Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. Episode 104: Lahela and Stitch Review
Doogie goes on a double date with Walter, Kai and Steph; but their fun turns to trouble when Walter needs an emergency appendectomy on the latest episode of “Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.” Doogie wants to get a picture of Walter and her on his main Instagram feed and she keeps trying to trick Walter into taking a romantic picture. But, when she has to perform the appendectomy on him, he becomes distant at the hospital. Meanwhile, Doogie’s mom keeps trying to demonstrate how she would improve operations at the hospital and spend more time with her kids, but she decides to take a step back until the Chief of Staff announces he’s leaving. Then, she throws her name in the hat for the job.
I really did not like this episode. It threw in way too many tropes for my liking. After Doogie has to use her genius to help Walter, the show presents their relationship in a way where Walter is insecure because he’s not as smart as Doogie. That’s tired, played out and, honestly, just a sad commentary on relationships. Yes, there are plenty of men who would hate dating a woman who is smarter than them, but this is most likely the minority. Then, when they go to an escape room, Doogie tries not to show off her intelligence to give Walter a win, but becomes so frustrated with the other couple with them that she snaps and solves the room in a matter of seconds. In the end, the issue isn’t Doogie’s intelligence, but Walter being embarrassed about being in such a prone position. That’s a little better in terms of storytelling, but it takes too long to get there. That’s an attitude we need to get past as a society and this episode had a chance to tackle it but instead just used it as a plot twist at the end of the episode. It could’ve been better.
The story involving Doogie’s mother having a hard time balancing home and work life was a little better. This is something that almost all working women, especially working mothers, have to balance. It’s a little played out as well, but I feel like it’s a better recognition of what people go through rather than the other storyline. But, in the end, it just didn’t click for me. The best part of that storyline, to me, was the doctor who kept dropping Magic Johnson’s name and then we get to see Magic on the zoom. I, especially, loved his trick for getting out of interacting with certain people. Maybe I should try that next time I’m on a boring zoom call.
This series is still finding its ground and I really hope I like some of the next few episodes a little better than this one. I like the potential this series has and once it works out all the kinks, I think it’ll be good. We just aren’t there yet.
Ranking:
Episode: 1.5 stars out of 5
Series: 3 stars out of 5
What did you think of this episode of “Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.”?