Code Black (TV Series) Vertigo (2017) User Reviews

Woah...what just happened?

[David_Morris4512 · 9/10 · 25 November 2017]

Seeing Ariel, who first was in Code Black's pilot episode, on the "previously on" flash was rather confusing at first...until we reach the ending of the episode, which is where it all begins to make sense.

"Vertigo" is another example of Code Black finding ways to tell stories that are different from the genre norm or that don't even seem like they'd work during a medical drama. Willis has now been under the sea (in "What Lies Beneath") and up in the air (in "Vertigo").

Here's an episode that tackles another subject you might not necessarily see on another hospital drama, in giving us a storyline about elder abuse. It would have been perfectly easy and totally acceptable to follow the straight line and have Judith's husband being the one hurting her, but that is not how Code Black does business. It turns right, or left, or just says it's going to come up with a case that you won't think sounds familiar to the hundreds of episodes of other shows you've seen before. The show knows it's operating in a space that's well-traveled, and so it's constantly going out on its own limb, and we need series like that. We need programs that are going to break the genre molds and do new things because that's why we have new shows in the first place. Having Code Black on the air doesn't just keep the audience captivated; it's moving the entire medical genre forward.

Additionally, the primary component that makes this episode so remarkable is when Ariel shows up. It was so unexpected but brings a new series of events to the show, not to mention will "spice things up" so to speak. This was a great episode overall, and I am interested to find out what happens next with Ariel.

"Vertigo" leaves you saying OMG!

[lester_laurie123 · 8/10 · 25 November 2017]

CBS's Code Black climbs to new heights with "Vertigo." All that I can say after seeing this episode is...OMG. It's hard to believe that Season 2 of CBS' Code Black nears its ending so shortly, but at least it's using its final few episodes to go big or go home. "Vertigo" puts yet another unique challenge in front of the staff and populates itself with some welcome familiar faces.

"Vertigo" kicks off as Campbell sends Willis to the site of a construction accident and Savetti decides to tag along to help save two brothers who are pinned under equipment forty stories in the air at opposite ends. It's a tough ask...especially for Mario, who's just completed back-to-back shifts at Angels Memorial, but if anybody can make the impossible happen, it's these guys.

That leaves Leanne and company short-handed at the hospital again as they treat an assortment of patients. They include a colleague's wife Judith Blackwell (Roxanne Hart). Her daughter Lily is played by Susie Abromeit.

Meanwhile, Angus and Elliot help a high school teacher (John Billingsley) and two of his students who were exposed to pepper spray. The accusations start flying fast and furious as to who's responsible, and then the teacher's condition worsens.

Up in the air, one of the brothers loses consciousness and there is an increased need to get him off the crane. Right then, Willis makes the drastic decision to amputate the man's arm. This doesn't go over well with Savetti, who starts to freak out at the worst possible time and then falls off the crane himself. It only lasts just a few minutes but that's enough to give us all a legitimate scare to go with the real cringing that comes with seeing an arm being sawn off.

Leanne looks at Judith's X-rays and sees a spiral fracture that never quite healed; she suspects domestic abuse. Naturally, Judith continues to insist that nothing's wrong, even as Noa confronts her with her history of being in a half-dozen different emergency rooms. And obviously, Judith's husband does not take kindly to Leanne wanting to dig deeper into her situation. But Leanne Rorish doesn't care whether he likes it or not.

Lily is less defensive, telling the doctors that her father is "so controlling, you have no idea." But before she can actually get into details, Dad is there to tell her to stop talking and she leaves, with Leanne and Noa wondering what she was going to say. They take their suspicions to Campbell, who doesn't want to pull the trigger too soon, especially since he let the orthopedist operate on his own daughter. But the latter interrupts their meeting to tell them that Dr. Blackwell has had a stroke. Maybe it was karma? Or maybe someone hit him instead?

If you've noticed we haven't mentioned Jesse, he's here to once again stand in as a father figure, this time for the one student who's having remorse over being responsible for the pepper spray prank. "You're a nurse, not a shrink," she snarks at him but Jesse has taken enough sass from residents, doctors, and other patients. He tells Emily to decide who she wants to be.

