Chicago Med – May Your Choices Reflect Hope, Not Fear - Review

After another brief break, Chi-hards all over the world will be waiting with baited breath to see the new One Chicago episodes this week. So let’s check in and see what was happening at Chicago Med, before we welcome them back.

Dr. Taylor, Dr. Shentu, Dr. Charles and the Patels

The episode begins with Vanessa gossiping with a nurse about having brunch with Dr. Shentu. She tells the nurse they had a nice time, but she has not heard from him and she has a three day “ghosting” rule, so if she does not hear from him today, she is moving on. She then goes to see a patient.

Dr. Taylor is examining Mrs. Kira Patel. Her daughter says that she has been unsteady and today when she was walking on the stairs it was as if her legs gave out. Mrs. Patel says that she just lost her balance and should have used the handrail, and tells Vanessa she is sure there are sicker patients than her that Vanessa could go help.

Vanessa says that there does appear to be a loss of some motor function and tries to confirm that this has only been the last week, but Mrs. Patel tells her that her legs have felt heavy this last month, and her daughter is upset she did not say anything. She says she is an old lady and this is what happens, that you get weaker, and Vanessa does a sensory test which shows loss of sensation. She tells them she needs to run some tests but some autoimmune and neurological conditions like MS and Guillian Barre come to mind. Mrs. Patel tells Dr. Taylor that she has a cousin with MS, and Vanessa orders some scans and a Neuro consult.

Dr. Charles arrives and is chatting with Vanessa about dating when he finds out she is seeing Dr. Shentu. Dr. Abrams comes to discuss the consult and says there is nothing Neurological about her condition. He says her scans are normal and she has no autoimmune markers and there is no mechanical reason for her symptoms. Dr. Taylor says there is no medical cause either and Dr. Abrams says that perhaps she needs to see psychiatry.

Mrs. Patel is quite resistant to the idea that her paralysis is psychological. Her daughter returns and they find out that she is going to have an arranged marriage and that her fiancé wants to come visit but she is concerned this may not be the best way to meet him for the first time, even though it is sweet for him to want to come. She goes to speak with her mom, and Vanessa and Dr. Charles discuss the idea of arranged marriages. They wonder why if Varsha should be feeling the stress of the upcoming wedding, why her mother is the one in hospital.

Dr. Charles goes in to speak with Mrs. Patel, and talks to her about her symptoms and when they started. They discuss that choosing Arjan was up to her since her husband was deceased, and how that is a big decision. She starts to panic and tells Dr. Charles that they cannot get married.

Dr. Charles goes to talk to Varsha and says that he thinks her mother is having a conversion disorder, which is attacking her body, and he thinks it is related to her arranged marriage. Varsha is confused as to why her mother would be upset, as arranged marriage was her mother’s idea, and Dr. Charles tells her figuring that out is crucial to helping her.

Daniel returns to the room and Kira says “No more doctors today”, and Daniel says that is fine, but he wants her to have a quick word with Varsha. Varsha asks her mother to talk to her and help her understand. She says she and her dad were arranged and together until the day he died, and Mrs. Patel tells Varsha that her marriage was horrible. Kira tells her “Your father loved you but he never loved me”. She says she was unhappy from the moment she walked the seven circles and became a wife, and did not want that for her daughter. Varsha asks if she felt that way, why did she propose an arranged marriage in the first place. Kira says it is all she has ever known, and she is so sorry.

Varsha says it is okay, and Kira says she does not have to marry Arjan but Varsha says she is going to go through with the wedding, because she wants the marriage. Vanessa asks her if she is just getting married to make her mother feel better and she says no, she is doing it for herself. She said that her dating life was a nightmare and with Arjan, it is a different path to build love over time.

Dr. Charles goes to speak to Vanessa and tells her Kira is speaking with Arjan and Varsha and she is wiggling her toes now. They discuss the success rates of arranged marriages as Dr. Shentu arrives to take Vanessa out again.

It is an interesting twist to not only add in a love interest for Vanessa, but also allow us to see a different side of Dr. Shentu. We also get to see the evolving relationship of Dr. Charles and Lonnie, as Daniel meets up with Lonnie, and brings her chocolates. He says this was a tradition his father swore by.

Dr. Archer, Dr. Blake, Dr. Marcel and the Banks/Price family.

Dr. Archer receives a patient from a car accident, Jack Banks, who was launched through the windshield. They let Dean know his wife was in the passenger seat and the fire department is still trying to extricate her. He is severely injured and they take him to the hybrid OR for exploration before CT. Dr. Archer calls Dr. Blake after CT to let her know he stabilized the patient in the OR but he has massive head trauma and is likely brain dead and he is having Neuro confirm, but he is an organ donor.

