Lobanov tries to gift Irina orthopaedic chair... but Bykov mistakes it a for a gift for him (and Gleb only confirms this). Initially, Semyon tries to explain everything, but every time Bykov interrupts him, by saying that he is happy by this great gift and Lobanov may ask him anything in return. Semyon quickly realises that he may exploit the situation in his favour, now when Bykov is in good mood. As for Gleb, he is tasked with doing dirty work with highly unpleasant patient. Gleb tries to get on Bykov's good side too, but this gift works not nearly as good as the first one, as Bykov is aware that it's insincere. That's when Gleb reveals that Semyon's "gift" wasn't real, either. Bykov decides to covertly return it to Irina, while telling that it's a gift from Lobanov.
Varya's patient is an extremely (and rather creepily) happy and optimistic man... despite just surviving a heart attack, suffering from stomach ulcer and being a divorced unemployed loser. While Varya believes that he really is happy, Bykov is certain: there must be something wrong with him. But when Varya tells the patient how great that he may be happy despite everything, turns out that it was his defensive mechanism, and her words makes him snap and try to off himself (fortunately, unsuccessfully).
Phil busts Kupitman when his patient bribes him, and now thinks that he's probably supposed to warn police, because he just witnessed a crime. When he notices the police officer in Kupitman's office, he tries to tell everything to him... unaware that it's another of Kupitman's patients and friends. Kupitman cooperates with his policemen friends to teach Phil a lesson — by showing him the possible consequences of his actions.
This episode provides examples of:
- Greedy Jew: Phil learns that Kupitman accepts bribes from his patients, and now uncertain what to do with this information; maybe, warn police?
- It Only Works Once: When Gleb tries to gift something to Bykov too, Bykov reacts without great enthusiasm, and still forces Gleb to do his work; while Lobanov's "gift" worked much better. Though much later Bykov explains why it failed for Gleb: because he did this to win his favour, while Lobanov (as Bykov thinks) did this sincerely.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Varya believes that her patient really is that happy, despite all crap going on in his life, and tells him that Bykov unfairly believes that there's something wrong with him. Unfortunately, turns out that this happiness is a defensive mechanism, and when she reminds him about his problems, he snaps into suicidal depression.
- Poor Communication Kills: While initially it was impossible, later Lobanov had many opportunities to explain to Bykov that this chair is not a gift to him, but he chose not to use them. Fortunately, when Gleb tells this to Bykov, Bykov decides to return it to Irina, instead of keeping for himself (even though he liked it).
- Rapid-Fire Interrupting: Lobanov planned to gift Irina an orthopaedic chair, but Bykov mistook it for a gift for him (he considered it to actually being a good gift, since he always wanted to have one), and Gleb only makes the situation worse by telling him that "it's a gift". But every time Lobanov tries to explain the situation to Bykov, he gets interrupted in exact moment when he mentions that chair- oh, good gift, Semyon, thank you for it!
- Stepford Smiler: Varya's patient is a suspiciously happy and optimistic... despite just surviving a heart attack, suffering from stomach ulcer, and generally being a divorced unemployed loser. Varya thinks that he is really that happy, but Bykov is certain: there must be something wrong with him. But what? He is neither a junkie (as was initially suspected), nor a lunatic. In the end, when Varya tells the patient about Bykov's suspicions, it turns out that this "happiness" is just his defence mechanism, and in reality he is sad by his life, and her remembering him about this leads him to a suicidal depression.
- The Stool Pigeon: Phil again. While this time he snitches on something which is actually illegal (Kupitman is taking bribes for "extra confidentiality"), but unknowingly he tells this to Kupitman's friends... from the road police (it's not even their jurisdiction). Kupitman still considers this to be a betrayal (especially since no one gets harmed by Kupitman's action) and thinks that Phil must learn a lesson. How? By showing him what actually would happen if police comes for Kupitman. This works, when Phil realises that he may ruin Kupitman's life because of something minor, and decides to take the heat to protect Kupitman. Only then he learns the truth.
