It will be interesting to see how a Shahir run Hope Zion will be like with Dawn temporarily away. And we will get to see that in Saving Hope’s seventh episode entitled “Can’t you Hear me Knocking?”

Here is CTV’s synopsis of the episode:

With Dr. Dawn Bell (Michelle Nolden) on temporary leave, Dr. Shahir Hamza (Huse Madhavji) has taken up the hospital’s top post as Interim Chief, bringing Hope Zion Hospital up to his strict standards for care and composure. But when a PhD candidate is diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor and given only months to live, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) must convince the new chief to okay a dangerous and experimental treatment that could give her patient another shot at life. Meanwhile, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) has his hands full in the spirit world, juggling the transgender sprit of a gravely injured football coach, “Spirit Caroline” (Monika Schnarre, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL), while he also deals with a palliative nurse, Kristine Fields (Nicole Underhay, MURDOCH MYSTERIES), who claims she can see spirits as well. With the life of his patient on the line, Charlie must decide if he can own up to his own truth and tell the nurse about his secret.

“Can’t you Hear me Knocking?” airs on CTV on November 5, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT.

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It appears a Hope-Zion run by Shahir involves a strict use of caffeine and if I were working there, I probably would find another hospital to work at with no restrictions. Lack of caffeine isn’t the only thing to go down but we get Charlie perhaps finding a kindred spirit, Dana receiving some bad news and the Shalex friendship in danger.

Dana

Cassie asks how Dana is doing and she tells her that she is just waiting for the test to come back to see if the cancer has returned or not. Dana’s patient is Elizabeth Grant, the acid burn victim we had met a couple of episodes ago. It seems that Elizabeth’s skin grafts are doing well and that she is ready to go back to her life. Elizabeth does not look to thrilled at that prospect. We also learn that Elizabeth has quit her job as a social worker. Dana is surprised as she loved that job and the kids she helps depend on her.

Dana then gets news that her cancer is indeed back and shrugs off Cassie when she goes to comfort her.

Dana tries to tell Alex but instead gives advice on how to handle Shahir on her case (see Alex section for more).

Elizabeth and Dana bond a bit over their love of reality TV and talk about facing their new realities to make it their new normal. Elizabeth finds it hard to do. As Elizabeth is ready to go home, in the hallways of Hope-Zion, a young girl sees her burned face and gets scared. I am going to call this girl Kira since she is played by Skyler Wexler best known for playing Kira on Orphan Black. Elizabeth goes to cover her face with her silk scarf but then starts to comfort Kira. Kira’s mom is in the hospital because she poured boiling water over herself and is now seriously burned. Kira wants to know if it hurts and Elizabeth gets her to touch her skin to know that her mom will be okay. Kira wants to know how that is possible. Elizabeth tells her that even though she is burned, she is still her mom and gives Kira her silk scarf. It seems this moment has helped Elizabeth re-find her purpose.

Wendy Crewson as Dana Kinney

Later on, Dana tells Alex about her cancer and doesn’t want sympathy or her to tell anyone till she can wrap her head around it. Dana also has not told daughter Molly. We then see Dana offer Alex some comfort.

As Alex leaves to go home, she finds Cassie to say she is glad that she was there for Dana. Cassie says that now Dana has both of them to be there for her.

Alex

Alex’s patient is Dixie a 28 year old who is the primary caregiver for her grandfather. Unfortunately, Dixie has an inoperable brain tumor. Cassie is a bit blunt in giving Dixie the bad news and she is wondering why Alex lied about there was hope in telling her about an experimental viral therapy. Alex says there is hope and is going to use her friendship with Shahir to get them to agree to this surgery that involves injecting the polio virus into the tumor so the body will fight it and the cancer at the same time.

However, Shahir says the procedure is too experimental and refuses to give his permission in fear of ruining the reputation of Hope-Zion. Taking Dana’s advice, Alex plays on Shahir’s emotions by syaing Dixie’s life mirrors that of his grand mother. Alex even takes Shahir to see Dixie care for her grandfather. This gets Shahir to agree to the procedure. Dixie’s grandfather is a bit hesitant at first but after learning that this is the only chance to save Dixie’s life, he agrees.

Before the surgery. Alex thanks Shahir and they go over what is involved. Later we see the virus being pumped into Dixie’s brain. All seems well at first until Dixie can no longer seeing the playing cards in front of her.

It seems that when the body started to fight the polio virus, her brain started to swell and pushed on her optic nerve. Shahir manages to reduce the swelling and Dixie can see again, which her grandfather is grateful to Shahir. Alex says that they don’t know if the tumor growth has slowed but Dixie will need round the clock care. Dixie’s grandfather is more than happy to do so.

Later, we see Shahir break his caffeine rule as Alex visits him in the chief’s office. Alex wants to be sure their friendship is okay. Shahir says they are and team Shalex is stronger than ever.

Charlie

Michael Shanks as Charlie Harris and Erica Durance as Alex Reid

As Alex is going on about the three birthday parties that baby Luke has been invited to, Charlie is abit distracted by a spirit who keeps on asking if she will see her cat on the other side. Alex wishes that the spirits would give Charlie a day off so he can spend time with his girlfriend.

The cat lady spirit and Alex will have to wait as Charlie called into the ER.

Charlie’s patient is Cal, a football coach with a pretty bad broken clavicle. Cal starts to bleed out pretty badly and is rushed into surgery. Cal’s son, Ty is worried about his dad and tells him how is dad was a football player but didn’t make it so Ty is playing the sport for him. When Charlie goes to the doctor’s lounge to find scrubs for Ty, he sees a woman admiring herself in the mirror.

Nicole Underhay as Kristine Fields

At the hospital coffee shop, Charlie meets Christine a nurse in palliative care. Their talk is interrupted by the appearance of cat lady that distracts Charlie. As Charlie tries to leave, Christine mentions a cat lady and he realizes that perhaps someone else shares his gift.

Michael Shanks as Charlie Harris and Monika Schnarre as Spirit Caroline

Meanwhile at Cal’s bedside, Ty is wondering why is dad has woken up yet. Ty then confesses to hating football but plays for his dad. The woman from the doctor’s lounge appears again and shouts at Ty and asks why he didn’t just tell her. Charlie learns that Cal is a transgender woman and wants to be called Caroline. Caroline doesn’t want Charlie to tell her son that his dad is transgendered.

As Charlie finishes talking to Caroline by pretending to be on the phone, Christine says she uses that trick all the time until the phone actually starts to ring. Charlie pretends not to know what Christine is talking about. Christine walks away confused.

Cal starts to crash and Maggie and Charlie are trying to figure out why. Charlie wants to know if Cal was taking any pills so Ty starts to rummage through his dad’s bag. Caroline doesn’t want her son to look at the bag but too late, pills were found. Cal is taken into surgery and Charlie reams Caroline out for not saying she was taking hormone replacement pills as that could have killed her.

Maggie fixes the clot and Caroline realizes she will be okay and is not looking forward to be back as Cal. Being in the spirit world as Caroline is the first time she has felt herself in a long time. Charlie encourage Caroline to tell Ty as he can take it. However, later something is wrong with Cal as he starts to crash and Maggie and Charlie are unable to save him.

Ty is mourning his father and blames himself that if he told his dad sooner about hating football that he wouldn’t have been on the field. Ty asks if pills where steroids and we see Caroline give Charlie permission to tell the truth. Charlie says the pills weren’t steroids and Ty figures out the truth about his dad and says that he had secrets too. When Ty says that he loved his dad so much, Caroline’s spirit disappears at those words.

Michael Shanks as Charlie Harris and Nicole Underhay as Kristine Fields

Later while doing paper work, Charlie is interrupted by Christine who asks about her day. Charlie is not in the sharing mood so Christine decides to blurts out she can see ghosts and knows he can too. Charlie then opens up about Caroline.
So do we think Christine can see spirits too? Sound off in the comments.

I guess Max Bennett’s tenure of Dr. Patrick Curtis is truly over with the introduction of Peter Mooney’s Dr. Jeremy Bishop. Too bad as it would have been nice to explore Patrick’s past with Cassie. Who knows, maybe we will.

Episode 8 of Saving Hope looks like we will also get some epic surgeries and despite what the description says, Dana gets close to her chemo buddy.

Here is the CTV synopsis for “Waiting on a Friend”:

A dark day for one couple becomes a beacon of hope for others when a trapeze artist is declared DOA after an accident. An organ donor, the performer’s rare kidney sets off a transplant chain of donors and recipients that could save the lives of several patients. Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance), along with Dr. Shahir Hamza (Huse Madhavji), and newly transferred General Surgeon Jeremy Bishop (Peter Mooney, ROOKIE BLUE), struggle to keep the chain under control as a host of complications and a few nervous patients stand in their way. In the ward, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) must treat the trapeze artist’s partner (Alison Louder, BEING HUMAN), but when her spirit takes to roaming the halls Charlie must enlist the help of Kristine (Nicole Underhay, MURDOCH MYSTERIES) to get to the bottom of a ghost unlike any he’s seen before. Meanwhile, Dr. Dana Kinney (Wendy Crewson) endures the company of Joshua Lewis (Tom McCamus, Room), a chatty Poetry Professor, during a chemo session, only to find the strength to treat her illness in her own way.

