Chicago Med - Like a Phoenix Rising From the Ashes - Review

As we head into the final few episodes of the season, let us recap where we were when we last saw our friends at Gaffney. It has definitely been a phenomenal season of excitement and exceptional storylines, and surely, these last few episodes will not disappoint heading into the summer hiatus.

Dr. Halstead, Dr. Asher, Ingrid and the Harris’

Dr. Halstead and Dr. Asher meet as they both drive into the parking lot, and Will tells Hannah he has something for her. It is her coffee maker that she left at the apartment. It is very sweet that Will hang onto it for this long, and sadly Hannah tells him she no longer wants it and that he can keep it. The two of them then run into Ingrid, who is clearly uncomfortable and very pregnant, and they help her inside.

Ingrid tells them she woke up and felt very swollen and Dr. Asher tells her that she is a bit swollen and there does look like there is some extra fluid on the scan, but she will run some more tests and Dr. Halstead reassures her that at this point, she can deliver a healthy 33 week old baby. She says she is without an OB right now. She tells them that she was told that the baby may have a rare genetic condition called spinal muscular atrophy as she tested positive early in her pregnancy for the screening, and she did not have any follow up testing.

Hannah and Will run some tests and realize the baby is anemic, but they also realize that the baby’s blood type shows there is no way the baby could be Ingrid’s. Ingrid tells them that she was a surrogate, but that when they got the test results about the spinal muscular atrophy, the family wanted to abort the baby, but she could not bring herself to do that, and so she had continued the pregnancy without their knowledge. They begin to treat the baby with a transfusion, and Will tells Hannah they have to contact the legal department and she reluctantly agrees to contact them. Legal contacts the Harris’, who immediately come to the hospital to find out what is happening, and one can only imagine what that phone call must have been like for Legal to make or the Harris’ to receive.

While Goodwin, Dr. Halstead and Dr. Asher speak with the Harris’, the baby becomes distressed and they have to do an emergency c-section and deliver the baby. Goodwin waits with the Harris’s and Dr Asher arrives to tell them Ingrid and the baby are fine and the baby is healthy, and the Harris family ask about the test, and that it was supposed to be 99% accurate. Dr. Asher tells them that big business got involved with these types of testing and are guaranteeing accuracy results that are just not possible, and that there is no signs of the condition. This scene really speaks to the reality of the limitation of testing, but also the reality that due to the inaccurate test, they could have aborted a healthy pregnancy, which when they had been trying for so long could have been a nightmare for them.

The Harris’ are very excited to have a healthy baby. Ingrid has a bit of time with the baby and then seems to be having difficulty giving him up because she feels they did not want him, and it leaves you to wonder if there is going to be a custody dispute. Mrs. Harris comes in to speak to her and thank her and tell her how brave she is but Ingrid reveals that she had a feeling things would be okay because she had a friend who had received the same results and the baby was fine, but she did not tell them because she wanted to keep him. She hands him over to Mrs. Harris and tells her she will make a great mother.

At the end of the episode, Hannah accepts the coffee maker from Will and says it was sweet of him to keep it for her and she dismissed his kindness too quickly and she hopes that they can be friends. She tells him her ghosting him had nothing to do with him and how she felt about him, and hopes they can “turn the page”. It certainly looks like Will still has feelings for her, but for now, perhaps friendship is the best plan. And if Dr. Hammer returns next season, it would be interesting to see this triangle develop.

Dr. Marcel, Dr. Charles, Dr. Richardson and Luis Pena

Doris asks Dr. Marcel to see Mr. Pena, who was brought in by the police after collapsing at a protest in front of the mayor’s house and is in bad shape. Dr. Marcel tells him his kidneys are failing and he is likely to go into multi-system organ failure if he does not allow them to give him nutrition. Mr. Pena has been on a hunger strike as the city plans to build an industrial waste disposal site in his old neighbourhood, moving the location from an affluent area to a more impoverished area where he grew up. A journalist is following his progress. Dr. Marcel asks for Dr. Charles to see him, and they do what they can to provide comfort, but he refuses treatment and Dr. Charles says he appears to have decisional capacity, has logic for what he is doing and a clear goal.

