Thoughts about "The Doctors" - January 1972

Another month's worth of episodes of "The Doctors" has aired on RetroTV. Below are my thoughts on what has aired for the month of January 1972.

While working in the EW (emergency ward), Mike and Hank were presented with a girl, who allegedly fell down the stairs named Mary Nell. (She wasn't credited, so not 100% sure on the spelling.)  Mike didn't understand why only her mother came with her and felt it may be child abuse. Hank told Mike all they could do is note the possibility in the file. If the girl came back again with more injuries, something may be done. (This was later confirmed by Matt as the proper procedure.) Mike was finally moved out of neurology to pediatrics, while Hank was given plaudits for his extra work. So far, Mike seems happier, but Hank now is the one who gets attacked by Dr. Hendryx. Of course, he messed up by mentioning something Nick taught him about neurology. Before going to New York City, Mike gave Toni a ring. She isn't ready to get engaged, so she put it on a necklace. Martha and Mike both missed her, and the lab was really quiet without Toni's presence. Toni went to her former neighbor's home and also caught up with her ex-boyfriend Vito McCray, who was her nephew. He's a doctor involved in research, and has read articles that Nick has written. Vito remembered the name Webb, so he was trying to get her to stay to find out more information. Webb was the musician's first name. Neither could really understand why Toni wanted to know more, even after she explained how she had a younger brother. Is Vito trying to get her back or just manipulating Toni?

While Carolee was in the hospital recovering from her c-section with complications, Adam Reynolds came to visit. (This probably will be the last we see of him, which is disappointing as he was a good person and intelligent.) Adam shared how his wife was a lot like Carolee, and that unfortunately they weren't able to have children. Matt and Steve spoke about what Carolee went through in the operating room, but Steve still hasn't told Carolee that she probably won't be able to have another biological child. (Of course, the characters don't know the future scientific discoveries that include embryos being created in petri dishes and being carried by surrogates.) Adam returned the journal to Carolee, which was a bit awkward. Once Carolee was released from Hope Memorial, they burned it in the fireplace. In happier news before leaving the hospital, Carolee chose a wedding month of March. Carolee also asked Althea to be her matron of honor. Steve asked Matt, but due to Matt standing up at Carolee and Dan's wedding he declined though he is thrilled to be Stephanie's godfather. Matt did offer his living room for the ceremony. (More on that and how it influenced Maggie's actions in another paragraph.) Emma wants to help Steve and Carolee move out, as soon as possible. Steve wishes he could build a house for them, but it would take too long. Emma contacted her former landlord, but nothing has come of that yet. Billy was cool with Steve and Carolee getting married. (Though we didn't see that on screen, as they just spoke about it when they were alone between kisses. He has designs on her, but obviously certain kinds of fun aren't possible until she is fully recovered.) Frustration did set in for Billy as he felt left out, due to Carolee being so busy with Stephanie. Emma seemingly spoke about taking care of him. Billy mentioned how he wanted to make a model airplane in honor of their marriage. (Of course, my first thought was how many models can be around the house once Stephanie is crawling as they have such little pieces and are a choking hazard.) Steve and Billy spoke about how Steve is going to adopt the baby and she'll call him "Daddy" once she gets older. It got strange for a moment, and Steve told Billy that he no longer has to call him Dr. Aldrich, and would prefer Steve if they are going to live together as a family.

Karen and Steve brought Erich to her new apartment. Lada is still adorable, but that is not surprising. Karen is lying to Steve about her behavior in regards to Matt, and dropping hints about Steve's personal life with Carolee. Matt banned Karen from being around Maggie when they aren't working in the clinic. It is too bad Karen wasn't reassigned, but at least it is progress. Althea still can't stand Karen, which I rather enjoy.

Maggie's health got worse even after another scan of her brain was done that showed no tumor. (The film was actual film on a projector, which was rather interesting from a historical point of view.) Dr. Hendryx, jokingly mentioned dementia though it wasn't funny. Hendryx actually seems to like Maggie, but truly everyone seems to that isn't named Karen that works at Hope Memorial. Maggie continued to be grumpy and see Frank (Marc Alaimo). Matt and Maggie even got to kiss on their bed, though fully clothed. The doorbell rang and Greta was home from visiting a friend. Greta even seems scared of her mother and was apprehensive to speak with her that evening. Matt convinced her to share what happened and Greta spoke about meeting her friend's great uncle. Greta asked if she had one, and Maggie's father did have a brother named Bill. Sadly he died in an institution as he had dementia. Maggie had two different scheduled sessions with John. In one, she used Althea's reasoning about Karen being the source of her frustrations with Matt. The other had her speaking about other issues like not feeling worthy of her family and the stress they are causing her. When visiting Carolee, to finalize a guest list, Maggie didn't hear her. She rushed out with the list, and agreed with Matt's earlier suggestion of using a caterer for the wedding instead of cooking for everyone. Maggie ended up getting upset how John was sharing her session information with Matt. (It is one thing to share information about Greta with her parents and another for Matt to be told about confidential things that happened with his wife.) Happily Greta is now cleared from being under John's psychiatric care. Althea had no idea about Maggie's Uncle Bill and Maggie confided in her. Maggie called the police about Frank, and wondered why she saw him at the hospital. This confused John, but he was glad that Maggie told him the truth about something she was feeling.

Martha snarked at Cathy again and missed Toni. She's on the list for Steve and Carolee's wedding and off camera delivered flowers to her. Martha and Nick will have to work late at the lab to make up for Toni being away. Mrs. Hamilton arrived in Madison, and Nick looked forward to their date. John got tickets to the ballet on the night Nick was to take his former mother-in-law out for dinner and dancing. Nick wasn't happy about this, but John was glad to one-up Dr. Bellini. Earlier to curry favor with Mrs. Hamilton, Morrison bought two years worth of magazines, so she would be able to catch up with the news she's forgotten. Martha also offered to go spend time with Mrs. Hamilton. Cathy and Nick went out, and she hid her gloves as a ploy to get some loving from him.

Those were the highlights of January 1972. I really enjoyed the material with Mike and Greta. It has been a long time, since they interacted on screen, and the first we've seen between Jennifer Houlton and Peter Burnell. I also felt the pacing got slightly stronger. I wonder how much of that was how by the end of the month they were no longer airing episodes that were filmed in 1971, which was influenced by holiday studio shutdowns. Hopefully, we'll find out soon how RetroTV will update their September broadcast schedule.