Willis and Savetti get back to the hospital, where Savetti is still out of it, so Willis orders him to step away from their patients. Mario walks off to brood as Lily returns and wonders what happened to either of her parents. In reality, they're upstairs because Campbell has footage from the hospital's security cameras of Lily being the abuser. "You don't understand," Judith insists. "She doesn't mean to hurt us." But she's being hauled off screaming by officers in the hallway.

Morning comes and the two brothers begin their recovery, physically and emotionally, with a little nudge from Willis. It doesn't matter that one of them is now missing a limb. "We can work this out together," the other one says, which makes up on the cosmic scoreboard for the downer that is the elder abuse storyline.

It's time to circle back to the high school storyline, where the teacher and the student have a chat of their own. Emily denies that she knows who broke out the pepper spray but that's an obvious bluff, and her teacher surprises her by demonstrating that he understands more about her than she believes. That olive branch is enough to get her to confess her guilt. "You made a mistake. We all do," he replies and quotes her book report on Great Expectations. Medicine and Charles Dickens references - this is a full-service show.

While Angus realizes to his horror that he's not going out for coffee with Dr. Pruitt (from "Exodus") but on a hike and he is not a hiker, Willis gives career advice to Savetti. "You're so close to being great," he says. "Just try to be less stupid." That's a T-shirt saying if there ever was one.

And Rollie pops in for the last few minutes to remind the audience that he's doing just fine before Ariel (Emily Alyn Lind) shows up to kick off the storyline that's going to be in the next episode. This was the cherry on the ice cream sundae, which makes this episode so extraordinary.

I am left speechless after this one

[GennaRocks1 · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

When an amputation three hundred feet in the air is the least compelling storyline you have to offer, you're doing something right. Ethan and Mario went out into the field on Code Black #2.14, but there was plenty happening back at Angel's to keep us glued to the screen:

Leanne and Noa had to challenge assumptions about domestic violence, Jesse had to help a young girl find herself, and Angus had to rely on Elliot to get a date. Angus' inability was hilarious, if far- fetched. I mean, he's only a year ahead of Elliot in the program, and at best 3 years older. The boy should know how to use emojis.

There were only two points of improvement needed for this refreshingly light-hearted B-plot: 1) no one called Elliot "sugar bear" and 2) we didn't get to see the pustules on the first patient get drained. Gore is good, people!

Outside of the texting shenanigans, it was nice to see Dr. Leighton come into his own while treating Mr. Hazelton. Not only did he make a great call identifying what rhythm was out of sync, he did an excellent job instructing Dixon.

At least when Mr. Hazleton did speak, he got to say something important to Emma. That girl is lucky, getting advice and support from both him and Jesse. Of course, it's too bad Jesse was so tied up helping a teenager with her self- worth issues because I have a feeling he would have figured out that domestic violence situation a whole lot more quickly.

It was pretty obvious that the wife was an abuse victim, but it wasn't foreseen the daughter as the abuser. Not until she starting talking to Noa about how hard her Dad was on her anyway. The only thing I could have wished for this story was for Noa to have a little bit more or a learning moment about looking past addiction. Campbell probably needs a continuing education seminar on spotting signs of abuse as well. I can't believe Leanne had to point out to him that the pills and booze could be because of the abuse.

It's a good thing that Ethan taught Mario his lesson in small, easy to understand words since he was so sleep deprived he was literally shaking. Honestly, I would have thought he'd need an exam after the fall he took. There had to be some bruising. The one thing that Ethan's speech didn't examine was why Mario tries so hard, although that's fairly obvious. His insecurity is going to get him into real trouble some day. A day when he doesn't have a safety harness on to catch him.

Outside of Ethan's pep speech, I really didn't find this story all that interesting. It was hard to tell exactly how the brothers were injured in a way that their fates were tied.

I am interested in Ariel's return, even if I did have to give it a good think to remember when we saw her. Calling back to the pilot is a stretch, especially since Code Black is almost an entirely different show at this point.

The reasons for her reappearance will be explained in Code Black's next episode ("The Devil's Workshop"), the first part of the Season 2 finale. Of course, a wayward orphan showing up out the blue isn't nearly dramatic enough, so there's also going to be a deadly viral outbreak.

Ariel's return brings something new to Code Black, and, if played correctly, can be one of the best twists of the show.