The Resident was canceled after six seasons in 2023 and, as a fan of the show, I still find that to be a hard pill to swallow. The Fox medical drama, however, tied up loose ends in Season 6's finale, even with no guarantee that another season would happen. That being said, the series, which can be streamed with a Hulu subscription, still had a number of subplots that could've been expanded upon, including Billie and Conrad's. Now, the series' EP is revealing how their story would've played out in later episodes, and I'm getting all the FOMO.
After Nic’s death, it was unclear as to whether Conrad would find love again. However, after the show introduced Billie, who happened to be Nic’s longtime friend, it was clear that something might be brewing between them. There were some issues with their blossoming romance, but they eventually confessed their feelings for each and got together. When Conrad and Billie made their final appearance in the finale, they both said to each other, “I love you.”
It turns out there was a lot more in store for the fan-favorite couple. As series executive producer Amy Holden Jones told TV Insider, the characters were going to walk down the aisle. Jones also explained exactly how their love story would've been presented on the show:
We were going to jump time and have them married and then see the marriage in flashbacks. It was such a slow burn to get to Billie that I don’t know how much more you could have taken. And we kind of missed what we had in the last years with Emily, which was this really stable, loving couple at the core who were kind of the rock that everybody else was compared to, and the threats came from outside, from health issues or family issues that they had to face together. I have a friend who says that the only shows she watches are ones where a group of people are all working together for the same goal, like FBI and our show and Slow Horses.
Oh, it would have been great to see Billie and Conrad happy, in love and married with family. Those two love interests deserved each other and, given the build-up to their coupling, it would've been satisfying to see their romance play out further. Fans got a little bit of that family dynamic towards the end of the final season, but I'd argue that it wasn't enough.
Considering all that Billie and Conrad went through and that messy love triangle, they certainly deserved happiness, as did Gigi. However, if the show continued with Season 7, it wouldn’t all be sunshine and rainbows, as Jones shared that there would have been some conflict, and not just between Billie and Conrad:
The conflict between characters has to be there, but it’s not that much with our show because they were a very united team by that time, so a lot of the conflicts had gone away, though I think there’s still plenty of room for them with — Cade’s [Kaley Ronayne] still there and her father’s [Andrew McCarthy‘s Ian] still there and he’s still got a lot of problems, and we were teasing her getting involved with Dr. James Yamada [Ian Anthony Dale].
It wouldn’t be a drama series without some drama, right? It's hard to see unfortunate developments befall fan-favorite characters, but that's what ultimately makes a show interesting. It's hard to say exactly how all of that would've panned out. At the very least, when it comes to Billie and Conrad, they could have seen another major life change amid Season 7, and I’m really mourning what could have been, especially since it could've been a bright spot amid that aforementioned slew of conflict:
I think that we were going to probably put Billie on a pregnancy journey, and will she have a child? And how fraught is that for her, given how fraught it was with the first one? I don’t know whether that would’ve gone with her having that child, and then we’d have that child, or possibly an adoption story would’ve been interesting, too, for them if she was unable to have a child for some reason.
I'm not sure whether I'm pleased or disappointed now that I know what was planned forThe Resident. There is, however, some comfort to be had in knowing that Season 6 did manage to provide a level of closure and that the characters were in relatively solid places by the end of the series. As for Billie and Conrad, it's great to know that their relationship would've flourished had the show moved on.
Even though The Resident is done, fans can always go back and watch the entire series. There are plenty of great stories to enjoy, which involve the staff at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital. As for me, I think I may have to start writing some fan fiction that builds on Amy Holden Jones' comments.
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