Recap / The Hardy Boys 2020 Season 2 E 7 The Doctors Orders

Season 2, Episode 7:

The Doctor's Orders

When Dr. Burelli plans to move Dennis to another facility, Joe fears the worst and convinces Lucy, Biff, and Phil to help him stop her.

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This episode contains examples of:

• Armor-Piercing Question: Joe confronts Burelli about suspicious evidence he found in her office after sneaking in, but she explains it away...until Joe asks why, when he just redialed the previous caller on her phone, he didn't get the Dixon City Institute. (It was the Shadow Man instead.) Burelli stops trying to justify herself, just tells Joe bluntly that he did something he shouldn't have, ignores all of his following questions, and has security escort him out of the hospital and prohibit him from returning.
• Bait-and-Switch: When Dr. Burelli apparently calls the Shadow Man to inform him that Dennis has disappeared, the scene immediately cuts to Brian Conrad (who was just shown a few minutes ago to be working for Stratemeyer Global) and shows his pager beeping, implying that he's the Shadow Man and will become an Archnemesis Dad to Belinda. Then it's soon clarified in this episode and the next one that Mr. Conrad is a whistleblower at Stratemeyer, Dr. Burelli is working with him, and she called him instead of the Shadow Man.
• Big Brother Instinct: Right after Frank and Callie learn about Project Midnight, he has a vision of Joe being tested on. The Eye is actually trying to give him a hint about Midnight, but Frank takes it a bit too literally and thinks Joe is really in trouble, and rushes home to find him.
• The Book Cipher: Gloria left a note coded this way from Dr. Burelli in the spine of her copy of the latter's book, where the numbers represent page number, line number, and the word on that line. Frank and Callie deciphering this is how the gang first learns about Project Midnight and the Sleep Room, and from there deduce that it's connected to Rosegrave.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Belinda gets a few moments after Angela reveals to her and Chet that Brian is her boss at Stratemeyer.
  • Her immediate reaction is "You lied to me! You've been lying to me my whole life!", although he tries to assure her as much as he can with Angela standing there that he's still the same man she's always known.
  • Brian starts to tell them that he runs a team of— before Belinda interrupts with "Kidnappers?!", referencing how Angela and co. abducted the Hardys and clearly asking if he was behind it. He clarifies that Angela taking them was not on his orders, and he only found out afterward.
  • Angela tells Brian about Belinda and Chet being at Gloria's house when she and Mack tracked the Eye there, and Brian snarks that he's clearly not the only one keeping secrets. Considering the two kids didn't know yet at the time that Frank had the Eye, had no reason to believe Brian would be interested in this anyway, and it's comparatively nowhere near as big of a secret as he's been keeping, Belinda's not having it:
    Belinda: Don't...even start.
• Car Fu: Narrowly subverted, but not for lack of trying. Once Burelli flees the hospital garage, the Shadow Man runs to his own car to pursue her, and doesn't try to swerve to avoid Joe on the way out, nearly running him down before Joe jumps out of the way just in time.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Right before Angela betrayed Mack in the previous episode, he mentioned needing to tell "the boss" about Frank having the Eye, indicating both of them report to someone else. We find out who their superior is here: Brian Conrad, Belinda's dad.
• Chekhov's Hobby: Belinda makes her own zine and has been shown working on new issues of it a few times; it's also been mentioned that Brian reads them. Soon after The Reveal that he's been working for Stratemeyer all along, Brian, who can't say anything overt in Angela's presence, makes a reference he knows only Belinda will get to a certain character from her zine who's a Double Agent to hint that he's one, too.
• Contrived Coincidence: The heist of Dennis at the hospital only becomes as difficult as it does thanks to a series of these. The nearest elevator happens to be out of order; then Krassner ends up being nearby when Biff reaches the next elevator and insists on a Publicity Stunt photo with her, forcing her to leave Dennis alone; and then Dennis, despite otherwise being unresponsive, apparently regains his ability to walk and wanders off by himself by the time Phil reaches said elevator, making the gang fear for a bit that he was taken again until Lucy lucks across him.
