Morgan Kohan as Maggie Sullivan holding a patient chart in Sullivan's Crossing

Granted, none of us watch Sullivan’s Crossing for the high-bar writing or realistic storylines, but there’s one that’s so ridiculous, I can’t help but pray Sullivan’s Crossing season 4 finally addresses it. Since season 1, Maggie’s professional future has been an ongoing source of drama and tension in the show, whether it’s her fighting a malpractice lawsuit or deciding whether to permanently give up her career as a neurosurgeon in Boston to live in Timberlake, which she finally does in the Sullivan’s Crossing season 3 finale.

It’s that neurosurgery career that’s the whole problem, though. It’s doubtful that even the most diehard fans of the show don’t struggle to find their willing suspension of disbelief when Maggie, the doctor, takes over for Maggie, the emotional disaster. It’s just not believable, from Maggie herself being a respected neurosurgeon, to how the show has handled her time in Canada, and season 4 must do better.

There’s No Way Maggie Has Been A Practicing Neurosurgeon For Years

Morgan Kohan as Maggie in a cropped promotional poster for Sullivan's Crossing

The most unrealistic part is expecting audiences to believe that Maggie is not only a fully-fledged neurosurgeon, but that she’s been practicing long enough to establish her career and become a star standout in the field. Actress Morgan Kohan is currently 31 years old, so we can assume that Maggie is no older than 30 in Sullivan’s Crossing, and likely younger when the show started.

Nothing about Maggie suggests she’s a super-genius who started college early (she’s no Victoria Javadi), so she presumably started around the usual age of 18. Pre-med is four years (though some accelerated programs are three), and medical school is another four years. Assuming that she went straight to medical school, Maggie would have been no younger than 26 when she finished.

After that comes her internship, followed by residency, which, for a neurosurgeon, is an average of seven years. After that comes having to pass one’s medical boards, which doesn’t always happen the first time. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it takes about 14-16 years to even become a neurosurgeon, and the Centers for Neurosurgery Spine & Orthopedics is quite clear that neurosurgeons don’t even start to practice on their own until they’re well into their 30s.

At the very earliest, with an accelerated pre-med program and speedy rotations, Maggie would have been at least 32 years old before she could even begin practicing as a neurosurgeon. It’s one of the many reasons that Morgan Kohan seems so miscast in the role of Maggie. Sullivan’s Crossing either needed to cast someone older or nix Maggie’s neurosurgeon backstory altogether.

Every Medical Procedure Maggie Has Done Would Never Happen

Maggie with Jed and Marissa Sullivan's Crossing

Unfortunately, Sullivan’s Crossing insists on reminding us that Maggie is a brilliant neurosurgeon, despite her never really doing anything to convince the audience of it, much less the fact that she seems to be an expert in every medical field, no matter what the ailment is.

Whether it’s Maggie magically diagnosing her father’s vitamin deficiency to drilling literal holes in Jackson’s skull after a rock climbing accident, Maggie always knows exactly what to do, even when it would never in a million years be possible. It’s so implausible and ridiculous that every time Maggie remembers she’s a neurosurgeon, it takes you out of the show.

Worse is the fact that she keeps practicing medicine despite having no credentials and no license to practice medicine in Canada, a move that would end anyone’s medical career and likely see them imprisoned in reality. It’s so absurd that, in season 2, when a paramedic wouldn’t let Maggie into the field to oversee and work on the accident victim, he was portrayed as an antagonist, despite being the only character who has shown common sense regarding Maggie.

By the time Sullivan’s Crossing season 3 rolled around and Maggie was granted an emergency medical license to do neurosurgery on Edna, it was sadly the most believable development. Season 4 absolutely must address this and show Maggie passing her boards in Canada and applying for her medical license. Otherwise, it will continue to be the most ridiculous storyline in a show that already borders too often on parody.