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Code Black recap: Tragedy strikes a character in One of Our Own

By Brittany Frederick

"One of Our Own" -- While rescuing an injured firefighter, Rox is hit by a drunk driver and rushed to Angels Memorial. Willis begins to realize his feelings for Rox and goes to great lengths to help her. Also, Leanne is excited to tell Ariel good news about her adoption, on CODE BLACK, Wednesday, July 4 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Marcia Gay Harden (Dr. Leanne Rorish) Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2017 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved
"One of Our Own" -- While rescuing an injured firefighter, Rox is hit by a drunk driver and rushed to Angels Memorial. Willis begins to realize his feelings for Rox and goes to great lengths to help her. Also, Leanne is excited to tell Ariel good news about her adoption, on CODE BLACK, Wednesday, July 4 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Marcia Gay Harden (Dr. Leanne Rorish) Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2017 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved /
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Code Black delivers a Rox-centric episode that includes a major down note this week. Here’s what happened in Code Black season 3, episode 11.

A large portion of CBS‘s Code Black has focused on Rox Valenzuela this season, so it’s no surprise that she gets her own episode. “One of Our Own,” though, probably isn’t the kind of episode that Rox would want.

The episode opens with Angels Memorial Hospital busy as usual. Dr. Mario Savetti (Benjamin Hollingsworth) finds out that Dr. Leanne Rorish (Marcia Gay Harden) is recommending him for the hospital’s open attending position, which should be good news for him but isn’t … why?

Mario is called upstairs to check on Dominic, the would-be son of his BFF Dr. Angus Leighton (Harry Ford). He cautions Angus to get a paternity test again, but Angus points out that the kid needs a good doctor and the father part is irrelevant right now.

Plus, Leanne finds out that her adoption hearing is officially on the schedule, Dr. Will Campbell (Boris Kodjoe) is ducking his ex-wife’s new wedding, and then there’s Rox, who’s still fighting with Dr. Ethan Willis (Rob Lowe) because he wouldn’t open up to her about his family issues.

The duo are now on separate ambulances, but respond to the same call involving firefighters injured at a training facility. So Willis and Dr. Noa Kean (Emily Tyra) are both there when a drunk driver speeds through their scene and hits Rox, in a completely random moment.

Naturally, Willis wants all the resources he can get for Rox, who’s rushed back to the hospital while he panics a lot. While most of the team is focused on her, Dr. Diego Avila (Tyler Perez) and Dr. Rollie Guthrie (Wllliam Allen Young) are still treating the firefighter, too. And he may have an identical twin brother among the hospital’s existing patients!

But that also means they might have the same genetic disease.

Code Black segues back to Mario, who teams up with his girlfriend Noa to help a woman and her boyfriend, who were attacked by a trio of thugs when loading their band’s gear into their van. Noa jumps the gun on treating the boyfriend, causing Mario to finally step in and criticize her in front of everyone else.

"Mario: You don’t rush a procedure because you disagree with me."

Plus, the driver of the car that hit Rox has also turned up elsewhere in the ER. Leanne draws the ire of police officers when she refuses to provide a blood sample from the unconscious driver without a warrant, similar to what happened in the Chicago Med episode “Guilty,” except Code Black doesn’t have her arrested.

Upstairs, Rox finally regains consciousness to find Willis and her aunt Jae Eun (a returning Rosalind Chao) by her bedside. Willis tells her that while she lost a kidney, she will otherwise be fine, and he leaves because Rox still doesn’t want to see him.

Meanwhile, Rollie introduces the two brothers to each other. Frank and JT are stunned to see each other and can already finish each other’s sentences. Frank wants to donate part of his liver to his newfound sibling, but things get awkward when he reveals he was the sibling their mom didn’t put up for adoption — and that Mom has since died.

And Angus discloses Dominic’s potential paternity to Campbell, which promptly gets him kicked off the case. This is not a good time for Mario to step in and admit that he covertly checked blood types behind Angus’s back and in fact, he was right. The types don’t match; Dominic isn’t his son. Noa echoes Angus’s sentiments a few moments later:

"Noa: You always think you know better."

Yep, she’s still angry at him and looking at a job opportunity in Philadelphia to add possible injury to insult. She then tells Rox that the man who hit her has been found, and discovers that Rox can’t feel her hand. Of course she’s not fine. And when Angus comes to confront Yvonne about her lie, she insists that she honestly made a mistake; he’s not buying it, and coldly walks away.

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Leanne catches up with Frank, but doesn’t like what she’s seeing on his latest test. He has a heart condition that makes him ineligible to donate part of his kidney to JT. Frank doesn’t want to hear it, and insists he’ll go through with the surgery anyway.

