Typically, when shows return, we get the “Previously on…” and St. Denis Medical has fun with that by having everyone literally tell us what happened last season, but not in such an on-the-nose way. Alex, who was promoted to Charge Nurse the previous year, has just returned from a week’s vacation in Hawaii with her husband. She’s determined to bring the Hawaii energy back to the floor.
Serena, who learned that Matt has a crush on her, is now working in a different zone to ensure that space helps him get over her. Matt, who joined the team last year, spent his time working on becoming a better nurse and exploring more of the town. Bruce, well, Bruce is still Bruce. The only difference is he’s got some new ink in the form of a compass tattooed on his left bicep. And Ron is still the same Ron who says it like it is.
That being said, things at St. Denis are just as crazy as before. Especially now that Joyce has a new project on her hands in St. Denis Medical season 2, Episode 1, “Aloha Everyone.”
MORE: Read how Season 1 of St. Denis Medical ended in our season finale review!
Under Construction
Last season on St. Denis Medical, the hospital held a big gala to raise funds. After Amelia, a wealthy benefactor, gave the hospital a large donation, Joyce decided she would use it to build her dream birthing center. In Season 2, Episode 1, “Aloha Everyone,” construction is underway. It appears to be coming along nicely. There are themed rooms like “The Outback,” which makes the mother feel like she’s in Australia. Joyce is having a lot of fun putting her dream together. That is, until she received a call that Amelia wanted to do a walk-through.
As always, Joyce loses her cool and, in a panicked state, has the staff, including Alex, all start moving things around to get the center ready. There’s a lot of mixed communication that ensues, and that’s honestly the fault of Joyce. She has a bad habit of jumping to conclusions and not gathering all of the information she needs before she acts. That’s not good skills for a leader to have. It stresses the staff out, and it just leads to a lot of unnecessary and in Joyce’s case, costly mistakes.
“Chill Alex”
Alex’s Hawaiian vacation has left her feeling so good and relaxed. She shows up to work ready to bring the “Chill Alex” energy to her coworkers. What she quickly realizes is that there is no real way to maintain chill at work. And when that work is in a high-stress environment like being a healthcare worker, it’s virtually impossible. Emergency after emergency keeps happening in the hospital. Patients are coming in with all sorts of problems that need to be addressed. She’s dealing with staffing drama between Serena and Matt (more on that later), and then when Joyce comes demanding she fix the birthing center, it all becomes a bit too much.
Alex had hoped that her vacation would make her feel like a new person and that it would unlock something, but what she discovered was that even when you leave for vacation, once you come back, you’re still you. We have all been here before in this exact situation. You leave work for a vacation, and you forget that the work problems don’t go away. It’s almost like getting splashed in the face with ice-cold water. A major dose of reality.
When Alex snaps, it’s one of the most relatable moments. Her breaking down and stepping away to have a moment to cry is very real. Being a healthcare professional is hard. And it’s draining. But, as Alex does say, it is still worth it. And you do love the people you work with and help out.
MORE: Relive Matt and Serena’s McDonald’s date in St. Denis Medical, Season 1, Episode 17, ‘Bruce-ic And The Mus-ic’
Matt is Over Serena
Matt and Serena spent the majority of season 1 of St. Denis Medical dancing around their feelings for each other. When Serena learned that Matt had feelings for her, it scared her. So much so, she requested that Alex put her in a different zone. She feels that being placed in a different zone will help him forget about his feelings. And it did. Which caught Serena by surprise.
Serena is feeling like her relationship with Matt is getting back to their friend dynamic, so she goes to Alex to request that she and Matt be put back together in their zones again. Alex drops a bombshell on her when she informs her that, to do this, she needs to ask Matt if he’s okay with it. Unbeknownst to her, Matt had also requested to be switched to a different zone. This sets Serena off, and she confronts Matt, who doesn’t seem bothered by it at all. In fact, he’s relieved because he was able to tell Serena that being apart has helped him get over her.
From Serena’s reaction, it’s clear that she still has feelings for him. So with that, season 2 should be quite interesting for those two.
St. Denis Medical airs Monday Nights at 8/7c on NBC.