“Waiting on a Friend” will air November 12, 2015, at 9 pm ET/PT on CTV.

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This week’s Saving Hope is a ripped from the headlines story based on what happened at the Boston Marathon back in 2013. In the first of two parts, this is CTV’s synopsis for “Shattered”:

In the first half of a two-part episode, chaos strikes Hope Zion Hospital when a bombing rocks a local charity run. Unsure of the motives behind the attack, the Hope Zion staff can’t even take the time to check on their own doctors who were in the race before they all jump in to treat the mass of casualties. With blood supplies running low, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) and Dr. Jeremy Bishop (Peter Mooney, ROOKIE BLUE) are given priority to treat a young man suffering from severe injuries. But when it’s revealed their patient is the bomber, Alex must battle an angry mob as well as her own conscience to provide the care her patient needs. In the ward, Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross), still dazed from the blast, jumps in to provide care to Shelby Hart (Genelle Williams, BITTEN), who’s pregnant and injured. Tensions rise though when a suspected infection of the mom-to-be leads to the return of Dr. Sydney Katz (Stacey Farber, DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION), and the premature delivery of Shelby’s baby to save both their lives.

Saving Hope’s ninth episode, “Shattered” will air this Thursday, November 19, 2015 on CTV at 9pm ET/PT. [Update: CTV has rescheduled this episode in light of recent events in Paris. Right now there is no word on when this episode will air.]

Check out the images in our gallery. Warning that some of the images contained in our gallery can be disturbing for some.

Peter Mooney premieres as Dr. Jeremy Bishop, a general surgeon who had to flee Los Angeles after getting sued. Bishop and Charlie know each other while Bishop and Cassie have an awkward first encounter in the on call room.

And Bishop also dives right into the big surgery of the night.

Domino Surgery

A trapeze artist, Illyana, arrives at Hope Zion, DOA. Her fellow trapeze artist husband, Kurt, agrees to have his wife’s kidney be part of a domino kidney surgery. Charlie explains to Kurt that Illyana’s kidney is going to help save 4 lives.

This surgery is all hands on deck that includes Cassie, Dev and Asha. The kidney patients include a couple, best friends and siblings. The final patient in the domino is a young boy, who is at another hospital awaiting the kidney.

Most of the domino surgery goes off without a hitch. There are some complications like initially one of Illyana’s kidneys might not be viable but thanks to Alex, all is well. The other complication is when Larry, the younger brother of Emma, gets scared and decides not to be a donor.

Kim Shaw as Dr. Cassie Williams and Peter Mooney as Dr. Jeremy Bishop

Bishop tries to convince Larry to go through the surgery and we see Cassie perhaps a little bit impressed at Bishop attempting to convince Larry to do the surgery. Unfortunately, Larry still refuses but eventually he does pull through for his sister and he no longer wants to be considered a screw up.

However, Larry does have some complications as he suffered from a stroke but thanks to Shahir, he will make a full recovery.

We then see all the kidney patients recovering with the couple in the midst of planning their wedding, one of the best friends getting visited by her twin girls and Emma being there when Larry wakes up.

The final patient, the young boy, it seems was successful too as Alex draws a heart over his picture on the whiteboard.

Dana

Wendy Crewson as Dr. Dana Kinney and Tom McCamus as Joshua Lewis

Alex gives Dana a chemo survival kit to keep her occupied during her first chemo session. Dana is joined by Josh, a poetry professor and also a Debby Downer/Chatty Cathy patient. Dana is a bit annoyed at Josh but then the two start to bond when he shares some of his pot cookies. The tables are then turned when Dana becomes a Debby Downer when the nurse becomes uncomfortable telling her her prognosis.

Later, Josh suggests that they both tell each other something they never told anyone. Dana says that she doesn’t want to go through treatment anymore and wants to just go away somewhere to escape all of this. When it is Josh’s turn, he says that he wants to join Dana on her trip.

After her session is over, Dana tells Alex about meeting a guy and how she decided to travel to Paris with him. Alex thinks Dana is crazy for not wanting to treatment to prolong her life. Dana tells Alex that she doesn’t want to prolong her life but to live it. Dana visits Josh to read him a poem that she wrote. The two kissed and then Dana wants to hear more about the star-crossed lover story he started telling during chemo.

Charlie

Illyana is the spirit of the week. Illyana is wandering the halls of Hope-Zion humming a tune. Christine can see Illyana too and says that she is humming a lullaby that is about reuniting with someone. Charlie and Christine fear for Kurt as Illyana seems hell bent on being reunited with her husband.

Michael Shanks as Dr. Charlie Harris

When Kurt is besides Illyana body, he tells Charlie how the two met. Illyana is then taken off life sport and dies. We hear the lullaby from both Kurt and Illyana.

And it seems that Illyana gets her wish as Kurt starts to crash an despite Charlie’s best efforts, he and Christine see the couple reunite and go the afterlife.

Later Christine tells Charlie that she was involved in a car accident where a drunk driver hit them and her daughter was killed. Christine wanted to die and join her and when she woke up in the hospital, she could see spirits. Christine and Charlie agree to help each other with their gifts.

While I think it is great that Charlie has someone he can talk to about the spirit world, I hope this is more of a beautiful friendship rather than someone who will come between Alex and Charlie. I don’t think I can take another obstacle to their love.

“Shattered” was supposed to air last week and in light of the events that happened in Paris, I totally get why CTV postponed it to this week. I also understand the viewer discretion warning as the show came back from commercials.

Julia Taylor Ross as Maggie Lin

The explosion at the charity 10K run is more ripped from the headlines of the Boston Marathon bombings but none the less the horrors are still tragic. Some of Hope Zion’s doctors like Maggie, Shahir and Asha all participated in the run.

Hope-Zion became the hospital that took in all the victims and all hands were on deck.

Alex and Bishop

Allison Wilson-Forbes as Nurse Alice, Erica Durance as Alex Reid and Peter Mooney as Jeremy Bishop

As the injured start rolling into Hope Zion, the first victim, a young cop, dies. Alex is called away by Bishop to help on his patients, a young man whose internal organs are perforated. This young man’s condition isn’t good as Nurse Alice (Allison Wilson-Forbes) tells Alex that she is unable to intubate him. The young man is bleeding out pretty bad and the blood bank is low. When Bishop finds out he shares the same blood type as his patient then he acts has his blood bank that gets him stable enough to get into surgery.

While in surgery, the police come rushing in to say that the two are operating on the officer. During the surgery, the cop makes snide remarks about how the bomber killed a cop and there are others out there that need help over him. Alex pretty much tells the cop to shut up and that she made a vow as a doctor to treat everyone no matter what they did.

Meanwhile, Cassie accidentally spills that Alex is operating on the bomber while in the ER reception area. Family members of the victims over hear this and form a mob to rush the OR to attack the bomber. The cops arrive and tries to calm the situation but it takes Dawn to talk sense into everyone.

With the surgery over, the bomber is brought into the ICU and has a police guard on him. Alex wonders why someone would do something like this.

Cassie

Kim Shaw as Cassie Williams

When Maggie comes in to Hope Zion, she brings with her a severed arm of a young woman. Zach gives it to Cassie to deal with. After Cassie cleans it, she determines that it is still viable for reattachment but we don’t know who the arm belongs to but it was wearing a gold ring on the pinky. A father comes to Hope-Zion after visiting several to find his daughter. Cassie notices the dad wearing a similar ring and believes his daughter might be at Hope Zion. Unfortunately, she is but has died.

Dawn

Dawn is back from her vacation and while in line for coffee notices that her ex, Lane, has moved on with new junior resident Asha. During a press conference about the bombing, Dawn and Lane answer questions about the bomber and if he got treatment over the victims and about the doctors at Hope-Zion. When the conference is over, Lane starts following Dawn and is all in her face about his new relationship with Asha. Later when Dawn goes to the on call room, Asha is there changing and Dawn notices the bruises on her back. Dawn asks if Lane is hurting her but Asha doesn’t answer but simply goes back to work.

Zach later thanks Dawn for being a fearless leader and that is why the staff rallied behind his internal blood bank idea. Dawn thanks Zach for that idea and I think we might be seeing a start of something between them.

Dawn then seeks out the cop who is dealing with the bomber and wants his help in a sexual assault case (her own) and he gives her his card to give him a call anytime.

Charlie

After his shift, before going home, Charlie goes to Christine’s for a talk. Charlie assure Alex that she has nothing to be worried about and thought she was okay with them friendship. Alex assures him that she is happy that he has some to talk about his gift. Later, Alex wonders to Bishop is men and women can be friends; Bishop says no but Charlie is the exception.

