Spoilers ahead for the Season 2 premiere of Transplant on NBC, called “Guardrail.”
Transplant has finally returned to NBC to reveal what happens next for Bashir, Dr. Bishop, and the rest after the Season 1 finale cliffhangers well over one year ago. The biggest question coming out of Season 1 back in December 2020 concerned the identity of the mystery woman who showed up at the hospital, to Bash’s shock and Amira’s delight. “Guardrail” finally revealed who she is to Bash, and star Hamza Haq shared what her return to Bash’s life means for the second season… and fans should prepare for complications.
The mystery woman is Rania, who Bash was supposed to marry back in Syria but who he believed was dead for many years now. He was obviously happy to see that she had survived, but has questions about why she let him believe that she was gone for good for so many years. But what next, now that she’s back and clearly interested in reconnecting with Bash (and Amira)?
Hamza Haq spoke with CinemaBlend about Season 2 and the “fallout” that’s on the way, and explained what her return means for Bash as he’s still trying to find firm footing at the hospital:
Well, I think, as with any story of displacement, be it through a choice or a forced circumstance, refugee or immigration, or anything like that, you're always left with ‘where I'm going’ and ‘where I'm coming from.’ I can say that's a personal experience, as well. I've seen it in the lives of many people who come through, and it's this push and pull of, like, this is the life that I had, and I'm very much attached to it. And I want to bring as much of that to my present day as possible, knowing that I'm going to be moving forward.
Even though Bash himself was initially too shocked by Rania’s appearance out of nowhere to be overjoyed, Amira attached very quickly to this familiar face she never thought she’d see again, and it was clear by the end of the hour that seeing Rania again meant a great deal to Bash. Whether this is solely because she is a link to the life that they’d had to leave behind or because he wants to pick up their relationship where they left off remains to be seen.
Bash is also facing an uphill battle at the hospital with Bishop still bedridden and Dr. Novak potentially presenting a major problem, not to mention some possible conflicted feelings after getting close to Mags only for Rania to reappear. Hamza Haq continued, elaborating on Rania’s return and what it means for Bash, Amira, and everybody else:
So with Rania, played by Nora Guerch, she reminds Bashir of a life that he thought he had once lost, and when it's thrown back into his face, especially when he's finally starting to find his footing within the hospital, and he's got friends and he's finding a little bit of familiarity in moving forward. Somebody who his sister Amira is now super attached to and there's the possibility of her having somebody stable as well. And then at the end of Season 1, there was also that intimate moment with Mags, and [Rania] coming into the picture throws all of these things in question as to like, what is best for not only Bash but for everybody in his life? And it's this very internal struggle that he's dealing with for the vast majority of the season.
Even if Amira hadn’t immediately been ready for her brother and Rania to get married as soon as Rania turned up at the hospital, their night of bonding over “girl stuff” while Bash was busy proved just how valuable Rania could be to their little family unit. Rania doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, in any case, so the story of the mystery woman isn’t over just because Transplant finally shed some light on the mystery.
Now that the show is back nearly a year and a half after its NBC premiere in September 2020, see what happens next for Bash, Rania, and all the rest with new episodes of Transplant on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC in the 2022 TV schedule. If you need to catch up on the first season (or just refresh your memory after the long hiatus), you can find all of Season 1 with a Hulu subscription now.
