‘Midnight Family’ Recap: ‘Freestyle’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Renata Vaca in "Midnight Family," now streaming on Apple TV+.

​Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Six of ‘Midnight Family’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One particular lesson that every doctor and every medical professional learns early on in their career, is not to take anything that happens in their profession… personal. Because they are going to see some horrible things in their careers, and people will suffer and will die in front of them. So, they have to keep their emotions at bay, they have to stay stoic and unattached to mentally survive. For they are human as well, and their emotions can and will get the better of them if they let folks in. Which is why so many hold to that rule, and why so many shows and movies showcase a frosty side to medical professionals, to maintain its gravity. But it does leave one to wonder… how bad it could be if by chance, that rule wasn’t held to since we so rarely hear about those exceptions, and we don’t see them in popular media. Which is why this week’s episode of Midnight Family on Apple TV+ is of note. Since ‘Freestyle’ took the time to examine such matters through a pair of unique lenses. One of which involved Marcus.

Simply because while he was off the truck and working toward a rap battle with Cris, an incident took place. One that prompted self-harm from a young woman that left her in tatters and thankfully, Marcus’ training kicked in. Which allowed for him to stabilize her and keep her going long enough for Gaby and Ramón to arrive and save her and well, that made dear Marcus a star. In fact, the internet took to calling him Justice Bieber, and he embraced it and loved it, and in doing so… crossed a unique line. Because now he wanted attention and wanted both worlds, he lived in to be appreciated, and that led to a rift with Cris. In part because, he was in essence helping to exploit the video of someone in need. But also, because he was basically romanticizing a serious career field and trying to make it part of his stage persona, and that’s problematic, and that made for a powerful lesson regarding the importance of separation, one that was further expanded upon by Gaby.

Since she found herself in some odd places in this story. For instance, she went to dinner at Bernardo’s house in this tale, wherein she was privy to some ugly conversations. Wherein doctors that have taken the oath, spoke ill poked fun of the less fortunate. Which fired up Gaby like never before and prompted her to lash out and probably make life difficult for herself at school, which while justified, could have been handled in a cooler manner. But Gaby long left that separation line behind and truly holds to the notion that passion must be part of the process and her removing that shield led to some serious heartbreak and worry in this tale as well. For she was spending a lot of time with Nallely in this tale, and they grew to be good friends, the kind that were open and honest and that brought about real panic when Gaby got the doomsday call.

For Nallely had a head injury that went undiagnosed, and blurring that line between friendship and medical duty, prompted Gaby to say nothing when she learned that Nallely had complaints about headaches and issues with light sensitivity, and that came back to haunt her. Because that doomsday call involved Nallely basically passing out, due to whatever cascading disaster was brewing in her brain and despite the best efforts of Gaby and Bernardo to revive her, combined with the full efforts of the paramedics that responded, Nallely passed away. Devastating Gaby to no end and well, we learned a lot from this. In that, blurring that line really does cheapen the importance of what medical professionals do. Because it makes it look cool, and it is not supposed to be cool. It is supposed to be life or death and treated as such. 

Plus, for those who remove the line and become close with their patient, it can prompt one to overlook something serious, something that could be costly. Now that’s not to say that professionals can’t be caring and empathetic, they should be that in fact, but they simply cannot make this personal in the slightest, and this is indeed why, and that made for a powerful episode. One that truly set the stage for a harrowing back half of the season. Wherein Gaby will be transformed emotionally, and Marcus likely will as well, since his personal and professional life are too close together. Which of course, motivates us to continue the journey. To see if these characters can bounce back from this stunning lesson and be the heroes we know them to be, because truly, the city needs them. Until next time.

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