When Charlie goes to Christine’s he is ambushed by another doctor, Cora who Christine met online and also shares their gift. Charlie isn’t happy that Christine told another about him being able to see ghosts.

Soon Charlie does share with Cora and Christine that he not only sees ghosts but also people in between. Christine then prompts Charlie to share how both saw the spirit of a woman lure her soul mate to death. Charlie admits he has never seen something like that before. Cora also gets Charlie to admit how Crenshaw’s spirit’s visit to his home spooked him. Cora shares that she had a visit from a spirit that caused her harm. Not 100% sure if the spirit remembered his time and sought Cora out or it was the spirit that caused harm.

Charlie had enough and is about to leave. Christine tries to get him to stay when Christine starts to see the events of the Pilot that lead Charlie to be in a coma.

Charlie freaks out and leaves. Christine follows wanting to know what she saw. Charlie denies seeing anything and really leaves after seeing he missed several calls from Hope-Zion and Alex to come back and help with all the bombing victims.

Maggie

Julia Taylor Ross as Maggie Lin and Genelle Williams as Shelby Hart

We see Maggie on the scene initially struggling during the run but goes into doctor mode after the explosion helping a pregnant runner despite being injured herself.

Julia Taylor Ross as Maggie Lin and Benjamin Ayers as Zach Miller

Maggie arrives at Hope-Zion where her number one concern is helping Shelby but Zach wants to examine her first. Zach is worried that Maggie might have a concussion but Maggie insists that she is fine but promises to check in with Zach periodically.

Genelle Williams as Shelby Hart and John Bregar as Adam Hart

Maggie gets cleaned up and treats Shelby whose leg has some shrapnel in it. Maggie pinkie swears that she will save her baby. Shelby’s husband, Adam, arrives and is all demanding and wants his wife in an OR stat and even called in their OB, one Dr. Sydney Katz (Stacey Farber, who doesn’t appear in the episode).

While pulling shrapnel out of her leg, Maggie notices that Shelby has some vaginal bleeding and determines that her placenta needs to be delivered.

Dev and Maggie rush Shelby to the OR but they have to wait as the bomber is in the room. Shelby is a bit worried then remembers that Maggie pinkie sweared. Maggie doesn’t recall doing this and this is our first sign that something is going to happen to her.

While waiting, Maggie notices that Shelby’s leg won’t stop bleeding so goes and gets some clotting medication. Unfortunately, as Maggie finds the clotting medication she gets a headache and collapses in the med room. This leaves Dev having to enlist the help of Bishop and Alex to help deliver Shelby’s placenta. No one seeks out Maggie because they believe she got sidetrack in helping another patient.

When Charlie arrives at the ER, he sees Maggie and wants to know where he can help. Soon Charlie realizes that something isn’t right and Maggie isn’t in the ER as a doctor but is a spirit! We then see Maggie’s body lying unconscious.

I really hope that Maggie doesn’t die. I have really grown to like her character and she has grown so much as a doctor. It seems touch and go from the previews next week and we do get the return of Sydney Katz.

It is part 2 of Saving Hope’s first two-parter and we see that Maggie is very much in jeopardy and we get the return of Sydney Katz (Stacey Farber).

Here is CTV’s synopsis for “Emotional Rescue”:

In the second half of a two-part episode, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) returns to Hope Zion Hospital to find Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross) in jeopardy. In a race against time, Charlie struggles to find out what’s wrong with his colleague and friend. Meanwhile, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance), who’s still dealing with her part in treating the bomber, becomes determined to make amends by saving Maggie’s last patient Shelby (Genelle Williams, BITTEN). Along with Dr. Sydney Katz (Stacey Farber, DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION), who returned to Hope Zion for the case, Alex must convince Shelby and her husband that letting go is sometimes the only thing standing in between you and getting better when complications threaten her leg. In the ER, Dr. Cassie Williams (Kim Shaw) and Dr. Jeremy Bishop (Peter Mooney, ROOKIE BLUE) help a bereaved father deal with the death of his daughter.

“Emotional Rescue” airs Thursday December 3, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT on CTV.

Check out the images.

Saving Hope is going to have its first ever Christmas episode and hopefully it will be more yuletide cheer than Bah Humbug!

Here is CTV synopsis of the episode “Shine a Light”:

In a special holiday-themed episode of SAVING HOPE, it’s Christmas Eve and even the threat of the worst ice storm of the year can’t quell the spirit at Hope Zion Hospital. But when a good Samaritan is brought in after a car crash, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) must use all her skills to attempt the Christmas miracle so desperately needed – even if it means calling in Chief Dr. Dawn Bell (Michelle Nolden). When the case proves futile, Dawn and Alex must band together to keep their patient alive long enough for her family to say goodbye. In the Atrium, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) tends to the spirit of a dead child wondering if his mother will brave the storm to honour their Christmas tradition. Meanwhile, Dr. Shahir Hamza (Huse Madhavji) and Dr. Dana Kinney (Wendy Crewson) do all they can to avoid being swept up in the Christmas spirit only to get roped in to the annual toy drive, while Dr. Zach Miller (Benjamin Ayres) spends the evening with Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross) playing Christmas ER Bingo to pass the time until he can get back to his boys. 

“Shine a Light” is scheduled to air on December 10, 2015 at 9 pm ET/PT on CTV but I am wondering if this will be pushed back by a week because this is the 12th episode and if it is airing on December 10 then we will be skipping episode 11 “All Down the Line”.

Regardless, enjoy the photos from this festive episode, [Warning: The following images contain ugly Christmas sweaters that readers may find too ugly for their eyes]

It is too bad that CTV released the synopsis for episode 12 “Shine a Light”, its Christmas episode ahead of tonight’s episode. Because in that synopsis, it revealed that Maggie will be a okay. Even though knowing Maggie’s fate, it was a bit emotional seeing her spirit feel lost.

Cassie

Erica Durance as Dr. Alex Reid

Cassie has the difficult task of letting the father of the young woman, whose arm was severed, that she didn’t make it. The father, Mr. Kelehar, is so distraught that he grabs a scalpel and heads towards the bomber’s room. Cassie follows and tries to stop Mr. Kelehar but he wants to kill the man that killed his Lily. Alex emerges from the bombers room and convinces Mr. Kelehar that Lily wouldn’t want him to do what he is about to do. As Kelehar collapses on the floor, he slits his wrist. Cassie manages to stop the bleeding and is stitching him up. Kelehar asks if he needs to ID his daughter’s body and Cassie says he does.

Kim Shaw as Cassie Williams and Peter Mooney as Jeremy Bishop

Later on in the ER bay, Cassie has let the day get to her and Bishop comes to comfort her. As Cassie is finishing up some paper work, Bishop suggests that Cassie go home but she needs to do something first. Bishop finds her in the morgue cleaning up Lily so she is more presentable for her father and he offers to help. Kelehar is grateful to Cassie for making her daughter look at peace. As their shift winds down, Cassie thanks Bishop for everything and the two share an awkward hug. It does seem like the show is going to pair these two up.

Dawn

Dawn tells the detective who was with the bomber about her assault. The detective will be there for her but because it was a month ago and it is he said-she said, her case will be difficult. Before Dawn pulls the trigger, she needs to do somethings first. The first thing is to tell Asha what she is going to do. Asha tells Dawn that Lane warned her about Dawn. Later on Lane confront Dawn and threatens her to expose all she did to get to the top in hopes that Dawn won’t press charges. Lane even throws in her face that she lost Giselle because she supposedly put her career first, something Dawn denies.

After seeing Lane with Asha, this furthers Dawn’s resolve to press charges against Lane. Dawn tells Asha what she is going to do in hopes it will give her the courage to admit how dangerous Lane is. When Dawn does press charges, the detective tells her that she isn’t the first one to come forward about Lane. Asha decided to side with Dawn after hearing Lane getting all vindictive against Dawn. So Asha and Dawn work together to make sure Lane doesn’t hurt another person. We then see the detective take Lane into custody.

Alex

Erica Durance as Dr. Alex Reid

We discover that the bomber’s name is Michael Schneller and was an engineering student. Alex feels incredibly guilty that she saved Michael’s life after what he did to Maggie. However, Michael takes a turn for the worse and Alex makes the decision to be at his bedside as he dies.

The detective then gets Alex to meet Michael’s mother. Mrs. Schneller thanks Alex for treating her son like any other patient. Mrs. Schneller then explains how Michael had a mental illness where he heard voices in his head. Medication wasn’t working and his mom feels guilty for not getting him help in time.

Later on we see Mrs. Schneller at the morgue to ID her son’s body.

The Return of Sydney Katz

Sydney has returned to help Shelby. Dev and Bishop have delivered a baby girl that is in the NICU. However, Dev notices that Shelby’s leg isn’t doing to hot. Unfortunately, the leg is infected so bad that Shelby says the only choice is to amputate or else Shelby dies. Before heading into surgery, Shelby names her little girl Rosie and wants to see her before she goes under.

