Chicago Med - The Things We Thought We Left Behind - Review

In this episode we get to explore the past and learn more about Dylan Scott, and also dive into looking at illegal back alley surgery and also the nepotism that can occur for famous people when it comes to healthcare and hospital image. It was a very busy episode, with many moving parts, and it is clear that our Med writers are continuing to constantly step up their game in terms of excitement and creating an action packed hour for Chi-hard viewers.

Dr. Scott, Carmen, Tyrrell and Dr. Archer

The episode opens with Dylan, who is walking up to a house where his sister Zorra has responded to a police call. She tells Dylan that they were called there for a noise complaint because of an argument over their son’s injured arm, and you see her ask Dylan how long it has been since he has seen her. Then Carmen comes to door, and it is clear that she knows him. Dylan goes inside and meets Carmen’s son Darius, who has a hurt arm. When he asks Darius, he says his arm has been hurting for a few days and Dylan examines him and says Carmen was right and his arm might be broken and they should go to the hospital. She tells him that she told Tyrrell that he needed to be checked out but he was just laid off so was worried about the money.

At the ED, Scott asks Maggie to take Darius to x-ray and Tyrrell, his father, arrives and you can see tension already between him and Scott as he calls him “Officer Scott”. Tyrrell wants to take Darius to xray, but Dylan says it is hospital policy and he cannot. Tyrrell starts to get upset but Carmen says that their son is hurt and to just follow the rules please. Archer approaches Dylan and asks what is wrong, and he explains that he has known the parents forever and there is history there, but it is complicated. Archer asks if he needs to take him off the case and he says no.

They get back from xray, and Scott and Archer review the film. Darius has a two bone fracture, which is more complicated and needs surgery to repair it. Tyrrell wants to know why they cannot just do a cast, and asks Dr. Archer what he would do if it was his kid. Archer says that his son had a similar fracture, and he chose to do the surgery to save him a lifetime of pain and deformity, and Carmen and Tyrrell consent to the surgery. Dylan tells Carmen Dr. Archer is the best.

While Dr. Archer is performing the surgery and preparing to attach the plates, he finds a synovial sarcoma tumor. Dylan wants to tell the parents and Archer says it is not necessary as it is now part of the surgery as he has to remove it to put in the plate, but he insists on going to speak to them and Archer says make it fast. Scott speaks to the parents and lets them know they found the tumor and they need to remove it. Tyrrell says that Darius is a kid and can’t have cancer. He gets angry at Dylan and refuses the tumor removal and says he wants another doctor, and that Scott is done working on his son. Scott updates Archer, who says he is completing the other plate and he has twenty minutes to get consent so take off the white coat and get it done.

Dylan goes to see Tyrrell to get consent. He is upset that Dylan watched him get busted years ago when Scott was a cop and they talk about what happened. Dylan says he is sorry but this is not about that and his son has cancer and he needs to do the right thing. Dylan says he can hate him all he wants but he will not walk away until he has consent for the surgery and Tyrrell finally says they can do it.

Carmen is tucking Darius in and Dylan comes to see them. She thanks him for talking to Tyrrell. She asks him if Darius has a long way to go and he says yes but he can beat this. He tells her he will be here for them but Tyrrell arrives and says for him to stay away from his family.

After shift, Dylan goes to Molly’s for a drink and sees Archer. He tells him how he was with Darius’s mom Carmen and he screwed it up. Archer says he knows what that is like and that his son has not spoken to him in 15 years. This was a great moment as we are starting to have the chance to see Dr. Archer as a real person with a past and feelings, and not just the antagonist we have come to know him as so far this season. Perhaps it is how wonderful Dylan Scott is and that he just brings out the best in people, but between Dr. Scott and Dr. Charles, it is nice to finally get a glimpse of a completely different side of Dr. Archer.

Dr. Hammer, Dr. Halstead and Dr. Charles

Stevie sees Will in the lobby and he is wearing a bowling shirt and she begins teasing him. She asks why he is here on his day off and he says he is catching up on doing paperwork, and Stevie agrees with him that it is so busy right now that she just started and is already behind. Suddenly a young woman comes in calling for help and collapses on floor (her name is Nadia). Stevie yells for a stretcher and Nadia passes out and Stevie sees she has fresh surgical wounds on her backside.

Will comes down to the ED and asks her about the young woman who collapsed and she says that she recently had gluteal implant surgery but will not give her any details about it. Stevie asks Dr. Charles to speak with her to see if she can find out where she got her surgery, as she seems to be forthcoming about the other parts of her history, just not the surgery. They wonder if it is back-alley surgery. She will not tell Dr. Charles anything and he says she seems to be protecting someone, and then her “father” Gregor arrives. He asks what has happened, and Dr. Hammer tells him that she has an infection from the surgery that has now become sepsis.

