the residents' reactions to leyla saying she was living in her car was especially cartoon villain like too. it's a little laughable that the three of them complained about having to share an apartment when leyla didn't even have /that/ 6 months ago??? or even an ipad to study from?? and she should be humbled by their hardship??? tbh i'm hoping we see her bond more with the OG ED senior staff (turan, brunsetter, casey, etc). who needs the newbie residents.

And another anon:

“Sometimes the NA writers just don't think things through”. << a sentence I’ve said countless times over the seasons lol. Trying to tackle all the issues backfires, more often than not, because they usually fail to consider all the aspects of the actual character they’re using for the narrative and their analysis loses specificity and nuance, you’re so right. With the privilege conversation, I just found it so odd that 3 working class people wouldn’t at least pause their ranting once Leyla mentioned that not even a year ago she was homeless. Focusing on her so called come up and insisting that she was somehow now majorly privileged rubbed me the wrong way because the writing framed it like her gain was at their expense and conflating that with the assumed perks she’d get from dating the boss(something to actually be wary of) really rubbed me the wrong way. Because Lauren would have helped Leyla get the technology and resources anyway, just because she’s her girlfriend and Lauren’s just like that. I’d understand if they were bitching about Lauren giving Leyla preferential treatment but whining over her finances? Like are they annoyed at other residents that aren’t dating the boss but happen to be well off? It was just such clumsy reasoning and the writers really missed the mark there.

And another anon:

The residents' cattiness didn't make sense to me because a couple of fancy items doesn't make Leyla privileged *for dating Lauren*. If Leyla bought those herself, would she still be privileged? If she was using a leftover iPad from undergrad, would she still be privileged? Lauren treating her differently last episode was a valid callout, but as far as we know that got resolved. Redoing everything as trained attending is already enough of a setback.

I know, how could you not at least pause at hearing Leyla'd been homeless? Instead of somehow using it to make her look even worse? Silly.

And exactly, are they mad at Lauren for just being plain rich? At every other doctor who has more advantages than them? Or just Leyla? It just felt even worse because it's Leyla they're going after for being supposedly privileged, who we know has struggled so much.

Quite frankly, if they actually wanted to focus on the ethics of the situation, not knowing anything specific, it should have been Lauren they should have been suspicious of, not because she's rich--well, that too, but if I found out this homeless person was staying with her boss, the power dynamic direction they immediately jumped to is NOT the one that I would be thinking of. And ugh, I don't want to be all, damn, these bitter poor people jealous of, indirectly, Lauren's wealth so this is on the writers.

Which, yes, second anon, "they usually fail to consider all the aspects of the actual character they’re using for the narrative and their analysis loses specificity and nuance", yeahhhh, like, it's inevitable when you try to do these social justice one-offs. Like last season's, you can't just tackle racism like that by having Max decide to do a thing and then having Helen or individual patients explaining why that wouldn't work. I dunno, there was some good stuff, but at times it did the characters such a disservice and like, what's the resolution, then, if you're going to make all of systemic racism a discussion between two individuals. At the end of the ep, is that issue Solved?

I don't know what the fix is, is it better to NOT tackle this stuff at all? I wouldn't say that's the answer either. But at least focus on character first, yes.

I don't know if you'll allow such comment to pass, but as someone who has followed Leyren since the start of the story and love what a character like Leyla represents, i gotta say they need to do better on the quality of the kissing. I mean they always looked uncomfortable, but today's kiss was extremely awkward. Straight actors really need to do better, it's not cool when you can tell they are uncomfortable, that has huge meaning.

Heh, what do you mean, allow to pass? Will I publish it? Will I not argue with it?

I've said before it's not something I focus on or examine too closely. In context this one seemed sweet and loving to me, especially at a party in front of their colleagues after Leyla'd just been called out partly because she was dating this person.

(1) I'm enjoying Leyren so far this season, but one glaring thing to me is having NO ONE react to them dating. It was just weird to see Casey in a tizzy about Max/Helen, and not to see him react - even non-verbally (a glance, a dropped jaw) - to Lauren dating anyone openly, and dating one of her residents! Since they were clearly together at the rooftop party, it seems like - everyone knows?! The only thing I can think of is that the show is saving the reveal to go also with the bribe storyline?

(2) By that I don't mean that the revelation of the bribe will also be the revelation of the relationship to people, but that the shocked responses will be combined, kind of "OMG, you gave a bribe, because you're dating Leyla!!" if that makes sense. The show had multiple chances to work in reactions to Leyren from Casey, Floyd (when he was talking to Lauren), and even Iggy, but the writers seem to have made a deliberate decision not to ...

