Code Black (TV Series) The Devil's Workshop (2017) User Reviews

Be still, my heart...

[lester_laurie123 · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

I am at a loss for words after this episode of Code Black. This series has muscled through every episode, only to grow stronger and stronger. Season 2 had a great run, with some significant episodes like "Demons and Angels," "Hero Complex," "Ave Maria," "Exodus," and "Unfinished Business." We can add this episode to the list.

The most heart-wrenching highlight of this episode was the loss of Dr. Pinkney. She will be missed. The way it was played out made it all the more heartbreaking for us all. Will and Mario took the loss of Heather rather hard, as we all did. The playing of Caitlin Canty's rendition of "Stand By Me" made it all the more difficult to watch.

Speaking of "Stand By Me," the father-daughter dance also brought tears to my eyes. It was so beautiful to see.

All in all, Code Black managed to finish the season in a BIG way! This is no doubt one of the best episodes of the series and certainly won't be the last of the best.

Pt. 1 of the heart-pounding finale

[GennaRocks1 · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

The team at Angel's lost a doctor on Code Black #2.15. Heather Pinkney is the third MD to die on the job, in addition to the many doctors who have abruptly left (or mysteriously vanished).

Heather managed to redeem herself from her initial mercenary behavior, both as a doctor and as a human being. But what was the point of her becoming a better person if she was just going to die?

My bigger concern with her death has to do with the writing teams willing to throw away all the time we've spent investing in her. If this was the first time this had happened, it would be one thing. But it's becoming a trend. And the bench isn't that deep.

Other than killing off Heather and the dread that caused me, I thought "The Devil's Workshop" was a solid first part of a finale.

There wasn't enough Jesse, but I'll wait for part two before passing judgment on that. Honestly, I was a little relieved that he was in absentia once they started diagnosing other staff members. Code Black wouldn't survive losing Jesse.

The outbreak gave all the characters a chance to shine, showing how they've advanced under Leanne's tutelage. I would have liked to have seen more of Malaya, but that's pretty much been my refrain all season.

I am not buying into Mario and Noa, but what I am enjoying is Angus and Kelly. (Not to mention the great bromance its brought about between Angus and Elliot.)

Elliot: What are you saying to her?

Angus: None of your beeswax.

Elliot (to Ethan): He's got zero game. All right? I'm his Cyrano.

All in all, this was a great start to the season 2 finale.

This episode is AMAZING!

[jheignbaugh · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

CBS's "Code Black" begins its two-part Season 2 finale event with an episode that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. If part one is any indication then this show may be continuing to somehow top itself as well as set the bar for what audiences should expect from their hospital dramas.

"The Devil's Workshop" begins two days after "Vertigo" left off, with Dr. Leanne Rorish finding out just what happened to Ariel after the pilot. Rorish has taken Ariel in and is determined not to let her fall by the wayside again, whether in a group home or by her running off to Oregon. She persuades Ariel to stay at the hospital for the day, but it's going to be one heck of a day.

Dr. Rollie Guthrie and Dr. Malaya Pineda treat Bill, who was trying to bond with his future son-in-law before he ended up in the ER, with heart failure. Will he make it to the wedding?

Dr. Mario Savetti lands hotshot basketball player Russell, but Russell refuses to take anything seriously. Dr. Noa Kean, who brought him into Angels Memorial, to begin with, thanks to her new job, refuses to take Russell's crap or Mario's opinion.

Also, Col. Ethan Willis, Dr. Angus Leighton, and Dr. Elliot Dixon are riding in the ambulance this week. Where is it taking them? Try to an exorcism gone wrong in the back of a local market. Could somebody page Ben Daniels?

They bring Yolanda (Gabriela Banus) back to the hospital, which proves to be a dangerous choice. She bites Dr. Heather Pinckney, and that's just the start of the havoc. It's not Satan and it's not rabies – welcome to an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever.

Working with the CDC, in the persons of Dr. Kerr and Deputy Director Reddick, the Angels Memorial team tries to handle its biggest crisis yet without starting a panic. And each case is affected by the disaster in different ways, on top of the problems they came in with.

Noa gets Russell to admit he's been intentionally overdosing on Zoloft, while Campbell breaks his tough-guy mold in breaking the bad news to his ex-girlfriend Heather. "I'm not giving up," he assures her, and it's probably as close to sweet as either of these two will ever get. Speaking of cute, Angus' would-be girlfriend Kelly (Meg Steedle) is among those stuck in the hospital thanks to the quarantine. Well, this is an awkward first date.

