Code Black recap: Who has an important Change of Heart?

Code Black proves emotional wounds are as deep as physical ones in this week’s episode. Here’s what happened in Code Black season 3, episode 10.

When someone has a medical crisis, it’s not just a physical issue; it’s an emotional and a mental trauma, too, and that was the lesson CBS‘s Code Black taught again in this week’s episode. There’s so much more than just whether a patient gets better or not.

“Change of Heart” again opens with Dr. Ethan Willis (Rob Lowe), this time as he’s still trying to process what he learned about his brother’s death in the previous episode. He makes it to work, brushing off Rox Valenzuela’s (Moon Bloodgood) attempt to be his “shoulder to cry on.”

But she’ll still be around, because the two of them—yes, both of them—are working inside Angels Memorial Hospital today.

Things start off with a bang when actor Drake Finn (guest star Richard Short) and his wife Sonya (that’s Melrose Place veteran Laura Leighton) are brought in after a vicious car accident. Anyone who gets impaled is a serious case, but as is hinted at with a mention of the hospital board, if a celebrity dies in the ED it’s even worse.

Elsewhere, Dr. Elliot Dixon (Noah Gray-Cabey) is sitting in a courtroom, being stared at by the widow of the detective who died in the season premiere. Elliot’s guilt rears its ugly head again as she sobs.

And Emily Campbell (Laya DeLeon Hayes) tries to comfort Ariel (Emily Alyn Lind) over the death of her boyfriend, who died last episode.

Drake’s agent Andrew Ferryman (Jordan Belfi from Entourage and the upcoming CW series All American) arrives to freak out about his client. While most of the team tries to manage that chaos, Willis moves on to treat a woman with a seizure and a history of brain cancer. But he’s spacing out while talking to Madeline’s son.

And Dr. Leanne Rorish (Marcia Gay Harden) has picked up on what Code Black has made aptly clear over the last few weeks:

"Rox: He’s pushing me away for some reason.Leanne: Maybe you’re getting too close."

Dr. Mario Savetti (Benjamin Hollingsworth)’s next case should look familiar. That’s Yvonne (guest star Shanti Lowry) from the Code Black season 1 episode “Pre-Existing Conditions,” and she wants Dr. Angus Leighton (Harry Ford) look at her son Dominic. That’s because she reveals that Angus is her son’s father.

Wait, what? And the fact that this happens in front of Mario makes it even more awkward, as we get the great Benjamin Hollingsworth reaction shot.

That’s not the only surprise. The crew finds out that Drake is actually in a relationship with his agent Andrew and his marriage to Sonya is just a public image, which devastates their daughter Delia (Gatlin Green from Heroes Reborn). Plus, Madeline (Linda Purl) lies and tells her son that her cancer hasn’t returned.

After Willis and Jesse debate the morality of that (with a reference to “La Familia”), Willis tries to have Madeline’s mental fitness questioned. Campbell points out he might be the one not thinking so clearly.

Code Black has developed a great bromance between Mario and Angus, and “Change of Heart” flips the script from “Pre-Existing Conditions.” After Mario pressured Angus into helping him then, Angus pushes Mario to help him now, even though Mario is convinced that Yvonne is lying about her son’s paternity.

Plus, Dr. Rollie Guthrie (William Allen Young) says what we’ve all been thinking to Dr. Diego Avila (Tyler Perez) after he catches him filming the Finns’ personal discussion:

"Rollie: What in God’s name is wrong with you?"

He orders Diego out, but sadly it doesn’t sound like it’s permanent. In another hallway, Rox urges Delia to forgive her father because Drake is more ill than she knows. And with her son gone, Willis asks Madeline why she won’t tell him the truth. She explains that she’s afraid Jake will upend his life all over again for her; she thinks that’s selfish.

Willis replies that when his mother died, Robert never got to say goodbye, and that ate at him until the day he killed himself. That is one heavy note, almost as heavy as Sonya finally coming to grips with the fact her marriage and family is a front. She feels terrible for inflicting that on her daughter but cue Leanne to dispense motherly wisdom of her own.

Let’s get back to Angus’s kid. He and Mario are able to identify what Dominic’s problem is. It’s a genetic condition that requires a defibrillator and medication, but it’s liveable. There is an awkward hug and another confused look from Mario. Really, can we just put a camera on him the whole rest of the episode?

Drake mends fences with his daughter—but then loses consciousness and throws up blood. That is not a good family moment. Neither is Madeline seizing. Both things require drastic action as we go to Plan B. Plus, Campbell kicks Willis off Madeline’s case, in front of everyone.

