anyways

okay. so. the first couple of scenes we get of frank in this ep (by the hub asking whitaker about his badge/talking to ellis about robby/talking to ellis with the beer bottle face lac patient), is the most pushed back the hair is all episode, which is to say: not pushed back at all. no evil hair in sight this week. it's still neat and out of his eyes, still styled while looking pretty effortless. he looks good! after the break room scene with mel he's got a little more pep in his step, and though his confidence isn't fully back, he's getting there.

(frank enters dad mode and tells whitaker to retrace his steps; frank tells ellis that father thinks he's unfit to reign)

we then get the break room scene with whitaker which... was a scene in the show. he handled it way better than i would've, and i'll leave my thoughts on the scene at that. now the hair is falling a little more forwards, less structured than in earlier scenes. just before this we see him complaining about his back pain to ellis, and he's in the break room to get some painkillers from the employee medicine cabinet. he's in pain, and expects to be alone so it tracks that the hair would be a little more disheveled than before, this time falling across his forehead instead of pushed to one side. he's not trying to look a certain way to convey that he's fine, this should be a moment of quiet for him to deal with his pain, until he gets accosted by some twerp for no real reason.

(god forbid a guy take some advil; and then i hear this agitating, grating voice)

TIME TO SAVE LIVES. when he enters the trauma bay for the spinal patient, his hair is SO floppy. the closest we've seen to this is at the end 2x05 when he is performing the resus on louie. he's in pain, he just got yelled at by an intern (?), and in this moment, he's on the knife's edge. he's looking at a gurney with a patient facing possibly life threatening consequences due to a spinal injury, and i think in this moment he sees himself. referring back to my hair theory scale from this post, it could go one of two ways. this could be effortless hair because he's in control and isn't trying to keep up appearances, or it could be messy hair in a situation where he has no control and can't keep up the facade that things are okay. the only way to find out which one of those it is, is to try. when you compare his hair here to previous episodes, it looks like the only product in it is some kind of volumiser, but other than that his hair is free to move as it pleases. we've gone from the strands being pushed to the side, to over his forehead, to now hanging over his eyes.

(oh shit; big dick frank langdon takes charge and saves a life)

it's at this point in the episode when something clicked in the back of my mind. i had a brief thought of wow, his hair in season two has really grown on me, maybe... maybe i even prefer it to season one hair? and then he was pulling a guys head off his body to reduce a spinal dislocation so i filed that thought away for later. but then it was later, and i was gathering screenshots for this post, and it hit me. his hair was as hot as season one hair in this episode because it is season one hair. right now, in a trauma bay, with a complicated and risky procedure before him, and buoyed by the fact that everyone else trusts him enough to let him try: in that moment, he was his old self. he doesn't have to try to look a certain way because his actions speak for him. he is a good doctor and he and everyone else knows it. i could cry.

(1x02; 2x14)

and then we have the post reduction celebration/immediate comedown when he has to run off to do his drug test. that hit of adrenaline when he realises that yeah, he really freaked it big time. this is what he's here for! this is what he loves! he doesn't need to look put together! he doesn't need to push his hair back! he just reduced a uni-facet cervical dislocation, frank langdon is back 🔛🔝 babeyyyyyyyy, nothing's gonna bring him down. well. until dana comes running up to him to remind him that his drug test is overdue. in his final moments on screen this episode, this rug pull catapults him to the other side of the hair theory scale, representing a loss of control and command of his situation, despite seconds earlier getting his swag back.

(holy shit; girl who is going to be okay.jpeg; girl who is late for her very important drug test)

quick tangent here: this drug test is serious. now obviously he hasn't relapsed (regardless of what some people on tiktok and twitter have wrongly speculated), but we know from his conversation with al-hashimi earlier in the season that he's in a PHP (physician's health program). missing a drug test, regardless of if the results come back clear, carries some very significant consequences, and could end his career. this, paired with the fact that we just saw him leave the bathroom before entering the trauma bay in this episode leaves him in a very precarious situation where being unable to provide a urine sample could theoretically cost him his career. i'm sure people are going to find it funny that he's going to spend the last episode stressed about not being able to pee, but please keep in mind that the consequences for failing to provide a sample on time could be catastrophic for his life and career, so let's treat this with some understanding please.

overall, this episode was incredible for me and the 4 other people who also spend most of their time watching this show tracking just how much hair is in this guy's eyes. a very satisfying journey from start to end that mirrors frank's confidence over the course of the episode, and the season. i'm so excited to see what ep15 has in store, and i need to start making some graphics for my post-season essay because i have things to say! thank you all for joining me on this week's episode of Frank Langdon Hair Theory. love you all. mwah

+BONUS

finally... after a 7 episode drought... (and i mean DROUGHT.)... sweaty frank langdon returned. not to make this all about me but. thank god. just another testament to the attention to detail they put in on this episode. they made him nice and shiny. this one goes out to mel 'he has a tendency to sweat a lot' king.