Original subtitles

Umm... Gentlemen.

I'm all in.

You think he's been slow playin' us?

Gaslighting is not really my style, Otto.

You know how I feel about therapy, Speak Wolf.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to trigger you in any way.

Oh, oops.

I did it again.

Alright.

I call.

I knew you were a snake!

Okay, Otto.

You're at a ten.

I need you to bring it down to a five, okay?

I'm not at a ten, okay?

I'm at a seven.

If you want to see a ten, I will show you a ten, okay?

Wolf?

Hello?

Still with us?

Uh, yes.

You were saying that the hospital is in a financial slump?

Not a slump.

A crisis.

We're in the red across the board.

As chief... Interim chief?

It's my responsibility to keep us afloat.

To that end, I need every department to start

spending hospital money like it's your own.

All due respect, Nichols, you can keep tap dancing around the real issue,

or you can be straight with us.

Wolf is the problem here.

Neuro does have the most bloat.

Like I said, I always liked your mother, but

she made a mistake recruiting you to work here.

Carol recruited me.

I had my reasons, though they are escaping me at the moment.

Okay, I am feeling very ganged up on here.

You reap what you sow, brother.

You're bleeding the hospital dry.

Money, resources, time.

There is a nuance to what I do.

So when I paged neuro and told you and your

entire team are at church, that's just nuance?

Pastor Thomas has glioblastoma.

She mistook her husband for a hat.

Wolf, please.

Take it on the chin.

No, I am not the problem here.

Public trust in physicians is the lowest it's ever been.

Why?

Insufficient communication and rushed appointments.

Just out of curiosity, Chief Nichols, what are my patient satisfaction scores?

97% strongly satisfied.

Wow, that high.

Look, we live in a world where people would rather

tell a chatbot their symptoms than see a doctor.

Some would rather die than step foot in a hospital.

Yes, I invest time.

I get to know my patients, every single one.

But if they leave Bronx General with more trust in the system, then I am helping

keep this hospital afloat.

It just came back to me.

That's why I recruited him.

Do I always have to be so contrarian?

I'm contrarian?

You're contrarian.

It is impossible to have a conversation with you, Wolf.

I spent the bulk of my career at this hospital.

It means everything to me.

Dad practiced here.

Your mom ran the place.

I know what it means to you, too.

Do you really want to see it get bought out by some

corporation just because you have a stubborn streak?

I am not stubborn.

I'm strong-willed.

Okay.

Okay, fine.

What do you need me to do?

I need you to button up.

That means no more unnecessary procedures or

highfalutin experiments or group field trips.

And keep a healthy emotional distance from your patients.

Same for your interns.

Oh, that's cute.

I like that.

Does that mean I can trust you with a case involving the Burnett family?

Am I supposed to know who they are?

Yes, they're one of the hospital's biggest donors.

Their name is literally on the outside of the building.

You've never... you don't...

Okay, the matriarch, Arianna Burnett, is a retired

entrepreneur known for her eccentric business practices.

Oh, I like her already.

She suffered a bad fall down a flight of stairs this morning.

Possible head trauma.

She was diagnosed with early onset dementia two years ago, and she's

petrified of leaving her home in Fieldston.

So you and Carol need to make an emergent house call.

Uh, that sounds like a field trip.

I am told those are strictly forbidden.

Stop being contrarian.

And please, don't screw this up.

Ready for me?

Uh, actually, I'm gonna run to work.

You're gonna run for, like, fun?

Is this because you're mad at me for reporting Carol?

Something you want to get off your chest?

I'm good.

Just need to clear my head before I shift.

That okay with you?

Sure, I guess.

Are you actually finishing patient charts?

Maybe you should get an MRI.

Just, you know, out of an abundance of caution.

An abundance of caution is no longer a reason to order scans.

In fact, think of Bronx General as the opposite of abundance.

I've literally thought of it that way since my first day here.

Is this because we're living in the era of Chief Nichols?

Interim Chief.

Temporary era.

But yes, this new position is really brought out as God complex.

That's why I called you in.

As your boss, I strongly advise you to play by the rules until further notice.

Under these new mandates, ask yourself, what

would Wolf do, and then do exactly the opposite.

Don't worry about us, Dr. Wolf.

I run a very tight ship.

Team, shall we?

