Sometimes you’ve gotta honor the past in order to move on to the future.

I don’t know that that’s an actual saying, but it’s what leaps to mind as I think about the “Old Friends” episode kicking off the month of March for TGD; the 15th of 22 episodes this season. The most obvious representation of “the past” was Choku Modu, reprising his role as original TGD resident Jared Kalu for this episode and, reportedly, the remainder of S6. Plenty to talk about there… but I took the old theme a little further, applying it to as many aspects of the episode as I could think of. Some were an easy fit– I don’t think Old Friends was a term solely reserved for Jared in this one– while others might require more elastic thinking ;) 

These are pretty much in chronological order. Take a look!

OLD YARDSTICKS: Shaun gives us an answer to “how far along is Lea as of this episode?”-- 28 weeks. This means she’s at the start of her third trimester… and “The Peanut” is approximately the size of a head of lettuce. (I suspect Lea will want to stick with calling it “Peanut” though.)

OLD PROBLEM: Lea is grudgingly coming to terms with the extremes of a pregnant body (the jeans) and the fact that soon, she won’t be able to drive the Striped Tomato full-time…

OLD PROBLEM (CONTINUITY EDITION):

In the scene where Shaun discovered Roland was sleeping with “Jared”’s Dalia, we saw Shaun close the door behind him as he approached… but then when he called for a nurse, one came right in. Maybe there was a nurse standing by in another part of the suite Roland appeared to be in. Maybe they are accustomed to responding to muffled commands while out in the middle of hospital foot traffic. But I couldn’t help but wonder why Shaun would’ve closed the door behind him in the first place. (I get why Roland had it closed, of course…)

OLD REMEDY: KICK THE S*** OUT OF SOMEONE FOR SPORT

I mean DAMN, Park. Maybe take out your frustrations on a sandbag next time? At least it doesn’t gush blood and give you dirty looks when you’re done.

OLD CIRCLE COME AROUND FULL…

As I mentioned earlier, Jordan got into some hot water back in her early St. Bon’s days when she refused to perform an abortion on a patient in need. This time, the discussion about abortion was deeper and more complex, with Jordan staying true to herself and “praying for a miracle” despite Morgan’s objections. When things got very dire, though, Jordan stepped up to the plate in a different way— the only way that she could, and the only way that patient Sonja could resonate with.

And if that wasn’t enough of a heart-wrenching scene, we then saw Sonja ask Jordan to perform the abortion— and Jordan give a thoughtful, aching “yes.”

This leads me to this OLD COMPLEMENT THAT SURELY NEVER GETS OLD FOR THOSE THAT HEAR IT… big, big kudos to Bria Samone Henderson and Elyse Maloway for their work in the entire episode. It was “above and beyond” in a field of actors that is already so very above and beyond!

OLD JOBS BEGET… NEW OPPORTUNITIES?

I guess we’ll have to watch Jared in his new/old 1st-year resident shoes and see if that one holds. In any case, it sure was lovely to see Shaun so happy.

OLD CARS INSPIRE… NEW ONES

Is it Son of Striped Tomato? Rocketship 2023? The Dilallo-MurphyMobile? Whatever we end up calling it, it’s GLORIOUS.

Were you a fan of “Old Friends?” Or were you eager to move on to something else? Let me know in the comments below!