Dr. Ken, Season 2, Episode 20: “Ken and the CEO”
Original airdate March 17, 2017.
I told the truth and it saved one girl’s life
The Welltopia CEO is in town to deliver his state of the company address, and to receive a physical examination from Ken. Pat has applied for a promotion and asks Ken to put in a good word, but Ken learns that Pat’s probably going to be fired because of a recent dip in numbers.
Pat and Damona are keeping their rekindled relationship a secret. Clark suspects something’s up and tries to drag Allison into his investigation.
Jae tells Molly he’s a finalist for an art fellowship in Rhode Island, which would mean leaving in a couple of weeks and canceling the plans they’ve made for the summer.
And then a blind man screamed
I really don’t like Jae. I don’t even like having to deal with him in what looks like it could be a goodbye episode for him. Molly needs to get away from him. And when D. K. tells her that you can’t control what happens in life but you can control how you respond to it, Molly acts like she’s never heard this in her life despite being an exceptionally resilient young woman. This results in a sudden resolution to her story absent any real emotional payoff, which isn’t fair because Krista Marie Yu really does the emotion stuff well up to this point in the episode.
Rhys Darby plays the CEO and he’s okay, but he sounds and looks too much like Pat. It’s a weird invasion of the set by an actor who doesn’t fit in. The writers also made him far too big a part of this episode. He’s really a poorly imagined character.
One sister saw me go under the knife
On the other hand, because the CEO scenes are dominated by Darby, Ken is relegated to a second banana role, and Ken Jeong just about always nails that. He’s really the best part of this episode.
Molly is adorable in this, and D. K. is actually decent too.
The blocking is especially nicely done this week. I really like the way the opening scene moves, with Ken talking about fliriting his way out of a traffic ticket. Later, Clark tells Allison she’s “off the case,” and exits. Allison follows, exiting stage right just as the CEO enters stage left. It feels like a stage play.
The resolution is formulaic, but I appreciate the way Pat’s friends come to his defense with evidence from past episodes of the show. It’s good cred and it gives me some faith for the future of this show, if it gets picked up for season three.
I’m glad it was a dream.
The acting’s good. The writing’s so-so. Damona is sweet. Ken is funny. Clark is Clark. 3 and a half chicken wings out of 5.