If I had to put money on it, I'd say Wolf doesn't last till Halloween.

Ready to round, doctors?

I can round all of them.

Okay, more efficient for me.

Although, let me remind you that your conduct

is a direct reflection of my leadership.

Speaking of which, I want you to start following the correct chain of command.

You report to me, I report to Wolf.

Understood?

Yep, sounds good.

Love the enthusiasm.

Make sure to tell your buddies Van and Jacob.

And ruin their day off?

Careful, Dr. Kinney.

I could write you off for insubordination.

Thanks for coming.

She just... tumbled all the way down the stairs.

Poor thing.

It's a miracle she didn't break her neck.

Is your wife prone to falls, Mr. Burnett?

Oh, David, please.

And yes, Ariana can be clumsy.

These last few months, she's been getting more... aloof.

In what ways?

Well, you'll see for yourselves.

I gave her some pain medication after the fall.

Kept her awake.

Oh, the cranes help keep her calm.

Ariana, hi.

We're your doctors.

We're here to assess you.

Is that okay?

This could take a little time.

Of course.

I've got some tea on.

Ariana, can you tell us where you are?

What happened?

Ariana, can you look at my penlight?

Follow it with your eyes.

Look at my birds.

If only they could fly.

Dr. Fierce?

Carol.

Do you see what I see?

See what?

Oh, just her bruises.

You know, a home visit isn't the best setting for a comprehensive review.

It would be good if we could bring her to Bronx General.

Do a full workup.

Ariana doesn't like hospitals.

Head injuries can present as minor only to result in something much more serious.

We'd really like to take her in.

Out of an abundance of caution.

Of course.

In that case, we'd be happy to go.

Wouldn't we?

Honey?

We've got a new patient, Ariana Burnett, 52.

Head trauma previously diagnosed with dementia.

And her husband just informed her she's in a guardianship.

As in conservatorship?

As in hashtag free Britney?

Britney... Fierce.

Maybe one more time?

Oops, I did it again.

If this is a pop culture reference, I'm going to need you to give me more.

Dr. Wolf, are you trolling us?

Ariana.

Secretly as for our health, it is our job to determine what that means exactly.

Could mean that she's paranoid.

Common symptom among dementia patients.

Yes, but we still need to do our due diligence and proceed with caution.

According to Nichols, the Burnetts are huge donors to the hospital.

Hence the all hands on deck.

Guardianships are extremely rare.

Do we know how this happened?

History of destructive behavior, gambled a fortune away, self endangerment.

So it's in place to protect her.

Or control her and her money.

Precisely that.

Not only does a guardianship render its war and unable to control their finances,

it can also mean that basic decisions like where she lives, when she uses her phone,

aren't hers to make.

No autonomy.

Okay, so what are we supposed to do?

I mean, it's not our job to get her guardianship removed.

We convinced her family to admit her for an extensive neuroevaluation.

That means she's in our care for a short window.

I will evaluate Ariana.

For once.

I'd like us to work fast.

I'd like to give you five words to remember.

Shoebox, Apollo, computer, pineapple, ersatz.

Now can you repeat them to me?

Shoebox, Apollo, computer, pineapple, ersatz.

Good.

I'll ask you to repeat them in a bit.

Now, can you tell me why you signaled for help?

The last time I opened up to a psychiatrist, they testified against me in court.

I'm not against you.

I'm here to help you, but I cannot do that until you tell me what's wrong.

My memory gets worse every day I'm in that house.

I am losing who I am, who I was.

Can you elaborate for me?

They don't want me to be free.

They're making me sick.

They're poisoning me.

Who is?

My husband, David, and my daughter Jill.

Why would they want to hurt you?

To control me.

To take everything away from me.

You don't believe me.

I'm here for you, Ariana.

This is a serious accusation, and if someone is

poisoning you, we will get to the bottom of it.

Now, could you tell me if you remember those five words?

Shoelace.

Shoestore.

Shoefly?

I want to be sensitive to your situation.

It would be helpful to understand the reasons for the guardianship.

I don't see why that's relevant.

Well, it's patient history.

It's always relevant.

The court agreed to the arrangement two years ago.

After Ariana sold off her businesses, we saw a dramatic cognitive decline and.

Erratic behavior.

