Levin puts an announcement for scientific lecture about "modern diagnostic methods" in the lobby. Bykov can't tolerate such insolence, so he tears it down immediately. Bykov thinks that Levin's lecture is a waste of time: no one is interested in hearing all this! Levin points that thirty people have already registered for the lecture, but Bykov counters it by saying that the lecture would occur right after dinner, so people would be more interested in excuse to slack for an hour (to rest after taking food), rather than lecture itself. When Levin disagrees, Bykov offers him a bet: change time to 6 p.m. (when people usually go home) and see whether anyone would attend. If Levin wins, Bykov would go after him and write down everything he says; otherwise, Levin would fulfil one Bykov's wish. And indeed, when Levin announces that lecture would be moved to latter time, everyone suddenly came up with excuses why they can't attend it. Levin, with sad voice, tells Bykov that he's won: no one is interested in science out there. And then Bykov states that those people refuses not because of the lecture, but because of Levin himself (and their disrespect to him). However, Bykov promises that if he would throw that lecture, everyone would attend, no matter how boring the topic would be — at the cost of second wish, of course. And indeed, literally everyone who had "inextricable difficulties" with attending old lecture, suddenly changes their minds (with even some new people showing up). Levin accepts his defeat, and asks what Bykov's wish is. The wish is... Levin adhering that lecture himself. When the lecture is about to start, Bykov asks Levin to come to him, and announces his second wish: Levin should read his original lecture. When asked why he even bothered, Bykov answers that Levin actually prepared a good material, but people are too lazy, and sometimes you need to force people to learn.
Polina meets Timur's old colleague, Vadim — and learns that Timur didn't quit his old job; he was kicked out. And not just kicked out — his old boss made sure that no self-respecting hospital would hire him ever again. It was the consequence of a petty revenge on their janitor going wrong: Timur collected excrements from various patients, and threw them out of the window... only to hit his boss accidentally. After hearing all this, Polina has an idea: cooperate with Vadim to prank Timur. Vadim proceeds with the prank, and tells Timur that his old boss has calmed down since then, and ready to accept him back; but he's too proud to call first. Then Polina tells Timur that she feels "so proud of him" for sacrificing his good job just so he may be with her. Yeah, of course, it happened months ago, but nonetheless. But she wouldn't be against him trying to return. Timur, thinking that it's his best chance, announces to Bykov that he would quit working under him (he can continue dating Polina without working here, right?), to which Bykov reacts with heavy disappointment. Timur calls his old boss... only to get told to go screw himself. Thinking that maybe boss didn't recognise him, he calls again and says his name, but receives the same result, and gets very angrily and very loudly told to never call again. Realising that he was pranked, Timur tells Polina that he changed his mind, and wants to stay here, to not risking losing her again. Only then Polina reveals that she knows the real story behind him losing old job (from Vadim), and reminds that he already told Bykov that he wants to quit. Timur tries to defend himself by saying that Vadim hates him and would do anything to cause him problems, but Polina tells that it was her who sent Vadim in the first place, just to see what Timur would do. And Timur just proved once again that he's a hopeless liar. Bykov, maybe, would accept him back, but Polina certainly wouldn't. When Bykov returns to on-call room, he sees Timur sitting there. When asked why he is still here, Timur tells him that he has two requests for Bykov. First one it to hire him back. The second one is... to not hire him back. He just ruined his last chance with Polina, and has no reason to return, but is too proud to just quit by himself, so better if he would be refused. Bykov understands his intention, and shakes his hand. Timur leaves, to never return again...
After getting bored with their little game (throwing paper balls into a trash can), Gleb offers Semyon to celebrate them working together once again with some free cognac (he knows where to obtain it), right here, in the hospital. Semyon suddenly refuses, stating that he wouldn't risk being kicked out by Bykov right after receiving his old job back. Gleb then tries to guilt-trip him into agreeing, starting with reminding about his depression, and then pointing that Semyon has "a debt" to him: he promised to be his "best friend" on the wedding, yet never attained it (that wedding didn't happen is irrelevant). Semyon points that his daughter was sick, but it only explains the wedding day, not the following weeks; he never tried to visit his friend. Semyon tries to argue that asking Olga to let him go for "couple of hours" wouldn't work: she's smart enough to know that "couple of hours" would easily become "couple of days". Gleb, knowing that Semyon already almost gave up, presses again with "did you ever try?" argument, and hits the spot: Semyon reluctantly agrees to drink with him, if it would be quiet and short. But when Bykov catches him in the corridor, he quickly gives up on trying to come up with a lie, and spills the truth under threat of being fired. Bykov orders him to sabotage Gleb's plan. He does everything in his power to waste time until Gleb gives up, but ultimately nothing works, and he asks Bykov for help. Bykov refuses, as it would be "not pedagogical", but promises a month without night shifts if Semyon succeeds on his own. When not even the risk of cognac being fake (and thus poisonous) convinces Gleb, Lobanov, as the last ditch attempt, offers to show a "trick", and when Gleb falls for it, drinks a whole bottle in one long gulp. Gleb calls him an idiot and rushes out of the room, while Lobanov loses balance and falls: it was way too much even for him. As Lobanov actually did what he was asked for, even if it got him drunk, Bykov puts him on a gurney (so he wouldn't sleep on a floor), and covers for him before Olga.
This episode provides examples of:
- The Alcoholic: Gleb progressively descends into alcoholism, and it's imperative that Semyon wouldn't allow him to find any booze today. It's also why Lobanov didn't ever visit Gleb: Olga knew that Gleb would force Semyon to join his alcoholic binge, and she wouldn't get her husband back for several days.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- Bykov's second wish is Levin jumping out of the window to his death... or read the lecture he originally planned, it would be fine too.
