Chicago Med – Reality Leaves a Lot to the Imagination – Review

One Chicago definitely returned with a bang this week and Chicago Med led the charge with many intertwined story lines and fascinating new patient situations for fans to revel in. In true Chicago Med style, there was a perfect blend of personal and patient stories to fill our screens and make the hour fly by.

Dr. Marcel and Dr. Blake

The episode opens with Dr. Blake bringing out coffee and waking Dr. Marcel, who was sleeping on her couch. She says he did not need to stay or make her wear a pulse oximeter all night, and he reminds her that she was just poisoned. He asks what she is doing today and she says she is catching up on some journal articles she agreed to peer review and preparing testimony for a medical malpractice case.

Marcel goes to see Blake at the end of the day and asks if she had fun, and she tells him that Dean Archer came by and asked her to dinner, but she said she does not dip her pen in the company ink. Marcel asks if she would make an exception for him and they kiss, and as they do, Avery walks in. She asks if this is why he ended things with her, and then Blake asks if he went out with her daughter. Avery storms out and Blake asks what just happened as the credits roll. It would appear that perhaps Marcel’s romantic notions are coming back to haunt him now, and it will be fascinating to see how he navigates these rocky waters in the weeks to come.

Dr. Hammer and Dr. Marcel and Pete

A man is limping in with help from a friend, bleeding from his leg. Pete was holding a circular saw when he had a seizure and cut his thigh. He did not want to say anything with his friend there as his co-workers do not know about his epilepsy. He tells them he was diagnosed with epilepsy 2 years ago but the meds do not seem to help. Dr. Marcel tells him they will clean out and stitch up the cut and then see if they can figure out why his meds do not seem to be helping, and he asks them to send his friend back to the worksite.

Stevie looks into Pete’s history and his epilepsy diagnosis was weak at best and negligent at worse. He has never had an MRI or EEG or seen a specialist. Stevie wants to arrange for him to spend a few days in the seizure monitoring unit (SMU) and have far more extensive testing and Crockett agrees and says he will contact the SMU.

As he is going to arrange it, Dr. Archer pulls Dr. Marcel to the side and says he gets a vibe from Dr. Blake and asks it she is seeing anyone. Dr. Marcel says he thinks she may be, after making mention that he thought he frowned on workplace relationships and how he sent him and Dr. Manning to HR. Dr. Archer says he may have expanded his thinking on the subject.

Dr. Marcel and Dr. Hammer speak to Pete about being admitted to the seizure monitoring unit and he refuses because he cannot take a week off work, and his insurance will not cover it. He says he knows they mean well but he has 3 kids and his wife has MS, and he can’t miss a week of work and then he has another seizure in front of them. After the seizure, they are discussing what they saw and Stevie says with the way he was bicycling his legs and moving his head back and forth, and the fact that Crockett said he did not seem to lose consciousness, all seem to be pointing toward PNES (Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures). Stevie says it is commonly misdiagnosed as epilepsy and that they need to convince Pete to admit himself to the seizure monitoring unit, because it is the only way to get a definitive diagnosis. Crockett says unless his finances change he can’t and won’t budge and Stevie says she is going to talk to social services, and see if he could maybe get Workman’s Compensation or something. They agree it is a long shot but they need to try.

Back in Pete’s room, Dr. Marcel is with Pete and he is hooked to an EEG and is seizing and Dr. Marcel says to Pete he is stopping the infusion. Dr. Hammer asks what drugs he gave him as she comes in and Dr. Marcel asks to speak to her in private. He tells her in private that he gave him Noceboes (plain saline, no medication) and he didn’t tell her because not everyone is on board with using them and she says that is because they are unethical outside of clinical trials. Dr. Marcel says it was an effective diagnostic tool but Dr. Hammer says he lied to the patient telling him he gave him medication when he gave him saline. Dr. Marcel says it did induce a seizure and Dr. Hammer asks if he thinks that makes it okay. Dr. Marcel says it is not the route he wanted to take, but they had no other option and now they know they can take him off the anticonvulsants and Dr. Hammer asks how will they explain that to Pete. Crockett says they can tell him no abnormal brain activity was recorded during the seizure, and Stevie says the one he tricked him into having, and that he better tell him the truth or she will.

