The Complaint
Episode 4 of This is Going to Hurt starts with all our characters preparing for another day on the ward. The juxtaposition between Lockhart’s fancy car and Adam’s beaten up ride is certainly an amusing, but somewhat depressing, tidbit. When Adam and Shruti arrive at Lockhart’s office, Erika’s complaint has forced him to reconsider taking the blame for Adam’s mishap, and instead he throws Adam under the bus. The thing is, Adam has already submitted his statement about Lockhart agreeing to send her home, putting Shruti in a difficult position. That hits her hard too, as she heads into the toilets and ends up in a pretty teary conversation with her mum on the phone. This situation is made all the worse when Adam admits he won’t withdraw his statement and that puts her in a difficult position as her career is on the line as well. On the labour ward, Tracy is off doing training over the right lingo to use with patients (see: clients) while Vicky Houghton takes control of the ward. It doesn’t take long for her to force Adam down to A&E while Shruti is left to deliver the triplets. Adam doesn’t go though, and instead sneaks into see Erika and the baby, trying to convince her to withdraw the complaint. He points out that no other nurses have seen her baby yet because they’re worried she’ll put a complaint in against them as well. That’s obviously not going to go well and Adam high-tails it out before things can escalate as Erika’s sister shows up. It doesn’t take long for her to show up and berate Adam for making things worse. After Shruti delivers the triplets, things take a nasty turn when a patient shows up in A&E and needs an emergency birth. Adam is there to deliver the baby but this brings back nasty memories of what happened with Erika. Thankfully the baby makes it, as Adam uses his quick thinking to save the mum too. All of this is done in view of Erika’s sister too, who sees the whole incident play out. In doing so, she drops the whole case. That night, Adam shows up when scheduled with Harry at the bar. The pair exchange rings, with Harry’s compressed penny certainly bringing a bit of concern from Adam. When they head to a gay bar together, Adam finds himself completely out of his comfort zone, in the midst of a big party with Harry’s friends, PJ and Kenzie. Eventually though, the pair head outside and end up dancing at the front of the club together. Meanwhile, Shruti heads out for a dinner with Vicky, who talks straight after hearing out Shruti’s concerns. She admits the job doesn’t get any easier and she needs to ask if this job is really for her and whether she can hack it.
The Episode Review
Vicky Houghton really helps to elevate this episode. Her no-nonsense attitude is a great addition to add a level of comedy to this that helps to offset some of the deeper drama This Is Going To Hurt flirts with. Meanwhile, with Erika dropping the charges it seems things are on the up for Adam, while by comparison Shruti starts to doubt her own credentials and whether being a doctor is something she actually wants to do. This sets up a really nice dynamic for the rest of the series to grow into, with a consistent level of drama and tension throughout. There’s also some good topical stuff here about pointless work training, this time in the form of disillusioned terms and names to use in a hospital, and I’m sure many people will relate to how ridiculous these sessions actually are. With the Erika situation resolved and the drama moving further into human relationships inside the NHS and what that entails, it remains to be seen what the second half of this show has in store for us.
