Chicago Med
Chicago Med – Crisis of Confidence (3×19)
Finally, Chicago Med picks up the pace. Sadly, we’re only one episode away from the season finale.
The episode still left a lot to be desired but at least all these new supporting characters make way for some storytelling that’s more gripping and most importantly, outside of the hospital.
Natalie still had a pregnant patient that she was conflicted about but baby steps, you know?
Most of the medical cases felt like fillers to the real story — someone slipped Dr. Charles a file that alluded to Sarah Reese’s father being a murderer responsible for the many missing girls on various campuses. Didn’t see that coming? Neither did I.
But it allows us to hate Robert even more which I’m not opposed to and it also aligns with his sociopath diagnosis. If I had cared enough to give it a second thought, this would have been the logical next step.
Of course, Dr. Charles doesn’t buy into it at first, but part of him sees that it’s possible, so when the opportunity to snoop around his house presents itself, he takes it.
Inside, he finds a picture with one of the missing girls which honestly, isn’t that weird. I know plenty of teachers and professors with ties to their students. The way he’s holding her seems a bit suggestive but it didn’t worry me up until I saw how charming he was with all the ladies at the hospital, including his donor’s wife. That’s another characteristic of a textbook socio!
The creepiest part is that he has a daughter around the same age as all these girls so I wonder if maybe he has some fixation on Sarah that he’s manifested on other unsuspecting victims.
I also think that a socio would know better than to befriend a psychologist since clearly, Dr. Charles can read right through him. Does he want to get caught?
Is Dr. Charles getting in way over his head? Will this strain his relationship with Sarah?
The second major story involves Emily, Choi’s delinquent sister.
She redeemed herself for a short time during the mass shooting episode when she stepped up as a volunteer that provided aid to those in need. When this episode kicks off, she’s at some luxurious party, strutting around in her Louboutins and asking Ethan to come save someone that overdosed.
Immediately, April questions what Emily was doing at the party and connects the missing Percocet that was stolen during the chaos of the shooting to his sister. This angers Choi, unsurprisingly, as he’s always really defensive and doesn’t think April gets it.
But she has a point — how do you afford the red bottom shoes as a volunteer?
The tox screen comes back and Choi’s worst fears are proven true as the patient had a mixture of heroin and Percocet in his system.
He confronts Emily who immediately turns it around on April. A classic sign that she’s trying to get the attention off of herself. Not to mention she was a bit too interested in the man’s condition if he was really just an “acquaintance.” That is unless she was the one who sold it to him.
When Jeremy admitted that he stole the Percocet from his father’s medicine cabinet, Ethan felt terrible about accusing Emily and claimed it was out of habit. April didn’t stop him from going to “right his wrongs” but she did get the bottom of it — Emily was his drug dealer.
Back at the house, Choi found a note that Emily had “gone to Vegas,” which again, raises the question of how does she have money for any of this?
I’d feel bad for Emily but think about what kind of person she has to be if the only thing motivating her to be good is her brother’s acceptance. She also took advantage of a swamped hospital to steal drugs with a street value. That’s low.
Dr. Rhodes’ day went from exceptional to pretty bleak within a matter of hours. He’s definitely formed a sort of god-complex lately that no surgery, no matter how risky, is impossible. And honestly, that’s just not how life works.
Natalie’s pregnant patient had a failing heart and needed an operation. However, the best course of action was to terminate the baby before putting her under, otherwise, both of them might not have made it.
The woman refused to terminate because it was the last piece of her late husband which stung. Instead of convincing her to make the best decision, Rhodes offered to do the procedure and at first, it seemed to take.
However, one complication led to the next and before you knew it their worst fears had come true — Rhodes let both mom and baby die.
It’s heartbreaking to watch because you know these doctors make the calls they genuinely believe in and sometimes, those calls just don’t manifest the way they hope.
The death takes a toll on Rhodes’ psyche and defeated, he requests to be removed from the historical twin surgery that Latham and his team have been prepping for.
When Latham questions his decision, Rhodes says something along the lines of, “I don’t think I’ll be able to make the right call.”
Hey, at least he’s being honest. But truthfully, is there ever a right call? Without risk there’s no reward…isn’t that what he always said?
Dr. Manning assumes she’s going to have a terrible day when she makes a risky call for her flu-ridden patient but it ends up being the one that saves his life.
It’s a juxtaposition to what Rhodes is dealing with; both doctors made risky, unconventional decisions and one of them paid off while the other didn’t. The point is that you never know what will stick and if you stop trying, you might as well hang up your lab coat.
This was also the first time that Nat and Will arrived at a mutual decision even though they disagreed on the best course of action. Is it just me or are they actually making progress?
Apparently, Will thinks they’re making a lot more progress than they really are because at the end of the episode, he stops by Jay’s place to grab his mother’s wedding ring.
