Code Black (TV Series) Diagnosis of Exclusion (2016) User Reviews

Best episode of the series so far

[LoveIsAStateOfMind · 10/10 · 13 February 2016]

'Code Black' has gone from strength to strength with each episode, outdoing every other medical drama on TV and this episode just raised the bar even further.

I thought the way the episode was structured was really clever, jumping from real time with the doctors being questioned to the events of Malaya's attack.

I love that we got to see the strength of Angus/Malaya's friendship and Angus's "secret" brings a whole new dynamic to his character and I am sure we'll start to see him unravel in future episodes. I love his brother Mike as well and hope that he sticks around and becomes a regular.

I'm a Neal/Christa fan of course and like how that has evolved quite subtly over the past few episodes.

Can't wait to see where the show will go after this amazing episode.

We were all crying our way through this one...

[sbeattyimdb-30065 · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

The last episode of Code Black ended on a huge cliffhanger. This episode, the lives of three doctors are changed forever.

In the previous few episodes, Gordon Heshman has been stalking Malaya. After Gina's found by Christa, she's taken to center stage. With eight stab wounds to the abdomen and blood pouring out of her at an alarming rate, Mike, Mario, Neal, and Christa try to save her.

In the midst of them doing everything they can for Gina, Malaya is wheeled into the ER with a stab wound.

... And all this only happens in the first 5 minutes.

Mike decided to "break from the standard protocol" (board members words, not mine) by performing surgery on Gina in center stage. And, as Leanne says, "center stage is where rules go to die." Will Campbell arrives while the trio is desperately trying to save Gina's life. Angered by the fact that they didn't bring Gina up to the OR, he rudely pushes Mike aside and continues the procedure.

Ultimately, all efforts are in vain because Gina dies. Time of death: 5:43 AM.

I liked Gina. She was cross at times with everyone, but she was just doing her job. She had Leanne's back. She had everyone's back. I was crying so hard when Gina died that I had to leave the room.

The doctors are all questioned by the hospital's internal review board after Gina's untimely death. All the doctors involved, including Jesse, are interrogated by the members board. Their every move during the whole ordeal is questioned, by the board and by themselves. Campbell, being the cocky jerk he is goes to the board and decides to throw Mike and Neal under the bus. She needed this, she needed that. I'm sorry, I actually got so angry at him that I couldn't see straight. Heather stands up for Campbell's actions, telling Mario that he's an amazing doctor and won multiple awards. Sorry Heather, but winning multiple awards doesn't mean I'm going to like you or Campbell.

Executive producer Michael Seitzman said in a statement that Campbell is a "well-respected surgeon with an arrogant edge. He's a character viewers will love, but also love to hate." He's absolutely right on that one: I'm definitely hating on Campbell right now.

Angus is harboring a deep, dark secret. He runs down to the parking garage to hand Malaya's phone only to find that she's being attacked by Gordon. Gordon, after being tackled off Malaya by Angus, stabs the knife into his throat. He pulls the knife out and initially Angus applies pressure to Gordon's neck wound.

At the end of the episode, Angus and Malaya share an adorable friendship moment, complete with a Hawaiian burger and a milkshake. Angus also shares that Gordon is dead. It's over. It's a sigh of relief for everyone. Walking out of Malaya's hospital room, Angus bumps into his big brother. We then get a shocking revelation: after Gordon stabbed himself in the neck and pulled the knife out, Angus originally applied pressure to stop the bleeding. But what Gordon mutters next is his fatal mistake:

"I'm going to kill that bi***."

Angus, angered and shocked, takes pressure off the wound and watches as Gordon bleeds out. It's not until security comes running that Angus snaps out of it and yells for a gurney. Mike comforts his little brother and tells him this is one secret he must "take to his grave".

I'm not saying that I condone Angus' actions, but I do understand them. Think about it: your friend was just stabbed and nearly raped by this guy. Instant anger and protective mode would activate, and you would do anything to stop that guy from hurting your friend. Gordon's last words would anger anyone. I definitely don't blame Angus for having a moment of anger and not helping Gordon. However, as a doctor, you took an oath to aid, not to kill. Legally, what Angus did was wrong. Morally, I can't blame him. I'm worried about what will happen if someone finds out about Angus' actions.

Leanne was contemplating on leaving the hospital. However, with Gina's death, the position of E.R. Director is handed to her "until Taylor comes back." Harbert may have been on the board and part of the committee that was interrogating the doctors, but we see that he is still distraught by Gina's death. They were in a relationship, and he never got to say goodbye. Him and Leanne share a heart- wrenching moment at Gina's graveside. They both never got to say goodbye to their loved ones. I'm definitely glad that Leanne's not leaving, though. Leanne and Jesse are the backbone of Angels Memorial and and if either of them leave, it's safe to say we will riot.

On a lighter note, Christa and Neal are officially a thing. Before Gina's death, Gina pulled Christa aside and told her that she noticed the "thing" going on between her and Neal. She wanted them both to disclose the relationship to HR by signing a disclosure form. Neal was initially reluctant to sign the form, angering Christa. But, all's well that ends well. The forms are signed, and Neal tells Leanne--in front of the board members--that he and Christa are in a relationship.

I have to say, this whole episode was an emotional train-wreck for me. The writers and the actors are phenomenal. Truly phenomenal. The story lines are so captivating and so realistic. To be quite honest, I don't think this show gets enough praise. The work the writers do, on top of the amazing acting abilities from the cast, bring the story lines to life. The actors acted the heck out of all these scenes, making them so real and so connecting on an emotional level.

DANG! This was an AMAZING episode!

[hellensteins · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

This episode was a total game-changer.

