CHICAGO HOPE: THE VIRUS (TV)
Summary
One in this series of medical dramas about the personal and professional lives of the staff of the state-of-the-art Chicago Hope Hospital and the ethical dilemmas they face. In this episode, Geiger, Infante and Shutt all discover that their recent patients have serious post-op infections, and Geiger concludes that there is a "bug" in the hospital. Grad immediately moves her research animals out of harm's way, though intern Callahan is bitten by her alligator. Infante experiences her first loss of a patient when her facelift patient dies, as do the other two, and though she tries to downplay it to Kronk, she is soon overcome with guilt. Birch dons a protective hazmat suit and Health Marshal McGee arrives and tells Watters that he has twenty-four hours in which to unearth the infection source before the hospital will be closed. Geiger he breaks the news to Infante's patient's widow in her place, and the doctors argue amongst themselves about the source of the infection, with Geiger pointing out that they all have imperfect habits and could be at fault, which offends both Shutt and Kronk. A fourth patient dies and McGee shuts down the hospital, and Geiger forces Infante to leave the locker-room shower to deal with her grief. She frantically tells him about her former confidence in her abilities, but when he remains stern, she orders him away.
Birch begins to panic when Grad finds flesh-eating bacteria at Callahan's wound site. Geiger finds Infante again and tells her about his unusual method for breaking bad news to patients, and she asks him to hold her. Grad's alligator tests negative for infection, and McGee orders her to culture all of the doctors and nurses. Infante apologizes to Geiger for falling apart on him, but he keeps her at a distance, also warding off Shutt, who is still angry about his earlier comments. Grad cultures Kronk, and he awkwardly asks her about the medical dangers from sleeping with a transsexual person, wondering if he is to blame. Watters and Birch argue in court that the hospital should be reopened, but the judge is unimpressed and accuses them of caring more about their budget than about the deadly infection. Watters frets that he will soon be fired, and Birch attempts to reassure him. Infante confronts Geiger as he plays with his model trains and accuses him of a fear of intimacy, and he admits that he still feels a strange guilt at being unfaithful to his institutionalized wife and does not want to feel "needed." Kronk talks to Nyland about their respective bad reputations amongst the staff, acknowledging that they are both disliked. Geiger rants at Shutt about his worries with Infante, and Shutt acknowledges feeling "squeezed out" as Geiger's best friend by Infante, but tells him that she is good for him and that he should not ruin things.
Callahan is horrified when Kronk considers amputating his infected hand, still recalling the infamous chainsaw incident, but Geiger barges in and suggests a less dramatic solution. Grad admits that her culture came back positive and that she is the source of an infection, having unknowingly spread a virulent form of strep, and offers to resign. Geiger operates on Callahan and McGee reopens the hospital as Watters tells Grad that she is not at fault, as the deaths were accidents. Infante confronts Geiger and tells him that he is not the only who has experienced loss and cannot mistreat people because of it, eventually admitting that her own mother died when she was ten and that she went to medical school to "demystify" death. Geiger confesses that he is unsure if he will ever get over Laurie but decides that he wants to, and the two share an embrace, observed by Shutt. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: May 8, 1995 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:50:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:55183
- GENRE: Drama, medical
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, medical
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1994-2000
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David E. Kelley … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Michael Dinner … Co-Executive Producer
- John Tinker … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
- Rob Corn … Coordinating Producer
- James C. Hart … Producer, Director
- Dennis Cooper … Producer, Writer
- John Heath … Co-Producer
- Steven Heth … Associate Producer
- Thomas M. Heric … Writer
- D. Gareth Wootton … Writer
- Jeff Rona … Music by
- Mark Isham … Theme Music by
- Mandy Patinkin … Cast, Dr. Jeffrey Geiger
- Adam Arkin … Cast, Dr. Aaron Shutt
- Roxanne Hart … Cast, Nurse Camille Shutt
- Peter MacNicol … Cast, Alan Birch
- Thomas Gibson … Cast, Dr. Daniel Nyland
- Hector Elizando … Cast, Dr. Phillip Watters
- Peter Berg … Cast, Dr. Billy Kronk
- Jayne Brook … Cast, Dr. Diane Grad
- Diane Venora … Cast, Dr. Geri Infante
- Matt McGrath … Cast, Dr. Scott Callahan
- Ken Jenkins … Cast, Health Marshal Stanley McGee
- Stephen Elliott … Cast, Judge Harold Aldrich
- Margaret Gibson … Cast, Sandra Broten
- Walter Addison … Cast, Mr. Cambry
- Caroline Lagerfelt … Cast, Nurse Holder
- C.J. Bau … Cast, Mr. Goloff