Yep, shortly after they broke up and he slept with some other hospital employee to numb the pain, Will is jumping into a marriage proposal.
All in a day at Gaffney, people.
Thoughts on this week’s Chicago Med?
Will Rhodes be removed from the procedure? Will Charles prove Robert is a murderer? Will Choi fix things with Emily? Will Will propose to Nat?
Tune in for the season finale next Tuesday on NBC! (And pray for a renewal!)
Let’s all give a warm welcome to a new doctor coming to Gaffney!
Chicago Med is adding Luke Mitchell to the cast, according to Deadline.
The Originals and Blindspot actor will reportedly appear as a character named Dr. Mitch Ripley, described as an “early thirtysomething male Emergency Department doctor” with a past connection to Dr. Charles, played by Oliver Platt.
Word on the street is Ripley has a “troubled background,” which is why he crossed paths with Charles back in the day… and it seems like it might lead to some friction for the two.
He will recur on the medical drama with the potential of being upgraded to a series-regular come season 10, likely pending the reaction from fans.
The former Big Sky star is set to make his debut in the premiere episode of season 9 airing on January 17.
Of course, his addition is necessary as Chicago Med said goodbye to a handful of major cast members over the course of the previous seasons, including Brain Tee who played Ethan Choi, Nick Gehlfuss who starred as Will Halstead, Guy Lockard as Dr. Dylan Scott and Asjha Cooper in the role of Vanessa Taylor.
As of now, the returning cast includes S. Epatha Merkerson (hospital head Sharon Goodwin), Marlyne Barrett (charge nurse Maggie Lockwood), Dominic Rains (Dr. Crockett Marcel), Steven Weber (Dr. Dean Archer) and Jessy Schram (Dr. Hannah Asher).
Season 9 will consist of a 13-episode season, shortened due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
It’s finally happening—our favorite One Chicago shows are coming home to us!
Chihards, mark your calendars and get ready to sit down in front of the TV on January 17 because that’s when Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD will make their highly-anticipated and long-awaited premieres!
It’s truly beginning to feel a lot like Christmas… though I hope that turning around new episodes doesn’t mean that the actors will have to work through the holidays.
one chicago wednesdays return January 17 on @nbc and streaming on @peacock!!!
— Top 1% of Burzek shippers (@NBCOneChicago) November 20, 2023
Chicago Med returns for season 9, Fire for season 12, and Med for season 11.
Of course, the full NBC 2024 lineup will kick off on Jan 1 with America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League, which means they are wasting no time getting back into the swing of things following the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike delays.
Law & Order franchises will have their moment on Thursday, Jan 18 with Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Part 1 of The Voice returns on Feb. 26, along with BC’s new Deal or No Deal spinoff, Deal or No Deal Island.
La Brea will air its final season on Jan 9, leading into the final two episodes of Found. The Irrational will also air its final four episodes starting Monday, Jan. 29.
Quantum Leap and Magnum P.I., Lopez vs. Lopez, The Weakest Link, Password, That’s My Jam and The Wall currently don’t have a premiere date.
It’s the end of an era. The Chicago Med Season 8 finale saw Will Halstead saying his final goodbye to Gaffney Medical.
And the best part is that you don’t even have to wonder where he’s going!
After realizing that his time at the hospital had come to an end, Will thanked his colleagues and friends who have been like family for all these years and made a swift departure to Seattle to be with his one true love, Natalie Manning!
Chicago Med pulled off the ultimate surprise by bringing back Torrey Devito for a brief yet emotional cameo. She greeted Halstead outside of the airport along with her son, Owen, and they made it very clear that this time they were going to make things work. “I’m never letting you go,” Natalie told Halstead as they embarked on their new chapter together.
CHICAGO MED — “Does One Door Close and Another One Open?” Episode 822 — Pictured: (l-r) Ari Morgan as Owen, Torrey DeVitto as Natalie — (Photo by: George Burns Jr/NBC)
While I usually wouldn’t recommend going back to a relationship that didn’t work in the past, in this case, it just makes sense. They both had a clean break to find themselves and figure things out and yet their paths crossed once again. Timing is everything, and without the setting of Gaffney, I think they may actually be able to work things out this time around.
And that’s a wrap on Will Halstead. Thank you so much to Nick Gehlfuss for bringing such an “irritating” yet “inspirational” character to life for eight seasons. Sharon Goodwin was right on the money with that comment.
He even went out in such Will style by going off the rails and doing something that only Will could ever justify as a good idea.
Halstead was very triggered by 2.0’s glitch, and when he realized no one was going to do anything about it, the took matters into his own hands without realizing the larger implications of his decision.
