Tuesday, October 4, 2011

"A Gifted Man" Episode 1.2: In Case of All Hell Breaking Loose--Recap!

Hi, everyone!

So sorry this recap is a couple of days late. It was a pretty busy weekend. But here we go with the recap of Friday's episode...

Dr. Holt arrives at his office. Rita runs through his schedule for the day, mentioning that a reporter, Liz Martin, will be interviewing him for NYC's Top 10 Surgeons in Manhattan. Rita then reveals that his waiting room is full of walk-ins, to which Michael replies that he doesn't take walk-ins. A young mother says she heard Michael had helped a boy from Clinica Sanando. Michael tells Rita to push back his first appointment and runs out the door to Anna's clinic. He finds the social worker (who I incorrectly identified as a nurse last week, sorry!) and tells her to stop referring patients to him. She insists she hasn't referred anyone but says word got around about what he did for the little boy. A man asks if the service is inside and it turns out Clinica Sanando is holding a memorial service for Anna.

Michael goes inside and is surprised to see the clinic is very crowded. He takes a seat toward the back and listens to people saying really nice things about Anna. While a girl plays a song, the man next to Michael strikes up a conversation about how they each know her. His name is Zeke and he turns out to be a doctor at the clinic.

The next speaker is President of the Board overseeing the clinic. He's also a university professor and Surprise! He was Anna's boyfriend, too. And he announces a scholarship fund in her name. Michael catches a glimpse of Anna, who is watching the service, but she disappears before he gets a chance to talk to her.

Outside, Michael chats with Anna's boyfriend, Philip, and a woman runs up begging for help for a boy who fell on the playground. He is unresponsive. They get him inside the clinic and revive him, learning that his name is Patrice and he came from Haiti a few months ago to live with his dad after his mother died. An injury to Patrice's elbow doesn't match up with the story of his fall. Michael wants to run blood tests, but learns that it always takes a couple of days for the clinic to get laboratory results since they have to send everything out. Finding an old microscope in a storage closet, he dusts it off, checks a blood sample and discovers that Patrice has sickle-cell anemia.

Back at his own practice, Michael's CPA Jim and wife Rebecca come in after she has fallen off her bike. She mentions that her husband has been on her to exercise more since menopause has caused her to gain weight. She explains that just before she fell, she saw something angelic looking. Michael diagnosis her with a silent migraine, which do not typically cause pain, and orders a prescription. He asks if she has any pain from the fall and she says her ribs are bothering her, so he orders a CT.

In the hall, Michael talks with a colleague about the migraines and something suddenly occurs to him. He runs to stop the CT, brings in an ultrasound machine and discovers Rebecca is pregnant. The couple cries because they had tried for so long to have a baby and she thought she was in menopause.

Pleased with himself for diagnosing a pregnancy for the first time in 10 years, Michael goes back upstairs to find Rita mad at him for taking off earlier. Anton is inside his office. Michael thanks him for extracting Anna, but Anton, who knows perfectly well that Anna is still around, says that even if he had extracted her, she could still find a way back in. Anton senses she's there and Anna appears, begging Michael to tell the truth. But he lies and tells Anton she's gone. Anton leaves and Anna and Michael talk about the memorial and her boyfriend.

The phone rings. It's Clinica Sanando and Anna pleads with Michael to answer. He reluctantly does and it's Zeke, asking for help with the sickle-cell boy. Michael says he's too busy. Anna tells him if he doesn't go, he'll always wonder what happened to that boy. Rita brings in Liz the reporter, but Michael says he has an emergency and has to leave.

Back at the clinic, Patrice's father, Harold, has arrived and Michael is about to show him back to the room. Zeke tells Harold about Patrice's condition and that he needs a blood transfusion. Harold says he'll donate, pulling out a donor card to prove that he can. Except that his blood type is AB- and Patrice's is O+, which means they aren't related. In his charming bedside manner, Michael tells Harold he can't donate because he's not Patrice's biological father. Angry and shocked, Harold storms out.

Rita calls to say Rebecca has come back with the worst headache of her life. Everything seems normal, so Michael orders an MRI and discovers a brain tumor. The good news is that it will respond to chemo. The bad news is she can't do chemo while pregnant. She's 26 weeks along and wants to wait, but Michael tells her the tumor is too aggressive and they can't wait. He wants to induce labor, giving the baby (a boy) an 80% chance of survival. Jim's all for it. Rebecca refuses.

After dinner with his colleague, Michael stops back by Clinica Sanando to check on Patrice again. Zeke is still looking for a hospital with an available bed, as well as transportation. Patrice asks for his dad, they make up excuses why he hasn't arrived, Zeke finally finds a ride to County. He goes into renal failure because the school nurse earlier gave him ibuprofen. Michael and Zeke save him, and off he goes to the County Hospital.

Rita is annoyed at Michael for constantly running off to the clinic, but he tells her they need a lot of help right now. She reminds him that she used to be a nurse and would be willing to help if he needs her. He says he's done with it, then asks what happened with the reporter. Rita says he got bumped to the #1 spot on the list because of his dedication.

The phone rings. Jim and Rebecca are on the way in because Rebecca has terrible nosebleed and agonizing headache. Michael rushes her in for emergency surgery to correct the hemorrhaging tumor. Rebecca makes him promise that if anything happens, he'll save the baby and not her. Then Jim, who didn't hear the conversation, pleads with Michael to choose Rebecca's life over the baby's.

In surgery, things go haywire. The OB is running late from another surgery. Michael drills into Rebecca's skull and is trying to find the source of the bleeding when the baby's heart rate plummets. He's trying to stop the bleeding, but the baby's heart is dangerously low. At the last possible second, he finds and clamps the bleed, then performs an emergency C-section. The OB arrives, Michael stabilizes Rebecca and is able to remove the tumor. Mom and baby are both okay. Jim promises Michael free taxes for life.

Anna comes back and congratulates Michael on the surgery, then asks about Patrice. When Michael tells her he's at County, she insists the boy would be better off under Michael's care and that he should have Patrice transported over. And that he should find Harold, Patrice's father, and get the two reunited.

The next day, Anna's boyfriend, Philip, comes to see Michael and asks him to work at the clinic. Michael says he's too busy, but that he knows some great doctors and will send some over. And that he'll find the clinic a new director.

Michael finds Harold at work and yells at him, calling him an idiot. Michael says the only thing Patrice ever did was love his father, and that Harold is punishing the wrong person. Harold refuses to listen and Michael leaves.

Back in Patrice's room, the boy asks again where his father is. Reluctantly, Michael finally starts to tell him what happened to his father, but then Harold shows up, apologizing for not being there. They hug and everything is going to be okay.


So, what were your thoughts on Episode 2? Was it as good as the premier? Better? Not quite there? Be sure to vote in our poll!

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