Dana was spot on in this week’s Saving Hope when she asked if she’s seeing what’s really there, or what she wants to see. Between Alex’s prediction that Joel would get bored and leave like before, Dana’s own failure to see what was really going on with her patient and Charlie unable to recognize a ghost as a ghost outside the hospital, “The Other Side of Midnight” was all about perception.

I don’t know if Charlie was more thrown by seeing a ghost outside of the hospital, or that she seemed so real and alive. Usually the spirits he runs into through work know something is wrong, and Lauren Lee Smith’s character didn’t have that direct awareness I’m so used to. Still, as she repeatedly told Charlie to come up to her room I could feel the tone transitioning from flirtatious to urgent. Though perhaps unlike Charlie, I had the added benefit of realizing we were missing our weekly ghost—and that would be a strange thing for Saving Hope to leave out.

But even without all the usual warnings, I don’t think it’s necessarily the best idea for Charlie to go running to Dey. The abrasive, hallucinogenic-stashing psychiatrist still hasn’t won me over—in part because I’m still not over Gavin’s unceremonious departure, but also because nothing he’s done since showing up has convinced me he’s trustworthy enough for Charlie’s secret. Dey’s fascinations with hallucinations might, on the one hand, be pretty useful for this case, but it might also get in the way of getting Charlie what I’m confident he wants: no more ghosts.

Though that massive cliffhanger left me wondering if Charlie was at least about to get one thing he wanted. I’m not entirely clear on the timeline of Alex and Charlie’s break up and Alex and Joel’s new relationship (which has, apparently, escalated to Liberia). If it’s been about 10 weeks since Katz kissed Maggie then there’s a strong chance Alex’s look of concern had to do with her newfound belief that Joel hasn’t changed, though I’m leaving the door open for some paternity debate too.

As for Liberia—it came as out of the blue for me as it did Alex. While I know Joel has a history of wanderlust, he’s been pretty locked into Hope Zion of late and I was surprised to hear him sound so ready to ditch the clinic and the hospital to visit a country I’ve never heard him mention. It felt like yet another convenient foil for the couple. And unless hopping on a plane to go home for a bit triggered something, I can only assume that getting back together with the woman he was staying rooted for has him dreaming of a life they could have together. It’s just unfortunate that, as fun as Alex is, she’s never really struck me as the pick-up-and-go type. And she’s really not going to be that type with a baby on the way.

Then again, it’s not like this week’s main case was really going to fill anyone with confidence about a certain type of person. In hindsight, Alex’s extreme concern about Nathan’s family makes more sense when compared to her own worries about how much she can depend on Joel for. There was nothing reassuring about Tawny’s arrival, even if Nathan’s ex-wife did come with all the information they needed to treat him. The list of Nathan’s exploits, the damage they’ve done and Tawny’s desperate efforts to protect her daughter from any of the details of how precarious her father’s lifestyle is were overwhelming enough without being in the similar position Alex felt she was in.

Still, as last week established, Joel and Alex aren’t long for this world—two episodes into their relationship and there’s been an awful lot of fighting. Then again, maybe Alex is just freaking out over the prospect of a baby when her life is so transitional right now. Or that those Joel revelations triggered her very worst memories of him, and the suggestion of Liberia has her thinking her potential baby daddy is in even less of a firm place than she is. Or maybe it is Charlie’s, and there’s a whole other mess she’s bracing for. It all depends on how she looks at it.

Saving moments:

• I’m sorry Maggie, but who puts a sweater in their top drawer?
• “There are 17 steps to making a crepe. Try and get one of them right.”–Shahir
• “If I eat them I’ll go into anaphylactic shock and die.” Katz’s flirting could use a bit of work.
• “They’re making me feel like crepe.” Granted this should have been a big tip off to everyone. Who doesn’t like the smell of crepes?
• “Aren’t we the Lord and Lady of Downer Abbey.” I would much prefer this show to the real Downton.
• Also, Zach and Melanda? Hoping this isn’t going to be another Dawn/Reycraft.

Saving Hope airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

It’s a credit to Saving Hope’s writers that fans of the series get so invested in the show’s relationships, with things even occasionally getting a bit nasty between Teams Joel and Charlie. Which is why it’s such a shame that Season 3 has rarely allowed viewers to enjoy those couples once they finally happen.

In between watching Dawn do an about-face on a boyfriend twice in seven episodes, having Gavin go on a bender and take off after he and Maggie derailed, and Alex waking up without any sense of her feelings for Charlie, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that things with Joel hit a rocky patch almost as soon as they started. We’ve barely had any screen time with the couple—which has been teased for over two seasons now—before another flashback triggered what I expect is the return of Alex’s feelings for Charlie.

Though to be fair, Charlie’s gracious acceptance of defeat went a long way toward making up for how I felt about him racing off to pick a fight over the issue at the beginning of the season. Seeing that side of Charlie, instead of the angry, jealous one might also have helped remind Alex of the time they were everything to each other before a series of comas, ghosts and other dramatics threw their relationship through the processer. And it’s hard to deny the heat between Selena and Joel, which was back for another round.

But again, after wondering for so long when the other half of the love triangle would get its day (as they always do), it’s a bit disappointing to have all that build up thrown out almost immediately. The payoff, even for fans of the obvious end game of Charlie and Alex, is always so small compared to the build up that it’s going to make it hard to let myself get too invested in the characters’ personal lives should the trend keep up.

Thankfully, for a series that’s making a thing of the three-day work relationship, Wednesday’s “The Heartbreak Kid” did a much better job of picking up the continuity with some returning guests and cases. As a fan of Lexa Doig from her work on Arctic Air, seeing her back as the brash and charismatic Selena was a pleasure and her clinic is proving to be a rich resource for a completely different kind of patient and practice. I’d settle for seeing Joel commit more time to it since it fits well with his character history, but I won’t deny it would be interesting to see the rest of Hope Zion’s doctors start helping out and getting a break from their usual clientele—and I’m wondering if that opening scene was enough to possibly lure Zach to its doors and give Benjamin Ayres something more meaty to chew on.

And even without Lara’s ghost to milk the birth of Ezra Zarb for all its devastating emotional potential, having Joris Jarsky back to show us how David has been holding up since deciding to keep his wife on life support for their son was another welcome return. It’s not often we get to see how Charlie’s patients and their families fare after their otherworldly intervention and this particular case was deserving of a follow up if only to see how far David’s come since from angry, wall-punching person he was when we first met him.

Which also tied neatly into the evolving relationship between Maggie and Katz as they revisited their first case together and Maggie tried to prove she could be the kind of doctor Katz wanted her to be. I feel like just about everyone knows Maggie is ready to move onto the next step and having Katz hold her back suddenly was as frustrating to watch as I’m sure it was for the character. I’m hoping that ending—as unexpected and random as it was—means Katz realized it too and might change her brusque black-and-white emotionless approach (which saw her encouraging David to punch a wall in the first place). As for what else that kiss could mean, I’d read into it but I’m sure they’ll break up soon enough.

Hope-ful moments:

• Joel: “I guess a guy could pull a knife on me again.”
  Zach: “Again?”
• “LaRouched” is now a thing.
• “Hang up, and it’s lady not gentleman.” I was really impressed with how Saving Hope handled the issue of pronouns with Teddy and would love to see more shows be this direct and comfortable with it.
• “I look like an exploded burrito.” Tatum’s sass, especially with Charlie, was surprisingly fun.
• That being said, the opening scene of her screaming as they examined her legs was almost too real. I can’t say enough about the effects and make up team on this series.

Saving Hope airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CTV.