They go to speak to Pete and he is upset and thinks that they think he is faking his seizures and they are not real and they tell him that is not what they are saying. They tell him that with this condition the symptoms are not intentional or acted, and very real. Dr. Marcel comes clean about giving him saline and Pete is furious that they lied to him. Pete wants to speak to a supervisor. Pete talks to Dr. Archer and refuses to see anyone at Chicago Med, but Dr. Archer is going to refer him to a good neuropsychologist he knows at Northwestern. Dr. Marcel apologizes to both of them, and Dr. Archer says that at the end, they saved him time and money and he can get a second opinion now, and Dr. Marcel’s only mistake was getting caught in his eyes. Stevie says there were better ways to get there and walks away. Crockett then tells Dean he misspoke and he does not believe Dr. Blake is seeing anyone. Dr. Archer says “May the best man win”.

Dr. Halstead and Dr. Hammer

Will asks Stevie how it went with her husband and she said well and Will offers to take her for a drink at Molly’s. She says to Will things did not go as she anticipated and he notices that she is wearing her wedding ring. She says Andrew brought up the idea of giving their marriage another try. Will says that he has never seen the break up to make up thing work and good luck with the long distance as it notoriously goes well. She says it may not be for long as the Chief of the ED at her old hospital job is coming up and Andrew wants to put her up for it. Will asks when the job offer came up, before or after she agreed to give things another try. She says it seems like he is insinuating that she was manipulated or bought in some way, and he says he is not. As she walks away, it is clear Will is upset and perhaps a bit jealous also. He clearly has feelings of some kind for Stevie, whether friendship or romantic. This interaction was very reminiscent of Will’s interactions in the early seasons with Dr. Manning.

At the end of the day in the lounge, Will apologizes to Stevie for the way he acted earlier. He says he has enjoyed having his old rival back and she keeps him on his toes but she needs to do what is right for her. She says she would be lying if she said she was not proceeding with caution, but she cannot just walk away from her marriage without at least trying to work things out. Will says he hopes he did not overstep and Stevie looks distraught as she turns her ring and watched him walk away. It would be safe to say that Stevie also gives off signals of having feelings for Will, and it will be fun to see where the twists and turns of the remainder of the season take them.

Dr. Halstead and Dr. Charles and Mrs. Hendrick

Lorraine Hendrick fell down a short flight of stairs and called 911. She has a history of alzheimers, and as Will examines her, her daughter Cindy arrives, and explains she is her step-daughter. She is a nurse at St. Lukes. Will says Lorraine will be fine and he is going to get an x-ray of her wrist.

Cindy tracks Will down and says she works in an ED and knows how busy they are, but they are still waiting for radiology to read the x-ray. Will thanks her for her patience and says he will get someone to read the x-ray as soon as possible.

Will sees Dr. Charles coming in and grabs him. He asks to run something by him and says he has a patient with Alzheimer’s diagnosed a year ago who is showing surprising cognition at this stage of the disease. Dr. Charles asks if he feels she was diagnosed prematurely, but Will says he reviewed the MRI and PET scans from a year ago and they definitely showed changes consistent with Alzheimer’s, so unless this is some kind of medical breakthrough, but he does not want to jump the gun and give them false hope.

Daniel offers to pop in to say hi to her and do a little under the radar cognitive assessment and Will says that will be great. Daniel then calls his therapist Dr. Lonnie Richarson and says he wants to follow up on their conversation from the morning.

Dr. Charles stops by to speak to Lorraine, and Cindy is anxious to leave and then becomes upset, and asking why he is there. She asks to speak to him outside and states she does not want her mother going under any unnecessary testing because that makes Lorraine upset. Will comes over and she says she just wants to take her mother home, but Will says he is noting some unusually positive cognitive features in Lorraine and would like to repeat her scans. Cindy refuses and says she is having a good day, but last week could not even dress and bathe herself. Cindy tells them that Lorraine has lived in fear of this disease her whole life because her mother and grandmother both died from it. Will and Daniel are both suspicious of the situation.