She'd just disappear on us all night, sometimes days, and

she didn't always remember where she was or what she did.

The dementia diagnosis finally gave us some clarity.

The guardianship ensures her safety.

We don't think she'd be alive without it.

Should I be worried that Ariana Burnett went from a house call to an inpatient?

This is Wolf.

You have to put a stop... I'm not doing this with you, Josh.

Doing what?

Spying on Wolf.

I did the song and dance with Muriel.

I am not Wolf's keeper.

We brought Ariana in for a proper assessment.

We are doing right by her and her family.

Good.

Because she's a prominent donor.

And I don't want to be a stick in the mud, but I've got

to make a million decisions now and still be a doctor.

Speaking of, my friend Harrison asked about you again.

Oh, Josh.

Remember him?

The, uh... The geriatrician.

You know, I got a picture here somewhere.

Thanks, but I'm not ready.

The last first date I went on flip phones were all the rage.

Destiny's Child had four members and bucket hats were still in style.

Bucket hats are back.

And so am I.

One drink.

Hey.

Are you hungry?

Do I know you?

You're Sam, right?

I'm Dr. Kinney.

I work over at Bronx General.

You know, there's a great Euro card around the corner.

My treat.

So where are you from?

Well... Up.

Does your family know you?

Yeah, I know.

If I stay home, they make me go to therapy and take meds.

I'd rather sleep out here.

My parents are the opposite.

Paying a stranger to listen to our problems, that would never fly.

They'd pay if some doctor wrote schizophrenia in your charting.

Sam, have you ever had a brain scan?

Sometimes people who we think have schizophrenia don't have schizophrenia at all.

And they get better with different treatment.

I could set one up for you.

Why would you do that?

Because I'm a doctor.

It's my job to help you.

Presenting.

A kindly gentleman, 78 years young, with arthritis who

suffered a fall after a mishap with... Wait for it...

A penis pump.

I was like, that's not the head I thought I'd be dealing with in neuro, am I right?

You know, you could be a really great doctor if it weren't for your personality.

I'm both complimented and insulted.

The sippy cup, the doodle notes, the jokes, you are a human mad lib.

This is a patient case presentation, not your SNL audition.

Next time, come back like an adult.

Ariana suspects her family is actively

poisoning her to lock her into the guardianship.

She thinks they're after her money.

Carol, I'm supposed to be buttoned up.

Josh will kill me if we accuse one of our biggest donors of poisoning his wife.

But on the flip side, her mocha score is concerning.

And dementia can make patients feel paranoid.

Yeah, but real paranoia can also be confused for dementia.

Sure, but I also observe other erotic behaviors during our session.

Yeah, according to her family, that's why they put her under a guardianship.

Two things can be true.

Ariana could have dementia and her family could be poisoning her.

Only to get blood for tox labs to find out if she's right.

Did the patient leave?

No, nobody in or out.

Whoa.

Carol?

We've got a patient in the vents!

It's all right, we got you nice and easy.

Here you go, take it slow.

Okay, everybody, showtime is over.

We all have jobs to do.

Let's get back to them.

Oh my god.

Honey, are you okay?

Yeah, I'm fine.

It's not a big deal.

I just wanted to stretch my legs.

Yeah, she actually got kind of far.

Mom, you were in the vents.

You're lucky you didn't get seriously hurt.

This is why we didn't want her at the hospital.

We understand, but crawling through the vents shows a certain level of desperation.

Hey, Dr. Pierce, get a load of this.

Shoebox, Apollo, computer, pineapple, air thoughts.

What is she talking about?

Those were the five words I gave her to remember hours ago.

And given her prognosis, her ability to repeat them is surprising.

What does this mean?

I assume she'd be worse reading off the medication.

At this point we have more questions than

we have answers, but that is why we're here.

By the way, you have rats in your vents.

Where is all of our money going?

I want to see a budget with line items.

Surely we donate enough to keep this hospital rodent free.

Does she really need an fMRI?

Yes.

The structural information from an MRI isn't sufficient.

A functional MRI would allow us to view her brain's activity.

You know it's generally used for research purposes,

not direct patient care application, right?

I do.

But I'm trying to assess early dementia, which is a diagnosis of exclusion.

Since there's no test to prove it, it's on us to rule out any other cause.

I hear you, Wolf.

