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Conrad and Billie finally act on those feelings that have been building between them for a very long time. After a long and intense day, Conrad and Billie kissed in front of her house. This is the kind of moment that changes everything for a lot of people on The Resident.
HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with executive producer Marc Halsey about the impact of this kiss and what this means for their other relationships. He also discussed that shocking final moment with Padma and Cade’s evolving relationship with her father. Read our Q&A below:
I’m going to start with Billie and Conrad’s epic kiss. Obviously, we’ve been building to this. How does this moment change things for them?
Marc Halsey: It’s very complicated for them. We care a lot about that relationship because at the heart of it is really Nic who, even though she’s not with us, is still very much part of who they are to each other. In terms of what it means going forward, I think it’s going to be interesting because it not only will impact the two of them, but it also means something for Billie, for Cade, for Raptor, who we saw sort of building this friendship with Billie. I think you saw a look from her at the end in that doorway that told us they both feel good about this. Neither of them expected it. I think what was important to us is neither of them was gunning for it, right? They didn’t wake up that morning and go, this is the day we make a move on each other. It really just sort of happened and came out of this thing that they went through in a way that I think for our audience was both surprising but felt like, oh my god, yes, this feels like the right way for them to find each other.
I think it’s going to be interesting because, in some ways, we see them already starting to feel a little bit like a family. Conrad comes out, sees Billie with Gigi, some of the chapters they are a little bit ahead in some ways. But what they decide to do next is what we are excited for people to come back and see when we come back in January. Because it’s not easy, right? It’s a little messy. They’re with other people. They care about these people. They’re both characters we think are very good and empathetic. They care about each other’s feelings, so it’ll be interesting. We hope to see how they navigate what is next for them, given what they felt at that door.
Yes, they are with other people. Cade’s been dealing with a lot on her own. How soon will she find out? Is Conrad going to be feeling guilty? There’s a lot at play here.
Marc Halsey: We will definitely learn soon. I think some of those big conversations that want to happen, we’re not going to wait a long time to get to some of the difficult ones and also some of the opportunities to kind of enjoy what they’re finding. It’s not like one of those long-haul things where we make you wait until a bunch of other stories while you’re sitting there going, but what about them? We’re going to get to that stuff pretty quickly when we come back in January.
The fall finale ends with Padma standing on that bridge. She looks like she’s about to jump. How soon will we find out what happens to her when the show returns?
Marc Halsey: When we come back, we will be racing into that story. Again, with these cliffhangers, these are the stories we’re going to pick up right away in January. I was thinking about this today. One of the things that I’ve always loved about the show is I feel like the show really charges ahead at some real things that people go through but that aren’t always talked about or aren’t talked about enough. So many new moms deal with those challenges. Our hope with that one was, yes, the personal drama is very exciting because we really care about her. We want to know what happens next, but also, we hope that people can look and see if they’re going through that they see that this is someone who I think if you’re like me at that moment when she’s on the bridge, you’re like, ask for help. There are people around you, who love you, who will go to the ends of the earth to try to support you in whatever way you need. So hopefully people, whether they’ve gone through or know somebody or can feel that for themselves, look to who can I ask for help and how can I seek help because they’re not alone.
That was one of the things we were excited about. It’s going to be big for those sisters and the twins and Raptor. It really is a story we’ve been building all season. She went through so much even before she had the babies. I think Amy [Holden Jones] has talked about the free-spirited nature of Padma, and I think it’s particularly interesting to see her go from the young woman driving anywhere she wants to in the van to babies. I don’t think I could have a bigger life change than that, and an unexpected one with twins. It’s going to be very emotional not just for her but for everyone around her.
Leela and Raptor had differing opinions on how to handle what may be going on. Leela felt like something was really wrong, while Raptor thinks Padma just needs space. How is what we see at the end of the episode and this low point for her going to impact Leela and Raptor’s relationship?
Marc Halsey: I think they’re both coming at it from the same place. They love and want to do everything they can, so I don’t think there’ll be you should’ve, I should’ve. I think one of the things that is not just about postpartum but also like addiction is sometimes you miss the signs, and sometimes the signs aren’t there. I think what we’ll see is them, and I think it’s something that happens a lot when we tell sort of moments that have these big emotional moments, is it tends to bring people closer together. Maybe not right away, but ultimately, I think that’s how life is, too. You sort of go through the fire and then you come up stronger in work and life and relationships. And there’s also Devon, too. They’ve all been rallying and working to try to make this be a family together. So that I think is very much where we’re headed to, see how I feel this impacts the whole family.