Shelby ends up being fine and while she cannot hold Rosie, Sydney says that she can touch her daughter.

Charlie and Maggie

Julia Taylor Ross as Maggie Lin and Michael Shanks as Charlie Harris

Charlie tries to get Maggie to tell him where her body is but she disappears when he gets called into a consult. Charlie interrupts Shelby’s first surgery and learns from Dev that Maggie went to get clotting factors from the third floor lab. Charlie rushes to the third floor and finds Maggie. Shahir is called in and is determined that Maggie has a brain bleed and needs an OR stat.

During the operation, Shahir is calm and steady because that is what Maggie needs. Zach is watching the surgery and feels guilty that he cleared Maggie for work and Alex counters that she saved the bomber that put her in this predicament. Zach concedes that Alex wins the guilt war.

Meanwhile, spirit Maggie isn’t very helpful as the only thing she is concerned about is Shelby and starts telling Charlie what to look for and do during her amputation surgery. Charlie needs Maggie to think of herself first. Charlie explains that Maggie is in this predicament because she went all doctor mode to take of her patient and not herself. Maggie says that she has nothing to live for.

During Shelby’s amputation surgery, Maggie appears and says that the only she has ever known is being a doctor and worries that when she wakes up that she won’t be the same. Maggie also says one way doctors can save their patients if they know them. Unfortunately, Maggie doesn’t know who she is. Charlie tries to get Maggie to fight and notices that she is bleeding in her ear. Alex, who is in the surgery with Charlie, knows that he is talking to Maggie especially when he tells her to go to her.

Julia Taylor Ross as Maggie Lin and Stacey Farber as Sydney Katz

When Alex goes to see Maggie in the ICU, we learn that her brain is swelling. With Shahir not available, Alex performs a surgery to drain the fluid building up in her brain. Charlie and spirit Maggie are watching all of this. Charlie gives one last pep talk and the spirit Maggie disappears and Maggie wakes up. Surrounded by Zach, Jackson, Alex and Shahir. Maggie spots Charlie and gives a smile. Not quite sure if Maggie remembers her time in the spirit world but I am guessing not.

Alex checks on Maggie and she will be fine. Sydney later visits Maggie, who is happy to see her again. Maggie tells Sydney that she wants to take some time for herself and when Sydney goes to leave to get more blankets, Maggie asks her to stay. It is possible that their relationship might be rekindled but unsure if Stacey Farber is back or is this just a one off. Also, as someone who did watch Degrassi: The Next Generation it really is nice to see Farber in a grown up role.

As Charlie prepares to go home, Alex decides to stay and be by Maggie’s bedside as she sleeps.

So glad Maggie is going to be okay and most of you thought so too!

Next week looks like the Christmas episode but it seems that CTV is skipping episode 11.

It is Christmas Eve at Hope Zion and there is an ice storm out there that brings a whole bunch of patients to the ER where the doctors play a yuletide themed game of bingo of their ailments (Maggie won). It was a fairly touching episode throughout all the story lines

Dana and Shahir

Both are Grinches and Scrooges when it comes to Christmas. Dana is trying to avoid being roped into being part of radiology’s 12 days of Christmas play while Shahir rather work than spend time with his boyfriend’s touchy feely family.

When Shahir gets called into a consult on a cop that got into a car accident due to the storm, he learns that the were on their way to deliver toys from their toy drive but the accident damaged them. Shahir is sympathetic to their plight but doesn’t really offer to help. But when Shahir goes to leave, he finds Nurse Alice (Allison Wilson-Forbes) and the other nurses having a Christmas dance party and she asks him to join in on the fun. Shahir declines the offer because he has offered to help the cops repair the toys.

Wendy Crewson as Dana Kinney and Huse Madhavji as Shahir Hamza

Back at the doctor’s lounge, Dana and Shahir go about and fixing the damaged the toys. When the cops return, they are called away to help with ice storm traffic and foist upon the two their elf costumes to deliver the toys to children at Hope-Zion who are staying there over Christmas. We see the Christmas spirit going strong in the two as we see them take joy in delivering the toys.

Zach and Maggie

Zach is waiting on Dr. Timmins to arrive to take over the ER. Zach tells Maggie he is excited to have his sons with him for Christmas, his first since the divorce. Zach wants to start some new traditions like watching Die Hard. When it looks like Timmins is going to be delayed, Zach decides to help out the ER while he waits.

Their patient is Brian, who decided to dress up like Santa for his kids but ended up getting stuck in his chimney. Brian really wants to get back to his kids as he really needs to make up things to them. Brian shares with Zach and Maggie that he had a mid-life crisis and left his family. When he realized his mistake, Brian was eventually welcomed back by his family. Brian has some complications like unable to breathe because of inhaling a whole bunch of smoke to them having an enlarged left testicle that Maggie has to operate on.

Brian gets the all clear to go back home and gets back into his Santa suit. Meanwhile, Zach’s sons surprise him by visiting him the OR. It seems like Maggie called Zach’s ex to arrange all of this as revealed by one of his sons who called her one of his best friends. When Zach’s sons see Santa, he comes over to say that their dad is Santa’s own personal doctor and thanks him profusely.

Charlie and Alex

Michael Shanks as Charlie Harris and Erica Durance as Alex Reid

Alex competitive nature comes out as she wins Hope-Zion’s annual ugly Christmas sweater contest judged by Jackson.

Alex also seeks Charlie’s advice on what to get Dawn, her secret Santa. Charlie can’t offer any advice as he knows Dawn is difficult to shop for. Both are then called for an emergency in the ER.

The patient is Laverne where a car hit her on the Expressway (guessing the Gardiner Expressway) while helping a homeless man. The man is alright, with just a broken arm, but he is very concerned about Laverne.

Michelle Nolden as Dawn Bell and Erica Durance as Alex Reid

Laverne, however isn’t doing so well. After Alex and Charlie manage to stability one part of her, she starts to build blood around her heart. Dawn gets called in and isn’t too happy that she go called in on a lost cause. Alex wants to go and Dawn eventually agrees. During the surgery, Alex is trying to see what Dawn would like for Christmas but she is focused on the surgery.

Unfortunately, Laverne’s kidneys start to fade and Alex realizes that she has to let her patient go but hopes that her family arrives in time to say goodbye. Laverne’s family arrives and her brother Aaron and wife Jamilla wants Alex and Dawn to try and keep Laverne alive until her son Gabriel can come to say good bye. When the family learns that Laverne was injured helping someone, they tell Alex and Dawn that it just like Laverne to do something like that.

Charlie is helping Laverne’s spirit who wants the man she helped to stay after he inquired after her. The man is Jay, her nephew that ran away from home a couple of years ago. Laverne found him on the street a few months ago and again tonight to try and convince him to come home.

Laverne isn’t the only spirit that Charlie is helping tonight. Charlie sees the spirit of Aiden by the Hope-Zion Christmas tree. Aiden waits there every year for his mom to come and hang his name on an angel ornament on the tree. Aiden died 5 years ago from leukemia and fears because of the ice storm that his mom might be hurt. The reason why Aiden keeps on coming is that he spent his last Christmas at Hope Zion and saw how sad his mom was. A year later after he died, Aiden saw his mom return and was smiling again around the tree and was happy to see that. Charlie talks to Betty May, a volunteer of the Christmas tree about Aiden’s mom and learns that she recently had another baby. This makes Aiden sad to hear this. However, just as Charlie is about to hang Aiden’s name on the tree, his mom arrives with his baby brother Jamie. Alex gives the angel to Shauna and she shares that after she gave birth to Jamie it just reminded her at how much she misses Aiden. We see Jamie look at Aiden who waves back. Aiden realizes that this will probably be the last time his mom will come but can go off in peace after hearing her say that he would have made an awesome big brother.

Meanwhile, as Laverne lies dying, one by one her family says good bye and she finally slips away. When Jay finds out that his aunt died, Charlie goes out to console him.

Gabriel finally arrives and wants a moment alone with his mom. Charlie arrives and says that someone wants to say good bye too. Jay is then reunited with his family and we see Laverne got her Christmas wish.

Laverne is afraid to go off to the other side alone and this gives Charlie an idea to do something for her. Charlie introduces Laverne to Aiden to get the two to help each other. We see the two then walk hand in hand to cross over.

I really started to lose it when I see Laverne’s family walk with her body to the hearse from the funeral home. This really touched me personally. My father died this past summer and I saw the funeral home take away my father. I am crying now as I type this.

Alex then thanks Dawn for all her help and apologies for ruining her Christmas Eve plans. Dawn said Alex didn’t ruin anything and was glad she came. Alex then fesses up that she was her secret Santa and got her no gift. Dawn is okay with that.

Erica Durance as Alex Reid and Michael Shanks as Charlie Harris

After a long day, Charlie and Alex finally go home. As the two step into the elevator, a sprig of mistletoe hangs above and as the door closes, the two share a sweet kiss.

Happy Holidays Saving Hope fans and see you all in the New Year!

