St. Denis Medical season 1 episode 8 “Gimme The Scuttlebutt,” touched on two significant issues this week: gossip and sex in the workplace. It’s no surprise that these topics have come up because, as Joyce put it, they’re all at work more than they are at home, so things happen. Your job is your second home, and the people you work with become like family. Even still, as we all know, family can get messy. And sometimes you can feel left out of family too.
Mutual Consent
After Joyce walked in on Bruce hooking up with a colleague in one of the on-call rooms, she decided it was time to remind everyone that sex in the workplace is a no-no. When she calls a team meeting, she quickly learns that she also needs to address workplace gossip. Everyone seems to know what’s going on with everyone but her. That doesn’t sit well with her because she assumed everyone felt they could talk to her.
The thing is, we get why she wasn’t in the loop. Joyce is an administrator, and it’s common that staff members don’t talk to administrators. Joyce is a doctor, and she was doing patient care before becoming the Executive Director, but that doesn’t matter. Once she stepped into that role, she was no longer someone her co-workers could relate to. She continues to try to bridge the gap where the staff feels comfortable enough to talk to her and tell her things, but anytime they do, the administrator kicks in, and everyone is reminded why they don’t speak to her.
It only gets weirder when she attempts to get the tea, or as she calls it, the “Scuttlebutt,” from the staff by creating a mutual consent form. It’s not a form that will go to HR; the staff is supposed to fill it out and essentially tell who they’re involved in a relationship with. First of all, it’s none of her business. Second, her intentions were obvious. Joyce doesn’t seem to get that she can’t have it both ways. She can’t want to know her staff’s business and then shut them down when they start having conversations that she doesn’t think are okay, like two coworkers speaking about their weekend.
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I will say that, though I thought Joyce’s mutual consent form was a bit intrusive, Bruce’s idea wasn’t any better. After talking to Ron about Joyce’s form, he came up with a pre-consent form. Only with Bruce’s form he wanted everyone to list the names of everyone they were considering hooking up with. Big YUCK with that one because, again, who anyone wants to have a relationship with is nobody’s business. It was comical to see how Bruce’s list backfired on him when he realized he’d been left off of Vals, though. His attempts to get her to add his name were silly and took away from the cringe factor, but still ew.
On-Demand Android
Working in the healthcare industry is incredibly exhausting. The hours are long, and when you get home after helping others, you only want to crash out and take some time for yourself. That, unfortunately, affects your family relationships, which we saw with Alex. Since Alex became the supervising nurse, she’s taken on more responsibilities and is busier than ever. That hasn’t left her a lot of time to have sexy time with her husband Tim. She’s trying to balance her marriage and being a mother as well. She gets a bit of a shocker hearing how active her coworkers are. She can’t imagine anyone having time to have intimate moments, whether at work or home, with the hours they all keep.
Serena and Val make it clear that they find time despite their schedules. Alex decides to start making time to take care of herself and her marriage, even if it means handling business on her lunch break. Serena helps her get fixed up so she and Tim can go off to a hotel together, but it doesn’t go as planned. Part of the reason is that Alex can’t get out of her own way.
Alex loves her job, and patient care means everything to her. That being said, that’s also a problem. She’s giving up the time that should be hers to care for her patients. Even when she’s supposed to be on lunch break. Healthcare workers have a hard time turning their brains off. Even on a break, we’re thinking of the patients and the next thing to do when our break is over. Alex needed to realize that it was okay for her to do something for herself. She wanted to be with her husband, and that’s okay. I was surprised and a little proud of her for not returning to work when she learned there was an accident in the area. Especially when she knew that they wouldn’t make it to the hotel in time because of it; instead, she found other options, albeit not the best ones, but when you only have 18 minutes left on your break, you have to make do.
Though Tim did say he felt a little like an “On-Demand Sex Android,” he understood what Alex was trying to do. Tim knows Alex is a hard worker and how much she loves her family. He wanted her to know how much he loved and appreciated her for all she did. We’re glad he could tell her that and give her that connection because she needed it. Maybe just not in the VIP Suite next time.
Other thoughts
- “When I was a doctor, I was a walking page six.” And that’s probably another reason why people don’t tell Joyce their business.
- Val is having a weekly hook-up and pretending she’s really at Wendy’s by coming back with the same bag each time… how has nobody figured this out yet? She’s good.
- Again, watching Bruce try to get Val to add him to her “sex list” was comical.
- Alex eating her PB sandwich at the nurses’ station while charting was relatable but also a no-no because the Joint Commission can show up anytime and no food at the nurses’ station.
- Ron says he has no idea where people got the idea that they can come to him with all their problems. Also relatable. But let’s be honest, Ron loves it.
- Dakota saying the pre-consent list kinda feels like harassment… yup.
- Matt, get it together, dude. Alex shouldn’t worry about the patients you care for when she’s on lunch.
- Still waiting for Serena to realize Matt has a crush on her.
- “We’re at work more than any place. Stakes are high; feelings develop, and romances will happen. But we all deserve respect.”
St. Denis Medical airs Tuesday Nights at 8/7c on NBC.