The wife arrives and Archer yells for Crockett to come help him. Rose Banks was in the high-speed car crash, and as they examine her they realize that she is pregnant (about 32 weeks). Rose’s scans show a severe spinal cord injury and a catastrophic stroke and Dr. Archer discusses this with Rose’s parents, the Price’s, who have arrived. Dr. Marcel tells them there is no way to know if the baby was injured. Her parents decide to deliver the baby and allow Rose to donate her organs to others in need.

Rose starts to crash in surgery and the baby starts to show distress and the OB does a crash C-section. They work to resuscitate the baby as Dr. Archer and Dr. Marcel watch from the observation room. Goodwin comes to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Price in the NICU to ensure they understand what is going on with their grandson. Even though his heartbeat had been restored, he would not survive off the ventilator, but they do not want to accept that he will not survive. Goodwin tells Dr. Marcel and Dr. Archer to give them some time, as they just lost their daughter and son in law and are not ready to accept their loss of their grandson yet. A short time later, the Price family asks to speak to Goodwin, and say they have said goodbye and ask about organ donation for the baby and she says she will have the organ donation coordinator come to speak to them.

Dr. Marcel greets Dr. Blake coming out of the OR. She tells him between Rose and Jack there were 12 organ recovered for transplant. Dr. Marcel says the afternoon is not over yet and that Tyler’s grandparents agreed to organ donation for the baby, and he is match for his patient Kayla. He asks her to be able to take the lead on Kayla’s transplant. He tells her he needs to run this one and she will be right there and she agrees. Marcel completes the surgery on Kayla and transplants the intestine.

Blake finds him on the balcony (cue the bad green screen we have come to expect on the Gaffney balcony). He tells her about how he had a daughter Harper, who died of leukemia, and he says he lost her too soon. He says he thought for a long time that his memory of her was his greatest weakness, but Blake says today it was his source of strength.

Dr. Scott, Dr. Marcel and the Millers (crossover with the Banks/Price family and Goodwin)

Dr. Scott is bringing Dr. Marcel up to speed on Kayla Miller, a 10 day old newborn who has been vomiting, fussy and not eating. He tells Crockett that the labs and ultrasound all do not look good and he is hoping for a fresh set of eyes. Crockett asks how the parents are and Dylan tells him young and scared and that even though Kayla is their first child, they know something is very wrong.

As Dr. Marcel examines the baby, the parents express that they are blaming themselves and Dr. Scott reassures them that she has an infection, and it is nothing either of them did wrong. Dr. Marcel lets the family know that he is seeing air and dilation in the small bowel and there is likely something wrong with the blood supply and the only way to identify the cause for sure is surgery. The parents are terrified at the thought of surgery on their newborn, but Dr. Marcel and Dr. Scott reassure them this is the only way to figure out what is going on, and they agree.

Dr. Marcel is operating and Dr. Scott is watching, and they see that the bowel is dead and the entire intestine needs to come out. They let the parents know that Kayla has necrotizing entercolitis and that the likely cause is a birth defect. They remove some of the intestine, but tell them she is very sick and the only way to cure her is an intestinal transplant. Unfortunately, because infant organs must come from infant donors, they are in short supply.

Thanks to the willingness of the Price grandparents to allow their grandson’s organs to be donated for transplant, Kayla was able to get her transplant. After the surgery, Dr. Marcel tells the parents that Kayla will have the stay in the NICU for a few weeks, but he feels she will make a full recovery. Goodwin comes in and lets the parents know that the grandparents of the infant who donated the organ would like to meet Kayla and ask if that is okay and they agree. The Price’s come in to see her and The Millers hug them and thank them.

The team comments on the fact that is it like a new family has been formed, because the Miller’s have no other family, and the Price’s just lost their family. It would be interesting to see if these families keep in touch moving forward in the future.

Dr. Halstead, Maggie and Rudy Hernandez

Maggie enters the doctors’ lounge and finds Will on the phone with his cousin, who is asking for a loan. Will tells Maggie that since he received his reward money, everyone is coming out of the woodwork asking for money for different “investment opportunities”. Will says with his debts the money does not go as far as you would think, and when Maggie says it is a nice chunk of change to play with, Will says he is not playing with it, that he is planning to pay off his debts and lock the rest away in savings.

