Spoilers ahead for Episode 13 of The Resident Season 5, called “Viral.”
The Resident delivered danger in the form of an explosive gender reveal party that went horribly wrong in "Viral," and a botched plastic surgery nearly cost a young woman her life. Billie was able to save her, but it was a close call due to some issues that were distracting her from the procedure. She learned that not only was the man who raped her as a child in the running for a place on the State Medical Board, but her anonymous complaint against him wasn’t kept anonymous after all. Billie now has a big decision to make about how far she’ll go to protect her secret.
Billie learned that her statement about what Robert Porter had done to her wasn’t kept confidential when Bell (who recently received a shocking diagnosis to shake up his standing at Chastain) angrily informed her that she had cost him his shot at the State Medical Board by lodging the complaint and writing him a recommendation. The exchange shook Billie up enough that she struggled with a surgery, although to his credit, Bell was immediately apologetic after Kit explained why Billie made the complaint. Kit told Billie – not without sympathy – that the repercussions could be terrible if she doesn’t prove that Porter assaulted her at the age of 13.
Although Billie clearly wants to take Porter down, she also clearly wants to prevent Trevor from finding out the story behind his conception and why she gave him up for adoption. When Kit commented on Billie’s claim that she can prove what Porter did to her, Billie said:
I can, but it means devastating emotional repercussions for the other person involved.
Unfortunately, she can’t even hold out hope that Kit is wrong about Porter trying to destroy her for accusing him, since Porter himself confronted Billie at the end of the episode. He did it in a way that seemed designed to trigger Billie, as he approached her from behind in a dark parking lot with nobody else around. Although Billie realized that he was scared about her complaint when he demanded that she “withdraw it,” he made his threat very clear:
I’m fully aware of your mistakes. I’ll expose all of them. And I will take away the very thing you love the most: your career.
Billie didn’t give any indication that she intends to withdraw her complaint, and it seems like she’s resigned to people finding out that she accused Porter of rape. The secret she still seems unwilling to betray is the existence of Trevor as her biological son fathered by Porter. Considering it’s just a matter of math to subtract Trevor’s age from Billie’s, he's one DNA test away from serving as definitive proof that Porter had assaulted Billie at 13. But as she said, it could mean “devastating emotional repercussions” for him.
So Billie has a very big decision to make. If she wants to truly shut Porter down and not hope that her word against his will be enough, then she may need to reveal the truth about Trevor. If she wants to stop him without emotionally devastating her biological son, then she needs to somehow find a way to prove Porter’s guilt without Trevor finding out. Based on the episode description for what happens next, it looks like Trevor might find out the real reason why Billie gave him up for adoption. Here’s what’s to come in the “Hell In A Handbasket” episode on February 22:
When things from Billie’s past begin to come to light, she is the subject of whispers and stares around the hospital and the team struggles to find the best way to support her. With the nurse shortage in full swing, a simple cleaning job turns into a horrific disaster that calls for all hands on deck. Meanwhile, Trevor discovers a shocking secret and Padma has a proposal for Leela.
The good news for Billie is that her friends and coworkers at the hospital will evidently have her back; the bad news is that it seems Trevor is going to find out what Billie has been trying to hide from him for his own good. If he does find out, a big question is how he’ll handle the information, and whether he’d be willing to volunteer himself as proof about what Porter did to Billie. Based on the promo for next week, he’ll at least be involved in the storyline:
Next week’s episode was directed by series star Manish Dayal, who plays Devon. His character built a life with Leela during the big time jump, although that life was shaken up when her sister (played by actress Anuja Joshi’s real-life twin sister) arrived on the scene. Find out what happens next for Billie and the rest with new episodes of The Resident on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox in the 2022 TV schedule. Billie will seemingly have Conrad on her side; whether that’s a sign that their relationship has a shot of turning romantic remains to be seen.