Dr. Charles tells Dr. Halstead that he put in a call to Dr. Caleb Hunter, who had apparently diagnosed her with Alzheimer’s, and that he died 5 years ago, before she was diagnosed. Dr. Charles goes in to ask Lorraine one more question, and Cindy says to leave her alone. Will asks Cindy to step outside and she yells at Dr. Charles to get the hell out. At this point the police come and arrest her for felony forgery and bank fraud, and she says she wants a lawyer. Lorraine asks what is going on and Dr. Halstead tells her they would like to take her for an MRI and that they do not believe she really has Alzheimer’s.

Will tells Daniel that the MRI confirms Lorraine does not have Alzheimer’s, and Daniel tells Will that her old scans were duplicates of a patients at St. Luke’s and as a nurse, Cindy was able to make a copy and change the name on them. She has been draining Lorraine’s chequing and savings accounts and pension. Cindy told Daniel that Lorraine was a bit of an evil step-mother and had her father cut her out of the will and estate. Daniel says he would bet she chose to play off Lorraine’s terror of getting the disease and tells Will good work.

Seeing Dr. Halstead and Dr. Charles working together again was wonderful and it is certain that they are also a Chicago Med dynamic duo. It also seems doing the detective work for Goodwin has sharpened Will’s radar for unusual situations that may not be what they seem. Perhaps all that detective work will make him an even better doctor as we move forward this season.

Dr. Charles and Dr. Lonnie Richardson

Daniel arrives to see his dentist and runs into his therapist, Dr. Lonnie Richardson in the parking lot. He asks if she is doing in person sessions again and she tells him she is trying to lighten her patient load as she prepares to retire. She says working with a new therapist can be a good thing, and she will send him some referrals and Daniel is left standing confused in the cold.

Lonnie comes to see Daniel and when he asks her to come in and sit, she says no. Daniel tells her that he is confused and would like to know why she is terminating him as a patient. She says she told him she is cutting back on her hours and he asks after all these years why he would not make the cut. She tells him there is a professional conflict and would like to leave it at that, but Daniel pushes and asks if he did something inappropriate. She tells him she has developed feelings for him. Lonnie tells him not to say anything as she would prefer he didn’t, but he wanted the truth and that is it. She then leaves a stunned Daniel in his office.

While Dr. Charles may be stunned by this current situation, most Chi-hards would agree that we all have a great affinity for Dr. Charles, and that his kindness and demeanor make us all understand why Lonnie would develop feelings for him. It would be wonderful to see some love for Dr. Charles after all he has been through.

Vanessa and Maggie

Maggie is not feeling well and Vanessa offers to check her out, and gets someone to cover for her. Vanessa comes in to give her the lab results and the test results say Maggie is pregnant. Vanessa takes some additional history from Maggie and she says she will reach out to OB for an ultrasound today. Vanessa says she is so happy for her, and Maggie seems unsure about the situation.

Vanessa goes to talk to Maggie and says she can go with her to her appointment and she says no. Vanessa asks her if she is not happy about the news and Maggie says that is not it. Vanessa says that when she was going through things a few months back, that Maggie was really there for her and she wants to do the same for Maggie. Maggie says it is different and Vanessa asks if she is not comfortable opening up to her. Maggie says she doesn’t want to hurt her, because she is overjoyed and does not want her to think this baby was wanted and she wasn’t. Vanessa says she is not making comparisons, and that Maggie works so hard to protect her but she is her friend and she hopes she is hers too.

Maggie gets an ultrasound but it is not a baby, she has a tumor. She asks if it is cancer, but they tell her there are many kinds of benign HCG secreting tumors and that they will need to do surgery and pathology to know for sure, and not to speculate or get ahead of themselves.

Dr. Scott, Dr. Archer, Goodwin and the Torres family

Emily Torres comes in via ambulance, 37 weeks pregnant and has spilled boiling water on her abdomen. She says she has been in a fog lately and is running a slight fever. Dr. Scott brings in Dr. Archer to have a look and he examines her. Dr. Archer checks out the burn, and reassures her that she has not harmed the baby, but Dr. Scott wants to run some tests to make sure it is just a cold that is making her feel unwell.

