Not that this will do anything, but I apologize to Vasay and Mehreen now for what I’m about to write about episode 20 cause you aren’t going to like anything in this review. So I think the few people who read what I write know that I live in the USA and have for pretty much my entire life. Having lived here for over 20+ years and knowing how things work, here is my question to the writer and director, was this episode shot here or was this a joke? Sikander goes to shoot Bhatti and Salma, but get runs over by a car. Okay, what happened then? Where was the police? How did Bhatti quickly call Javed, have him find the gun, and get rid of it? (BTW, Javed bhai, ever hear of being ‘an accessory to a crime?’) Again, where was the police in a road accident in New York? Sikander had to have been taken to the hospital in an ambulance or does Bhatti also moonlight as an ambulance driver so took him there himself? That was a busy road and it would’ve been shut down immediately for at least a couple hours and there would definitely  have been police in the hospital since Sikander did spend 2 years in jail, making him a felon. I don’t think things like this even happen in Pakistan so are they really trying to tell us this happened here? I won’t even get into how unrealisticly calm and carefree Bhatti’s entire attitude was when speaking to Javed about the gun and what just had happened!!

Now let’s talk about the hospital and Sikander not having insurance. From September 2010 to February 2013 I was unemployed, hence had no medical insurance. Unfortunately, just because you don’t  have insurance, doesn’t mean you don’t get sick and I got sick, twice! I’ll be the first to admit that our healthcare system isn’t t he greatest, both times upon hearing I had no insurance, I was never denied care, nor was I told that I had to pay the bill in its entirety, especially not right there and then. Allah is kind and I have parents, but if God forbid, I was in a situation that I couldn’t pay the bills, I actually had a few options…one of them being that I could talk to the medical accounts office and get a reduced bill with monthly payments.  Imagine my surprise when Salma had to (finally) sell her jewelry so she could make that $19,000 payment, at once, to the hospital. Both of Sikander’s legs are fractured and he has several head injuries…the doctors have also said he will not be able to walk for quite a while, which means he is going to need to stay in the hospital. But for some odd reason, this perhaps is that one hospital that functions like hospitals in Pakistan do, where you must pay a bill in its entirety and even if you need medical care, must leave because you can’t make the full payment or have no insurance.  Yes, medical expenses can absolutely ruin a person financially here, but you will never ever have to pay $19,000 in full. I realize the plot needs to move along since only 4 episodes are left, but seriously? Also, Salma took care of all the finances at home so how did she not know Sikander didn’t have any insurance? How was this a surprise to her when she got the call? Oh and no one from the hospital ever calls the wife after 3 days and tells them that her husband has no insurance and she needs to take him  home. No matter what condition you go to the hospital, the first questioned asked is “do you have insurance?” They don’t wait 3 days to figure this out and then make a phone call.

Tai Jee…when have you ever seen a mother not go to the hospital when her son was in such a severe car accident? Does Tai Jee really seem like the type of woman who would listen to Salma when told she couldn’t go to the hospital to see her only son? Also as much as I loved seeing Iman tell her grandmother about ghairatmand fathers, I have absolutely no strength right now to speak about how a 13-14 year old girl is so naive about ‘Bhatti Uncle’ and her mother. Iman seems to be more clueless than girls in Pakistan!

Have the holes in today’s script ended? Nope…today it is revealed that whereas Bhatti has been in the US for 14 years, he and Kathy have only actually been married for 5 years and that this was a business deal. Kathy needed money and Bhatti needed a blue passport. So we are to believe that Bhatti lived here illegally for at least 13 years (I’m guessing the visit visa was for a year maybe) without getting caught by immigration? What did he do for those 13 years? If that was really the case, why were there so many fights between them? In last week’s episode, at some point Kathy says “because I wanted to surprise you, like I used in the beginning, remember?” Kathy also mentioned that she used to talk to Ammi a lot before which is why she wanted to reconnect with her again in the last episode. If this was just a business deal why was Kathy ‘surprising Bhatti in the beginning’ and talking to Ammi so much? They  have constantly been fighting like a couple who fell out of love and now we are told this was a business deal? If Kathy knew this was a business deal then why has she been acting like an insecure wife and what was up with all the family dinners and the “lets get away because we need to spend time together like we used to” when she was going to Philadelphia on business? Does the writer think we all have head injuries so will remember nothing?

Oh and the Jamshed and Michelle track…“dekho thora emotional hai…young hai na to  jaldi jazbaati ho jata hai.” That really didn’t sound at all like anyone talking about their fiance! Seemed like she was saying something completely different, like a mother making excuses for her son’s behavior. That’s all I’m going to say about that entire story line.

The last 6-7 episodes of Jackson Heights were so strong that this was an extreme disappointment.  There were so many holes in the script today that it literally felt like the audiences’ intelligence was being insulted…again, my apologies to Vasay and Mehreen but this absolutely was not something I expected from such a brilliant writer and director combo.  Just a little research on US laws would have been nice since this serial was supposed to show us the reality of desis living in Jackson Heights. No matter how desi an area is, it still has to follow rules and protocol, especially when an accident happens on a busy street. Again, I understand with 4 episodes left this story must wrap up, but this really equates to cramming the night before a final exam.