Emily Owens: Will Dates Cassandra

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

What can I say? I guess I lost some of my initial excitement over this medical drama. Not that it matters too incredibly much... after the initial thirteen episodes air, The CW is done with this show and is moving on to something else. In the recent episodes, we've seen Will become interested in Cassandra, stay away from her at Emily's request, and start seeing her on a more serious level. We've seen Emily try to be mean right back at her tormentor but then admit the truth and show her vulnerabilities. We've already seen Tyra's cheating father come clean, a friendship get thrown onto the rocks, and a budding relationship between Micah and Emily fall short. The main characters have all now made their "first cuts," though we only see one party in celebration. The next episode will be a "mid-season finale," but you can bet that the rivalry between Emily and Cassandra will continue right through the remaining seven episodes, though one of the girls will likely win some of Dr. Mendari's approval before then. Who knows, maybe we'll even hear about Emily's time in college or about her family, two areas which have yet to really be showcased on the young-demo series. On the bright side, there's not much to worry about wrapping up at this point, though some sort of stronger conflict may arise before time runs out.

Emily Owens, M.D. "Emily and... the Predator" (S01E04): Emily goes jogging with Will and Cassandra while thinking about how her nemesis is going for her crush.

Jack Rowand/The CW

Emily tries to keep them apart, which becomes easier when Will asks if she'd be cool with his dating Cassandra. Initially, Emily says that she doesn't mind but later confides that he can date "anyone in the world" but Cassandra. [Emily says SO MUCH in her head!] Emily also has to deal with Cassandra continuing to take credit for her work and even trying to keep results from her. [I was surprised that Emily came up with something to ask Will on such short notice.] Cassandra apologizes, saying Emily makes her feel insecure... but that turns out to be a ploy, as Cassandra's motto is that, in the real world, everything counts.

Emily cares for a surrogate carrying twins for her sister, but it appears that the male fetus is underdeveloped. An in-vitro surgery is the only option, but both babies could die in the process, causing the biological parents to choose to avoid the risks involved. The surrogate feels left out, hoping that doing this favor would bring her closer to her older sibling. [I'm not sure what side I'd be on here... I'd need to read more about the rules of surrogacy, I suppose.] After much duress, bio-mom does consult her, and they are able to repair the heart with the operation. 

Emily's other big patient is a newlywed from India who does not feel comfortable with her husband donating a kidney to her as they only recently met. [the romantic comedy obsession was a bit strange.] He admits that he also has doubts about their future but he's still willing to give her his kidney, but she decides that she would prefer to stay on dialysis until another donor can be found. But, she soon experiences kidney failure and goes into a coma, leaving her husband with power of attorney. He donates one of his kidneys and Emily is allowed to make the first cut as Cassandra watches. Everyone goes to the bar afterward to celebrate... though "first cut" pays for the first round! [where's Tyra?]

Emily Owens, M.D. "Emily and... the Tell-Tale Heart" (S01E05): Emily hits a car in the parking lot while thinking about how she spilled the beans to the principal about Senior Cut Day. Despite having left a note, Emily's car is keyed. [that SUCKS.] That's not the worst part of her shift, though, as she goes against Micah's wishes and explains his mother's condition to her, which he was avoiding doing. See, the tumor isn't shrinking and Micah wants to being more aggressive treatment without worrying his mother. And, Cassandra asks Emily why Will is blowing her off, and she says that she doesn't know anything and that she doesn't want to get involved. [everybody hate Cassandra on the count of 3!] Later, she gives Will permission to date Cassandra, and he promptly asks out the meanie.

Emily has two major patients this episode. The first is a young boy with hepatitis who needs a partial liver transplant. Turns out, his father isn't a biological match, and Emily confronts the mother about it - a one-night stand took place and she never told her husband before now. [that sucks.] She reaches out to the biological father but he won't donate, so her daughter volunteers to do so. The other is a diabetic guy who overdosed and was using a fake phallus with fake urine to try passing a drug screening. [horrifying!] Well, Emily isn't supposed to deal with the addiction, just the other issues... but when he talks about how he can't stop doing drugs (he's been doing them since college) and wants help, she tries to get him into a rehab facility. She'll have to put a hold on him in order to stop him from getting out and using again, but he just checks himself out anyway. [wow, her roles in both of those scenarios were really useless to a certain extent. so much for caring!]

Also, Tyra's old ex-boyfriend, Rick, shows up at the hospital, and Tyra's father thinks they're dating. [haha!] He has to play along, but he's actually interested in Emily, though they don't hit it off after having coffee. Plus, Tyra has to stage a break-up and act mad at Emily after her father sees Emily with Rick. [I love Tyra and all, but that girl is DRAMA!]

Emily Owens, M.D. "Emily and... the Question of Faith" (S01E06): Emily gives Dr. Mendari a somewhat negative evaluation, and after Cassandra and Will are shocked that Emily included constructive criticism (not knowing that Mendari would actually see them), she rushes to the Chief's office to get back hers. But, she runs into Tyra there, and the Chief decides to come clean about his affair. [awkward!] Tyra's angry and decides not to "come out of the closet" as she had planned. She won't speak to Emily for quite a while, though she does decide to tell her father about her identity a little while later. Emily steals the wrong evaluation, but Tyra makes up with her by the end of the episode, even stealing the correct evaluation to save Emily the discomfort. Of course, Emily goes to tell Mendari about what she said in it first, not knowing that Tyra swiped it for her. [so TWO evals were missing? wouldn't that look weird?]

Other drama includes Cassandra apologizing for being b!tchy, which Will encouraged her to do, and Emily telling Cassandra the truth about how she crushed on Will, he rejected her, and she couldn't deal with him being into Cassandra. So, Cassandra invites Emily to watch Will make his "first cut," but Cassandra soon gushes about her sex life with Will, and also makes Emily miss a meeting. [HATE her!] Poor Will has other issues going on, though, as he breaks protocol to give a patient medication before test results come back, and Micah reprimands him. Oh, and Emily and Micah (who has been dating someone for two months, apparently) talk about how they're both only partial believers in God. 

Emily's cases include an ill infant infant with an obsessive mother. Emily notices some leg contortions and orders an ultrasound. The child will need a barium enema to help his intestines, but there seems to be a larger concern at hand - the child is intersex. [that's surprising.] Emily calls Social Services to help the parents process the fact that their child has male organs on the outside and female organs on the inside. Some tests determine that the child is genetically female and may identify that way later in life. But, because of complications, the doctors suggest that they wait until the child is older and clearly identifies one way or the other to have the operation. [yeah, that is a little bit awkward, but the father was WAY crazy about it.] But, the father demands that his child is a boy and orders surgery to remove the female reproductive system. Unfortunately, the baby has a complication from the first procedure and must undergo surgery to remove part of the intestine. Because of this, the father decides that they shouldn't risk his life now and they must wait until the child can decide how s/he will identify, and they re-name their child neutrally. [that was quite the leap!] Her other big case is with a patient who has had so many heart surgeries that he has developed an allergy to anesthetic, so he'll be conscious but using an epidural during the procedure. [I was just as shocked as the girls were!] Cassandra assists in the procedure while Emily talks to the patient to keep him calm. But, when he flat-lines for a few minutes, his faith is shaken, causing his wife to freak out, as God has been the basis for their relationship. Dr. Mendari is upset that Emily told the patient about the near-death experience, as she has a long-standing relationship with him. [not a big fan of Mendari, either!] Luckily, Emily handles it by talking with the wife.