I think
this might be my favorite episode of the series so far. It’s nicely plotted, with some good funny
bits, and I can see the groundwork being laid for future developments.
The
jumping-off point for our latest adventure is a cantankerous patient. She’s obstinate, mouthy, and accusatory
(though not downright reprehensible like the difficult patient from last
season,) and watching the staff’s teeth-gritted dealings with her is pretty
funny. Furthermore, the episode opens on
a meeting all about her, an assessment of her current living situation. This brings all the major players into one
room and lets them bounce off one another.
Including
PC’s Peter Healy. As part of the
assessment, he has to determine her mental state, and to be honest, he hasn’t
done too much to convince me of his psychologist prowess. He isn’t shown to be incompetent or anything;
the main senses I get from him are “distracted” and “self-important.” He spends a fair chunk of the meeting
reminding everyone how valuable his time is, and how quickly he has to dash
off. It’s possible that he’s good at
what he does, but I could easily buy him missing something important because he’s
too busy to take his time.
The
best part of the episode, in my opinion, is the showcase for Kim. The show has often painted her as the “slightly
rubbish” nurse who’s a bit slow on the uptake, but when all the more senior
staff are at a meeting, she runs the ward on her own quite deftly. Her somewhat wearied, bemused reactions to
the difficult patient’s ramblings strike me as the right tack, she has an easy
give-and-take with other patients, and she’s the most likeable she’s been all
series. I have a theory that everyone’s
competence level on this show is inversely proportional to the proximity of
their immediate supervisor. Getting On: scathing indictment of helicopter
oversight? You be the judge.
Warnings
An
elderly woman receives a bath. You don’t
see any of the, shall we say, “bathing suit area,” but fair warning all the
same.
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