Speaking of family, Cade had this major father-daughter moment with Ian. He opened up to her about his addiction and really seems to want to prove himself to her. However, Cade didn’t exactly give him the response I think he was looking for. Is he serious about trying to fix things with their relationship and prove himself to her?
Marc Halsey: I think that is a question that Cade is trying to figure out. I think by the end of our finale, Cade has realized I’m enabling this and as much as I want to solve his problem for him, it is his problem to solve. Obviously, addiction’s very complicated and every experience is unique, both in terms of the person who has the disease and the people who love them and care, so there’s not any right way through it. But I think for Cade in that moment, I do think she wants to believe him. I also believe that hearing the words that Cade says, even though they’re very hard to hear, for Ian I do think it opens something up in him and wakes him up to the impact that addiction has had on her in a way he just hasn’t seen before. I do think that his saying, you are going to be the thing that I focus on to help me do what I need to do and do the hard work is genuine. Again, that’s a story we’re going to pick up pretty quickly and see whether or not he can do that. There are a number of people on staff, myself included, where addiction has touched their family, so it’s always very important to everyone, especially me, to make sure that we tell stories that are so loaded like that in the right way to hopefully get people information but also portray it as accurately as possible because it’s an epidemic. Ian’s got his own and his experience is specific to being a pediatric surgeon, all that pressure, all that desire to save the kids has driven him to become… it’s something he does, but he justifies it. It’s still dangerous, and I think he’s realized it’s not sustainable. Hopefully, that push from her, even though it hurts, can be the thing that maybe gives him a new perspective.
The attack at the hospital on Billie was so intense. Is she still going to be grappling with the effects of that and what that moment was when we come back?
Marc Halsey: Absolutely. That is not just a one-off, dramatic event that we’re going to leave behind. I think what we’ve been building and the conversations between me and Andrew [Chapman] and everyone have been about seeing the stress and pressure on Billie build. There’s a reason we put that in the fall finale because it felt like that’s the biggest emotional, low point that she’s experiencing. We’re going to see the after-effects of that and how you see that scene with Leela and Billie in the scrub room where she’s really saying I’m not okay, but I don’t want to be okay because I want to feel these things because that’s an important part of the kind of doctor she wants to be. We do not plan to leave that behind.
That’s part of her journey this season toward some other things that will show different sides of her. We have such a talented cast. Jessica [Lucas] has been amazing. It’s hard to watch but also really reflects something that’s true about doctors, and how quickly people patients can turn on them and forget they’re trying to help. Sometimes helping is, as we see with Billie, saying things you don’t want to hear. That’s in a way with Nic. Kyle comes back in this one. He and Conrad haven’t spoken in years because he could not accept the reality of Nic’s brain injury, so we thought that was a nice little connection. In terms of what doctors experience because we have great doctors on our staff and we’re always talking to them about the interactions they have with patients and what they go through emotionally. It doesn’t need to be an event like that in a stairwell. There are all kinds of ways that I think doctors, in addition to doing an incredibly difficult job, have to deal with these emotional impacts.
What’s on the horizon for Kit and Bell?
Marc Halsey: They’re both dealing with a lot. As you saw, we’ve been building this story all season with Bell’s MS, and we’re going to come back to that in a big way in January. Devon’s been working on those trials as well, so we’ll see them together. Kit has been dealing with the state of the hospital. They’re very happily married, and one of the things we love about the two of them and it’s just so beautiful to watch with Bruce [Greenwood] and Jane [Leeves] is how well they work together. I mean, just the dream team. I think we’re going to see each of them face new challenges, ways that they’re there for each other I think is a big part of what we’ll explore.
With Billie and Conrad, are they going to take active steps to end their relationships?
Marc Halsey: That is a question we will answer when we come back in January. I don’t want to give too much away. You’re going to have to come back and see. That’s a big choice. And in some ways, it’s an individual choice, but also a choice that they could make together. What’s interesting to me is the big kiss happened, and they didn’t talk after it. They chose to go their separate ways. I promise we won’t keep you waiting for what that kiss will mean for them.
It was interesting that even though they didn’t say anything to each other after the kiss, what sets it off is Conrad saying, “I wanted you to be proud of me.” It was like that last wall finally came down.
Marc Halsey: It really did. I think the journey Conrad’s been on has been a little bit of self-discovery, right? He is almost kind of realizing how he feels as we watch and as those moments happen. For him to realize at this moment, he wants her to see him just as her and not as a function of this woman that they loved and lost. It could be the first step of that relationship that’s independent of [Nic]. Nic is always going to be part of who they are and who they are to each other, but if that relationship is going to work, they have to be able to stand kind of on their own. I think we saw that happen maybe for the first time a glimpse of what that could look like.