St. Denis Medical Season 2 Episode 3 Review: Get Me in the Pod, Brother
Coming off hot on the heels of a solid premiere, the latest St. Denis Medical episode leaves a lot to be desired.
The two most essential elements of an excellent sitcom episode are a strong sense of the characters and engaging storylines.
Unfortunately, both aspects are okay at best, with the minimal character development and lukewarm plots that make the runtime drag on compared to the usual tight, fast-paced nature of the show.
That being said, there’s nothing glaringly awful, but compared to the very start of the season, I would’ve expected better from St. Denis Medical.
There are a few bright standout moments worth mentioning, particularly with Alex, Ron, and Serena’s storyline.
However, the sitcom definitely feels like it’s relying on too much of the same beat.
Tone Down the Bruce, Crank Up the Matt
Bruce’s whole personality is essentially that he can be a little much quite often, and this episode definitely drives that point home.
However, after his revelation and reflection after being attacked by a goose in the last episode, it feels a little odd to have yet another Bruce storyline immediately after that, which echoes the same sentiment.
As a perfectionist myself, I really resonated with Bruce’s desire not to have any flaws at all, but I didn’t love how that made him snappy and rude to the people around him.
Additionally, Matt had already been paired with Bruce in the previous episode, so the show’s decision to use him again as a vehicle for Bruce’s self-realization felt a bit tiring.
Compared to Bruce, I thought Matt was actually relatively underutilized and deserved more screentime.
Matt is easily one of the most lovable characters of the show, and especially since all the other characters are at each other’s throats this entire episode, his innocence and pure-of-heart energy were a breath of fresh air.
I hope we get more chances to see him shine throughout St. Denis Medical Season 2 and serve as a positive influence for the fellow doctors working at the hospital around him.
Serena Gets Caught in Ron and Alex’s Fight
Being among the most experienced people at St. Denis sets Ron and Alex up to get along quite well.
Yet they faced off in a vicious match of verbal judo, turning their initial disagreement over open communication into a comedy of escalating extremes, somehow roping Serena into the mess.
The workplace drama is enticing to watch, but it also appeals to people who enjoy the kind of awkward comedy that sometimes doesn’t work the best in sitcoms.
While some parts of this conflict made me chuckle, for the most part, I could really take it or leave it — it wasn’t one of the show’s most memorable storylines.
I did enjoy seeing Ron get a taste of his own medicine when he was caught taking photos of Serena and lost his credibility by making fun of Alex losing her mind over her husband’s remark about Serena.
Plus, as shown previously, Serena has a relatively strong personality, which didn’t shine through a ton in this one because she ended up getting roped into the plot against her will.
I felt similarly about Joyce’s frustration with the pod’s sound infiltrating the peace of her office.
While it’s sad to see Joyce struggle to find a place to work, the stakes are also pretty low, and it’s hard to get invested in her scheme to combat the pod, knowing she was the one who willingly brought it into the workplace.
Interestingly, Joyce seems to be really involved in a struggle to gain some respect at the workplace, which is sort of reminiscent of the way Michael Scott in The Office tried his best to get his co-workers to like him.
All in all, the episode covered quite a lot of familiar ground without offering anything new.
While playing to established character archetypes and sticking to safe, interpersonal-conflict-related stories can work for sitcoms, using this strategy so early on in the season isn’t the right choice.
Part of it is likely also that three episodes in a row have taken place inside the hospital, and perhaps it’s time for the show to take it out of the static setting and into a new location to shake things up.
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St. Denis Medical airs on NBC at 8/7c on Monday nights.
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