Will goes in to see Mr. Hernandez, who has a fever and SOB. He was in the ICU for 3 weeks with COVID last year, and he seems to have had constant infections since then. Will orders some tests, and says he will consult with his attending physician. Dr. Cook comes to see Rudy and he and Dr. Halstead tell him he has fungal pneumonia and that they want to have a CT to define the pneumonia. Rudy does not want the CT and so Dr. Cook says based on the xrays perhaps they can skip it. Dr. Halstead reluctantly agrees since Dr. Cook is his primary attending.

Will is looking at buildings when Maggie comes up and he tells her that Atwater just bought a building and Jay thinks he should get into real estate too. He found a place in Canaryville where they grew up, and Jay wants Will to check it out. Maggie tells him his patient was just admitted and the ED is slow, so he should go and at least take a look. Will says he will go look, but he is not taking his chequebook.

Will returns and he tells Maggie the building has potential but he feels it is too much of a gamble for him. He then gets a page from the ICU. Will talks to Dr. Cook and Rudy’s fever spiked and he started coughing up blood. Will blames himself for not pushing for the CT earlier and Dr. Cook says he was the one who felt they could skip the scan and it is not on him.

The CT scan shows he has a blind cavity in his lung due to damage from COVID, and that it was hidden on the x-ray. They give him two options for treatment. The first is a CT guided antibiotic infusion directly into the cavity, which will clear up the current infection but not address the root of the problem, which is the cavity. The second option is a surgery to remove that area of the lung and the cavity. Rudy says the surgery scares him but he wants to take the chance and fix the issue, and agrees to surgery.

Will tells Maggie he changed his mind and bought the building and she says congratulations. Will goes to see Rudy, and sees he is getting the CT infusion instead. Rudy thanks Will for his support, and says he chose to change his mind and take what he felt was the safer and better option for him.

This was an interesting development, as it seems like Will chose to buy the building after his interaction with Rudy and him saying he was going to take a chance. With the look on Will’s face after Rudy says he decided it was better to take the safe choice, perhaps Will might be having a little buyer’s remorse.

Dr. Scott, Maggie and Stefan

Dylan is examining a young man, Stefan, with chest and abdominal trauma. He was punctured in the abdomen with a pair of scissors and Dylan wants to do some tests. Dr. Scott returns and says that his results are borderline and he would like a surgeon to have a look at the wound from the inside in order to be safe. Suddenly he gets a text, and goes outside to see who it is. It is Lelana, his patient from before who is a cop. She says she needs his patient Stefan discharged. Dylan figures out that he is a CI. She says he is brokering a meet and she needs him or her case takes a big hit.

Maggie comes to tell Dylan that Stefan agreed to the surgery and Dylan tells her to hold off, and goes in to speak with him. Dylan tells him that he is stable and if he really does not want the surgery he will not fight him on it. Maggie confronts him and Dylan says he changed his mind. Dylan goes out to talk to Lelana and says if Stefan spikes a fever or if anything is off she needs to bring him right back. He says he assumes that Lelana is her cover name and asks her what her real one is. She says she will tell him when her case is over.

Stefan arrives back at the ED by ambulance with two gunshot wounds. The ambulance crew tell him he was the only one on site. Dylan tells Maggie he needs to leave and she asks whom Stefan is to him, and he says no one and that it was just a long day.

Goodwin and Dr. Archer

Early in the episode, we get the great news that Sharon’s daughter is having a baby. Daniel congratulates her and says she must be excited to be a grandmother. This was a short scene, but perhaps some foreshadowing as sadly, we know that the fate of babies of the One Chicago characters do not have the best history of happy endings. Fingers crossed that Sharon will have a healthy grandbaby arrive.

At the end of the episode, Dr. Archer is eating dinner with Goodwin, and they are discussing candidates for a new program where they are implementing an emergency obstetrics program into the ED and Goodwin says they need an experienced attending to get it off the ground. The candidate they are discussing has done an ED fellowship at LA county which has a similar volume and case type as Chicago Med. She arrives and it is Dr. Hannah Asher, Dr. Halstead’s ex who had struggled with addiction. She greets Sharon and thanks her for her support and for keeping in touch with her during her recovery and time away. Dr. Asher is introduced to Dr. Archer and he asks if she really feels Chicago Med is the best place for her based on her history of addiction, and she says she is prepared to do anything to stay sober.

With the departure of Dr. Hammer and the reintroduction of a new program and Dr. Asher to Chicago Med, we can only surmise that some interesting storylines involving Will Halstead are on the menu moving forward. In addition, the development of some complicated relationships for Dr. Taylor, Dr. Charles and Dr. Scott could all be in the future. No wonder we are all on the edge of our seats for the next new episode!

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