The pressure is mounting in Holby’s Emergency Department, and for trainee paramedic Indie Jankowski, every shift feels like a make-or-break moment. In Casualty’s latest double bill, Plan B and Paper Planes, Indie’s fierce ambition and raw inexperience collide — and the results threaten not only her own future but the fragile trust she’s building with her mentor, Jan Jenning.

Pushing the Limits

From the moment she arrived, Indie has worn her heart on her sleeve. She’s determined, passionate, and desperate to prove herself — qualities that should make her an asset to the paramedic team. But as Plan B unfolds, it becomes painfully clear that drive alone isn’t enough.

Faced with an emergency call that demands quick thinking and cool judgement, Indie chooses to take a risk. It’s a split-second decision, made with the best of intentions. She wants to help. She wants to be the kind of paramedic that Jan can be proud of. But her inexperience shows, and the consequences of her impulsiveness ripple out further than she could have ever predicted.

Indie’s misstep is a stark reminder that in the world of frontline emergency care, mistakes aren’t just measured in reprimands or poor marks on a report card — they can mean the difference between life and death.

Clashing with Jan

Jan Jenning is no stranger to the pressures of the job. Having spent years on the frontline, she knows better than most the importance of discipline, teamwork, and sound judgement. So when Indie’s risky behaviour comes to light, it hits a nerve.

Already under scrutiny due to an ongoing performance review of ambulance response times, Jan sees Indie’s actions not just as a rookie mistake, but as a potential threat to the hard-fought reputation of her entire team. With the review looming large, Jan can ill afford any missteps — and certainly not from someone she’s responsible for training.

Their confrontation is fiery and raw. Jan, usually measured and composed, doesn’t hold back. She pushes Indie hard, desperate to hammer home the seriousness of her actions. But for Indie, already feeling isolated and insecure, the harsh words cut deep. The young trainee lashes out in return, frustration and hurt bubbling to the surface.

It’s a painful scene — two women from very different generations and very different experiences, each desperate to be heard, and each too wounded in their own way to truly listen.

The Ambulance Driving Test Disaster

If tensions between Indie and Jan weren’t high enough, they reach boiling point during Indie’s ambulance driving test.

Determined to prove herself after her earlier mistake, Indie throws herself into the assessment with reckless intensity. But the pressure gets the better of her. An incident during the test not only highlights her lack of control but also her growing desperation to succeed at any cost.

The aftermath is brutal. Jan, already disappointed, sees her worst fears confirmed. For Indie, the crushing realisation that she has failed — and that she has disappointed someone she admires — is almost too much to bear.

Indie’s Struggle for Acceptance

At its heart, Indie’s story is about more than just professional failure. It’s about the desperate human need for acceptance, for belonging. She doesn’t just want to be a good paramedic; she wants to be seen, respected, valued.

Throughout these episodes, we glimpse moments of vulnerability behind Indie’s tough exterior — a flash of fear, a flicker of self-doubt. She’s fighting not just the demands of the job, but her own deep-seated fears of inadequacy. In trying so hard to be everything to everyone, she’s losing sight of herself.

Her clashes with Jan hurt so much precisely because they matter. Indie cares. She wants to be part of the team. She wants to make a difference. And in many ways, that raw, messy passion makes her exactly the kind of paramedic Holby needs — if she can just learn to channel it wisely.

Jan’s Hidden Fears

Interestingly, Indie’s journey also sheds light on Jan’s own inner battles. Beneath her stern exterior, Jan isn’t just angry — she’s scared. Scared that one of her team will get hurt. Scared that the system she’s fought so hard to uphold is crumbling under political pressure and underfunding.

In Indie, Jan sees echoes of her younger self: impulsive, passionate, desperate to prove her worth. And that terrifies her. She knows all too well the dangers that lie ahead on that path.

Their conflict, then, isn’t just about one trainee’s mistake. It’s about generational fear, about the painful realisation that experience and wisdom can’t always protect the next generation from making their own mistakes.

A Rocky Road Ahead

As Paper Planes closes, Indie’s future at Holby hangs in the balance. She faces a difficult road ahead — one that will demand humility, resilience, and the willingness to learn from her failures.

For all her mistakes, Indie’s heart remains in the right place. And in a world as chaotic and unforgiving as Holby ED, sometimes heart is what matters most.

But it remains to be seen whether Jan can find it within herself to nurture Indie’s potential — or whether the growing gulf between them will become too wide to bridge.

One thing is certain: in Holby, survival isn’t just about saving others. Sometimes, it’s about saving yourself.