DOC Season 2 Episode 8 Review: A Relatable & Powerful Hour Of Television

There will always be a part of me that likes DOC because it is willing to push boundaries. It’s willing to also touch the emotional parts of the doctors and the patients. And then in episodes like DOC Season 2, Episode 8, He Loved You, that remind you that sometimes the lines can get blurred between the reality, relationships, and all of the lies that are drawn in the sand. Ethics can be blurred. 

And they aren’t always blurred because of something wrong. Sometimes it is to keep a secret, sometimes it is to protect someone, and sometimes it’s out of pure selfishness. But a lot of the time, it’s to save people from pain. 

DOC has a lot of things going on this week and I find myself breaking my thoughts of hating a character and trying to understand them better. And then sometimes it made me not like the people that I wanted to like forever. What I do know is that this was a very emotional hour of television.

A NEW NEURO 

You may remember from last week Amy isn’t allowed to practice medicine until they get whatever she’s going through under control. She’s been assigned a new neurologist, which speaking from experience, having to transfer doctors is a pain. So I feel for her but I also am thankful that she has a new doctor – because she can’t steam roll him and that’s what she’s done a lot to Gina. 

Katie comes to spend the day with her Mom – she doesn’t want her to be alone. I respect that she wants to be a good daughter, but there also have to be a line that isn’t crossed. See, I think Katie knows more than she will admit, but also that she doesn’t want her Mom to remember because she’s afraid of her becoming the person she was. 

But Amy is fighting for her memories, because she wants to remember all of the things that got her to this point. She also wants to remember Danny and I don’t thnk any of us can blame her for that. But I also see the fear in Katie’s face over that.  

Amy may have to choose between her memories and medicine, but I also wonder is she going to have to choose between Katie and the memory of Danny?

DANTES BACK 

I think what makes a good doctor is not only their knowledge, but also their empathy. Not all doctors have the same definition of empathy – but when you find one that can deliver it – hold onto it. Jake and Sonya have a close connection and feeling of wanting to help Dante. He refused surgery previously because of his wifes passing. He didn’t want to be alone. He misses his wife. 

And at first, Jake is respecting that DNR and just wants to keep him comfortable. It changes though when Jake gets really bad news – his own father passed away. He suffered a stroke. All of the sudden Jake is like Dante needs to be saved and get the surgery. His own loss is changing the way that he deals with patients. I never thought that Sonya would be the voice of reason, but here we are. It just sucks that Jake won’t listen and instead is acting like he’s superman. 

But hey, even superman honors peoples requests Jake. 

AND HE IS EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED

Time. Time is really fleeting and it’s a thief. We always think that we have more of it, but the truth is that we have less and less of it. Jake realizes that in a way that I don’t think would be easy on anyone. He finds out that his father had a stroke and died. 

Jake has always been the type that holds himself together and you would think that here he would allow himself to break. It just doesn’t come at the best time. Death never does though. He was treating Dante and his Dad passed – and it was just all too much. Yet, instead of leaving to deal with his Dads funeral, he thinks he can do it from the hospital. 

And that means giving Dante more time. Though Sonya tries to tell him that there is nothing that can be done, as Dante has a DNR, but Jake says that the reunion phrase that Dante mentioned, meant that he wanted to stay alive. As Sonya kept trying to talk to him – he got ruder and ruder. There is no part of me that doesn’t believe that he took this route because his father passed and he wanted to give Dantes kids more time. 

Time clouds emotions. The way that Jon Ecker navigates this whole conversation – half the time you’re finding that you’re mad at him because he’s not listening and half the time you’re cheering for him because he’s determined to do right by Dante and also his own Dad. It’s a powerful storyline and a powerful portrayal of a father and son relationship. 

FLASHBACKS & MEMORIES 

Jake is looking for any surgeon to do Dante’s surgery, but they all keep saying no. He’s visibly getting more and more frustrated as no one wants to do the surgery. They all say that Dante would die on the table. 

But Jake isn’t willing to give up. He believes that Dante is telling him that he wants to stay alive. What is hard to watch is that you know that Jake is doing this because he’s in pain. He’s flashing back to the last time that he saw his Dad, which happens to be when he took Amy to meet him. 

The flashbacks were painful to watch because you could see that Jake didn’t know that time was running out. Instead he kept putting off talking to his Dad and telling him how he really felt. Jake just wanted his Dad to be proud of him and I feel like as he remembers the past conversation that his Dad had with Amy – he’s left with things he will regret. 

But, I think regret is futile here. You can’t change it. All you have to do is be better, do better. Regardless of regret, Jakes father loved him and I think that he’s really just got to believe that. 

What did break me was hearing Jake telling his little girl that her Grandpa had passed away. The way that you saw in his eyes that he wouldn’t let that happen with him and his little girl – that there would be no distance between the two. 

KATIE NEEDS 

Katie being there for her Mom, and I admire that she’s held herself together so long. As Amy passes out, and Katie and Michael run up on her as she hits the ground – I broke in tears. But what was the worst part was seeing Katie’s fear. 

That girl has been through so much. I don’t know how Nora will deal with the fact that Michael couldn’t be there for her because he was at Amy’s appointments for Katie. However, it said something to me that Michael was willing to deal with that for his daughter. 

Amy has to make a choice in her life. What is she going to do? Is she going to keep looking backward or is she going to look forward? Katie needs her to look forward. I do believe that Katie had this idea that her Mom was going to really work on building a relationship with her in the present and all of these things have taken away from their relationship and time to rebuild it. 

I was happy that Amy and Michael took the time to ask Katie what she wanted to do. Katie getting away and going back to Michaels for a bit – i think that was for the best. I would love to see more of Katie in this show. We focus so much on what Amy is doing inside the hospital that we don’t get to see her making changes outside the hospital. And I want to see her repair her relationship with Katie. 

THAT CALL 

Jake seemed to have found his own redemption in keeping Dante alive so that he can spend time with his kids and grandkids. It turns out it was something that Dante wanted.

It was a very emotional moment – Dante’s son reunited with him and Jake feeling like he gave them more time. Time that he didn’t have.

I can always understand people who feel the need to make other people happy – I am a person that tries to do that (and I fail a lot). It makes it easier to deal with pain. Jake, he felt better making sure someone didn’t feel the way that he did.

What I didn’t expect is that he would be at the end of his day and the person that he would call would be Amy. I didn’t think that would happen, but it happening made my heart smile. Amy is his comfort. She is his home. He’s had to let go of that and so having that person and finding your way home to that person – even if for a minute, was good to see.

Jake invited her to his fathers funeral. Amy may not remember meeting him, but his Dad loved Amy. Jake didn’t take that for granted.

Whatever happens next in their relationship – it happens. But I really just hope that he finds he’s a good man.

Because he is.

OTHER THOUGHTS

• Gina is going home – Michael comes to visit and she thinks she’s in the hot seat. Michael is trying to be understanding. Compassion fatigue – Michael thinks it is like her She also has to checkin with Michael weekly
• Hannah and her brother are bat s***. Like they don’t know what has happened and yet they are willing to sacrifice Amy and they don’t know what their Dad did or what Amy did 
• TJ and Sonyas patient annoyed me. I wanted to fast forward but I didn’t. Was glad to see how strong TJ is.
• I didn’t know long sexual escapes could twist testies
• TJ letting Liz down easy was heartbreaking for her – cause you know been there and its not easy to be rejected.
• Jakes Dad not liking his ex wife made me laugh
• Cats in the Cradle will now be different to me
• Joan really just irritates me – glad she did the surgery, but she’s still a liar
• Jake was really mean to Sonya. Like WOAH