- When Olga calls, Bykov straight-up tells her that Semyon is drunk... Then he tells her that it was a joke and in reality, he just took away Semyon's phone so he wouldn't get distracted. Also, she may not wait for her husband, since he's on a night shift.
- The Bet: Bykov has a bet with Levin: whether anyone is genuinely interested in Levin's scientific lecture, or just sees an opportunity to nap for its duration without coming as slackers. When Levin, following Bykov's suggestion, changes the time from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., literally everyone immediately informs him that they can't attend the lecture, stating various excuses. Conversely, when lector gets changed to Bykov, and topic to something with tons of "Rs" in it, not only all those "inextricable" issues suddenly resolves, a lot of new faces shows up.
- The Bore: No one is interested in Levin's lectures, because the only thing more boring than their topics is Levin himself. The only reason anyone agreed to attend his original lecture was because it was right after dinner, and people looked for opportunity to "legally" slack off; when he changes time to 6 p.m., every single one of those who originally promised to go, "suddenly" changes their minds... only to change them back when Levin and gets replaced by Bykov, with a promise of amusing show, with the time remaining unchanged. Unfortunately for them, when they finally shows up, Bykov announces that topic (and lector) is changed back... and it's too late to leave.
- Catch the Conscience: Gleb mentions several ways Semyon has "failed" him in attempt to guilt-trip him into sharing a bottle of cognac (because, as everyone knows, "only alcoholics drinks by alone"). He tries, in that order: his depression (which he wants to cure with booze), Semyon never showing up on wedding (doesn't work because Semyon was with his daughter who had strong fewer), and then just Semyon not showing up in following weeks (that one works on the second try: they knew that Olga wouldn't let Semyon go to someone in the middle of ongoing binge).
- Dark Secret: We finally learn why Timur quit his prestigious old job: he didn't quit on his own — he was kicked out by a vengeful boss, after Timur's prank went horribly wrong (resulting in boss being covered in excrements); boss made sure that no self-respecting hospital would hire him ever again, but thankfully for Timur, neither Kisegach nor Bykov were aware of this story.
- False Reassurance: After Levin announces that the lecture would occur not at 2 p.m., but at 6 p.m. instead, everyone informs him that they wouldn't attend (stating any excuse they can find as a reason). Then one guy actually comes in to register... because he still thought that it would be at 2 p.m.; when he gets informed otherwise, he immediately changes his mind, not even bothering with excuse.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: How Timur was fired from his old job; he had a conflict with their janitor, and, in petty attempt to cause him problems, collected excrements from various patients and threw them out of the window... only to hit boss. He was not just fired for this; boss ensured that no self-respecting hospital would hire him ever again. Timur could have got away with this, if not for him being caught nearby, laughing maniacally, making him the suspect number one.
- Holding the Floor: Lobanov, following Bykov's orders, has to agree to Gleb's demands, but do everything in his power to sabotage his attempts to get drunk at work, by stalling right until Gleb gives up. They can't drink from plastic cups (they're not alcoholics!), so Semyon starts looking for ceramic ones, wasting time until Gleb comes to check. Then he starts looking for snacks (justifying being slow with avoiding alerting Bykov and not knowing where to look). Then he goes out to "call Olga", and only pretends that he actually calls when Gleb comes to check. Then, when Gleb fills up the cups, Semyon spills them, as "Bykov is close". Then, when Gleb forces him to go into a hiding spot (no, he can't say that it's "too insane": it's Lobanov's favourite), he wastes time on long toasts and, when Gleb runs out of patience, leaves under excuse that he needs to pee, and alerts Bykov. Bykov refuses to help him, so he makes one last ditch attempt (tries to scare Gleb by pointing that cognac may be counterfeit, and thus poisonous), and then just tricks him and drinks everything by himself.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Timur proves that he's still the same person whom Polina dumped months ago: a shameless liar. That was the reason they broke up then, and that is the reason why they would break up now, this time permanently.
- Pet the Dog:
- Bykov gets two wishes he may force Levin to fulfil — but uses them both to actually help Levin with organising his lecture, which no one was willing to adhere originally. Because he actually considers Levin trying to educate people (instead of bragging with his superior intellect, like Levin usually does) being a good enough deed to join in.
- Since Semyon actually did what Bykov asked him for — preventing Gleb from getting drunk (even if at the cost of becoming drunk himself), Bykov takes away his phone when Olga calls and lies that he took Semyon's phone so he wouldn't be distracted from work, and that he wouldn't come home tonight because of a night shift (which is plausible enough for her to believe in).
- Preemptive "Shut Up": Before Timur even tries another lie, Polina informs him that she knows that he tries to come up with excuse, and that it wouldn't work.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Timur becomes victim of Polina's prank purely because he lied to her about details how he'd lost his old job; she wanted to see how he would react to being fooled into believing that he may take it back, and then lose this hope — would he tell her truth, or continue lying. Timur goes with lies, and Polina gets disappointed in him completely, about which she promptly informs him.Polina: It was me who asked Vadim to prank you. I just wanted to see what you would do. And you are standing here and lying to me, to the last minute. Even now, you're standing and thinking: "how can I get away with it?" You didn't change a one bit; how I can trust you?
- Schmuck Bait: Bykov prepares a prank for greedy, but not cautious slackers: new working shifts graphic, where you have seven working days and two weekends. The catch? It only applies to one seven days-long week. Two people actually fell for it.
- Speech Impediment: Bykov's inability to pronounce the letter "R" once again gets played for laughs, when Levin chooses a new topic for his lecture — Coronary artery bypass grafting... which Bykov has to pronounce somehow, frequently.Bykov: Well, this lecture certainly wouldn't be boring.
- Wham Episode: After ruining his last chance with Polina, Timur realises that everything is lost, and leaves the hospital permanently.