Before Leanne can dissuade him, she has to go break up a fight between the cops and Jesse, as the cops think they can strong-arm their way into what they want. The officers decide to arrest Jesse, just as his patient starts to crash. Okay, so maybe this plot is following more of the Chicago Med playbook after all.

Leanne leaves Dr. Elliot Dixon (Noah Gray-Cabey) in charge of the driver’s care and goes outside to keep fighting for Jesse’s release. Jesse points out to the cops that Leanne lost her whole family to a drunk driver before Code Black began, and before she can threaten to open a can, the cops have a change of heart and let Jesse go.

"Campbell: You have to put all of yourself into it; otherwise, you’re just another doctor."

Guthrie breaks the news to JT about Frank not being able to have the surgery, but because he can’t say why, Frank assumes that JT is just having second thoughts and begins to talk badly about him as well as their mother. Guthrie dispenses some more advice, like being grateful for the miracle that brought him and his brother back together. Code Black needs more Guthrie.

Our latest Rox update reveals that she has something even Campbell can’t fix. She needs the help of a specialist neurosurgeon, which means she’ll have to go to another hospital in San Diego. To no one’s surprise, Willis volunteers to get her there — if he can stabilize her first. Rox’s aunt steps in to insist that Willis is right and the team needs to do as he says. After all, Jae Eun says, he loves her.

At the same time, the driver who hit her dies and Noa tries to save the boyfriend when he takes a turn for the worse. She starts to waver again, and this time Mario orders her to step back. There’s no negotiation. He’s able to finish the procedure, the guy survives and sets his girlfriend free, and Noa and Mario have an awkward conversation about their future.

"Mario: You’re not happy for me.Noa: I am. I hope you get it … I don’t want to hold you back."

He reassures her that she won’t before going to tell Leanne that he wants that attending position. But after Mario leaves, Noa admits to Diego that she’s still thinking about that job in Philadelphia. And in the final five minutes, Code Black reveals that the twins’ surgery will happen after all, so somebody in all this gets a happy ending!

Not Leanne, though, who gets home to find out that Ariel has gone missing.

Not only was the character of Rox Valenzuela a new addition for Code Black season 3, but she’s become a bigger part of the show than fans may have expected. Originally billed as a recurring character, she was promoted to series regular before the season debuted and has been one of the most prominent characters this season.

Thus, your enjoyment of “One of Our Own” really depends on how much you like Rox and how much you believe she actually is one of their own. If you’re not a fan of the character or aren’t invested in her outcome, most of this episode probably won’t interest you.

Elsewhere, we get complications between Mario and Noa in a classic case of “making something out of nothing.” Mario is absolutely right when he says it’s his job to teach Noa; that’s something he was specifically taken to task for not doing earlier in Code Black season 3. Now he does it and she’s mad at him?

As much as audiences want these two to be happy, this doesn’t seem like a great relationship (especially when you consider that Mario’s “see you at home” line confirms they’ve moved in together; can they settle domestic disputes any better than they just handled this?)

Plus, the mystery of Angus’s paternity is finally settled. It’s not surprising that Dominic isn’t his son, because the whole plot point felt out of character for him to begin with. The real tension is in Mario going behind his back to prove it; Mario is of course just trying to look out for his best friend, but it’s also clearly overstepping his bounds. Unlike with Noa, there’s nothing in his job description about this.

The best story in “One of Our Own” involves the firefighter and the Coast Guard officer who turn out to be identical twin brothers. They’re both played by a single actor, Josh Braaten, who does an amazing job. And both characters are interesting on their own and make you want to know more about each of them, beyond just their being related.

There are elements of this Code Black episode that feel not quite up to the high standard this show has established for itself. Things like the fight between Mario and Noa, or Jesse getting arrested temporarily, feel like either drama for drama’s sake or things we’ve seen on other shows before. And that’s not Code Black; Code Black tells its own stories and tells stories that feel true, not just entertaining.

In that respect, “One of Our Own” is not one of the show’s best episodes. Its emphasis is in a place some viewers may not wholly embrace; think about how different this storyline would’ve been if it had happened to Leanne, or Mario, or Angus. One of the show’s top installments was “Unfinished Business,” which was almost all about Rollie Guthrie’s health issues. This episode does not have near the dramatic impact that episode did. And there are pieces here that just don’t fit.

But the cast continues to deliver great performances, as they do week in and week out. More screen time for Luis Guzman and William Allen Young is particularly welcome. And there are some major clues as to where these characters will end up when Code Black is all said and done. It’s not a great week at Angels Memorial Hospital, but it still makes audiences want to come back.

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

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