By reprogramming 2.0 to go completely haywire during Jack Dayton’s hernia resection, he not only destroyed the product by setting in plenty of doubt, but he also ensured that 2.0 would never see the light of day again as it tarnished Dayton’s reputation in the process.
Dayton could no longer go through with the IPO, which meant that he couldn’t secure the funding to make 2.0 a better and more reliable product, which in turn meant that Jack Dayton had to sell Med, putting everyone’s fate up in the air.
As much as I want to praise Halstead for trying to do the wrong thing, his decision was very costly, especially because, as Crockett pointed out, 2.0 did a lot of good. With the right improvements, it could be a very useful tool in the future, but Halstead ensured that said future would never happen.
However, on the other hand, maybe selling the hospital isn’t the worst idea as it will likely put the power back in the hands of someone who cares about the patients over profits. Turning Med into a for-profit hospital has not been a welcome change for the doctors as they are limited in who they can treat, and it’s also a terrible experience for patients who don’t have the best insurance and can’t pay exorbitant prices.
Turning away patients is never ideal, especially patients who need critical care. One of Archer’s patients, Rachel, was admitted to Med with terrible stomach pains, and by waiting for an ambo transfer to a hospital that would have accepted her insurance, she likely would’ve died in the process.
The doctors took it upon themselves to do the surgery under the radar so as to not put her in debt for life, but that was a risky move. If anyone from upper management found out, it would not be pretty. Though, it’s nice to see Archer coming around and doing what needs to be done to save lives.
CHICAGO MED — “Does One Door Close and Another One Open?” Episode 822 — Pictured: (l-r) Luigi Sottile as Sean Archer, Steven Weber as Dean Archer — (Photo by: George Burns Jr/NBC)
During the surgery, which Hannah Asher assisted, Archer became very weak, and he realized he had another infection from his “DIY dialysis.” At this point, Asher insisted he start at a proper dialysis clinic, which he was against because of the time commitment, and when Sean suggested they just go through with the surgery as he was approved as his father’s donor, Archer and Asher had to inform him that he was no longer eligible after falling off the wagon.
It was honestly heartbreaking to see Sean come to terms with what his relapse meant. It was one misstep—that stemmed from a misunderstanding in the first place—and yet, it set back his plans to help his father for at least six months.
Hopefully, this doesn’t set Sean back even further because I can see how he’d deal with thinking that he’s a “disappointment” by turning to drugs and alcohol yet again.
CHICAGO MED — “Does One Door Close and Another One Open?” Episode 822 — Pictured: (l-r) Jessy Schram as Hannah Asher, Steven Weber as Dean Archer — (Photo by: George Burns Jr/NBC)
Archer, however, cannot blame himself for what happened, nor can he blame the fact that he allowed his son to be a donor as the relapse had nothing to do with the pressure of the situation. Sean was set off after seeing his father and Hannah getting “close,” and while there may have been some flirtation happening, when he finally addressed it with the two of them, they were both quite shocked.
I honestly think that Asher and Archer are good friends, and though there may be underlying feelings there, they’ve never considered them because they’ve never thought about going there. Could this be what convinces them to give things a try? Or did it cement them in the friend’s zone forever? I’m not surprised the romance hasn’t gotten the spotlight as Archer’s health is definitely a priority.
Hannah also seems pretty adamant about keeping her personal life and professional life separate, so I could see her shutting any possibility of a romance with either of the Archer men down.
Dr. Charles dealt with two patients that Dr. Loren Johsnton brought in via ambo. There was also a misunderstanding there as the wife, Janice, thought her husband Fred was trying to kill her, when in reality, Fred was fighting with his body impulsively doing things he couldn’t control. Turns out, he had a small stroke that resulted in a rare neurological called alien hand syndrome. With everything cleared up, the couple was back on track, and it put Charles’ relationship with Liliana in perspective. He realized that he had to clear up the misunderstanding by simply being vulnerable and honest with her about his feelings—he didn’t think of her as a charity case, and just because he has a fancy title doesn’t mean he doesn’t share the same insecurities as other people.
And Liliana, for her part, realized she’d put up a wall because she’s so used to being independent. Of course, there’s still the issue of her overbearing brother Pawel, who, quite frankly, needs to be told to get his own life. I understand siblings being there for each other and helping each other out, but he’s constantly bossing her around, talking down to her, and being kind of emotionally abusive.
Also, I truly hope Dr. Loren becomes a new addition to Med next season!
With Maggie interviewing at other hospitals, I was certain she’d be the person leaving Med at the end of the season, but Halstead’s problematic heroics make so much more sense.
I’m just glad it isn’t Crockett because I was just getting invested in the character, while Archer and Asher have been the best duo this season.
What did you think of the Chicago Med Season 8 finale? Are you pleased with how Halstead’s storyline ended?
What do you want to see next season?
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