Good Sam is a brand new television show on CBS, airing Wednesday nights at 10/9c. The show stars Sophia Bush as Dr. Sam Griffith, Jason Isaacs as Dr. Rob “Griff” Griffith, Skye P. Marshall as Dr. Lex Trulie, Michael Stahl-David as Dr. Caleb Tucker, Omar Maskati as Dr. Isan M. Shah, Davi Santos as Dr. Joey Costa, Wendy Crewson as Vivian Katz and Edwin Hodge as Malcolm A. Kingsley.
The first episode, “Pilot”, aired January 5. Let’s jump into the show and what happened on last night’s episode.
The First Surgery and Character Introductions
The episode starts with a man, Mr. Ferguson, running through the hospital hallway as Sam chases him. He tells Sam that he doesn’t want to die on the table, and she tells him that Dr. Griffith is working on him and he’ll be fine, he’s one of the best. As she does this, Dr. Griffith pulls up in his car to the hospital. Sam tells him she had heart surgery and she was nervous too, showing her scar. Sam gets the man to walk back to his room.
Sam next enters the OR, stating he’s prepped. Caleb, Lex, Joey, and Isan are also in there scrubbing in. Dr. Griffith walks in and brings the team down a bit saying he sees a lot of “weaknesses” in them. He tells Sam she’s supervising the doctors and she’s above them in knowledge, rank, and skill and to act like it.
The team is working on the surgery, and Dr. Griffith changes something mid-surgery that would heavily impact the patient. Sam challenges him, and he brushes it off.
The Attack
Caleb and Sam are in the elevator, and once the doors close we learn they are more than co-workers. Sam complains to him about Dr. Griffith, and she says she’s going to take the offer to Cleveland. Sam then finds Dr. Griffith and she tells him she’s made a decision about her future before she gets notified there’s a 10-car pileup coming in. The doctors rush to where the patients are coming in. There’s a man standing in the corner who looks suspicious. As Dr. Griffith is talking to another man, a gunshot is heard and Dr. Griffith drops to the ground when he’s shot. This is where we see Sam call him “Dad” and runs to him.
Dr. Griffith and Dr. Griffith
The episode next picks up six months later from the attack with Sam arriving at the hospital with a voiceover and states she steps up as interim chief. The Chief Medical Officer (and Sam’s mother) also says she’s earned it. We see Sam start to take over the department and go through the day.
Sam’s in the elevator getting ready for her speech and meets Malcolm Kingsley, part of the family who is helping fund areas of the hospital… and who she just insulted without knowing saying these events are full of “boring, rich donors.” The two walk to the event where Sam’s mom arrives, saying her dad, Rob (Dr. Griffith’s first name), also known as “Griff” is waking up. We find out he’s been in a coma the entire time. Sam tells him she was promoted to the chief in his place.
Griff Returns
Malcolm arrives in Sam’s office to her playing the piano. Sam learns he works there as the new director of finance. Malcolm asks about her dad, and she says he’s doing well. He says he’s there if she needs to talk before leaving.
Next, we see Rob going through physical therapy as Sam’s mom, Vivian, is there. He wants to get back into surgery, and she tells him he needs to be proctored and he’s months away. He asks for Sam to do it and for Vivian to ask her. Sam agrees to supervise him.
The Diagnosis
Sam sees a patient, Julio, who seems to have an infection, and she notices he has a swollen lip. She asks him about it, but he refuses to answer. Next, we see the rest of the team giving updates on him and ask how he lost a tooth. His wife says, “trust me, he deserved it.”
Rob “Griff” walks in, and Sam tells him his proctorship has not started yet. He gives his advice and keeps undermining Sam. He suggests Lupus, and Sam goes to order the test for them, but Griff says he already did. The results come back and it is indeed Lupus, making Griff right. Sam asks about the patient’s tooth being knocked out and finds out that he cheated on his wife and she hit him.
As the team is talking about the sore, Griff is obnoxious and keeps overstepping Sam.
Sam or Griff
Next, Lex, Caleb, Joey, and Isan are out at a bar where Caleb says Griff will get his job back and Sam’s helping him. Isan says to Caleb sarcastically that he should tell Sam that and that it will really help them get back together. The rest of the team gangs up on Caleb saying that he was her boyfriend and he knows how much Griff put her through. Caleb says she puts up with it for the same reason they all do, because he’s the best.
The True Diagnosis
Malcolm arrives in the lab to see Sam. Malcolm says he was going to ask her to dinner but he heard she doesn’t leave the hospital so he’d have to visit her there. Sam gets a beep that her patient from earlier is coding.
The team reassembles to talk about Julio, and Sam and Griff are at odds again, this time with the team backing the procedure Griff wants to do. Sam tells Lex, who followed her, that they’re missing something and the procedure is invasive. Lex tells her she’s emotional and it’s clouding her judgment. Sam tells Lex she thought her best friend would have her back.
Sam stares at the medical board and says they’re looking in the wrong place. Sam shows that something else is going wrong and that Lupus doesn’t go after muscle, the team realizes they’re missing something.
Sam sits with Julio’s wife and tells her she needs her help. The wife says that he came home from Rio with the sore on his lip and he confessed he cheated on her. Sam bursts into the breakroom where the team is saying there was a parasite that Rio de Janeiro had an uptick in. Sam diagnoses him with Chagas disease, and the Lupus diagnosis was just another symptom. Griff tells Sam it’s too late and the family needs to say goodbye.
Sam confronts Griff, saying he needs to start respecting her. Griff says Sam needs him. The episode skips to Sam venting to Vivian about her dad. Sam says she hoped he changed but he hasn’t. Vivian says something broke in him since the accident, but the accident she refers to sounds like a car accident which caused the need for Sam to have heart surgery.
Sam arrives at Lex’s house to apologize and brings wine. Lex is acting weird, and Sam asks if she has company. Lex says she wanted to tell her and that it started before the shooting… and Griff enters from around the corner. Lex says “we” should have told you, before correcting herself and saying “I” and that there is no “we.” Griff tries to interrupt, but Sam leaves and tells him to find someone else to proctor him.
Vivian and Griff are talking, and Vivian says she has to uphold the chain of command and she can’t force Sam to proctor him. Vivian scolds him for being with Lex, and that she’s Sam’s best friend. Vivian tells him to make it right with Sam and to be her father. Vivian ends up taking his badge.
Saving Julio
Sam goes into a meeting with the team and differs from her father and lists all of the good things about them, including calling Lex a brilliant doctor who she needs on this team. Sam is not giving up on Julio and is doing everything she can to save him. Caleb asks about second chances, and Sam giving him one. He’s interrupted because they received a notification for a transplant for Julio. The team goes into surgery to complete the transplant, and they realize the heart is too small.
As Griff is leaving, Vivian calls him and he goes into the OR as Sam asks him about the heart. Sam asks about a surgery that’s rare but that Griff has done. She asks him to talk her through it. Griff suits up and talks her through the surgery. They wait a second and then they see the heart start to beat, completing a successful transplant.
Afterward, Sam goes to see Griff who is staring out of the hospital windows. The two talk, and they have a tough conversation about Griff not being there for Sam.
The show kicked off with a bang, and we can’t wait to see where the show goes!
Good Sam airs on CBS on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Stay tuned for our continued coverage on the series, including episodic recaps and more!
