We treat our seniors like they’re disposable and don’t still have a lot of life left to live.

It was another strong and DEVASTATING hour of the series. A great deal of that had to do with The Resident Season 5 Episode 17‘s focus on Gerontology, a field of medicine that you rarely see explored in such a detailed, emotionally impactful manner.

The esteemed Vicki Lawrence and George Wyne gave heartfelt performances, and Alan Ainsberg got a chance to shine for the first time since his introduction.

Kit and Bell are the most adorable couple, and the series gives us these precious moments between the two that just warm the cockles of your heart.

Of course, the two saw Gloria and Arthur in action and aspired to be the same when they got to that age. It’s all we can wish for, but let’s also hope that Kitbell won’t meet the type of tragedy that the Kravitzes did.

Kit: Do you think we’ll still be that in love when we’re their age?
Bell: Why wouldn’t we be?

The more domestic and cute scenes of Kitbell we receive, the likelier it seems that the two will have an adorable wedding or something and make it official. Wouldn’t that be the best?

You could sense Kit’s attachment to Arther and his influence on her. And when you consider the field that Kit got into, orthopedics, you can get the overlap in something like gerontology.

It proved to be a great teaching moment for the residents, caught up in the flash of surgeries and the more “exciting” fields like cardio and neuro that they couldn’t appreciate the importance of Gerontology and why Devon, Kit, and Bell wanted them to pay attention at the senior facility.

Seniors are another vulnerable demographic, and unsurprisingly, they get dismissed when they face off again with medical professionals.

Gloria: I can’t leave him. He needs me.
Bell: I get it.
Gloria: You have got to be better than you ever have been.

Zach was guilty of that line of thinking when he started, too. The hour did a solid job of acknowledging the type of ageism in healthcare while showing us the standard of care that everyone, including seniors, deserves.

Because of Gloria’s age, it was easy for the residents to assume that she had something like cancer or Alzheimers or that whatever was happening to her resulted from the blanketed “old age.”

Instead, they got into poly-pharmacy, which was pretty darn great to witness. It’s one of the frustrations that come along with taking medications.

You take one medication for something you’re battling, and the next thing you know, you have to take something else to combat the side effects of the first meds. And it becomes a mess of different meds that are meant to treat various things and have poor interactions with each other.

It’s something that many people can attest to and experience, but seniors face these scenarios more. Gloria’s medications were a tangled web of substances masking other things happening to her and interacting poorly with others.

So often this season, we’ve seen Devon hit the whiteboard to solve some medical mystery, and I love that he’s also become a diagnostician, but he has a unique style of his own while doing it.

Zach was so resistant to helping at first because he didn’t think any of it mattered anyway, but the more time he spent with Gloria and Arthur, finally seeing them as lively humans, the more invested he became in the case.

And ironically, as Devon implied, Zach may have found his calling. Some of the things that Arthur stated stuck with him, and he used that and his knowledge to figure out what was really wrong with Gloria.

Unfortunately, it was too damn late. While Devon said her Whipple would’ve resulted in her death anyway, it didn’t make her loss any easier.

Again, the magic of guest stars becoming these characters you adore from the second they’re introduced until their story ends. It was heartbreaking when Zach realized that Gloria was more than just “an old woman.” She was lively, spry, funny, kind, loving, and irreplaceable, passed away on that table.

The idea of breaking such horrible news to Arthur was beyond upsetting. He was already a brilliant man whose memory was declining, and Gloria was the love of his life. It’s hard to imagine him learning how to function without her. She was his world and his everything.

Kit breaking the news to her mentor was one of the most devastating moments of an hour that was nerve-wracking. Gloria’s death is one of the most upsetting patient losses in the series’ history.

Zach: Gloria wasn’t just another fragile old lady. She was strong and loved. She deserved more time. But every doctor looked at her like she was just another lost cause.No one cared enough to ee that by just treating her systems they were actually making her worse.
Devon: No one saw the bigger picture until you did. I’d consider going into gerontology, Zach.You may have a gift.

You could appreciate that they easily could’ve upheld the narrative that Gloria’s death was less heartbreaking because of her age compared to Peter, who had a long life ahead of him. But they treated both cases with equal weight, and it was upsetting that both of them didn’t survive the operating room.

Gigi continues to be one of the most extraordinary things about this season. She’s a precious little girl, but she’s so damn intelligent and observant. She’s reasonably and realistically in tune with those around her while remaining innocent and age-appropriate.

Gigi was vital in Conrad figuring out what was happening to Peter. If not for her chattering away in that way that only small, sweet kids can, Conrad wouldn’t have pieced things together, and Peter would’ve gotten a craniotomy that he didn’t need.

Gigi and Peter were so adorable together, so when he fell ill, it was stressful. No one wants to see a sick kid, especially when he knocked on death’s door with brain swelling.

It’s typical of kids to experience the absolute most and not alert adults about what’s going on with them until it’s too late. But Peter had some other issues that contributed to his taciturn approach to how sick he was.

Poor Peter had some severe separation anxiety because his mother disappeared on them on a whim. He clung to Spencer as if his father would leave him at any second, and he didn’t want to make any waves.

The case had Conrad and Billie working together, and it was surprising to see them butt heads as much as they did. We haven’t seen that from them in some time. But it was more so Conrad coming from the place of a father.

