“Difficult is not impossible.”
When Nathan, a fifty-eight-year-old man, is escorted to Chicago Med by Officer Roman of Chicago PD after suddenly beating his wife in public, Connor is on the case. Not long after, Nathan’s wife Laura, a neurologist, comes in and tells the docs that Nathan has LBD, “Alzheimer’s meets Parkinson’s” as Connor puts it. Connor also finds internal bleeding at the site of Nathan’s quadruple bypass from a few years back.
Daniel is a hesitant to believe the LBD diagnosis, as Nathan shows remarkable moments of clarity for a disease that should be debilitating. Daniel insists on a brain scan, unconvinced that Nathan has LBD. It’s a good thing he did, because he finds that Nathan doesn’t have LBD. Instead, he has a tumor that coupled with his heart medication, presents symptoms of LBD. The problem is that Dr. Downey is unwilling to do the procedure to fix Nathan’s heart, as it’s incredibly risky.
Call it confidence, call it arrogance, or call it romanticism, but Connor agrees to do the surgery. I’d like to think it’s because he feels for Laura, who feels incredibly guilty for diagnosing her husband incorrectly. But, it’s probably a bit of all three. Thankfully, Connor does a fantastic job and Nathan pulls through.
“I suspect it was ego more than altruism. Great surgeons know the balance. You’re confident, not arrogant. I like that, Dr. Rhodes. Nice job today.”The mentorship relationship between Connor and Dr. Downey has been one of the highlights this season for me. Sadly, I have a feeling we will see Dr. Downey pass away before the season is over, and I’m not prepared for it. I’d be willing to bet Connor isn’t either.
Elsewhere…
Ethan spends the day with the Sylvie and some random paramedic (Desmond, apparently. Where’s Jimmy?) from Ambo 61. The three are called to the house of a hoarder and spend a good deal of the hour just trying locate the injured man. Aside from having to slice open the man’s leg and finding a parrot, Ethan’s storyline this episode wasn’t thrilling.
It’s JCO (Joint Commission) Day, aka Everyone Be On Your Best Behavior Day at Chicago Med. It’s the Chief Resident’s job to keep all the doctors in line, and coincidentally, the Chief Resident is Will.
“The guy enforcing the rules is the one who’s always breaking them.”Yeah, this should be interesting. Will takes JCO day seriously. So much so that he interrupts a very important conversation (April may or may not love Tate! Thanks to Will we still don’t know…turd) to remind Maggie and April about glove protocol. “I’m already in the doghouse with Goodwin. If there’s any chance of getting out, I want it.” Will has had a rough year, so it only makes sense he wants this crucial day to go well.
Wanting to keep everything by the book, Maggie insists on calling the urologist when the prostate seed implant of a patient comes out with a urine spill. It seems silly, because it’s just pee, but with “Robocop Halstead” as Maggie calls him on the prowl, Maggie and April don’t take any chances. Surprisingly, Will breaks protocol at the end of the day and cleans up the radioactive material himself to clear the trauma room for Maggie and April. I also never thought a scene cleaning up pee would be so touching, but I loved it!
Dr. Parrington is back briefly this episode, but it’s long enough to make an impact. She’s not letting what happened last week go, and Will’s future at the hospital is in jeopardy. Isn’t it the patient’s right to request a different doctor? I get that Dr. Parrington might have a bit of a bruised ego after Will was chosen over her by a patient, but Will ended up being right, so what’s her problem? Whatever it is, she’s not letting go of it anytime soon. Expect this to be a major storyline going into the finale.
Natalie and Sarah treat a woman for a dog bite…her own dog, who she swears is not the attacking type. But when the patient presents other symptoms, Natalie and Sarah run a few tests. Sarah later happens to find Boomer, the dog, as he’s escorted in by the patient’s sister. And when Boomer goes crazy and tries to attack an incoming cancer patient, everything clicks for Natalie and Sarah.
It’s been said that some dogs can sense cancer, which if true, is nothing short of incredible. Boomer wanted to attack the cancer patient not for the patient, but for the cancer. It’s because of Boomer that Sarah and Natalie find their patient has cancer.
The hour ended with a rare scene including the entire cast (minus Natalie) for a lecture from Sharon.
“My team ordered tests on the sly, brought a dog into the ED, and handled radioactive material.”Daniel tried to downplay everything, claiming disorder is part of life. This scene might not have been humorous intentionally, but I thought it was hilarious! It was like all the kids were getting a lecture from Mom, when Dad steps in and tries to make it all okay, only to be shot down epically by Mom. And the fist bump between Daniel and Connor? Perfect. Loved it.
What did you think of the episode? How will Will’s position on staff be resolved? Share your thoughts below!