The doctors of Hope Zion wouldn’t be able to their jobs without the help of these cast of supporting characters that pass them a scalpel, help bag a patient or hand them an important file. You may not notice them but let us meet one of these unsung heroes of Saving Hope.

Nurse Alice (Allison Wilson-Forbes) asks Dr. Shahir Hamza (Huse Madhavji) to join their dance

Allison Wilson-Forbes plays Nurse Alice, the nurse you see offering assistance in the trauma bay of the ER at Hope Zion.

If you’ve seen the recent Holiday episode, Wilson-Forbes’ character tried to entice Dr. Shahir Hamza (Huse Madhavji) to join the nurses’ Christmas dance party but Shahir turns her down to fix some toys. Nurse Alice was also the one to tell Alex (Erica Durance) that she wasn’t able to intubate the bomber in “Shattered”.

And you may have also seen Nurse Alice in the Season 4 “Rock and a Hard Place” episode interrupting Alex and Charlie’s make out session to hand Charlie (Michael Shanks) a file about Tom Crenshaw (Travis Milne).

Wilson-Forbes first appeared on Saving Hope back in its first season in the episode “Bea, Again” and has since appeared in 13 episodes.

Allison Wilson-Forbes

Relatively new to the acting game (5 years to be exact), Wilson-Forbes always had an interest in the craft.

“I’ve always loved acting. I like the magic, something that can touch people in a myriad of ways,” Wilson-Forbes said to Pop Goes the World in a phone interview.

Wilson-Forbes did some plays in high school and discovered that she loved entertaining people and making people laugh. Seeing the joy in people’s faces prompted her to continue acting.

While she didn’t go to theatre school, Wilson-Forbes said that being on the Saving Hope set has been an amazing training ground.

“As a new actor … you cannot get this kind of training anywhere else, you won’t find it coaching, auditioning, in classes. The only way you are going to get this kind of on-set experience is on-set,” she added. “There really isn’t a place where you can focus being on set and learning how to deal with your mark, your lighting, your place, finding the lens, those kinds of things. In the beginning, for the first couple of years, I was a sponge trying to figure out, listen and learn.”

Wilson-Forbes journey to Saving Hope involved six auditions before she finally booked the gig. By season 2, episode 1 Wilson-Forbes nurse character became Nurse Alice.

Of her role on the show, Wilson-Forbes described it as functional and technical to “support the realities of being in a hospital.”

But Wilson-Forbes has seen Nurse Alice move from just passing by or standing around to being a little bit part of the action like standing over a body, bagging a patient or handing over paddles.

Wilson-Forbes is so good at her role there is a recurring joke on set where cast and crew think she is a real nurse like when they believe she knows where the liver is on a patient in a scene.

Of the cast, Wilson-Forbes describes former cast member Daniel Gillies as really fun to work with, “he just makes me laugh” and Madhavji as very funny. On Erica Durance, she is one of the reasons why Wilson-Forbes feels so fortunate for the gig.

“I get to spend a lot of time watching Erica Durance, it is such a privilege. Erica Durance has so much responsibility, carrying the show and also producer duties as well. To see that level of stamina and her work ethic and her attitude; everybody feeds off of that,” she noted.

Allison Wilson-Forbes as Nurse Alice, Erica Durance as Alex Reid and Peter Mooney as Jeremy Bishop

One of the most challenging episodes Wilson-Forbes had to film was season 4, episode 9’s “Shattered”.

“That episode the whole cast was there. That is not normal. That is a lot of people in one space, the trauma bay. It was challenging because there a lot of moving parts, everyone needs to get their lines in, lots of exposition that move the story along. There’s a lot of background [actors] that are laying on gurneys and paramedics moving around. A lot of props [being used] and beds are flying,” she said.

Wilson-Forbes added that Saving Hope is a very technical show to work on when it comes to handling all the medical equipment and ensuring that it all looks realistic and called the prosthetics used on the show as “amazing”.

As for favourite episodes, Wilson-Forbes says three come to mind. The first being the season 2 premiere where someone was brought in on a gurney to the trauma bay and it was an all hands on deck situation. “It was a lot of fun because everyone’s hands were trying to get in on this person.”

While “Shattered” may have been challenging to film, it was also one of her favourites because she got to work with her close friend Charles Officer, who directed the episode.

“[Officer] was someone I’ve known for a really long time, been in the business a really long time and to get to a place where we can work together is special for me. I look up to him, nice to experience that and watch him work and command was awesome,” explained Wilson-Forbes.

Her third favourite episode was the Christmas episode “Shine a Light”. In that episode, Wilson-Forbes had to do her dance like 20 times, which she believes was done on purpose. But it was the dancing that made making the episode fun.

For the scene, the actors had to dance to no music so that the dialogue could be heard. The challenge for Wilson-Forbes was matching the beat in her head to make sure she was engaging with Madhavji but at the same time she called fake dancing funny.

“I’ve already gotten text about the dancing,” she said.

Also, Wilson-Forbes got to wear a really awesome Christmas sweater in the scene, which was not as ugly as the one that Erica Durance sported in the episode.

Wilson-Forbes said that Durance was really excited to wear the sweater and showed off the fact it lit up to her, Wendy Crewson and Madhavji.

Another behind scene story of “Shine a Light” that Wilson-Forbes shared was having to wheel a cart filled with baked goods for the Christmas bake sale into the doctor’s lounge where Dana and Shahir were hiding out. But because the cart was so hard to maneuver, the scene was left on the cutting room floor.

Wilson-Forbes other credits include roles on Space Channel’s Orphan Black, where she also played a trauma nurse. Wilson-Forbes was in the season premiere of season 2 and the second episode playing a nurse that assists Helena (Tatiana Maslany) who has come in all bloodied. Wilson-Forbes calls working with series star Tatiana Maslany as amazing. “She has a lot of physical focus and discipline, she doesn’t break not even between takes. I love that intensity, it sets the tone.”

As for what’s next for Wilson-Forbes, she hopes to do some theatre in 2016 but is mainly concentrating on the screenplay for two projects. One is a psychological thriller about a woman who has seizures calling the script “intense that doesn’t play normally and there is a twist at the end.” The other project is a comedy to see if she can be funny.

And are we going to see Nurse Alice again? Unfortunately, Wilson-Forbes said that Nurse Alice isn’t in the rest of season 4 but hopes to be back if there is a season 5. “It would be a privilege to be back on.”

Saving Hope’s Holiday episode, “Shine a Light” where you can catch Wilson-Forbes, will re-air on CTV on December 19, 2015 at 10pm ET/PT.

The Season 4 cast of Saving Hope (l to r): Kim Shaw as Dr. Cassie Williams, Huse Madhavji as Dr. Shahir Hamza, Wendy Crewson as Dr. Dana Kinney, Erica Durance as Dr. Alex Reid, Michael Shanks as Dr. Charlie Harris, Michelle Nolden as Dr. Dawn Bell, Julia Taylor Ross as Dr. Maggie Lin and Benjamin Ayres as Dr. Zach Miller

CTV has announced that it has ordered a 5th season of Saving Hope. The 18-episode season is slated to begin production in the spring of 2016 while the current 4th season will resume on Thursday January 7th, 2016 in its new 10pm ET/PT timeslot.

The season will conclude with a special two-hour finale event on Valentine’s Day, Sunday, Feb. 14, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT. CTV describes the season 4 finale as “emotional and dramatic” with the two-hours culminating “in a shocking moment viewers won’t want to miss.”

Returning for Season 5 are Erica Durance as Dr. Alex Reid; Michael Shanks as Dr. Charlie Harris, Wendy Crewson as Dr. Dana Kinney, Benjamin Ayres as Dr. Zach Miller, Julia Taylor Ross (ROOKIE BLUE) as Dr. Maggie Lin, Michelle Nolden as Dr. Dawn Bell, Huse Madhavji as Dr. Shahir Hamza, and Kim Shaw as Dr. Cassie Williams.

When Saving Hope returns on January 7th, 2016 looks like CTV will air episode 11, the episode it skipped in favour of the Christmas episode “Shine a Light”. The episode entitled “All Down the Line” is described as:

With Dr. Dana Kinney (Wendy Crewson) back from Paris, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) enlists her help to save Lorenzo (Stefano DiMatteo, KILLJOYS), a hot-tempered chef suffering from oral cancer. Her concerns over her friend’s own treatment (or lack there-of) quickly bubble to surface however, when their patient refuses medical attention in favour of pursuing the opening of his restaurant. Meanwhile, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) has his hands full juggling the spirit of a restless single mother, while working to save her life after a DIY treehouse accident. The episode also features guest star Stacey Farber as Dr. Sydney Katz.

Don’t forget to also check out our feature on Allison Wilson-Forbes, who plays Hope-Zion’s Nurse Alice.

Saving Hope season 4 resumes after the holiday break in its new Thursday at 10 pm ET/PT time slot airing episode 11 “All Down the Line” (episode 12 aired before this one).

