okay, here's the thing. a lot of Robby's clashing with Samira does stem from the fact that he sees himself in her and he hates himself, but it's not the entire problem.
before you get furious, to say this first, Robby is not right at all in his treatment of her in s2, and this is not saying that he's perfect or always right. it's just offering some nuance because Samira is actually definitely not perfect either and I've wanted to discuss her flaws for a while, especially since the fandom constantly purifies her and puts her on a pedestal. pls don't dogpile me. this is focusing mainly on s1 dynamics as well.
samira has no problem critiquing others, but she cannot handle critique. in s1, that first conversation that samira and robby have, she already looks tired of it when she follows him, knowing what's coming, because this is NOT the first time they've had this conversation.
and yet she still has not implemented the change, and isn't even attempting to. robby could 100% stand to be nicer in his delivery but the frustration is there because Samira is stubborn and insistent. "I work at the pace I'm comfortable with." she's not in the right here. the ER does require a certain level of efficiency that she's currently not performing at. she, an R3, is basically telling her attending that she's not listening to his correction and she knows better for herself.
this is not true. her pace is shown to endanger a patient, and who knows how many she's endangered in the past. Robby tells her she's shortchanging her own education and letting fear hold her back, and on both counts, he's right. she's missing out on cases she could be learning from. she even admits to the fear, essentially, to Robby. it is holding her back.
he says he knows she's capable of a faster pace, of more, and the thing is that she is. she's very intelligent. she flourished in the MCI. she is and has been holding herself back because she has such a stubborn streak in her and she has constantly not listened to Robby even when he is correct.
she's shown to critique both trinity and dennis that day, and in both confrontations, she comes off so firm it's almost angry. "are you aware that you have an aggressive energy, trinity?" makes me lmfao because. samira honey. you have the same problem. a sharp tone, the way you turn on your heel, your tendency to talk over who you're critiquing.
and here's the thing. both trinity and dennis respond to her critique anyways, because Samira was right. trinity apologizes later, sincerely. dennis nods and genuinely listens and later praises Samira.
but to Trinity's "I'm sorry about earlier. clearly, I still have a lot to learn." samira only replies with a snide "you do." to Dennis's praise of "you're very good at this" she replies with a self-assured "thanks. I am."
she doesn't give off low self esteem at all. in fact, it's the opposite. her view of herself hinders her ability to accept correction. and yeah, again, although harsh edged in her corrections to Dennis and Trinity, they listened. Robby isn't even as harsh as I remembered, (rewatched s1 recently) but even so, that's really not much of an excuse. samira still does not listen.
she doesn't report to him on a case he's overseeing, with the toxicology patient. instead of communicating to him why she thinks the patient needs a tox screen or anything like that, she goes to Heather instead. samira is intelligent and it's great that she kept going and caught the real problem, but Robby, while a little too harsh, isn't wrong for correcting her here. she should've reported to him.
now, that's just one instance. the problem is she does it again. with the addiction patient, she goes ahead and administers the BUPE without finding or consulting Robby first, even though it's a questionable method. he rightfully gets upset, because he quite literally just told her to never do that again. and she. did it again.
still, in front of the patient, Robby jumps to Samira's defense when the patient gets agitated at being "tricked." he emphasizes DOCTOR Mohan, gets onto the patient, affirms her treatment plan. very much a moment where he critiqued her in private, but in front of a patient, stood up for her.
so, their s1 dynamic was charged, yes, and Robby needs to tamp down the condescension because cmon bro, but Samira was not faultless in this. like. at all. it is not only Robby straining the relationship. it's her, pushing boundaries, disregarding correction, etc.
samira is a very nuanced character, and you're doing a disservice to the entire story if you treat her like a perfect angel. this didn't even delve into just how poorly I think she handled the trinity situation, including only praising trinity after trinity took the fall for her mistake and got yelled at for it, and not standing up for trinity or saying a single word of what actually happened to langdon or robby or anybody. just let an intern take the fall for her mistake as an R3, after riding that intern all day.
Samira's very empathetic with her patients, which is an amazing trait, but she struggles to extend the same empathy to her coworkers. this is also a bit of a mirror to Robby, in the fact that he is often more empathetic with patients than coworkers, but it's not as pronounced of a flaw. Robby is still shown to check in on several of his colleagues, has built up relationships with the nurses, etc etc.
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