St. Denis Medical delivers a lot of comedy every week. Some episodes make us laugh out loud even more than we expected to. That was the case with St. Denis Medical Season 1, Episode 12, “Buffalo Bruce and Matty the Kid.” In this episode, we had a birthday party, a patient with the bubonic plague, and a wild cat on the loose. But one of the best things was getting to learn a bit more about Serena. So far, we’ve gotten to know Alex, Matt, Ron, and Bruce. So it was nice to get more of Serena’s story and how she came to be working at St. Denis Medical.
MORE: Missed the last episode of St. Denis Medical? Read our review of St. Denis Medical Season 1, Episode 11, “Nobody Even Mentions the Brownies.”
Jasper/Jasmine
At St. Denis Medical, the team encounters all sorts of crazy cases. Their latest one involves Jonathan (Robert Clendenin) and his emotional support cat Jasper (Jasmine, according to Bruce). Joyce is unhappy that a cat is in the hospital, and the situation doesn’t get any better when Bruce gets Jonathan’s lab results back and learns he has yersinia pestis, AKA bubonic plague, which he contracted from his cat after being scratched. This, of course, is not a good situation to be in, and it will place a bad light on the hospital if they have an outbreak. To confirm if the cat did give Jonathan the plague, Bruce attempts to get a sample from the cat. That doesn’t go well, and the cat goes loose in the hospital.
I’m sure you’re probably thinking it’s crazy that a cat could get loose in a hospital, but it’s not uncommon for things like this to happen. While I have never seen a cat inside any hospitals I’ve worked at, I have had to keep a snake from coming inside and slithering into a room. When I say nurses are a jack of all trades, this is what I mean. Sometimes, animal wrangling becomes part of our duties.
Bruce and Matt team up again to catch the cat and do it as quickly and quietly as possible. As the two hunt for the cat, Bruce picks up on Matt’s crush on Serena. Matt learns that Bruce and Serena had a thing, but it wasn’t a thing because they never dated. But Bruce, being Bruce, thinks that he’s making some grand gesture in giving Matt his blessing to date Serena. First, as Matt points out, you can’t bless someone to date someone you have never dated. Second, I think Serena has a say in who she chooses to date, and I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate Bruce putting her business out in the streets.
My Life Is Basic
It’s Serena’s birthday at St. Denis Medical, and every year, Alex goes all out for her. It’s become a tradition that the two have created where they both do big things for the other on their day. Serena starts off having a great time celebrating until she watches the slide show that Alex made for her. The slide show triggers her when she sees a photo from five years ago. That changes her whole mood. The thing with Serena is she’s young and is still living life. Before coming to Oregon and working at St. Denis, she was a travel nurse who visited places like Miami and Vegas. She had only planned to stay at St. Denis for six months, but somehow that turned into five years.
We get it. Birthdays are when you start to re-evaluate every part of your life. You reach a certain age and ask yourself, “Is this all there is?” “Is this where I want to be in life?” Serena starts to wonder how she ended up stuck and feels like she’s living a basic life. Seeing posts from a former co-worker doesn’t help because, to Serena, it seems like she’s living her best life. Alex can see something is bothering her, so she tries to nurse the problem by going the extra mile with Kacey Musgrave concert tickets. However, that backfires when she sees the concert isn’t for six months. It becomes yet another reminder that she’s just stuck.
Serena has been one of the nurses I wanted to know more about. I wasn’t surprised to learn she was a travel nurse before coming to St. Denis. That fits her personality. Serena strikes me as someone who likes to get out and see the world. I would have liked more information on how she ended up at St. Denis. I know she was a travel nurse and only intended to stay for six months, but how did those six months turn into five years?
This is Where I’m Supposed to Be
Because Serena was anxious about her career, she attempted to approach Joyce about the possibility of her leaving to go back to working as a travel nurse. Thankfully, Joyce didn’t hear her because she was preoccupied with Jasper, the cat. Everyone got caught in the cat drama in one of the funniest moments on St. Denis Medical yet. As I have said, the episodes are all funny, but watching Bruce, Matt, and the rest of the staff go up against the cat was laugh out loud bring tears to my eyes funny.
Although the cat drama caused a huge mess for everyone, it made Serena realize she was happy where she was. Everyone at St. Denis has become Serena’s family, which means a lot to her. Matt cemented those feelings by coming to her rescue once again to prevent her from being Jaspers’s next victim. He took cat scratches and risked contracting the plague to protect her. That’s brave. And I think we may be getting closer to those two having a real moment soon. I only wish he didn’t have to keep getting wounded to get her attention.
Other Thoughts
- Before this episode, I didn’t think that Bubonic plague was something people still had to consider. That’s one of the interesting things about this show. It makes you believe that, at some point, those diseases of old may pop back up.
- Cats carry the plague. Yet another reason to dislike them.
- Joyce, an isolation gown but no gloves? Shame on you.
- This is what, Matt’s second work-related injury now? Is he getting workers comp for those?
- Matt’s necklace, being the topic of conversation, was funny because someone will notice whenever you add something different to your look at work.
- Ron wasn’t invited to Serena’s after-work birthday thing at O’Malley’s. I wonder if it had anything to do with that parking incident in St. Denis Medical Season 1, Episode 4, “Salamat You Too.”
- “An invite is by social contract. Invite me and I say ‘no.’ Then, when I’m chilling at home, it’s my choice. It’s nice.” Okay, Ron. But also, I get it.
- I wonder if Matt will ask Serena about her “thing” with Bruce. I hope he doesn’t, but sometimes Matt can put his foot in his mouth.
- “I finally know how men feel. Just tell me what you want.”
- I’m glad Keith got to feel celebrated for his 50th birthday. I was sad he wasn’t getting the same recognition as Serena for her birthday.
St. Denis Medical airs Tuesday Nights at 8/7c on NBC.
