Friday , March 29 2024
Jolene still lurks, doing MedCam's bidding; Robin loses hope in her pursuit of adoption.

TV Review: General Hospital: Night Shift – “Fallen Star”

Disappointment seemed to be the key phrase on Thursday’s Night Shift, the biggest coming when Curtis showed up at the hospital with a DNA test proving he was the father of Stacy’s baby. In a calculated and obviously distant way, he went about filling out the paperwork to take custody of the child, closing out any chance Robin had of adopting her. After rather callously saying he had never wanted kids, and it was the reason he and Stacy had broken up, he insisted he wouldn’t let the child grow up alone, but he would be the one to raise her, without Robin’s help.

Paternity has been a long-running theme tying the episodes of the series together. Whether it was through Jason’s desire to be with his child, the teenager whose personality was altered by the head injury, Robin and Patrick’s polar opposite view on the subject, or that of Stacy and her baby, what it means to be a parent has been thoroughly examined. I don’t think it’s coincidental that Curtis, like Patrick, never wanted to be a father, but I do hope he’s doesn’t have the ugly motive (which Robin suspects) of wanting the child’s inheritance.

The only new patient to be focused on this week was also a mother-to-be, a fifteen-year-old girl who came to the ER in labor. While she was suffering through and screaming for drugs, her boyfriend and two members of his gang showed up – eagerly awaiting the birth of his son. After a run-in with Cody in the lobby that would indicate the gang deals drugs, the leader and baby’s father began to harass Dr. Lee. Student nurse Regina, who was caring for the patient, went to the desk and told Epiphany to alert security, but since Jason was there to overhear, and then handle the situation with Cody’s help, they weren’t needed.

Plagued with the memories of her recent abortion, Regina wasn’t handling the delivery well at all. When Kelly asked her to put a medication in the patient’s IV to help stop the uterine bleeding, she made a mistake, and with MedCam still looming to take over the hospital, Dr. Ford decided to put her on probation. As she cleaned out her locker, Jolene tried to convince her to get Patrick to stand up for her or tell Dr. Ford about her abortion to save her place in the student nursing program, but she refused, unaware Dr. Julian had overheard the conversation. Taking matters into his own hands, as Regina tried to leave the hospital he ordered her back into her scrubs saying they were short-staffed and he needed her for an emergency. His attempts to get her back in the game and over the mistake seemed to be working, but as Dr. Ford looked on, I can only wonder at what price.

The hospital was able to settle the sexual harassment suit against Dr. Lee. While Dr. Ford felt like they had dodged a bullet and won another battle in the war against MedCam, Kelly felt let down by the decision to pay off the orderly instead of defending her in the lawsuit. Later, when she tried to save Regina’s position in the nursing program, MedCam’s lawyer baited her about her reputation around the hospital as someone who is always willing, pushing her over the edge and sending her atop the nurses’ station desk stripped down to her bra and underwear.

Dr. Archer was there to cover her with his medical coat and take her to the doctor’s lounge where, after she calmed down, the two talked. She admitted her addiction to sex with strangers and the adrenaline and power rush that goes along with it. What Dr. Archer wasn’t aware of was how close his addiction came to costing him his life. While taking another power nap, fueled by anesthetic, Jolene tried to enter the room with a syringe, fueled by her orders from MedCam to kill someone – a doctor this time.

Andy had the forethought to lock the door after his near miss a couple episodes back, and Spinelli’s relentless pursuit of Jolene distracted her. To cover up why she was trying to get into the locker room, Jolene dragged Spin to the much-hated OR four and seduced him.

As a reward for getting the elevators working again, Toussaint was given a promotion to maintenance supervisor. He didn’t seem all too thrilled however with his new task of supervising instead of working. He continued to receive adulation from fans from his singing days, including a patient, and Diane, who had come to the hospital to counsel Robin on her legal options with the baby. Diane (played by Carolyn Hennesy) was more than a formative match for the strong-willed Epiphany, who appointed herself guardian and protector over the former singing sensation, and while Toussaint at first seemed flattered by her attentions, it looked as though it was becoming a burden.

For weeks we’ve watched as Toussaint has tried to cover his dizzy spells, but at the end of Thursday’s episode he collapsed. While Epiphany screamed for someone to page Dr. Drake (who was held up in OR 4 getting it on with Layla), Jason and Jolene tried to help him, leaving me wondering, and hoping, that the wise and beloved Toussaint is not the next victim of the angel of death. Though he fell from stardom what seems like a lifetime ago, I’m not ready for him to become a fallen star.

Good news from the writers and producers of Night Shift. A second season of the widely popular Soapnet original series is being planned, but not until next summer. The actors and actresses who cross over from the daytime drama only have the time to film episodes in the summer months, when General Hospital‘s filming schedule drops to four days a week.

Check out a preview of next week’s episode (11 of the 13 to be aired) below:

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