Yolanda dies from the fever, which doesn't bode well for her also-exposed friend Alicia or Heather, as Willis and Kerr go back to the market to trace the outbreak to its source. All they need is the creepy horror movie- type music as they wander around in the darkness, finding the rest of the people who were involved in the exorcism. Two are dead and one dies shortly after making it to the hospital. But Campbell is not going to give up, dang it.

Especially when Dr. Kerr says that other members of the Angels team have also tested positive and will need to be quarantined. Mario, Malaya, and Elliot get to be dragged on the other side of the plastic wall, and the law of large numbers indicates that with four major characters in the red, not all of them will make it out alive. "What do we do now?" Mario wonders, to which Malaya replies, "We do our job." And it's moments like that which make Code Black great.

Bill's future son-in-law Jeremy collapses in the waiting room and is added to the list of victims, just as Heather takes a last-act turn for the worse. And then Reddick walks in to be the resident jerk taking over the situation because he knows better. The one time we all want Campbell to be as itinerant as possible, he, Willis and Leanne leave everything in the hands of the CDC - including Ariel, who's the last revealed patient.

At least Bill and his daughter get to share a heartwrenching dance together - to Nashville singer-songwriter Caitlin Canty's cover of "Stand By Me" - but everything else looks pretty bleak. Like Heather finally crashing and Campbell not wanting her to die alone. You know, This Is Us has the reputation for being the tear-jerking show, but we'd argue Code Black does it just as well and just as much (maybe even better at it than This Is Us). At least Jillian Murray gets a great final voice-over, which is the Hippocratic oath. It was one of the best moments of the season, Heather's speech.

Oh, and 'Patient Zero' is out roaming the streets, which is a wonderful place to leave this episode, right?

An interesting way to begin the season finale

[sbeattyimdb-30065 · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

"The Devil's Workshop" is a very interesting exercise for Code Black. This is a show that's had ongoing story arcs, but not an actual two-part episode like this, and not every series is capable of such a thing. Many shows just stretch one part of story with a helping of filler and call it two parts. This one is legitimately a two- part installment and proves that the show can tell more involved stories. Then again, if you've seen any other episode of this series before, you're probably not surprised.

This series always tells involved, well thought-out, emotionally provoking stories. All it did in this episode was take that to another level. The decision to kill off Heather will likely be a subject of debate among fans, but you can't really argue with it. Jillian Murray did a fantastic job taking her from the character we loved to hate in Season 1 to someone we cared about in Season 2. Who'd have thought, considering how Season 1 ended, that we'd see Campbell so heartbroken over Heather? But that's a testimony to how much the character evolved over these 15 episodes.

Having said that, if you put several of your series regulars in jeopardy and don't kill somebody, especially when you're playing with something as severe at this, it would be a cop-out. All TV shows should learn not to stick a regular character in the line of fire unless you really mean it. And of the ones involved - Heather, Malaya, Mario, and Elliot - Heather is one of the two more fitting choices.

She's a great character, but she's not as central to the show as Malaya or Mario, and she has had a very complete arc this season. Plus, putting her at risk allows the Campbell character to be written in a more vulnerable way and for him to grow, which is a good thing for him considering how he often has to play the bad guy himself. As harsh as it is to say, from a long-term future of the show perspective, it's easier for her to be written out.

But beware... there are still three more doctors at risk and if you're a fan of Elliot's, we suggest you not get comfortable either, given that one other resident was already killed earlier this season.

There's very little to complain about in "The Devil's Workshop," except for perhaps the usual but necessary trope of an outside group (in this case the CDC) coming in and taking over. We see that all the time and it's always more irritating than anything else. And speaking of this show and its closest companion, this is another moment where we're lamenting the absence of Jeff Hephner because we could definitely use Ed Harbert to help us come to grips with this situation.

But perhaps the biggest question about this episode is what's going to happen in the next one? How is the finale going to set up for Season 3? It doesn't get much bigger than this, so where will Code Black be able to take its story lines after it has gone this far out on the limb? It might be hard to top this. Then again, this show has just given us a crane rescue, a submarine, and a haunted house so the writers' room will be able to think of something.

Until then we'll just be getting more Kleenex and pouring one out for Heather.