Here is how CTV describes the episode:

With Dr. Dana Kinney (Wendy Crewson) back from Paris, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) enlists her help to save Lorenzo (Stefano DiMatteo, KILLJOYS), a hot-tempered chef suffering from oral cancer. Her concerns over her friend’s own treatment (or lack there-of) quickly bubble to surface however, when their patient refuses medical attention in favour of pursuing the opening of his restaurant. Meanwhile, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) has his hands full juggling the spirit of a restless single mother, while working to save her life after a DIY treehouse accident.

“All Down the Line” airs Thursday January 7, 2015 at 10 pm ET/PT on CTV.

Check out the images.

We are back after a short Christmas break and if you were a bit confused about how Maggie was all fine in the last episode to just coming back to work in this one, is because CTV aired the last two episode out of order. “All Down the Line” was supposed to air before “Shine a Light”.

In this week’s episode, we saw farewell to Sydney Katz, Alex and Dana friendship in danger, and that Kristine is causing trouble for Charlie.

Cassie and Zach

Apparently, it is Cassie and Dev’s 6 month anniversary and are caught by Zach making out in an exam room.

Cassie tries to explain to Zach what he saw but their conversation is interrupted by them needing to treat a groom who fainted at his wedding. Upon closer examination, Cole is seen wearing some sort of spanx type body suit that caused him to have a hernia while lifting weights. Cole and his bride Mika get into an argument about her desire for him to lose weight before the wedding. While Cole is in surgery, Zach tells Cassie in the doctor’s lounge that the couple won’t make it. However, Zach comes across Mika who tells he that she didn’t want her fiancee to lose weight but thought he did to make him feel better. Mika thinks the wedding is off and doesn’t know what to say to Cole. Zach does and we see the couple reconcile and decide to accept each other and will get married when the time is right.

Later on in the on-call room, Cassie admits that she forgot their anniversary as it wasn’t something on her radar but Dev says that she is worth celebrating.

Maggie and Sydney

Stacey Farber as Sydney Katz and Julia Taylor Ross as Maggie Lin

Maggie is back at work after her accident. Sydney is handing off one of her patients to Maggie before she moves to Tel Aviv for a fresh start. As they go to meet Nicola, the two ladies catch-up on what has been going on with their lives and we learn that Sydney is moving to Tel Aviv to be with her new girlfriend.

Nicola is a blind woman who has had three miscarriages in the past and is now 5 months along in her current pregnancy. As Maggie is doing an exam, she notices that Nicola’s cervix is prematurely dilating which means that Nicola can go into pre-mature labour. Nicola knows the baby won’t survive and she needs this baby as it is the only thing she has left of her husband, David, who passed away two months before.

Maggie and Sydney decide to close up the cervix but before hand wants to perform an amniocentesis to see if there are any infections. Nicola doesn’t want the test as an amniocentesis caused her previous miscarriages. Nicola’s brother-in-law, Ben is with her and wants the doctors to honour her wishes but when he learns that if they don’t catch an infection and she could die that Ben suggests she do the test. Nicola becomes mad at Ben for not siding with her and wishes her husband was with her. Ben leaves and Maggie learns that he is in love with his brother’s wife.

Stacey Farber as Sydney Katz and Moya O’Connell as Nicola

During another exam, another problem arises that requires surgery that really could endanger the pregnancy. But Sydney and Maggie work together and come up with a solution that saves the pregnancy.

Nicola is ordered on bed rest and Ben returns and all is forgiven. Nicola learns she is having a girl. Maggie then gives Nicola a 3D printout of her daughter so she can seeh her baby with her hands. Later we see Nicola show Ben the baby and gets him to touch the print out.

Maggie sees Sydney out who tells her that she thinks of her often and Maggie gives her a goodbye kiss. Sydney then walks out of the doors of Hope-Zion presumably forever.

Alex and Dana

Dana is back from Paris and Alex wants her to resume treatment but she deflects by wanting to see pics of her godson, Luke. Zach interrupts for consult on a chef who has pain in his neck. Alex sees that it is cancer but Lorenzo just wants to go back to his restaurant as it is near opening but his sous chef, Fiona insist he stay to see what is wrong. Lorenzo starts to experience mouth pain and Alex finds a lesion on his tongue. After a biopsy it is determined that it is oral cancer. Alex goes through treatment options with one being cutting out part of his tongue.

When Dana learns that Alex called in another plastics doctor on her case, she is livid and takes on the case. Lorenzo is gone and Fiona says that he is probably in the hospital kitchen.

Wendy Crewson as Dana Kinney, Stefano DiMatteo as Lorenzo and Erica Durance as Alex Reid

We see Lorenzo their teaching the hospital kitchen staff. Lorenzo wants a less aggressive treatment but gets convinced after Dana relays that she is dying from breast cancer and he obviously wants to live and he should trust them as people would trust the chef who serves them Japanese blowfish not to poison them. Dana says all this while impressively making a rose from a peeled tomato skin.

The surgery is quite gross but it goes well. Alex is impressed that Dana tapped into Lorenzo’s fight reflex. Dana knows that Alex is fishing for something but can’t delve into it deeper when Lorenzo’s newly reconstructed tongue starts to swell. So Dana uses leeches to bring the swelling down. As Lorenzo recovers, we see Fiona arguing with vendors on his behalf.

Later at Dana’s office, the two ladies get into a fight about the latter not fighting her cancer. Alex wants her to fight because she loves her friend. We are not quite sure if Dana will fight but I assume she does since she will be part of the season 5 cast.

Charlie

As Charlie is getting ready to go to work, he is ignoring texts from Kristine. At the hospital, Asha is going to be his ortho resident for the day. Asha is looking for a specialty but looks down on ortho. In the ER comes in Margo, who fractured her hip while trying to build a tree house for her kids. Margo is a single mom of 5. Asha determines what is wrong and into surgery they go. However, things start to go wrong and Bishop interrupts to say that Asha missed a bleed during her initial exam. Asha is hard on herself but Charlie says Margot will be fine and they are team to help each other out. Asha however is still hard on herself.

Meanwhile, Margot’s spirit wonders what will happen to her kids if she dies. Margot talks about being a super mom and Charlie tries to get her to let her kids help. Margot tells Charlie to butt out. Margot’s oldest daughter, Julia arrives and Margot isn’t happy that she left her brother Peter to look after the younger ones. Julia isn’t happy that her her mom hurt herself over the tree house that she offered to help. Margo learns that her kids can take care of themselves.

Back in the OR, Charlie lets Asha use the ortho drill to put the screws in place to fix Margot’s hip. Afterwards, Charlie advises Asha not to chase after perfection and asks her if she is thinking about ortho as her speciality. Asha doesn’t know but might only because she gets to use a drill. Charlie sees Margot’s spirit is still hanging around but only because she wants the rest for a bit before she has to go back to being a mom of 5 kids.

Kristine catches up with Charlie in elevator and get him to agree to talk about what happened at her house over coffee. Both admit that they find their friendship helpful as they can discuss their gift.

Nicole Underhay as Kristine Fields and Michael Shanks as Charlie Harris

However, later, Kristine wants to turn coffee into drinks and tries to kiss Charlie who immediately pulls back. Kristine was prompted to kiss Charlie because he kept going on and on about their connection. Kristine misinterpreted it as something romantic but he just meant they shared a gift. Charlie tells Kristine he is in love with Alex and apologies if lead her on.Kristine says that Alex will never understand Charlie like she does.

Charlie then breaks off their friendship and should go about helping spirits alone and pretend never met.

Back at home as Alex is trying new recipes to feed a fussy Luke to eat, Charlie receives texts from Kristine saying they aren’t safe. Charlie ignores them and goes back to being a family with Alex.

I guess we could kind of see that coming, Kristine developing feelings for Charlie. Next week has me worried as Charlie may have a tumor in his brain that could be the cause of his gift. I hope it is not a tumor.

Michael Shanks as Dr. Charlie Harris and Erica Durance as Dr. Alex Reid

This week, CTV has released episode descriptions for Saving Hope’s January run of episodes. All episodes air on Thursday at 10pm ET/PT. As CTV releases images for each episode, watch for a separate post on those.

In the meantime, here is what to expect from Saving Hope in January:

Goodbye Girl – January 14
A quiet night in for Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) goes haywire after nurse Kristine Fields (Nicole Underhay, MURDOCH MYSTERIES) shows up at his door drunk. After Kristine ends up in a drunk-driving accident, it’s Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) who wants to know what happened. Struggling to save her life, Charlie and Alex must work together and put their feelings aside to help Kristine, even as her Spirit does all it can to cross over. Meanwhile, an overweight former patient of Dr. Maggie Lin’s (Julia Taylor Ross) arrives complaining she’s having a heart attack, but all surgical signs point to medical malpractice and Maggie’s career is left on the line as she struggles to clear her name and save her patient. In the ER, Dr. Zach Miller (Benjamin Ayres) helps Dr. Dev Sekara (Dejan Loyola) contend with matters of the heart as they treat a heart-broken patient for nail-gun injuries after a renovation goes wrong.

