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 June 1972.
Vito continued to cause problems for Mike and Toni. He tried to build her up professionally, while trying to go in for the kill personally. Vito seems to actually care about the research lab, which is the one thing in his favor. On their way home from Madison for a consult, Vito pulled some plugs out of the car to strand him and Toni out of town. Toni got so upset that she called Mike, as she wants to be with him. Meanwhile Mike got a new assignment working in a mobile unit for the hospital. He and Hank had to visit potential patients to see if they need treatment. The last guy they found needed helped as it seemed like he had lead poisoning. (The fact that they were visiting people without a social worker was a bit strange, and far-fetched as who would invite random medical officers into ones home if you didn't arrange to see them ahead of time.)
Maggie was doing a lot better recovering from Nick's surgery. She had a bit of memory loss, but was acting like herself as the pressure on her brain was cleared. Maggie's moodiness was gone, and she relearned how to walk. The best part was that Matt and Maggie actually were acting like a loving couple again, embarrassing Nick by kissing in front of him in the process. They were thrilled that Maggie would be able to return home.
In other health news, Matt and Nick did experimental surgery on John Morrison. (I say experimental as it was only done six times successfully, and nowadays there is no way insurance would pay for such a procedure with such little proof of effectiveness.) John came out okay, but has to recover now, which may take weeks. He is in a wheelchair, and Althea has agreed to stay with him until he is walking again. Due to John wanting to hold on to his wife, he plans to lie about his recovery. He has enlisted Cathy to help, as she'll be his PT. (Of course, this makes no sense as she's a nurse, and not a physical therapist who works seven days a week.) Althea and Nick are planning on being together, but don't have any idea that Cathy and John are plotting against them.
Cathy Riker finally went and got another OB/GYN. She went out of town and saw Dr. Clifford DeSales, who happened to be a friend of Steve's from medical school. Instead of telling the truth of her identity, she called herself Kitty Reed, with a husband named Norman. Cliff told Cathy the bad news that her baby didn't survive, and she should have continued with the pills she had been given for the spotting. Her story was that her files had been destroyed in a fire, but Cliff didn't believe her. He researched her and found that she was lying about her doctor. Cliff came to Hope Memorial to see Steve, and saw Cathy in her uniform not making the connection. Steve and Cliff caught up and we heard more about Steve's backstory including his annulled marriage to Ann who was 17 at the time. Cliff and Steve had been roommates in medical school, and Cliff is a lot like how Steve used to be when we met him in 1967 except with less charm. Cliff was surprised that Steve was an OB and that he worked at the hospital. The only amusing part was how Cliff thought if Steve got married he would be with the daughter of the chief of staff, and well that was a close guess as the chief of staff did host his wedding and walk the bride down the aisle.
Emma and Andrew went out on a dancing dinner date. They had a great time, and Carolee wondered how serious her mother was about this new relationship. This was the only happiness Carolee had all month as Steve's life went into a spiral due to Karen. Steve got a restraining order to keep Karen and Erich in town as he worried for the boy's safety. Matt tried to help get Karen a position at another hospital to keep them in the US. Karen didn't go to the interview, and then left the country. The night before, she distracted Steve, and he didn't think she would go. (The amusing part of this was that Karen spoke about how she needed to wash her hair, especially considering Laryssa Lauret wears a wig. This looks like the end of the appearances of her daughter Lada as Erich.) Steve and Carolee went to Karen and Erich's apartment and found everything gone except some furniture and the giraffe Carolee bought him while he was in the hospital. Carolee did her best to support Steve through all of this, as she wanted her stepson to be happy and well. They were both extremely upset over Karen leaving with Erich. Steve asked for an emergency leave of absence, which Matt granted. Then Matt got a telegram with the news of a plane crash. Steve and Carolee were told that Karen was dead, and Erich injured. Of course, Steve rushed to Germany after getting a lot of comfort from Carolee. (Just how he said that he needed her, and the body language was just great, though sad.) Carolee planned to get a home for their family, and worried about not being enough of a mother for Erich, which says a lot about what kind of parent she will be for her stepson. Upon arriving outside of Frankfurt, Steve had met with Dr. Rolf Krilling, who was in love with Karen. (The actor who plays the German doctor has yet to be listed in the credits, so I'm not sure on the spelling.) Rolf gave Steve, Karen's purse, so Erich would have something of his mother's in the future. The last minute of the month had Karen alive, but without her memory or identification.
Those were the highlights of June 1972. The June 16th episode was missing, unfortunately so we missed the last major confrontation between Steve and Karen before she went to Germany, which was a bit of a disappointment. It was also surprising how quickly we were told that Erich and Karen were alive as I was expecting more angst. I think that Nick and Althea are being naive that they are going to be together happily and soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment