Warning: this article contains SPOILERS for St. Denis Medical.St. Denis Medical has proven its comedy chops, but NBC’s mockumentary has a romantic storyline that should be scrapped. St. Denis Medical’s wonderful cast of characters includes Mekki Leeper’s rookie Matt and Kahyun Kim’s experienced Serena among many other talented names. Matt’s character is the most overtly comedic due to his incompetence and sheltered upbringing, while Serena is a skilled nurse who knows how to diffuse any situation. The two characters come together at the closing of episode 1 (“Welcome to St. Denis”), when Serena offers Matt encouragement that awakens a puppy love in the new nurse (but nothing beyond that).
St. Denis Medical’s Superstore reunion has garnered buzz since its premiere, but there are an abundance of differences between the two shows, including the romantic potential for a slow burn. As it stands, Serena and Matt are barely coworkers, let alone compatible love interests. Perhaps St. Denis Medical season 2 could expand on their characters and transform this crush into the foundation for a real relationship, but currently, there is no merit to a love story between Serena and Matt in St. Denis Medical.
Matt’s Crush On Serena Is Arguably Just Infatuation In St. Denis Medical
Matt Is Mistaking Friendship For More
Matt’s character is rooted in a sense of naivety. Everything he discovers feels like he’s learning it for the first time despite being a registered nurse, thanks mainly to his intensely religious upbringing in Montana. The comedic aspect of Matt’s ignorance helps St. Denis Medical flourish as a medical sitcom, but there are more serious implications to growing up with such a narrow worldview. Serena being the first person to show him compassion during his horrific first day causes Matt to latch onto her kindness and mistakenly twist it into something romantic since he doesn’t know better.
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From thinking organ donation is “gross” to flat-out not believing in medical care, the environment Matt grew up in makes his new position a perpetual culture shock. As such, Matt often has to approach situations without being fully prepared for them, whether it be updating families of patients or general interpersonal communication. Matt’s feelings for Serena don’t stem from anywhere real because his background makes him blow everything out of proportion. Matt likely only has platonic feelings for Serena, but he never learned how to express them aside from romantic inclinations.
Serena’s People-Pleasing Tendencies Set Up A Misguided Romance With Serena
She Often Hides Her True Feelings
On the other hand, Serena’s character in St. Denis Medical is constantly making people believe she’s more invested than she truly is. She convinces Joyce (Wendi McLendon-Covey) that she finally has a good idea for the office social media page, but Serena later tells the camera operator that she just wanted to appease her boss (season 1, episode 6, “Ho-Ho-Hollo”). Similarly, the same conversation that convinced Matt he liked Serena is revealed in a cutaway to be Serena comforting her new coworker who she thinks is “dumb” and will be fired soon. Though Matt has improved since, it hasn’t been enough.
The first six episodes of St. Denis Medical are streaming now on Peacock.
NBC’s workplace mockumentary has created amazing characters, but that doesn’t mean they’d be amazing together. Even if Matt’s crush is real, it is completely unrequited at present. If he pursues Serena, either Matt will have his heart broken or Serena will feel pressured to protect his feelings and inadvertently cause more misunderstandings. There’s a world where Serena lets Matt down gently and he takes it in stride, but that world is not primetime television. Without major developments and changes, any romance between Serena and Matt is doomed in St. Denis Medical.
Can St. Denis Medical Still Make Matt & Serena A Couple
There’s A Path Forward, But It Isn’t Easy
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If St. Denis Medical wants to set up a love story, there are ways to make Matt and Serena more believable as a couple. Every mockumentary fan fondly remembers Jim and Pam’s relationship in The Office, but Matt and Serena don’t interact enough to echo even half their chemistry. Instead of having Serena constantly teach Matt something new and Matt watching her with longing looks, the two need to work together and respect each other professionally first and foremost. St. Denis Medical needs to build a realistic foundation for a friendship that can blossom into a potential relationship later.
Actor St. Denis Medical character Wendi McLendon-Covey Joyce Allison Tolman Alex David Alan Grier Ron Josh Lawson Bruce Kahyun Kim Serena Mekki Leeper Matt Kaliko Kauahi Val
Without letting them be friends first, St. Denis Medical would be succumbing to a cliché plot where Serena suddenly realizes she reciprocates Matt’s feelings. But St. Denis Medical earned a certified fresh Rotten Tomatoes score for not falling victim to easy stereotypes. Instead, Matt and Serena need to interact more, go through an emergency together, have serious conversations, and learn about each other as people before they have any chance of dating. Most importantly, St. Denis Medical should follow some age-old advice when it comes to pacing this relationship: good things come to those who wait.
St. Denis Medical returns on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, on NBC.
St. Denis Medical Already Has A Toxic Romance That Shouldn’t Go Anywhere