Code Black #1.15 centered on the fall-out of events from Malaya's stalker losing it. While we learned how the attacks and subsequent treatments played out through a hospital inquiry, it also became clear that everything is going to change as a result.

I absolutely loved this episode. It might not have had the adrenaline rush of early offerings, and it was without the show's usual tear-jerking endings, but it was so wonderfully executed that it elevated Code Black to a whole new level. This show just keeps getting better.

The use of flashbacks and multiple viewpoints could have easily become a confusing mess, but the writers managed to convey the chaos and trauma of the situation with poignancy. The actors managed to pull off the careful balance required, and it all came together beautifully.

I'll admit that the "twist" where Angus let Gordon bleed out was not unexpected. The only surprise was that it was passive inaction instead of Angus purposefully stabbing the guy or something, even that isn't so surprising when you really think about Angus' personality.

Something Jesse told Angus correctly described how all of us felt about this situation:

"Gordon Heshman's not doing well. As healers, we fight death every day. That doesn't mean I'm not hoping he dies. Better for Malaya. Maybe you too."

Gina's death is inevitably going to turn all kinds of things in Trauma One upside down. It's a little unconventional to shake things up this dramatically so early in a series, but this should smooth over some of the casting hiccups that the show seems to have suffered.

It should also make things at Angel's a little more logical. Having Leanne take on an administrative role will give her new direction, and the ability to stand up for her staff. Of course, she'll also have to work out how to discipline her friends-cum-underlings. I have a feeling her new role is going to stick.

Gina's death also brought in a new surgeon, the previously mentioned Dr. Campbell. One look at him, and I totally understand how easy it was for Heather to end up in a supply closet with him. He doesn't have the nicest personality, though. There's definitely going to be some dirty laundry aired with that plot before long.

Bringing in Dr. Campbell brought into focus Neal's own surgical skills. Apparently, he's done a pretty good job keeping his previous specialty on the down-low. I did think that Harbert's nixing of Neal's practicing surgery was a pretty good indicator that Dr. Hudson will be changing specialties soon. Or at least pursuing a fellowship of some kind.

Angel's does seem like it could use a dedicated trauma surgeon after all. And, as a bonus, Neal transferring to the surgical department would make his relationship with Christa a little less stressful.

All in all, this is an AMAZING episode of Code Black. It was everything we wanted and MORE!

A recap of the episode that you don't want to miss

[David_Morris4512 · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

Apparently, Perello hadn't made it after her ordeal in the previous episode. She had already lost liters of blood by the time Christa had found her and her condition had been considered too unstable for her to even survive a trip on the elevator. So Mike had been forced to take drastic actions when he had become the doctor on her case.

He decided to open her up right there in center stage of the emergency room and he was just one of the many that had to answer for his actions on this episode of "Code Black".

The hospital had initially told everyone that they were mainly conducting a review of the night in question. And while it was understandable for the hospital board to want to know where the hospital at large could have done differently, it soon became clear particularly to the people they were questioning that they needed someone to blame. Gordon, you see, hadn't just attacked Perello. He had gone after Malaya as well and therefore two doctors had been attacked in a crowded hospital.

After he had stabbed Perello, Gordon had followed Malaya into the parking garage and that had put her instantly on her guard. So she had confronted Gordon and told him that she was not in any interested. But he chose to believe that she was lying about being gay and that she had only said she was "lesbian" to shake him off.

So he stabbed her and was intent on sexually assaulting her when Angus had gotten off the elevator and had seen them. And so Angus quickly rushed to Malaya's aid where he then threw Gordon off of her but he hadn't known that Gordon had fallen on his own knife until he had seen Gordon struggling. The knife it seems had gone into Gordon's neck and while Angus told him not to remove it - Gordon had.

Angus tried to help. He had applied pressure to the wound but like he told the board he couldn't do that and provide CPR. So Gordon hadn't been treated until he finally arrived and Angus was able to take him up to the ER... Though the board hadn't seemed all that concerned about Gordon's eventual death.

He had wanted to know whether he had treated to the best capability of both Angus and Christa. And both doctors said that he had. Even though there had been a rumor that someone had said, "why do we have to save this creep".

So Angus and Christa had been cleared of that but they, like others, had been asked why they never noticed that something had been off with Gordon. Gordon had apparently come into the hospital at least seven times. And most of those visits he was there as a patient.

To be fair, he had always used different names but the board pointed out that he hadn't ever changed his date of birth. So they believed that someone should have reservations about him long before the attack and that someone should have also noticed him wandering around the hospital, always following Malaya.

Yet no one had. And neither Mario nor Jesse had even made a note of it when Gordon had been admitted after intentionally poisoning himself with rat poison and had asked for Malaya to be the one to treat him. They had just dismissed it.

And to be frank they had forgotten all about it. That is until the board pulled them in for questioning and they had been asked if Gordon had either said or done something that seemed off. So all the witch hunts had done was make Jesse feel bad.

He felt like he could have prevented the attacks and so he had later apologized to Malaya for not protecting her like he should have. However, she had told him that the only one that was to blame was herself. She had gotten a feeling after the first time she had treated Gordon and she had ignored because she had felt bad for him. Like maybe he had been lonely.

But the only person that is to blame for the attacks is Gordon. Not the doctors that had treated him and hadn't noticed him around the hospital. Not Christa who had heard Perello shouting at someone and had simply thought another resident had found themselves in trouble. And not Mike who had tried to save Perello's life but who had been taken off her case by an egotistical surgeon who felt surgeries was his own thing.

So Rorish had told the board that enough was enough - traumatizing everyone by making them relive events was not helping.

Yet there was one thing that Angus hadn't told anyone else besides Mike. And that was he had let Gordon bleed out because Gordon had said he was going to kill Malaya. So Mike told his brother that what happened was going to be a secret they took to their graves.