And another anon:

do you think leyla knows about lauren and reynolds? i think so but im not sure. knowing how things play out on this show it probably won’t even come up. i mean we didn’t even get to see casey comment on lauren and leyla or see any one else’s reaction to them. i know sharpwin was the moment but i really wanted to see casey get in some teasing or something.

Ugh, yeah, they seem to have skipped over a lot of those reactions completely? But I'm not even sure if some of them knew, like Walsh seemed surprised when Lauren dropped the reveal in 4x01. But I can't imagine the main cast doesn't know. Especially Casey and Floyd and Helen. It seems SUCH a waste to completely skim over that. :x

I would think that the revelation of the bribe would only work better if there was already a reveal about the relationship before? I don't see how it can really be folded into it, you know? I just feel like they kept it too late and then it was time for Sharpwin's reveal and they didn't want to overlap with it.

I honestly don't know if Leyla knows about Lauren and Floyd. Considering Leyla already knows so much else, I would think she does, that except for the bribe, Lauren is trying to be as open as possible and meekly confesses that Floyd's her ex and Leyla's like, it's fine? But who knows, they could be saving that for some dramatic moment when it could cause misunderstandings and damage.

Hey, where the hell is nurse Casey?

Wh--what do you mean?

This is him? I'm not sure what you're asking, tbh?

as catty and silly as the residents were, i actually really loved the snark and snideness. everyone(other than lauren and helen-in certain moments) is always so pleasant on this show, sometimes it feels a bit precious. i felt so bad for leyla (she gave as good as she got though) but i was having much fun watching the back and forth! i hope one of them comes around though because she’s still a bit isolated and not having that workplace camaraderie can be so lonely !

And another anon:

The residents were almost laughably bitter so I didn’t expect them to get to Leyla, though I understood why they did. But all I could think about when Lauren said Leyla wasn’t paying rent was how pissed they’d be if they found out. The primary instigator with the long hair would have erupted into flames lol. I really hope Leyla continues to address their concerns rather than their attitudes with Lauren because she’d flip if she caught wind of their disrespect.

I hear you on everyone being a little too nice but the residents were mean to the point of cartoonish, so they didn't really feel like real characters either. And it didn't seem like Leyla gave as good as she got, lol, since she wasn't attacking them, she was only defending herself, and poorly at that, since she kind of believes what they're saying. This is already an insecurity of hers, that she's not good enough, that she doesn't belong there. So it wasn't really fun to watch for me.

Sometimes the NA writers just don't think things through. How are you going to have someone go after your brown immigrant doctor for not deserving to be there. D: Like, yes, the narrative isn't fully endorsing them, they come across as mean and petty, but also apparently having a point, since Leyla gives in, but the bigger issue is that the narrative isn't even aware of the optics of this, even if only to acknowledge and dismiss it.

And that's just not how privilege works? Privilege is across certain dynamics, right, who benefits and who doesn't. And it can be a great deal of things, sure, race, sexuality, gender, gender identity, or skin color, fat/thin, and on and on, but what is it they think she has here? Class privilege??? For dating someone rich?? That's not how it works! And presumably it's not the favoritism of dating her boss since the first ep supposedly took care of that.

I do assume that eventually they'll become actual people and soften? I'm not sure, the show is such broad strokes sometimes, I don't know if it'll actually go into the friendship between Leyla and a resident, or if they do, it'll be done swiftly with a few scenes.

I kind of hope Lauren does find out because THOSE are fireworks I'd enjoy, but no, not really, since that'd just mortify Leyla and end up making the situation worse for everyone. I'm less worried about them finding out about the rent and more about how she got the job. I don't think she could live it down, considering everything, god. The position she's in. >_<

I saw some comments about Lauren trying really hard this season and Leyla seeming a bit distant but to me, so far this season has shown them settling into something secure and real and less clouded with infatuation. I like that they’re having frank conversations and that their issues(not that one) are external rather than the typical jealousy/cheating/baby cliche. I feel like a lot of people only want them to stay in that besotted phase but I prefer the mix of added depth.

I haven't heard any of that so I can't speak to what people have been saying or feeling, but Lauren still seems incredibly infatuated and you sent this after 402, which, after that rooftop scene, it seems quite mutual. And the softness of that "you" from Leyla when she was talking about the wonderful things that were helping her get to where she was...

I don't really sense much distance from Leyla at all. Like when they got to the hospital together, for example. This is honestly their ideal dynamic for me. I loved the buildup last season but of course they weren't together together, and then it rushed into too much too fast, but this, where they can still talk but are clearly very much in love--I'm not disagreeing with you, basically, I like them as they are. I just don't really see this as that different from how they were at the end of s3, just better written.