• Converse with the Unconscious: Trudy tells Joe that she's been reading to Jesse during her hospital visits, hoping that if she butchers enough Russian names, she'll "wake up and correct me." Joe tells her sincerely that Jesse, Biff, and the rest of the Hardys are lucky to have her.
• Cryptic Conversation: Once Belinda and Chet discover that Brian is Angela's superior at Stratemeyer, Belinda is obviously very upset to realize her dad's working with criminals. Brian is actually The Mole, but since Angela, who's gone rogue and is following her own agenda, doesn't know this, he slips a reference to a Double Agent character from his daughter's zine into the conversation, knowing she's the only one who'll pick up on it.
• Curse Cut Short: Phil gives an "Oh, shi—" (cut off by the scene break) when he goes to get Dennis from the elevator, only to find him gone.
• Double Agent: Belinda thinks that her dad is an ordinary salaryman, and he claims to have recently started dating Angela. Now she and Chet learn that the two were never dating; Mr. Conrad works for the Department of Special Affairs, and also for Stratemeyer Global, where he's Angela's superior. Then he admits to Belinda that he's really working as The Mole within Stratemeyer.
• Dying Clue: Not quite, since Gloria doesn't actually die (at least not yet), but after Frank and Callie tell her during their visit about the Crystal from her chandelier being stolen, she's so horrified that she has a stroke that leaves her in the hospital unable to speak, with doctors not sure if she'll recover or not. She nonetheless manages to stammer out "Dr. Burelli" and "spine" before becoming unintelligible, and when Frank and Callie go back to Gloria's study later, this helps them find a note from Burelli in the spine of her book there.
• Evil Sounds Deep: The mastermind behind Dennis's previous abductions, the bombing, and the attempt to kidnap him again here—whom the gang refers to as the "Shadow Man" based on how he appears in Frank's visions—disguises his voice with the a typical "sinister deep voice" modulator.
• Fake Relationship: A major reveal of the episode is that Brian and Angela never actually had a romance; they only pretended to be together once Brian told Belinda this as a cover story in "A Clue on Film" after she and Chet saw them together. In truth, Brian is Angela's boss at Stratemeyer, although he's secretly a whistleblower working to bring them down and she's gone rogue and is following her own plans.
• A Form You Are Comfortable With: Up till now, Frank has been treating his talks with Young George in the visions as a Dead Person Conversation, especially since the latter would refer to George as "I/me." Here, though, Young George talks about George Estabrook in the third person and makes it clear that there is a difference between them, and he is really just the Eye communicating with Frank in this way instead.
• Genre Savvy: Joe convinces his friends to help him "heist" Dennis, despite it being a pretty crazy plan, by pointing out that no one will believe them if they try to report that Dr. Burelli is up to something shady, because she has power, authority, and respect on her side, and they have no real evidence. Plus, he's already seen how the other adults of Bridgeport in positions of power brush aside their concerns, and is not eager to repeat it.
• Heist Episode: With the still-catatonic Dennis as a Living MacGuffin. Joe discovers that Dr. Burelli supposedly transferring him to a new hospital has all appearances of being a lie, and that she's being threatened by the Shadow Man to give Dennis to him instead. Joe convinces Biff, Phil, and Lucy to help him stop the transfer from going through by "heisting" Dennis right before it's supposed to happen and hiding him in another room in a totally different part of the hospital, so he'll still be safe. Despite their plan hitting many bumps along the way, they ultimately succeed.
• I Know You Know I Know: With plenty of Passive-Aggressive Kombat thrown in. Angela makes it quite clear in her brief talk with Chet and Belinda at Wilt's that she's well aware they know what she's up to and what she's done to their friends. She invites them to meet her at her "office" (the Chamber of the Eye) later, stating "the Hardy Boys can give you directions" in reference to how she kidnapped them, knowing they'll get it.
• Idiot Ball: Downplayed, but it takes Frank and Callie a surprisingly long time to figure out that the numbers on the note Dr. Burelli left for Gloria are a book cipher. Considering they found this letter in the spine of a book, you'd think they would have picked up on it immediately.
