job impressing Dr Maitra, Sonya breaks down in tears when the stress of keeping secrets from her father becomes much. She reveals that she and TJ are in a relationship and that she’s pregnant. Although Mr Maitra handles it as well as can be expected and decides to donate to Ben’s trial, Sonya feels used by Ben and doesn’t like the way it all went down.

Jake starts his day dropping Mia off at school. Rachel’s mom in Baltimore is having health issues, so Rachel is visiting her. We know from Season 2, Episode 9 that Jake and Rachel were supposed to move to Baltimore shortly before Covid, but he changed his mind. Mia is worried about her grandmother, given that they lost Jake’s dad not too long ago (also in Season 2, Episode 9). Jake reassures her that her grandmother will be ok. Mia says she’s happy he’s home. He says he is, too.

As Jake and Amy start their day treating the same patient at Westside, Amy overhears him wrapping up a phone call with Rachel. He assures Rachel that her mom is going to be ok, then says, “I love you, too,” as he hangs up the phone. That stings.

Jake and Amy’s shared case is heartbreaking – a woman in witness protection who must choose between leaving her boyfriend and his daughter behind to protect them, or taking them with her into witness protection and risking their lives. To ensure her safety, they must treat her in a clandestine location and can only inform the people who are actively assisting with her medical care (Michael, Kyle, and Ben). Jake and Amy each have their own personal realizations as they talk with their patient and her boyfriend throughout the day. The boyfriend tells Jake he had no idea that his girlfriend was in witness protection and doesn’t understand why she ever got into a relationship with him. As Amy walks by at that exact moment, Jake explains to the boyfriend that sometimes you can’t control who you fall in love with, even when it’s not supposed to happen. Meanwhile, Amy tries to help the patient decide whether to let her boyfriend and his daughter go with her, or leave them behind to protect them. Amy tells the patient that sometimes love means letting people go. We love different people throughout our lives, and they always remain a part of us, even when we move on.

After their patient decides to leave her boyfriend and his daughter behind, Amy and Jake sit together to process the events of the day. Overcome with emotion, Amy tells Jake she’s sorry for how they ended. They should have talked things through, instead of her thinking she had all the answers and running away. Despite it all, she tells him that she’s happy he went home to Mia…and Rachel. She says it must be good for him. Jake says it is and thanks Amy for saying that.

Always keen to stir up drama, Graham tips off Sonya that Amy and Kyle were hiding something from everyone all day. He tells Sonya that he saw Kyle on the 4^th floor, which is under construction and off limits to patients and staff. Sonya goes to investigate and finds Amy exactly where Graham said she’d be. Sonya is clearly upset that Amy didn’t tell her what was going on.