Moonlightaholics

Mandy Patinkin, the former Jason Gideon on Criminal Minds, makes a (literally) smashing return to CBS, playing Victor, the victim of a car accident who’s admitted to Three Rivers and put under Dr. Andy Yablonski’s care. (Patinkin apparently still has lots of fans: His guest shot boosted Rivers to its highest ratings ever.)

Unfortunately, the news is grim: Victor, who suffers from ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease (he describes it as “a nerve disease where you get weaker and weaker until you croak”), will now need a mechanical ventilator to help him breathe. To Victor, this is pretty much like a death sentence.

The only ray of light comes from the perennially optimistic Kuol, who as the president and lone member of the Three Rivers Welcoming Committee, drops in on Victor, giving the poor guy the best laugh he has had in ages (maybe somebody should turn him on to Modern Family) as they bond over baseball and their respective ailments.

Kuol makes quite the impression on Victor, who comes to the decision to terminate life support and donate his heart to the young Ethiopian. Andy is fiercely against this, revealing he isn’t much of a believer in the afterlife (maybe somebody should turn him on to Ghost Whisperer). But Andy is in the minority when Victor’s case is brought before the hospital board and it’s ruled that he can die to save Kuol’s life if that’s what he wants to do.

And what an ethical can of worms Victor opens as patients begin lining up in front of his hospital room, asking that he donate his organs to them, too. Even Dr. David Lee makes a request on behalf of his 22-year-old patient with bad lungs and no health insurance. But the prospective organ recipients may have their hopes dashed when Victor’s loving daughter refuses to go along with her father’s request, even getting her lawyer involved.

I kept expecting Andy to convince Victor that he does have something worth living for, but after speaking with Victor, Andy realizes it’s Victor’s right to die with whatever dignity he has left. After seeing the light, so to speak, Andy takes Victor’s daughter to a donor recipient party that just happens to be going on in the hospital and shows her how many lives her father will be impacting with his generosity.

Victor gets his final request, but things don’t turn out quite as he had intended when—oh, no!—Kuol has a fever and is unable to receive the heart. I guess if you’re a fan of Kuol that’s kind of good news since he’ll be sticking around the hospital longer. And when Victor received thank-yous from the families of the organ recipients as he made his way to surgery—if you weren’t tearing up, then you have no heart.

Should Mandy Patinkin get an Emmy nomination for this performance? How did you feel about the way Three Rivers took on the right-to-die debate? And would you like to know more about Andy’s spiritual faith (or lack thereof)? Leave your comments below!