Natalie treats a teenage girl, Ellie, who comes into the ER with severe abdominal pain. She vehemently refuses any type of medication, as her father is a heroin addict. Connor wants to do a scope to see what sort of abdominal issue they’re dealing with, but with Ellie’s refusal of medication, the scope is nearly impossible. Daniel suggests a numbing agent, but the scope is unsuccessful and painful to watch (seriously, cringing the whole time). Seemingly out of options, Natalie turns to the heroin-addicted dad to force his daughter to take the necessary medication to make the scope possible. Daniel gives Natalie a tough time for making that decision, and I don’t know that I agree with him. Was she right to make that call?
Natalie vents to Will about her regret in forcing Ellie to take the medication.
“Well I hate to say it, but, going against a patient’s wishes because you think you know better sounds like something you’d bust my balls for.”Oh, how the tables have turned! He’s not wrong. This scene was brief, but it was nice to see these two together again. Their chemistry has been lacking recently, but it was back in full swing this episode. It hasn’t even been a full season, but we’ve seen Will mature quite a bit. There might be hope for these two after all (though I’m still partly aboard the Natalie/Connor ship).
After a psychotic episode, the doctors are able to diagnose Ellie (and then her father) with AIP, a genetic condition that causes severe stomach pains and episodes of psychosis. Sadly, Ellie must take an opiate to manage the condition and her father has no intention of getting clean.
Elsewhere…
At a party with Tate, April runs into her brother, Noah. Still up to no good, Noah administers hangover cures to Tate’s football player friends even though he’s not technically a doctor yet. Noah has yet to do a decent thing all season, and April is done putting up with it. Finally! Initially, April uses the incident to push Tate away. But through her realization that Noah is his own person and needs to make his own mistakes, she seems to realize that Tate is his own person too; he didn’t intentionally bring in Noah to dole out hangover cures. I was worried this would be the end of Tate, but thankfully, he and April seem to be even stronger than before! I obviously like Tate because he seems like an amazing guy, but I also like that he’s not in any sort of medical profession. It’s refreshing to see a medical drama highlight a romantic relationship that involves someone outside the world of medicine.
After talking with a representative from the surrogacy agency, Sharon and Ethan find that not only is their patient not able to receive the money for carrying the baby, but the parents-to-be may choose to not take the child if she isn’t carried to term. What?! What kind of contract is this? Something is fishy.
“What you’re doing may be legal, but it sure as hell isn’t right…What you’re doing? Let’s call it what it is, human trafficking.”
With the assistance of Sarah, Will treats Andrew, a kid from his old neighborhood. Andrew and his brother clearly know Will, and not in a friendly way. Andrew has a blood clot, and though the typical solution is blood thinners, Will is hesitant because of Andrew’s violent history (possible brain bleed). When the clot moves, Andrew’s brother is adamant another doctor be placed on the case.Dr. Parrington, an attending, takes over the case. The brother later has second thoughts, and asks Halstead to stop Dr. Parrington from doing the procedure. After his interruption, Dr. Parrington, embarrassed, warns Will against applying for a job after residency at the hospital. “I’m on the hiring committee and if I were you, I’d be looking for other hospitals.”
We get a bit more insight into the Rhodes family dynamic this week when Connor’s sister, Claire, returns. He repeatedly blows her off until she finally shows up at the hospital to confront him. “You’re avoiding me…it’s because of Dad, isn’t it? You hate that I don’t hate him. You’re not being fair. Mom’s suicide, I know that you blame him. But Mom had real problems.”
Connor doesn’t remember it that way, though Clair insists it’s because their dad just wanted to protect them. As usual, something about the case this week (Ellie and her dad’s way of coping with his AIP) brings Connor to a realization about his own father. He takes a step toward reconciliation by going to the department store to see Claire. He unexpectedly sees his father from afar, and though they just exchange nods, I have a feeling Connor may be open to diving back into the family drama in hope of reconciling. What did you think of the episode? Will Noah continue to cause trouble? How much of the Rhodes family drama will we see this season? Are Natalie and Will headed toward a relationship soon? Share your thoughts below!