I just... I don't want you giving them hope.

Only to then have to deliver the same devastating

diagnosis they've already been dealing with.

We owe them the very best workup we have.

Fine.

Run the scan.

But I want to see the results.

The money the burnett's provide this hospital keep the lights

on, the machine's beeping, and our patient's breathing.

The money didn't keep the rats out of the vents.

You might want to look into that.

Could I get a sign-off on a treatment plan?

Standard neuro exam and imaging order.

Mid-twenties, diagnosed, get to effective, never given a proper workup with scans.

Sounds excessive.

What's the urgency now?

I'm going on a gut reaction.

A while ago I assumed the patient was having a drug-induced psychotic break.

Turned out to be a brain tumor that was causing hallucinations.

I don't want to make the same mistake twice.

Has there been an acute change in your patient's condition?

No.

But he could change it.

Then they should schedule an appointment.

Like everyone else.

Ariana's amygdala.

It's inactive.

Scant response to stimuli and emotion, threats.

Consistent with her dementia diagnosis.

Carol, when she first met with you, how was her mocha test?

She couldn't remember a thing.

And after the great vent event of 2025, her mental status improved.

Her toxicology is clean.

No heavy metals, no sedatives, no benzos, no barbs.

Her family isn't poisoning her.

Wait, you actually thought her family was poisoning her?

She made a very convincing argument.

Sometimes paranoia is justified.

And we saw a personality shift after she came out of those vents.

A light was back in her eyes.

It's not how I would expect a dementia patient flooded with adrenaline to react.

I agree.

We need to run more tests.

Burn the midnight oil.

Well, not you.

You have a date tonight.

A date?

And you didn't tell me?

Carol, I'm hurt.

What's his name?

Where did you meet him?

I'm not... His name is Harrison.

It's a blind date.

I set him up and he is well over six feet.

Are you two done?

No.

Do you have any pictures?

I got a picture.

Okay, well, you have to go.

A few tests, just the right amount, and then debrief with my interns.

Teach, nurture, rinse, repeat.

Are you up for another test?

How about we break you out of your cage?

Let you spread your wings.

Round three.

I thought we were going to make our money last.

Doctors don't make nearly as much as you think these days.

You should have gone into finance.

$1,000 all in.

1.41% house advantage on the pass line, zero on the odds.

At this table limit, this is our best move.

Is that a good bet or a risk?

You're going to have to wait and see.

Come on, come on, come on.

I love him.

You need to know when to leave.

Are you thirsty?

Sure.

Thank you.

Don't.

I'm not.

Where are you going?

I'm not answering any questions.

Wait.

Don't do anything I would do.

Sam, this is only going to take a minute, okay?

Anyone to thank you, Sam.

You don't have to.

Stand back, stand back.

Hey, listen to me, listen to me.

Listen to me, all right?

You have exactly two options here.

One, you can try to calm down.

Two, you can be sedated and restrained.

What do you want to do, buddy?

What do you want to do?

Here you go.

Hey, that's it.

All right.

All right.

All right.

It's okay.

It's okay, it's okay, Sam.

It's okay.

You okay?

Mm-hmm.

Good, because my next question is, what the hell was Sam doing in the scanner?

Did we put you up to this?

No, no, no.

This was me.

Sam agreed to a workup for once.

I was just trying to help him.

I respect your... intention.

But do you think that those security guards are equipped

to deal with the patients with complex mental health needs?

They were about to tackle him in a sad tribute to their J.B.

football days.

You're right.

The patient with schizophrenia was more than I could handle.

That's not my point.

Your approach to schizophrenia might be more than anyone can or should handle.

I wonder where you picked that up from.

We were called to consult on a 63-year-old right-handed man.

What's your impression?

Metabolic encephalopathy.

This isn't neuro.

We can sign off.

Which is what I'm doing, too.

These consults can be soul-crushing enough.

I don't need to dim my light just to suit you.

Better.

I don't want to dim any lights.

You're funny.

I like that about you.

But you have to understand when to shine it and where.

Are you going somewhere with this?

Medicine is about showmanship.

It's about acting like people's expectations of a doctor.

It might not be fair, but it's how you gain trust.

It's how you advance.

That's what I want you to understand.

Don't spend it all in one place.

Oh, I miss that, you know, spending it all in one place.