Code Black shifts back upstairs, where Mario reminds Angus that he slept with a stripper and so he really should check Dominic’s paternity. Angus, under pressure, admits he’s not ready to be a father because of his increased responsibilities at the hospital—but that doesn’t matter if this is his son. Because, as Mario points out, he’s a really, really nice guy.

But does that also make him an easier mark?

As the evening winds down, Rox doesn’t listen to Leanne’s advice and continues to ask Willis why he’s “doing this” as if this is something he’s doing to her, and not something he’s going through. It prompts him to remind her that she’s not his wife, his girlfriend or his shrink. She retorts by telling him he’s off the ambulance. Well, that was handled maturely.

And unfortunately, Diego didn’t leave—but he’s with the detective’s widow, who tells Elliot that she is dropping her lawsuit against him. She’s seen the footage Diego taped during the whole rest of the season and she knows it was her husband’s choice not to have the CT scan that would’ve saved his life. She also saw how hard Elliot took his loss, and she no longer thinks Elliot failed her husband.

Congratulations, Code Black! You’ve convinced us that Diego has a purpose and can also think for people other than himself! Kind of:

"Guthrie: You’re arrogant, insubordinate, and entitled.Diego: But I’ve got potential, right?"

The final five minutes of “Change of Heart” involve Ariel confronting Leanne. She’s frustrated with the lack of progress in her adoption case and thinks she’s going to be taken away again. Leanne says she doesn’t know the answers yet but reminds her that she loves her. The question is, will it be enough?

Willis decides to apologize to Madeline. He sees where she’s coming from. She tells him that it’s possible his father sent his brother away before their mother died, because Robert wasn’t strong enough and Martin knew that. Willis appears to consider that before Madeline’s son returns; he’s heard the truth and he’s staying by his mom’s bedside. Because family stays together, by blood and in Angels Memorial Hospital.

“Change of Heart” is an episode full of curveballs, as if Code Black knows it’s ending in three more hours and decided to shake a few things up to make things interesting before the finale. Surprise kids, sexuality reveals, characters on tilt—it’s all the kind of stuff you’d expect any TV show to put in near the end of its season to build hype and anticipation.

But while it does ratchet up the drama level by more than one notch, give credit to Code Black for taking these ideas that could be soap opera-ish on other shows and keeping them grounded with the show’s usual class and realism. It doesn’t revel in the shock factor. It takes these plot points and explores questions of family, identity, and what’s right and wrong.

Are these plot reveals all good ideas? Well, that’s kind of up for debate. The whole Angus as a father storyline does seem suspicious—and Mario voices everything the audience is thinking. “Change of Heart” does not state if Angus is actually the dad, so Code Black season 3 will have to resolve that in one of the three remaining episodes.

On one hand, Angus as a dad is just a really adorable thought; on the other hand, this development doesn’t quite feel true to his character. And what purpose will it serve? How will it move him forward and not, as he says, blow up his life? And if it’s not his kid, that’s just another case of him being kicked when he’s down. Either way, this feels like an ill fit.

The whole movie star living a secret life thing has been done before, but Code Black tells a good story about family and its meaning out of it, which is also what happens with the cancer story. Are they super-memorable? Maybe not a few weeks from now, but they’re emotional and they both support the theme.

The biggest issue is Rox in this episode, because she’s still pushing Willis in a way where she’s now not only frustrating to him, but also to the audience. Just like she harped on him in the first few episodes, now she’s pushing him to let her in, and when he doesn’t she storms off again. It’s as if she can’t comprehend that this is his issue, not hers, and that as he points out she’s not that huge a part of his life yet.

It’s clear the show wants these two to be a couple, but the way she behaves here, you don’t see what the big deal is. Willis’s story is a compelling journey but it’s about him and his family, and Rox just feels like a third wheel recently—and now one who’s a little selfish.

There are some other foibles here, too, but more in a big picture sense. This is another episode that opens with Willis, and has both him and Rox playing significant parts. Rob Lowe is fantastic, and Moon Bloodgood has been good as well, but Code Black is starting to feel like those two are getting a little more spotlight than the rest of the cast.

That’s not to take away from what they’ve done, but we could use some additional variety as far as expanding other characters’ subplots or starting episodes with some other characters. Given what happened last episode, we could’ve opened “Change of Heart” with Leanne at home with Ariel, for example. Code Black is still servicing all of its other characters, but it seems like Willis and Rox are getting the best of it.

Next: 5 reasons CBS shouldn't have canceled Code Black

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