You Can’t Always Get What You Want – January 21

When a perennially sick child is admitted to Hope Zion Hospital, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) and Dr. Jeremy Bishop (Peter Mooney) struggle to get to the bottom of the child’s long list of illnesses. As they continue to dig, however, all signs begin to point to the mother, forcing Alex and Jeremy to walk a tightrope to get to the truth. Meanwhile, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) treats Davey Law (Alex Carter, CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION), an aging Sci-Fi actor for a neck injury, and in the ward Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross) is clinging to the mantra “better safe than liable.” But when the victim of an armed robbery pleads with her to remove the bullet, Dr. Dana Kinney (Wendy Crewson) helps the gun-shy Dr. Lin re-discover the joys and rewards of compassionate medicine. This episode of SAVING HOPE is directed by Michael Shanks and features a special guest appearance by ETALK Anchor Danielle Graham.

Not Fade Away – January 28

In an attempt to bring some normalcy to his increasingly chaotic life, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) decides to go the entire day without using his “special abilities.” His vow is put to the test, however, when a superstitious farmer is admitted with a myriad of injuries, forcing Charlie to re-evaluate his decision. Meanwhile, fearing for Dr. Dana Kinney’s (Wendy Crewson) outlook when she is confined to the hospital by her oncologist, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) organizes a road trip north to Dana’s cabin for the annual cottage festival. With Dr. Dawn Bell’s (Michelle Nolden) college roommate Reba’s (Kristen Thomson, Away From Her) life on the line after being bitten by a spider, it is Dr. Zach Miller (Benjamin Ayres) who helps keep the situation under control. Directed by Gregory Smith (ROOKIE BLUE, ARROW).

We are back on track with our episode order and it looks like Kristine (Nicole Underhay) will be joining the spirit world and not talking to it. Here is CTV’s synopsis for “Goodbye Girl”:

A quiet night in for Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) goes haywire after nurse Kristine Fields (Nicole Underhay, MURDOCH MYSTERIES) shows up at his door drunk. After Kristine ends up in a drunk-driving accident, it’s Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) who wants to know what happened. Struggling to save her life, Charlie and Alex must work together and put their feelings aside to help Kristine, even as her Spirit does all it can to cross over. Meanwhile, an overweight former patient of Dr. Maggie Lin’s (Julia Taylor Ross) arrives complaining she’s having a heart attack, but all surgical signs point to medical malpractice and Maggie’s career is left on the line as she struggles to clear her name and save her patient. In the ER, Dr. Zach Miller (Benjamin Ayres) helps Dr. Dev Sekara (Dejan Loyola) contend with matters of the heart as they treat a heart-broken patient for nail-gun injuries after a DIY renovation goes wrong.

“Goodbye Girl”, Saving Hope‘s 13th episode, will air January 14, 2016 on CTV at 10 pm ET/PT.

Check out the preview images.

It may look like there is an explanation as to why Charlie can see spirits, Maggie job gets in jeopardy and it looks like it’s splitsville for Cassie and Dev.

Dev and Zach

Dev is trying to making some weekend plans with Cassie that involves some extreme sport (I think axe throwing). Cassie would rather go for brunch and doesn’t understand why Dev wants to so many active things. Before they can continue their conversation, Dev can clearly see that Cassie is giving Bishop an appreciative eye as he walked by.

Dev is in the ER with Zach and their patient is Carmen, a heartbroken young man who got into a construction accident while renovating his home. I really couldn’t see this part of the episode because Carmen had a nail gun accident that resulted in him nailing his hand to his cheek. As Dev and Zach work to remove the nail, Carmen is detailing his plan to win back Bianca. Dev tells Carmen not to bother while Zach is more encouraging to Carmen’s pursuit. After Carmen is discharged, Zach wants to know what’s up with Dev. Dev admits that he found a pro-con list from Cassie listing all the things wrong with him. Zach says he should ask Cassie about the list. Dev does so and Cassie admits it was stupid of her to do. Dev says people only make lists if there is an option out there. Cassie says there isn’t but Dev’s presses and wonders if it is Bishop. Cassie says it is just a crush but Dev has heard enough and breaks up with her. Dev then declines Zach’s request to get a beer.

Dana

Throughout the episode, Dana is trying to record a video message for her daughter Molly. Dana’s first attempt she doesn’t like the angle of her face while the next take has her tell a really inappropriate story about her trip to Costa Rica when she was 25. As Dana is attempting to do her third take, Cassie interrupts her to ask for her help to practice a certain procedure that she saw Alex do plus she needs a distraction after her break up with Dev. After that talk, it seems that Dana knows what her video will be. In a heartfelt message, Dana shares her feelings when Molly was born and imparts her with some advice, which is to love with her whole heart.

Wendy Crewson was pretty amazing in this episode and got pretty teary-eyed in the end.

Maggie

Julia Taylor Ross as Maggie Lin

One of Maggie’s patient, Lois, has come into Hope-Zion complaining of chest pains. 9 months ago, Maggie performed gastric by pass surgery on Lois. But Lois isn’t having a heart attack but there is blockage in her esophagus that is causing in discomfort. While in the OR to remove the blockage, Bishop and Maggie notices a problem in the area that Maggie operated on for the gastric by-pass surgery. Bishop gets Maggie to step out and Asha steps in. Ashs thinks that Maggie will get sued, which means she can sweep in and take Maggie’s surgeries. Bishop is unsure what to make of Asha. During the surgery, Bishop notices a sponge in the stomach area and shows Maggie. Bishop advises Maggie to get a lawyer. While meeting with Hope-Zion’s lawyer, Maggie doesn’t understand how the sponge got in Lois’ stomach and she wants to talk to her. The lawyer advises against it and wants Maggie to wait for her lawyer. Maggie learns that Hope-Zion wants to distance itself from her if the suit goes forward.

Parveen Kaur as Asha Mirani

But Asha has found something that clears Maggie. The sponge found isn’t something that Hope-Zion or any hospital in North America uses. This is when Maggie realizes that Lois got another gastric by-pass surgery when the original one didn’t work. Maggie confronts Lois but she only blames Maggie for giving her false hope that she should have loss 50 pounds at this point. Maggie then revisits Lois but this time is more empathetic and they come to an understanding and the suite is dropped.

I’ve found that Julia Taylor Ross has been some of her best work this season and has done remarkable work on some her story lines.

Alex and Charlie

Charlie is prepping for a romantic evening with Alex, who is on her way home. Unfortunately, Kristine arrives all drunk, pleading with Charlie to resume their friendship as she needs it. Charlie rebuffs her and goes to call her a cab but Kristine slips up, avoids Alex and leaves through a stairwell.

The next day, Alex is helping out on a MVA involving a drunk driver and a tree. When Alex learns it is Kristine and sees Luke’s blanket among her belonging. In a moment while Kristine is awake, Alex wants to know how she got her blanket but Kristine only wants to see Charlie. Before Charlie can be called, an issue arises around Kristine’s liver and needs to go into the OR.

While in surgery, the liver is in terrible shape and is bleeding pretty bad even after Cassie and Alex have closed it off. It seems that not even Kristine’s colleagues know much about her and she has no emergency contact.

Kristine’s spirit visits Charlie begging him to let her die. Charlie goes into the surgery and says something is wrong with Kristine’s leg and lo and behold he is right. As Charlie scrubs in, Alex wants to know what is going on. Charlie tells Alex that he broke off his friendship that Kristine came to visit him. Charlie also admits that Kristine was confused about their relationship and tried to kiss him, which is why he has kept his distance. Charlie also tells Alex how Kristine lost her daughter a few years ago.

As Charlie is working on the leg and Cassie and Alex on the liver, Kristine visits Charlie and asks him to get Alex to stop. Charlie refuses to listen to Kristine sends a whole bunch of spirits asking the same. Charlie gets overwhelmed and yells he had enough of the harassment. The spirits leave, Charlie’s work is done and Cassie is confused and wonders how Alex can deal with Charlie’s quirks. Alex performs a graft that helps stop the bleeding of the liver. However, Kristine is still in a coma and Cassie wonders to Shahir of it is possible that someone can will themselves to dies.

Michael Shanks as Charlie Harris and Nicole Underhay as Kristine Fields

In the morgue, Charlie finds Kristine there and we learn that she deliberately caused the accident because she still cannot live without her daughter and was hoping to see her again. Kristine realized her accident could have also killed someone just as her daughter died.

Later, Shahir goes Alex Kristine’s head CT and there is a tumor in her brain where one of the side effects is hallucinations.

Alex finds Charlie in the morgue and shows Kristine’s CT scan and thinks that Charlie could have the same thing. Charlie says he doesn’t and Shahir checked him over after he woke up. Alex thinks that the tumor could have been there but now is growing. Charlie thought the two were through explaining his gift.

Erica Durance as Alex Reid

Later we see Alex and Charlie waiting for his radiology appointment to confirm or rule out a tumor. It seems the couple will be okay and as Charlie walks to radiology, we see Kristine’s spirit follow him.