Ariana, your blood work came back negative.

Your family is not poisoning you.

Well, I suppose that's good news.

I think they're so angry with me.

I put them through a lot.

I've been with my husband 30 years, and he looks at me like I'm a stranger.

Can you imagine looking at someone you love and not recognizing them?

I can, actually.

It's very painful.

Well, that's my future.

Not remembering anything.

Losing everyone.

Based on your test results and what I observed

tonight, I don't think that you have dementia.

Okay, don't mess with my head, Dr. Wolf.

You have built your whole life around taking risks since you were a kid, right?

Always climbed the biggest trees, always took the biggest falls.

Not unlike when I threw myself down the stairs

to get you to come over for a house call.

Not a bold move, but a calculated risk.

I don't think it's ever been about the money or the businesses for you.

It's about the thrill, the chase.

You are hardwired to seek it out.

They are confusing your innate thrill seeking for a disease.

So I'm not gonna get worse?

I'm not gonna wake up one day forgetting everything that matters to me?

Um... I'm so sorry.

I think it's the hospital.

I'll be right back.

Hello?

He won't stop talking about his ex-wife.

Who?

Harrison, the guy Josh set me up with.

Told him I went to the bathroom seven minutes ago.

Wolf, I think I gotta make a run for it.

Okay, well, that seems like appropriate behavior for a woman of your age and stature.

Where are you?

I'm with Ariana.

You sort of interrupted our breakthrough.

Hold on, Carol.

Hello?

Ariana!

You took her out gambling and now she's gone?

I took her out to test a theory.

Do you see this spot here?

It's the amygdala, commonly known as the fear center.

Ariana's scan showed this area as inactive, often an indication of early dementia.

Which is why we felt the guardianship was the right option.

Of course.

You did what you thought was best with the information you had.

But this scan isn't your wife's brain.

It's Alex Honnold's.

The guy who climbed El Capitan without a harness?

He has dementia?

No, but he does naturally possess an abnormal amygdala.

Ariana's brain is exactly the same.

So it's natural to steal motorcycles, climb into vents.

Okay, if I may.

Winston Churchill gambled the world's fate while drunk every night.

Nikola Tesla fell in love with a pigeon while squatting in hotels.

Men who take enormous risk while acting irrationally are considered geniuses.

But women?

We call them crazy and we try to control them.

Before your mother retired, work was her outlet.

Her investments were an acceptable risk.

You have been reacting to the unacceptable ones.

Every time she'd disappear, I used to watch the news,

worried that that's how I'd learn that she died.

Do you know what that feels like?

I do, Jill.

I do know what it feels like to worry so deeply about someone you love,

to come home one day and realize you've already seen them for the last time.

The thing is, I've been frequently told that I'm the cause of chaos myself.

But luckily, the people I love accept me for my eccentricities.

We are going to call the police, issue a silver alert, and get her home.

I saw your consults.

Strong work.

You should go have a night with your little intern friends.

Uh, it's all good.

I'm used to a 20-consult day around here.

I thought you and Kenny liked to celebrate a tough day.

Trouble in paradise?

She must be jealous of your mastery of metabolic encephalopathy.

You saved a life with that salt.

And a penis pump.

Porter, was that an attempted humor?

Erica is not the jealous type.

That's not what this is about.

What is it about, then?

I don't know why I'm telling you this, but here goes.

Dr. Pierce just came back from administrative leave because someone

reported her for treating a patient, despite a major conflict of interest.

I've heard all about it.

What you haven't heard is that I'm the one who reported her.

Erica's upset with me.

I did it because I do take this job seriously.

Contrary to popular belief.

If it makes you feel any better, no judgment.

I would have done the same thing.

Uh... can someone turn that up?

I can't say I loved hearing about your circus in the CT from Dr. Thorne.

It won't happen again.

I swear.

For the record, I understand what you were trying

to do because it is exactly what I would do.

But for each of my good habits, I have just as many

bad ones and they're the ones I'm trying to spare you.

And at the risk of sounding like my mother, I don't

think I need to remind you, but Sam is not your patient.

You went above and beyond for Ariana Burnett the last couple of days?

Why?

Because she has money?

Because she asked for help.

Sam did not.

