The Complaint
Episode 4 of This is Going to Hurt starts with 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 telling, detail. ..
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. ..
Lockhart has already agreed to send Shruti home, putting Adam in a difficult position. That hits him hard too, as he heads into the toilets and ends up in a pretty teary conversation with his 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.
Tracy is off doing training on how to use the right lingo with patients on the labour ward while Vicky Houghton takes charge of the ward.
Shruti is left to deliver the triplets while Adam sneakily visits Erika and the baby in the hospital. Erika is hesitant to withdraw her complaint, but Adam manages to convince her. ..
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.
Shruti is quick 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 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.
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 is a great addition to this episode. Her no-nonsense attitude is a great addition to add a level of comedy to the episode that helps to offset some of the deeper drama. This Is Going To Hurt flirts with too much dark material and could use some lightening up.
With Erika dropping the charges, it seems things are on the up for Adam. Meanwhile, Shruti starts to doubt her own credentials and whether being a doctor is something she actually wants to do.
The development of this dynamic sets up a nice level of drama and tension throughout the rest of the series. ..
There’s some good topical stuff here about pointless work training, this time in the form of disillusioned terms and names to use in a hospital. 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, it remains to be seen what the second half of this show has in store for us. ..