• In-Universe Catharsis: Chet has deeply buried his resentment about the less-than-ideal way he and Callie broke up and her subsequently getting with Frank, since he truly cares about them as friends and doesn't want to risk losing them, trying to be happy for them and let it go. While attempting to sway him to her side, Angela pokes at this old wound, and Chet finally realizes he can't keep bottling it up and has to be honest with Frank and Callie about his feelings, telling them later, "I need to get this out." Admitting to all of his lingering frustrations proves to be very cathartic for him; Callie is glad he said it, she and Frank both genuinely apologize to him, and Chet accepts the apologies and adds, "I feel better already." Indeed, this permanently puts his negative feelings to rest, and it never becomes an issue again for the rest of the series.
• Indy Ploy: The younger kids' planned "heist" of Dennis runs into problem after problem, forcing them to repeatedly improvise and adjust.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Brian Conrad, who's actually a government agent working directly with Stratemeyer, finds out from Angela about Frank having the power of the Eye. And through this conversation, Chet and Belinda (and by extension the rest of the kids) learn that Angela is aware of this.
  • The Hardy Gang finally finds the bug (inside a lamp) that JB planted in the Hardy attic back in "A Disappearance"—which the audience learned about at the end of "The Missing Camera"—right after they've just made a huge, important breakthrough in the case.
• Meaningful Echo: Frank asks Young George in one of his visions what the Crystal is that George found on the beach, which the Shadow Man stole, and he just answers, "Why, it's everything." Frank and Callie visit Gloria in prison to find out why anyone would steal this, and she's highly agitated to learn someone took it and has a stroke right on the spot. Frank again asks what it is, and she too replies, "It's everything!" indicating that, whatever George used or planned to use it for, Gloria's at least somewhat aware of it.
• Mood Whiplash: We segue from a very tense confrontation between Chet, Belinda, Brian, and Angela to a rather comedic scene of the four younger kids planning their "heist" of Dennis. And then jump from a cheerful, upbeat song that plays over the beginning of the heist back to Chet and co.
• Publicity Stunt: When Mayor Krassner sees Biff—the daughter of the police chief currently comatose in the hospital from heroically trying to disarm a bomb—he insists on getting a picture together with her for the press outside Jesse's hospital room, despite her repeated attempts to refuse. Biff realizes she has no choice without arousing suspicion and is forced to leave Dennis on his own, throwing another wrench into the heist.
• The Reveal:
  • Belinda's father, Brian, is in on the plot and was never really in a relationship with Angela; he's actually her previously-mentioned boss at Stratemeyer, but has secretly become a Mole in Charge and is working to bring down the whole organization.
  • In the past, Dr. Burelli collaborated with Rosegrave Academy on an experiment called "Project Midnight", which involved testing on Rosegrave students used as "vessels". The Shadow Man is a victim of or at least someone who was wronged in some way by these experiments.
• Sleeping with the Boss: Averted, but the unethicality of this is referenced (in a rated-PG way, as usual for the series). Belinda realizes that Brian and Angela were only faking being a couple the whole time, and Angela confirms this, stating it would be highly improper for her to be with Brian romantically because he's really her boss, to Belinda's horror.
• Speak of the Devil: Belinda and Chet are sitting in Wilt's discussing a plan for how to confront and expose Angela as the liar she is when she herself walks in to talk to them, prompting Chet to state this word-for-word.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • Joe sneaks into Dr. Burelli's office to snoop, but gets caught red-handed when he leaves just as she's returning. He then confronts her over the suspicious information he found there; she responds at first by telling him she doesn't have to answer to a kid, and after he hits her with damning evidence, she has security escort him out of the hospital for trespassing into her office, and bars him from returning.
  • Though Chet did his best over the past six months to get over what happened with him, Callie, and Frank (where, even though Callie started liking someone else, Chet had to be the one to end things between them, and then Frank got with her right after) for the sake of their happiness and his friendship with both of them, he does still have unresolved frustration and hurt feelings over it, no matter how hard he's tried to suppress it and despite his new feelings for Belinda. He only now manages to come clean to Frank and Callie about this, but once he does, and they both apologize for it, he's finally able to get proper closure, feel a lot better, and move past it for real.