Erica, I need you to know that just because you couldn't save that young woman

in the elevator does not mean you have to save everyone else.

But why not?

What are we doing here if not trying to save people?

Just work on it, Kinney.

Dr. Wolfe, you're going to want to see this.

I am Ariana Burnett, former CEO of Burnett Family Investments.

I am a mom and a wife and an entrepreneur.

But today, I am speaking to you as a prisoner.

Against my will, my family has tracked me in a

guardianship and has taken everything away from me.

But no more, I am taking my life back and I will

do whatever I have to do to fight for my freedoms.

I assure you, I am stronger than yesterday.

My life, my choice.

I'm pretty sure we found her.

Thank you for coming today.

I know there's a lot of distrust in the family right now and maybe even with the

hospital, but I am confident that this demonstration

will help you understand each other better.

Understand each other?

I think it's pretty clear who's being misunderstood.

And we're sorry, honey, we really are, but can we please just give Dr.

Wolfe a chance?

Okay, let's just get on with this.

You both agreed to be hooked up to EEGs.

We're going to show you some images and then these

monitors will indicate how your brains respond.

Okay, let's try base jumping.

And mountain biking.

Ariana's not reacting.

Jill and Ariana's brains are 99.99% genetically similar, yet even still,

there is a significant difference in their response to stimuli.

Honey, you weren't afraid of any of that?

That makes so much sense.

Risk and danger make your mother thrive.

The guardianship prevented her from being able to stimulate her amygdala,

which caused severe depression and memory loss,

and that all can be confused for dementia.

Sometimes we have to let people live their lives, even if it scares us.

And sometimes if our actions scare the people we

love, we have to take that into consideration.

So where do we go from here?

Do we just accept a lifetime of anxiety?

Or captivity?

What am I supposed to do?

How do I get better from here?

The treatment plan to start is simple.

At least three activities a week that activate your risk center.

Rock climbing, amateur mic night, open water swimming.

As long as it's not in the Hudson.

To help rebuild your family's bond, I would recommend you all participate together.

Without a court order.

We'll get our lawyers on the phone.

This could be a new beginning.

You're looking at me like you recognize me.

Sometimes we treat the people we care about as representations of ourselves.

We want to mold them into what we need them to

be so that our lives can be more comfortable.

Sam!

Dana!

Amy!

Anybody home?

We try to change people to manage our own anxieties, when instead it would be so

much easier to just accept them for who they are.

Can't believe you haven't come to tell me all about your date.

Who said anything about a date?

Well, come on now.

I just want to know if anyone else got his hands on that zipper last night.

Unfortunately, your E.R.

and crusted digits were the only ones.

Oh, all right.

Apparently, the dating skills part of my brain is

atrophied during the last 20 years of my marriage.

The first date I went on after the divorce, I fell asleep at dinner.

Just came off a double shift and there was no zipper action that night.

So what?

Are we just hopeless?

You will have no trouble getting your groove back, Dr. Pierce.

I have no doubts.

Gotta run.

These digits are needed elsewhere, somewhere they are appreciated.

Okay.

I am pleased to report the Burnett family will enthusiastically continue to be

donors to Bronx General and give credit where credit is due.

That's thanks to you, Wolf.

These are the billable charts you requested, all sorted, all signed.

See?

Not so hard.

I will continue to write my reports to a bill on time to delegate to my interns.

That's great.

But we could have gotten here with a lot less grief and turmoil.

I understand you have your way of doing things, but

do you ever stop and think about what it costs you?

I can't stop being the doctor I am.

If you want a neurologist who checks all your boxes, feel free to find one.

I do what I do, how I do it, because it's what I believe in,

because my patients deserve it, and that will never change.

I can learn to play by the rules, but I will not be controlled.

No relationship can survive once we start compromising ourselves.

Once we lose who we are, we lose everything.

Hello, Josh.

I haven't had some notes.

They took away the phone you gave me.

Listen, we don't have much time.

They won't let me leave.

I need your help.

Slow down, slow down.

Who said you can't leave?

This place is awful.

I have no control over anything, no autonomy.

Can you just give me a minute, please?

Hello?

You still there?

Is that Dr. Wolf?

It's so sad, what's happened to Oliver.

But don't worry, things are running smoother than ever.

I want you to know that this neuro department is in good hands.

Greg, move your head.