He asks if she is going to be okay, and he wants to know if something went wrong with the surgery. Dr. Charles asks if he can get more details of the surgery for them and he says he will try, but they have not spoken in a while. Daniel and Stevie seem to think how she reacted to him was odd, but since he said they have not spoken in a while, they are not sure if it is anything to be concerned about.

Nadia suddenly gets SOB, and Stevie examines her to try to find the cause. Suddenly Gregor says it must be a silicone embolus and that the implant must have leaked and gotten into the vascular system. Stevie says that makes sense and she takes Nadia for an urgent CT/angiogram. Dr. Charles confronts Gregor and says he cannot go with her as he is not her relative, and that he is her surgeon.

Daniel speaks to Gregor and he asks where he has practiced in the United States. Gregor tells Dr. Charles that he came as a refugee from Russia when he was forced to leave his country and he could not afford to spend 10 years doing another residency. Dr. Charles confirms that he never received a license to practice medicine in the USA. He was a doctor/surgeon in Russia, and when he came to this country, the people in his community came to him because they trusted him for earaches and sore throats, and Dr. Charles says this is much more serious than an earache. He says it was not the surgery, and it was the implants, which Dr. Charles said was faulty because he bought it on the black market because he does not have a license. Gregor said he operated on another young woman and Charles lets Stevie and Will know and Will heads out in the stroke truck to find her, as she is not answering her phone and they are worried she is also ill for the same reason. Daniel says he will take care of Gregor.

Will arrives at the home of the other young woman and they see her collapsed inside the house so the fire department break in. Alexandra has collapsed on the floor and they begin bagging her and they get her into the truck and take a CT scan.

Stevie is on videoconference from the hospital and is reviewing the scan they did in the truck. She tells Will that Alexandra has a silicone embolus in her right ventricle near her heart valve. Will wants to bring her to the hospital but Stevie says the slightest movement could cause it to move and block the valve and Stevie says that Will could remove it in the truck and she says she will guide him through removing it with serial CT scans. Will reminds her that he is not an interventional radiologist and he would be going in blind but she says she knows he can do it and it is the patient’s only chance to survive, and she will guide him because it is their only option and Will agrees to do it.

Stevie is directing Will by viewing the serial CT scans they are taking in the van and he is doing the removal of the silicone. Right when Will is ready to remove the silicone, the truck runs out of power and cannot do any more images, but Stevie says to trust her and that he is right there in the correct place, so Will inflates the balloon and pulls it back and they get the silicone out of the valve. Will heads to the hospital with Alexandra.

They get Alexandra to the hospital but Will is not sure she will survive. Dr. Charles confronts Gregor, and he says he knows he judges him but he was persecuted and had to flee his country, and Daniel says that did not give him permission to do surgery in a garage. Gregor says that they would have gone to someone else who just wanted their money and at least he knew what he was doing, and says he was a surgeon in Russia and asks Dr. Charles to show him some respect because he is a doctor and a surgeon. Dr. Charles says he was a surgeon in a hospital in Russia and he may have had to leave because he was being persecuted, but that did not give him the right to come here and do something illegal and practice without a license. Dr. Charles has called the police and they take him away and Gregor tells him he never meant to hurt anyone.

Goodwin sees Will at the desk and asks why he is still there so late. He tells her that Shentu told him he needed to fill out all the paper work and liability release forms, because the hospital is under such scrutiny. Goodwin is upset and we see her go towards the board room where Avery Quinn is sitting.

Will goes to talk to Stevie in the ICU for an update on the patients and asks her to go bowling with him. She agrees but then she gets a registered envelope. She opens it and it is divorce papers. Will says maybe they should go bowling another night and she agrees.

This was such a great team during this episode and it is clear that the Chicago Med fandom is already starting to ship Hamstead. Their interaction was very sweet and it is clear that Will is concerned and cares about how Stevie is feeling, whether just as a friend or as something more. Only time will tell…

Dr. Marcel and Dr. Blake

Dr. Marcel is seeing a patient, Miles Shaw, who fell and has a sprained wrist and is experiencing anxiety. Marcel lets him know that all his tests were negative and the fall was not from a heart attack. Crockett asks him about if there is anything causing him extra anxiety and encourages him to follow up with his regular doctor to get ongoing care and long term support for his anxiety and panic attacks, and he thanks Marcel.

Wes Tucker from the Hall of Fame is arriving via ambulance and Shentu is there to greet him, and direct them to a more private room. He has been vomiting for several days and is in liver failure. He gives Marcel a thumb drive with all his records and scans and Marcel pulls them up and says he has severe liver disease and scarring.