He was grateful that Gigi wasn’t experiencing with Peter was, but he didn’t want his daughter to lose her best friend when she had already lost her mom, and he also could relate to Spencer, a single father whose child is his whole world.

Naturally, from a parent’s viewpoint, you’d want the least invasive treatment possible. It’s terrifying to consider brain surgery on a five-year-old. It’s the last thing you’d like for someone so young. And the risks were astronomical.

Billie was approaching it as a problem that needed fixing, and she knew the best way to resolve it was the craniotomy. But she’s also so in tune with Conrad all these years later.

She gave him a lot of leeway, more than she would anyone else, and while she had her reservations, she allowed him to take the lead on how they approached things even though they were dealing with issues within her specialty and expertise.

Thanks to Gigi, Conrad learned enough about Peter and his eating habits and diet that he figured out that the issue was Peter’s inability to process protein properly.

Gigi: Is he going to die like mommy?
Conrad: I’m fighting for Peter.
Gigi: I’m scared.

I loved that this installment was about listening to the people around them rather than assuming that they all know everything because of their status as doctors.

They never would’ve figured out what was wrong with Gloria if they didn’t listen intently, not just to her as the patient but also to Arthur.

And think about how many people would’ve dismissed a young Gigi’s talking as childish rambling! In this installment, both the kiddos and the senior-aged folk are prime candidates to be rejected by others because of ageism and other factors.

They hit that point home right down to the slick camera panning from Gloria’s OR to Peter’s. Loved that touch.

Children are such a wealth of information and details if adults take the time to listen to them. Gigi was a sweet little asset in every single scene she was in.

Remington Blaire Evans remains an absolute delight and a star. My goodness, I adore that child. It was her strongest installment to date! And her natural chemistry with Matt Czuchry makes each of their father/daughter scenes something that tugs at the heartstrings.

We got back into that fertility storyline with Padma and Leela.

Was anyone else expecting that mysterious donor Padma chose to be Devon? He never confirmed or denied if he was one of the many college or medical students who donated his sperm for cash.

It would’ve made this situation infinitely more awkward, but one can’t deny how delicious that drama would’ve been, no?

Everything about this storyline has felt tenuous because it often feels like something will fall apart every second. You keep expecting Lela to back out, or Padma and her fall out over it when Leela gets too involved, or it gets too messy and confusing for the sisters.

And it’s possible that it still will get messy and complicated for both of them. Leela is overprotective and neurotic. She’s immersing herself into this process fully, but she often questions Padma’s judgment on aspects of it.

She didn’t care for how impulsive Padma was in deciding on an anonymous donor, and once she started researching, she went out of her way to discourage Padma, using Nolan to do it.

Yes, Leela has some stake in this, but if she continues to behave like it’s their baby and she needs to micromanage everything, it’s bound to lead to the sisters clashing more.

It also doesn’t help that Padma doesn’t feel like she’s part of the process as much as she’d like. You could sense some resentment coming in when she sat in that appointment with Leela and felt like she didn’t have anything to do or contribute to it.

Interestingly, Leela had a lot to say about that donor, but she’ll probably be shocked when she learns of Padma’s latest decision of choosing AJ for the sperm donor instead.

We don’t know if the Raptor will agree to it or not, but you already know Leela will freak out about that as well. Even though they know AJ, the man is her mentor and friend, and she already thought it was weird that he and her sister were sleeping together at some point.

Padma’s decision seemed to come out of the left-field, but you could make some sense of it once she put it out there. Although, it’ll still be a messy situation.

It’s a huge ask, and with AJ comes a lack of anonymity, of course, but it also brings up new issues. Did Padma intend to raise this child alone without any input from another person?

If she wants AJ to be the donor, she’d have to prepare herself for his desire to be an active part of his child’s life. He’ll want to co-parent, at least. It brings with it another set of issues to figure out.

AJ has been a lot more reflective since his mother got sick. It’s that tender, soft side to him that probably prompted Padma to ask him in the first place.

It was a shock, but the more you sit with this notion, the more interesting it is for both parties. AJ has been floundering since Mina left and his mother got sick. He’s sowed his oats and hasn’t laid down any roots.

His mother has become his everything, and when she’s gone, that’ll leave him a bit lost and without family. He has already lost his father, so his mother is all he has left.

A child with Padma could provide him with a family. It could be the light at the end of the tunnel for him during a difficult, dark time.

He has so much love to give, and when his mother is gone, there’s nowhere to direct it. I can also see him thinking about this as something his mother would want for him.

If there’s even a possibility that she could keep holding on until a child is born, or if she has that bit of hope that her son will have someone when she’s gone, that’ll give her some solace.

Padma: I had a crazy idea. You and I are good friends now that we aren’t lovers, and I wouldn’t mind a kid a lot like you.
AJ: You can do worse.
Padma: So what if I did. Have a kid just like you.
AJ: You want me to be your sperm donor?

It could become this powerful circle of life, a poignant scenario where he’s losing a beautiful soul but gaining another. As a Buddist, it’s something he could appreciate, too.

And let’s be real, that would be one GORGEOUS baby!

Over to you, The Resident Fanatics.

Should AJ agree to be the sperm donor? Did you enjoy the medical cases? Sound off below!

You can watch The Resident online here via TV Fanatic.

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