• Tempting Fate: Subverted by Brian. Once Belinda catches up to him on the bridge and confronts him about his cryptic clue from earlier, he orders her to go home, promising to explain everything when he gets there, making it look like he's going to be killed before he can. Instead, as the next episode shows, he's not the one who dies, and does get home safe and fill her in just as promised.
• Three Lines, Some Waiting: The Hardy Gang break into three separate groups for their investigations in this episode, with Frank and Joe and co each tackling the Shadow Man/Dennis case from different angles while Belinda and Chet pursue the Stratemeyer Global case. And Fenton and his storyline with Olivia don't appear at all in this episode after she lured him into a trap and captured him in the previous one.
  • Frank and Callie visit Gloria in prison to try to find out more about the crystal that the Shadow Man stole from her chandelier, only for her to have a stroke in response to learning this. They then follow Frank's vision of Young George back to Gloria's house, find The Book Cipher there, and crack the code to learn about the Sleep Room and Project Midnight.
  • Meanwhile, Joe learns that Burelli is in contact with the Shadow Man for some reason and fears they're planning something sinister for Dennis together, so he, Phil, Biff, and Honorary True Companion Lucy plot a Heist Episode to sneak Dennis away to safety and hide him from them.
  • Belinda and Chet, having learned that the woman her father Brian is dating is one of the bad guys working for Stratemeyer, make plans to confront Angela and get proof they can present to Brian, only for Angela to trick them all into gathering in one place and revealing that Brian works for Stratemeyer too and is her boss, the two of them have a Fake Relationship, and that Chet and Belinda know where the Eye is. Then Belinda tails her dad when he leaves and he reveals to her that he's The Mole within Stratemeyer.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Joe, Biff, Phil, and Lucy use a hospital map and knowledge of Dr. Burelli's evening routine to plan out a "heist" of Dennis at the hospital to keep her from handing him over to the Shadow Man. The first stage of the plan—getting Dennis out of his room—goes smoothly, but things rapidly spin out of control from there: the elevator that the kids plan to use to sneak him out is out of order, requiring them to take a detour and risk being seen; then Biff gets spotted by Deputy Riley and Mayor Krassner, the latter of whom wants to photograph her for a Publicity Stunt, forcing her to send Dennis down in the elevator alone. By the time Phil gets there, Dennis is gone, although it turns out he just wandered off by himself (showing improvement in his condition since he previously wasn't walking). Ultimately downplayed, since despite the plan hitting so many snags, the group does accomplish their goal of saving him from the Shadow Man.
• We Need a Distraction:
  • Phil acts as lookout when Joe and Lucy sneak into Burelli's office. When she comes back, Phil loudly pretends the nearby vending machine ate his money and starts shaking it, distracting her for a few extra seconds before she enters her office and giving his friends a chance to hide.
  • Biff and Lucy are forced to take Dennis on an alternate route during the heist, and are on the verge of being seen by Dr. Burelli. Lucy goes up to talk to her and starts acting the part of the hysterical girlfriend, sobbing and begging to see Dennis before he's moved to another hospital where she won't be able to visit him, giving Biff the chance to sneak him to the elevator behind Burelli's back.
• Wham Line:
  • Comparatively downplayed, but this conversation in one of Frank's visions at the beginning makes it explicit that him talking with Young George is not a Dead Person Conversation, but rather the Eye itself taking A Form You Are Comfortable With to communicate with him:
    Frank: I see the past. I see you at the beach.
    Young George: That's not me. That's George Estabrook. I'm just in your head. A projection of the Eye.
  • When Belinda and Chet go to meet Angela in the Chamber of the Eye, and find Brian there too:
    Belinda: You two were never dating, were you?
    Angela: No, Belinda. It would be very inappropriate for me to date my boss.
  • And then, not too long afterwards:
    Brian: Angela doesn't know, so I had to keep up the front. But I'm a whistleblower.

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