Blake asks him how long he has been an alcoholic, and he comments on how she doesn’t beat around the bush. He says he has been in and out of rehab for many years but it never seems to stick and he has been drinking his whole life for as long as he can remember. Dr. Blake says he likely will need a liver transplant.

Shentu pulls Dr. Blake and Dr. Marcel to the conference room and tells them an organ is available for Wes Tucker and this would be great publicity for the hospital. Unfortunately they tell Shentu the transplant will not be possible and Wes’ tests show he has alcohol in his blood and you have to be 6 months sober to get an organ. Shentu pushes back to try to get them to change their minds, but they tell him it is UNOS’s rules and not theirs and there cannot be a transplant with one of their organs.

At this point, Wes Tucker’s sister sets up a drive at the hospital to test people to find him a live donor and Shentu says this will be good publicity for the hospital to save Wes Tucker and great publicity for live donorship, so to him this is a win-win. Goodwin expresses her objections and supports the concerns that Marcel and Blake express, but Shentu insists on moving forward.

Shentu says they have found a live donor match for Tucker and says that because of Blake and Marcel’s objections, they are assigning the transplant to another team (Dr. Jones). Blake asks what Goodwin thinks Shentu says she voiced her concerns strenuously but ultimately Goodwin was overruled by the board, despite her well reasoned objections. Marcel points out that Blake is the only person who is experienced in this type of transplant, but Shentu says the decision is made. Marcel voices his concerns to Blake, but she says there is nothing they can do and she only hopes Dr. Jones doesn’t botch the operation.

Marcel learns that the volunteer donor is his patient from earlier, Mr. Shaw, who suffers from anxiety and he is concerned he is not prepared for what the surgery involves. Crockett asks him if he really wants to go through with this and Miles says he did not realize what a big operation this was, but when Marcel says he can always back out, he says this is Wes Tucker and he will have a piece of him keeping him alive and that he has to do it. Crockett goes to Blake and tells her as the Chief of the Department she can take over any surgery she feels is necessary and Marcel says he is advocating for his patient and what is best for him and asks Blake to take over to do the transplant. She agrees and tells the team to prep the OR for them.

During the transplant, Crockett’s patient starts coding in the OR. They cannot seem to get his heart rate up and Marcel remembers that he takes beta blockers for his anxiety, and so he likely took one before the surgery. They get his heart rate back and the anesthetist puts in a temporary pacemaker while they wait the four hours for the drugs to wear off.

It was a nice change of pace to see the Marcel/Blake partnership in action, without the underlying romantic notes this week. This dynamic between them, while interesting, feels a bit odd due to Marcel’s relationship with Avery. It will be interesting to see where the Med writers decide to go with this situation this season, and all of the Chi-hards will be waiting with baited breath for the next installment of this duo.

Maggie and Vanessa

Vanessa says she has been speaking to her parents and wants to invite Maggie to her parents’ home for dinner, because they want to get to know her. She says that she really wants them to meet. Maggie talks to Goodwin about her apprehension as she does not want to impose on them, and is worried what they might think of her. Finally, Maggie agrees to go and they all have dinner together. Ben is not able to join her so she goes alone and while it is awkward, it is clear that they are all trying. Perhaps this experience will allow everyone to move forward as they all continue to support Vanessa together.

Goodwin and Shentu

Shentu brings Goodwin a coffee and says that he wants to encourage her to meet with Avery Quinn about the Vascom lawsuit. Sharon is upset and does not think they should be so eager to meet with her as her firm has brought a class action lawsuit against the hospital and she has named every doctor associated with the Vascom in the suit, and they are not at fault in this situation and should not be punished. He says that these depositions are proforma to check all the boxes and they need to avoid an ugly legal battle that is played out in the media, because they are being judged in the court of puclic opinion. He tells her she needs to meet with Avery and to enjoy the coffee. She throws out the coffee.

At the end of the episode, she goes to see Avery. She tells her to take all the doctors names off the lawsuit and put her name on it. Avery asks if the board approved this and she says no. Avery asks if she knows what she is getting into and she says yes and sits down at the table and says to ask her whatever she wants to know. One can only imagine the trouble that she will get into for this action, but I am sure that Goodwin knows she is already in hot water with the board, and she has always been the kind of woman that will do whatever is needed to protect her staff, so that is likely a driving force behind her actions.

And so we close on another exciting week at Gaffney. This week we saw a collaboration of relationships past, present and future, and thanks to the Chicago Med team and Goodwin's leadership, we have patients who recieved the best possible care in Chicago. And this Chi-hard cannot wait until next week to see what our amazing writers bring us next.

What did you think of this episode of Chicago Med? Share your thoughts in the comments below.