REVIEW: ‘St. Denis Medical’ Season 2 Episode 8 Sets The Stage For An Interesting Return After Its Winter Break
- Emma Fisher
- 6 hours ago
- 5 min read
This article contains spoilers for St. Denis Medical S2E8.
"A Waste of Time and Marble" continues St. Denis Medical’s focus on workplace dynamics, using a set of conflicts to explore how authority, compromise, and personal priorities play out in a hospital setting. The episode balances two main storylines: Alex (Allison Tolman) navigating a potential nurse walkout while stuck between staff and management, and Ron (David Alan Grier) and Bruce (Josh Lawson) treating an unlikely patient whose issue turns out to be less medical, more emotional.
If there is one thing the writers of St. Denis Medical are good at, it’s cold opens. This week’s opening scene sets the episode’s tone through excellent character comedy. Bruce is playing UNO with a child patient, refusing to let an innocent move facilitated by Ron stand. When the girl plays a draw four instead of a green card, Bruce insists that she must follow the rules and wants to penalise her accordingly. Ron suggests relaxing the rules, but Bruce maintains that Mattel’s instructions matter. Alex intervenes, pointing out that Bruce is the adult in the situation. The exchange is brief but effective, highlighting Bruce’s rigidity and need to be number one.
Last week, the birthing centre failed its inspection. This setback has shaken Joyce (Wendi McLendon-Covey) and her confidence, leaving her second-guessing even minor decisions. She has since turned to a self-help book, 1, 2, 3 Go: Trusting Your Gut!, which encourages making decisions within three seconds. Joyce adopts this approach immediately. When Alex asks about approving a new pump, Joyce agrees without hesitation. She also grants Alex a reserved parking space, prompting Alex to realise she should have asked for more, including a raise.
Elsewhere, Ron and Bruce are informed of their next patient, who turns out not to be a child, but Sanderson (Steve Little), Joyce’s boyfriend, who has swallowed a marble from a Hungry Hungry Hippo game. Sanderson refuses to cooperate without Joyce, his emergency contact, present, insisting she should be contacted. Joyce arrives but is clearly distracted and confused by the situation, particularly by the fact that Sanderson was playing a children’s game alone. Unable to stay, she leaves him in Ron and Bruce’s care, much to Ron’s discomfort.
It soon becomes apparent that Sanderson swallowed the marble intentionally. He feels overlooked, believing Joyce prioritises the hospital over their relationship. Bruce attempts to frame the situation in slightly muddled terms, suggesting that when a man wants a woman, other men must help him succeed. Ron, less inclined to indulge this thinking, removes himself from the situation under the guise of fetching X-rays.
While Bruce focuses on reinventing Sanderson from head to toe, Ron encourages him to stop centring himself and instead consider Joyce’s stress and workload. He advises Sanderson to plan a proper date, to show her a good time rather than demanding attention. However, he doesn’t know Joyce very well at all, unlike Ron, who demonstrates a surprising familiarity with Joyce’s preferences, from her seafood allergy (Sanderson was planning to take her to a seafood buffet) to her favourite restaurant (Enzo’s, where he should take her instead). Later, when Sanderson is distracted by the lack of his name on keyrings in the St. Denis gift shop, Ron erupts, telling Sanderson that he is "not a serious man" and that his next breakup with Joyce should stick "because Joyce deserves better." Is the better man Ron? Grier and McLendon-Covey certainly have the talent to at least try to make it work. The greatest sitcom relationships often come from those that are not expected.
Ron walks away, and Bruce, ever the jester, decides that he wants to buy all the Bruce keyrings for his Christmas shopping. He declares "Merry Brucemas to all," emphasising his inability to read a room. Lawson delivers the episode’s biggest laugh once again.
Meanwhile, Alex faces increasing pressure from the nursing staff. Rene (Nico Santos) and others are seeking funding for continuing education, but Joyce has repeatedly dismissed the request. Alex, desperate to be liked by Rene, presents herself as an intermediary, emphasising that she's part of the nursing group while offering to speak to Joyce on their behalf. Joyce refuses, citing fairness, arguing that approving funding for one group would require approving it for all. Rene responds by suggesting a walkout, which quickly gains widespread support from his fellow nurses.
Alex suggests a compromise to Joyce, proposing funding based on seniority. Joyce rejects the idea, preferring to handle the situation through charm rather than concession. She instructs Alex to act as an informant, gathering information from the nurses. Joyce attempts to ease tensions with gestures such as providing doughnuts, then offering a taco truck when the initial attempt fails. The nurses are, naturally, unconvinced, viewing the efforts as superficial.
The situation escalates when Joyce, aware that the doughnuts were not to their satisfaction, offers the nurses a taco truck. Rene wants to know how she knew that, but Alex mediates by informing Joyce that they can't be bought with a pathetic taco truck. Text messages sent by Alex to both Rene and Joyce, each claiming loyalty while playing the other, come to light, with Joyce claiming that Alex is playing both sides for her own personal amusement. Joyce tells Rene that they should reach a compromise, offering reimbursement to nurses who have worked at the hospital for six years, which conveniently applies to Rene. The offer defuses the walkout, but Joyce presents the solution as her own, explicitly directing Rene to bring his concerns to her rather than to Alex. Alex later confronts Joyce about taking credit for her idea, only to be told that the outcome matters more than recognition.
The Sanderson storyline reaches its conclusion (for now) in an awkward public display. Joyce encounters Sanderson zipped into a body bag on a stretcher, briefly panicking before realising it’s staged. Bruce provides the music as Sanderson declares he would rather die than live without her and proposes. Joyce counts from one through seven before responding, her hesitation unmistakable. The moment reinforces the imbalance in their relationship, made even more uncomfortable by the hospital staff, including Ron, watching on.
"A Waste of Time and Marble" fits comfortably within the quality of the second season of St. Denis Medical, offering an ending certain to keep viewers waiting for the next episode when the show returns to NBC after its Winter break in January 2026.
About St. Denis Medical
Premiere Date: 15 December 2025
Episode Count: 18
Showrunner: Eric Ledgin
Executive Producers: Eric Ledgin, Justin Spitzer, Simon Heuer, Ruben Fleischer, Bridget Kyle, and Vicky Luu.
Distribution: Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, More Bees, Inc. and Spitzer Holding Company.
Cast: Wendi McLendon-Covey, David Alan Grier, Allison Tolman, Josh Lawson, Kahyun Kim, Mekki Leeper, and Kaliko Kauahi.
Synopsis: St. Denis Medical is a mockumentary about an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity. In season two, after receiving a large private donation, hospital administrator Joyce bites off more than she can chew while her employees navigate staff shortages, office conflicts and their own personal lives.
