Red Band Society S1E1 - "Pilot" Recap

A young boy named Charlie narrates this story. He's in a comma after having been in an accident with his father and for this reason, his father isn't permitted to see him. Though Charlie is unable to wake, he is aware of his surroundings and thus he knows what is happening around the hospital.

Meet Kara, your typical rich, mean-girl cheerleader. During a practice she passes out, after which her teammates rush at the opportunity to snap photos of her being less than her best, with only one having the compassion to call 911. But that doesn't mean she'll be missing out on the opportunity to give Kara a bit of mouth-to-mouth. Cue further photo-snapping. Upon being brought to the hospital, Kara is set up to be Charlie's roommate and begins bossing around the nurses and being cruel to the other patients.

Now for the rest of the gang. Dash is a smooth-operating boy in need of a new lung. Emma is an intelligent and reserved girl suffering from anorexia. Finally, there's Leo, a cancer survivor who lost his leg to the disease and is now in a wheelchair. He wears a set of red wristbands from all the surgeries he's had and he was formerly involved with Emma but they had a falling out after Leo became too afraid of dying to carry on with a romantic relationship.

In addition to Kara, there's another new young face about to join the scene. His name is Jordi and he's originally from Mexico. He also has cancer and tells everyone that his mother is dead and his father isn't around. He needs a leg amputation and only the best will do, so he smooth-talks his way into getting the renowned Doctor McAndrew to take on the surgery. Jordi's cancer is like what Leo had and McAndrew sets Jordi up to be Leo's roommate. But Leo's not used to having a roommate; he's more accustomed to having his own room.

There's also Nurse Jackson, played by the iconic Octavia Spencer, who is tough and no-nonsense. This is not the person you want to piss off. A newer nurse to the hospital is Brittany, who struggles to win over Nurse Jackson's good opinion. She's the type to bake cookies and smile at everyone. Also introduced in the pilot is a patient named Ruben, a patient with no physical ailments but is suffering from hypochondria. Ruben gets to stay in a fancy apartment in the hospital because he's a millionaire and all his money will go to the hospital when he dies.

Dash tricks Nurse Brittany into giving him a sponge bath, during which he tries to play the "I don't want to die a virgin" card and she leaves annoyed at being fooled. Leo briefly checks out Kara and tells her he'll be throwing a party on the rooftop. Jordi meets Emma and they appear to hit it off, making Leo feel a bit jealous. But Leo will have more to worry about when trying to acquire the alcohol for the party. The clerk simply isn't buying Dash's fake ID.

Kara is having a hard time making friends at the hospital but she's not exactly putting her best foot forward, either. She smokes in her room, even blowing a puff into Charlie's face, and repeatedly presses the emergency button to summon nurses to meet her demands. Naturally, this makes them less inclined to come when she continues to press it. She is also rude to a volunteer who comes to play guitar, mostly for Charlie, and appears suspicious that there's more to the story he's sharing.

Kara gets a visit from the friend who gave her mouth-to-mouth and cruelly says that this friend is just there because she's in love with her. But her friend's having none of it and tells her that no one else likes her and storms off, after which Kara passes out again, this time entering a limbo plane in which she meets Charlie. He asks her to order pizza, believing that the smell might help him wake up, and also makes her promise to deliver the message to his father that "it wasn't his fault." When she wakes, she and we learn that her passing out is due to a very serious heart condition that will require a transplant. She mentions what happens to the guitar volunteer on his next visit and she quickly determines that the volunteer is actually Charlie's father.  He begs her to keep his secret and she agrees but will only share Charlie's message once he buys her some beer.

Kara is the lifesaver for the party due to her getting the beer and Leo performs an impromptu ceremony in which he quotes Henry V and takes off his red bands to share with each of the group members present, save for one which he later brings down to Charlie. When he was under anaesthesia, Charlie had told him, "Luck isn't getting what you want, it's surviving what you don't want." The next morning, Kara makes good on her promise and gets pizza brought to the room by taping up the message on the window. What she doesn't know is that Nurse Jackson, whom she has been clashing nonstop with, was the one who saw the message and made the call. Over a dozen boxes are brought to the room and Kara waves a slice in front of Charlie's face, telling him to wake up.

Red Band Society airs on Wednesdays on FOX at 9PM.