Emily’s labs come back and Dr. Archer shows them to Dr. Scott, and she is positive for syphilis. There is a high risk to the baby if they do not treat it and Dr. Scott says he will go tell them, and Dr. Archer brings up that Dr. Scott cannot tell them without breaching her patient privacy.

They consult Goodwin who says they not only have to consider Mrs. Torres privacy but also her safety and well being. She asks if there has been any indication that her husband might become violent and they say no. Dr. Scott says for his well being he should be tested too, and Goodwin says that Public Heath will contact any of her partners, and Dr. Archer says they are all in agreement to let the health department notify dad. Goodwin says that when they speak to Mrs. Torres, she strongly encourages them to advise her to speak to her husband and start there.

Dr. Archer says this sounds like it would be wise to have someone from Senior Admin and risk management there with Dr. Scott to deliver the news, and Goodwin suggests someone like perhaps the Chief of the ED. Dr. Archer says he was thinking someone higher, like the Director of Patient Services. Goodwin asks where he will be and he says three is a crowd and leaves her office.

Dr. Scott and Goodwin share the diagnosis with Emily and she is convinced the test is wrong because she was negative at her first prenatal appointment and Goodwin says she was likely exposed after that. Emily becomes upset and says she has only been with her husband, and asks them to test again and asks what could the outcome could be for the baby. They discuss starting her on Penicillin which typically resolves the infection for mother and baby. Goodwin lets her know some of the risks although they feel this will not be the case, and Emily begins to cry. Her husband comes in and she yells at him and Dylan takes him to the consultation room. Dr. Archer comes by and says that looks like it went about as well as he had expected.

Dylan is checking on Mr. Torres and giving him a shot of Penicillin for the syphilis and he asks how his wife is, and he says she and the baby are responding well to the treatment. He says Dylan must think he is the biggest jerk in the world and he is going over all the reasons he cheated in his head but they are all so lame and cliché. Dylan says he made a choice and now he has to live with it, and that analyzing and replaying it will not change it. He says time is better served being there for Emily and the baby, however she will allow it.

Emily starts having contractions and Goodwin is helping her to breathe when Dr. Scott comes in. He checks her and she is 9.5 cm dilated, and they take her to the delivery room, and Goodwin says she will stay with her and has her focus on her. Mr. Torres sees them leaving and Dylan lets him know she is in labor. He wants to go with her but does not want to upset her.

After she delivers, Goodwin and Dr. Scott share the good news that the baby shows no signs of any syphilis infection in the cord, placenta or her blood. She thanks Goodwin and she says it was her pleasure. Dylan lets Mr. Torres know the baby has tested negative, and says maybe with some time and space, they will be able to patch things up.

This case definitely seemed to make Dr. Scott reflect on what he is going through with Carmen right now, and it is great to see how the writers mix the personal and patient stories in such a strategic way.

Carmen and Dr. Scott

Dylan is sitting with Darius when Carmen arrives and she thanks him for staying with Darius as she does not like him to wake up alone. Dylan asks if she has heard from Tyrrell and she says no, and he says he is sorry and she does not deserve this. She calls him out and says does he really want to speak about what she deserves from a man, and he says she is right and it is not his place. Darius wakes up and she attends to him, and Dylan leaves.

At the end of the episode, Dylan goes back to see Carmen. Darius is sleeping and he starts to apologize to her for what he did way back when they were together. She stops him and says she was teasing him earlier and it is water under the bridge, but Dylan says when he thinks about what he possibly missed out on, and what could have been, he feels he needs to apologize. She thanks him and he walks away.

It will be interesting to see if some old romance will rekindle between these two, or if Tyrrell will return and they will be able to patch up their friendship. Which way would you like to see the story go?

It was definitely a busy week with lots of unexpected outcomes for our Chicago Med team. Viewers can certainly look forward to lots more excitement in the coming weeks.

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