autism ray gun

Dr. Robby does his big speech and introduces the med students to the senior residents they’ll be reporting to; he introduces them to Dana (who is still there despite saying she’s going to quit every month). Then he walks over to a computer stand with an unreadable expression on his face,

“And this is the other attending on shift, Dr. Whitaker”

Dennis smiles and probably unintentionally woos some of the younger students with his boyish charm and easygoing nature. He glances at Robby with that same unreadable expression and goes back to a chart.

Dr. Whitaker ends up being their saving grace in more ways than one.

He listens intently as they present their cases to him. He guides them through difficult procedures. But most importantly, he saves them from the wrath of various staff members—specifically Dr. Robby, Dr. Santos, and Dana.

They’ll bring Dr. Whitaker over to chaperone as they ask Dr. Robby about a patient. For whatever reason, Dr. Robby seems to be intimidated by him and listens to him more often than not.

Whenever Dr. Santos starts getting snappy, they notice that Dr. Whitaker will get within her sight and she calms down slightly.

Dr. Whitaker sees that Dana is getting stressed and starting to scare the med students, so he casually asks if she’d like to join him for a smoke in the ambulance bay

They see little interactions between the staff and Dr. Whitaker and wonder how this small, mousy attending can bring such a calm to the storm that is the ED?

they find out one day through the nurses or smth that Whitaker and Santos were roommates for years and are best friends/pseudo siblings

they see little interactions between Robby and Whitaker and wonder how they got so close

One day Dr. Robby is in a particularly bad mood and is snapping at everyone left and right. Dana calls out to him,

“Robinavitch! Go take a lap, we don’t need that in here. Don’t make me get your hubby on the phone”

Santos walks by and adds, “Yeah, Huckleberry doesn’t come in until one for his swing shift. Chill out and let him sleep”

That’s when it all dawns on them.

They’ve heard Santos refer to Whitaker as “Huckleberry” more than his own name

Dr. Dennis “Huckleberry” Whitaker and Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch are married

he wouldn’t balance or sit on his knees.

at home, he would probably be on crutches ESPECIALLY if he’s just woken up.

most amputees, from my understanding, wear their prosthetics as little as possible unless they’re out of the house.

also with that said, he’s probably not fucking you or robby or dennis or wherever with it on either. it’d be uncomfortable and inconvenient for him.

he has a shower chair! (thank you for this one @mixedfandomfics )

jack is disabled, don’t erase that part of him. if you’re uncomfortable with that, ask yourself why.

if it’s because you don’t know enough about it, ask questions and do your research. any other reason? maybe do some inner work.

she needed that. she got a mother and a father at home in her ear telling her 'no this is the right choice' and 'that's wrong this is the right choice' and all she needs is to make that decision herself with a little push from a friend and to have someone tell her she can do anything she puts her mind to. emergency psychiatry? helping people with mental health? our brave and beautiful girl who makes tiktok's to help not only healthcare workers but the general public?

this got me fucking cackling.

so it is a narrative choice, and yet Gemmill chooses not to elaborate on why the one that should be leaving has to be the promising young doctor who was constantly getting bullied by her own boss, the protagonist. calling that realistic just bespeaks a blatant lack of self-awareness and is a contradiction of the show's own ethos, or what it used to be its ethos.

saying that they're trying to portray the "uncertainty that these young physicians face" is funny to me because it's pretty clear that, in Samira's case, it was an uncertainty helped cultivated by her white male boss. but the fact that they refuse to acknowledge the underlying systemic issue in that storyline and choose to use a WOC to further shine the spotlight on Robby's deteriorating mental state instead, it's pretty telling. especially since they resort to labeling Robby's treatment of Samira "tough love" when the truth is Robby sees her as an easy target for projecting his insecurities on.

dismissing both Heather and Samira's departure as just a by-product of having a diverse cast is evasive and is equating these events as mere coincidences rather than a narrative choice, which completely contradicts his earlier statement.

samira mohan (confirmed by stills, the scene between her and mckay isn't there)

baran al hashimi (confirmed by interview where there was a scene where she calls her ex husband)

victoria javadi (confirmed by stills, the scene with her parents isn't there)

Shawn is one step away from finding an ao3 invite