Next week it does look like Charlie has that tumor but is reluctant to remove it and lose his gift.

This is what I am afraid of. Alex will convince Charlie to get the surgery but something goes wrong and Charlie is back in a coma communicating with spirits. I really hope that doesn’t happen.

It is hard to believe that we are almost near the end of Saving Hope’s 4th season as we are now on episode 14. Here is how CTV describes “You Can’t Always Get What you Want”:

When a perennially sick child is admitted to Hope Zion Hospital by his mother, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) and Dr. Jeremy Bishop (Peter Mooney) struggle to get to the bottom of the child’s long list of illnesses. As they continue to dig, however, all signs begin to point to the mother, forcing Alex and Jeremy to walk a tightrope to get to the truth. Meanwhile, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) treats Davey Law (Alex Carter, CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION), an aging Sci-Fi actor for a neck injury, and in the ward Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross) is clinging to the mantra “better safe than liable.” But when the victim of an armed robbery pleads with her to remove the bullet, Dr. Dana Kinney (Wendy Crewson) helps the gun-shy Dr. Lin re-discover the joys and rewards of compassionate medicine. This episode of SAVING HOPE is directed by Michael Shanks and features a special guest appearance by ETALK Anchor Danielle Graham.

“You Can’t Always Get What you Want” will air Thursday January 21, 2016 at 10pm ET/PT.

Check out the images.

Tonight’s episode was directed by Michael Shanks and just because he is behind the cameras doesn’t mean there was a lack of Charlie.

The episode opens with Alex and Charlie meeting Shahir about his tumor. The good news is that it is benign, slow growing and can be removed. Alex wants it to be removed now that there is a reason why he can see spirits. Alex can also see that Charlie is reluctant. Alex soon realizes that Charlie doesn’t want to lose his gift. No decisions are made as the two set off to work.

Dana, Cassie and Maggie

Dana is taking a leave of absence from Hope-Zion and is packing up her office when Cassie arrives with farewell flowers. While some paperwork, Dana faints for a moment and Cassie grows concerned. Dana brushes off her fainting spell and tells Cassie to answer Maggie’s page to go to the ER.

Their patient is Carla who is a gunshot victim of a bank robbery that killed her friend. The bullet hit Carla’s leg and is bleeding badly. Cassie and Maggie get the bleeding to stop and tell Carla that they will leave the bullet in their as it is safer there as removal could case the femoral artery to be cut and she could bleed out. While there is no medical reason to remove the bullet, Carla wants it out as it is a reminder of how she hid behind her friend when the bank robber held a gun to her. Maggie still doesn’t think there is a medical reason and it is more of a plastic issue. Dana overhears this and wonders what her successor recommends.

Julia Taylor Ross as Maggie Lin and Kim Shaw as Cassie Williams

Dana has another idea and believes the bullet should be removed for evidence to help convict the robber. Dana will walk Cassie and Maggie through the procedure since she no longer has surgical privileges. The surgery is going well until Dana faints for a second and distracts Maggie that causes her to knick the femoral artery. Dana jumps in to remove the bullet and gets Maggie and Cassie to repair the artery.

Wendy Crewson as Dana Kinney and Julia Taylor Ross as Maggie Lin

After the surgery, Maggie and Dana are talking when Dana collapses to the floor. But Dana is okay because we later see her pack up her office. Cassie visits and both say they are thankful that they were able to work together. It is quite an emotional scene watching Dana pack away her medical degree, her picture of Molly and hanging her lab coat. We then see her Hope-Zion pass lying on her desk. Later we see Cassie bring Dana to her hospital room as she is being admitted for treatment for her cancer.

Maggie visits Carla who still feels the bullet in her and thought she would feel better after it was removed. Maggie says that the bullet they removed will be used as evidence to help put the guy away and this should help her feel less guilty. We see Maggie bring Carla the bullet who then gives it to a police officer as he is taking her statement.

Charlie

Charlie’s patient is actor Davey Law (Alex Carter), who starred for 11 years on a show called “Warrior Squad” (

Alex Carter as Davey Law

nod to Shanks’ longtime role on Stargate SG-1). Jackson is a fan and Dev watched the show with his roommate. Hope-Zion staff also seem to fans too.

Davey has come to Hope-Zion after injuring himself doing a stunt at a fan convention, hence why he is in his character’s costume.

It is discovered that Davey has a malignant tumor on his spine that requires surgery. Davey tells Charlie he need to talk to his agent Penny to see if it is alright. Penny tells Davey to do the surgery for his health as their is nothing on his docket right now so he can recover. Penny leaves when she gets an important call and Davey is prepped for surgery.

Davey is under and his spirit visits Charlie as he is scrubbing in. A nurse tells Charlie that Penny needs to speak to him something called “Ashes and Rust”. Charlie tells the nurse to tell Penny that he will do so after the surgery. When Davey hears this, he throws a tantrum at Charlie to go and see Penny and not perform his surgery.

When Charlie sees Penny we learn that “Ashes and Rust” is an independent film to be shot in Romania where Davey is the lead. It is the break they’ve been hoping for and Penny and Davey wants Charlie to wake him up so we can shoot the film. Charlie doesn’t want to as he knows that Davey needs the surgery. Davey continues to throw a tantrum to get Charlie to wake him up.

Davey shares that he trained at Yale and got all the classic roles like Hamlet. When he graduated from theatre school, Davey was offered Warrior Squad and got ton of money and never looked back. But Davey felt like he is no longer a classically trained actor but a performance monkey doing what he is told to do. Davey feels that this film is why he got into acting in the first place.

We see Charlie enter the surgery to say to Dev that new information has presented itself and the surgery won’t be performed. Before Davey leaves, Charlie gives him all the warnings and to call him anytime. Davey signs some autographs before leaving.

Alex and Jeremy

Erica Durance as Alex Reid

Alex’s and Jeremy’s patient is Mordecai, a 13 year old boy, who has come in with abdominal pain. When Mordecai starts to seize, his mother Sarah, empties her purse full of medication to see if Alex can use one of them to help her son.

When Mordecai becomes stable, he asks for a drink but only from his own drink bottle. Sara says that Mordecai doesn’t trust tap water. Alex finds out that Mordecai is taking a multitude of medications for a multitude of ailments and conditions. Later on, Mordecai crashes again and Jeremy and Alex tell Sara that her son has very high levels of sodium. Sara is at a lost to what is going with her son who has been sick a lot over the past two years, since her husband left her.

Alex and Jeremy investigate as to why their treatment may not be working. Their investigation reveals that Mordecai had been a patient at Hope-Zion in the past, something Sara didn’t mention. Also, Mordecai has visited several different hospitals 20 times over the last 2 years. A social worker is called to talk to Sara. With Mordecai now stable, Alex visits him to ask more questions about who makes his food and other things regarding his care. Mordecai asks for a drink of water again which raises a red flag to me and knew that Mordecai would crash again, which he does. Jeremy and Alex are still at a loss and decide to retrace their steps. This is when Alex figures out something was up with the water bottle.

Alex visits Mordecai again and he admits that he is the one that making him sick not his mom. We learn that Mordecai made himself sick to get his mom back. You see Sara was so depressed after her husband left that she only came back to Mordecai to take care of him when he got sick with the flu. So Mordecai figured that if he continued being sick, his mom will always be there.

The episode ends with Charlie looking at his brain scan contemplating what to do with Alex behind watching.

So next week, Charlie is going to test going through a whole day without using his ability. We will see how far that lasts.

Poll Time

As someone who lost their mother to cancer, these images released by CTV today really hits home. In the images, we see Dana surrounded by friends and her daughter Molly (Eliana Jones) as her health declines. These images makes me worry about Wendy Crewson’s time on the show; I really hope Crewson doesn’t leave plus CTV’s press release on the show’s renewal listed her amongst the cast for season 5. 

Here is CTV’s synopsis:

In an attempt to bring some normalcy to his increasingly chaotic life, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) decides to go the entire day without using his “special abilities.” His vow is put to the test, however, when a superstitious farmer is admitted with a myriad of injuries, forcing Charlie to reevaluate his decision. Meanwhile, fearing for Dr. Dana Kinney’s (Wendy Crewson) outlook when she is confined to the hospital by her oncologist, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) organizes a road trip north to Dana’s cabin for the annual cottage festival. With Dr. Dawn Bell’s (Michelle Nolden) college roommate Reba’s (Kristen Thomson, Away From Her) life on the line after being bit by a spider, it is Dr. Zach Miller (Benjamin Ayres) who helps keep the situation under control. Directed by Gregory Smith (ROOKIE BLUE, ARROW).

The description states that Alex wants to bring Dana to her cabin but it looks like they don’t make it and does an impromptu camp out in the lobby of Hope-Zion, which apparently is located outside of Mississauga’s Square One mall.

“Not Fade Away” airs Thursday January 28, 2016 on CTV at 10pm ET/PT.

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