Dr. Richardson arrives as she is his regular psychiatrist and tells Luis she is concerned based on what they have been through together, and that he is risking his life and the reporter does not have his best interest in mind. When he continues to decline treatment, Lonnie goes to the court and gets a court order in order to provide treatment and have Dr. Marcel place a feeding tube. Dr. Marcel is upset by having to do this, and having to place Luis in soft restraints to put in the tube, but he tells him he is sorry but bound by the court order.

Daniel is upset that Lonnie did not consult with him first, as he feels he is impartial and that Luis still had decisional capacity, but Lonnie says she knows his history well, and she feels this is a form of suicidality for him. The reporter leaves the room and as she is returning, Luis is on fire. Dr. Marcel grabs a curtain and puts the fire out, and they take him into his room and try to revive him, but he dies. They discover that the reporter had removed his restraints and he covered himself in hand sanitizer and lite himself on fire to kill himself.

Lonnie is clearly upset by the outcome, and Daniel tries to comfort her. She is a bit resistant at first, but them allows him to provide her with comfort. It is interesting to see their relationship cross paths professionally now that they are involved personally, and while we have seen this not go well for other Gaffney couples, so far, this seems to be a relatively good partnership both on and off the job.

Dr. Archer, Dr. Choi and Gerald Simmons

Dr. Archer and Dr. Choi go in to see Mr. Simmons, who was in the Navy and sent over from the VA, and he says he was told that Dr. Choi was one of the best. Ethan notices he has the same tattoo as his father. His heartrate and blood pressure are quite high, and he has a severe headache and had a valve replaced 10 years ago. As they are examining him, he gets severe chest pain and arrests and Ethan and Dean revive him and order some tests. At one point, Gerald reaches to touch Ethan’s face, and after, while both he and Dean find it odd, they are not sure what it means.

Gerald’s tests are not conclusive and he continues to be hypertensive and tachycardic, despite treatment. Ethan asks someone to bring him some of his father’s photos and finds a picture of Gerald and his father. He notices that there is a difference in the color of his old appendix scar and goes to Dean and tells him he thinks that Gerald has a pheochromocytoma, which would explain his tachycardia, hypertension and the discoloration of the scar. They do a CT scan and find something on his kidney, and Dr. Archer takes him to the OR and confirms Dr. Choi was correct and they remove the tumor.

After the surgery, Dr. Choi is speaking with Gerald and discussing what happened, and shows him the picture he found. Ethan asks him if he knew that Patrick had died and he said yes and that Patrick would not let him come to see him when he was sick. He then reveals to Ethan that he and his father were in love. It is clear that after his father’s fierce traditional manner, this will be a hard thing for Dr. Choi to understand, likely not due to his own problem with their life choice, but because of how his father always behaved. It will be interesting to see how this storyline may develop further before the season ends.

Dr. Scott, Maggie and Zoe Walsh

We first see Dr. Scott at his apartment with Milena. He is worried someone is following her, and she tells him not to worry and leaves. Dr. Scott then goes to work.

Zoe is brought in by her parents (Caitlin and Theo) when she was not able to walk to the car and she says she fell at the restaurant in the bathroom. They tell him they think she is drunk, and that she has had problems with alcohol, and Zoe insists she has not drank a drop of alcohol all day. She begins vomiting and so Dr. Scott orders some tests. The scans come back negative, but her blood alcohol level is elevated, and Zoe insists the test must be wrong because she has not drank anything. Her parents ask about treatment program information, but she insists she did not drink anything. They start an IV to hydrate her, much to her parent’s dismay.

While waiting for her to sober up, Dylan’s dad arrives to question him about the drug dealer he is seeing, and asks why she was leaving his apartment at 5am. Suddenly Zoe has a seizure, and they repeat her blood work and do another scan, but for some reason despite hydration and her being under constant observation, her blood alcohol level is increasing. Dylan looks at the CT scan from earlier again, and then goes in to speak with her parents. He tells them her alcohol level is increasing, and they cannot understand why, and Zoe says she told them she had not drank anything. Dr. Scott mentions a trend from a few years ago where people would soak a tampon in alcohol to absorb it another way, and when Zoe says she knows nothing about that, Dr. Scott tells her they can see she has a tampon in based on her scan. Her parents are concerned as she is making herself sick, and Dr. Scott says he has a feeling she knows what she is doing is wrong. Maggie takes her to the bathroom. Once the tampon is removed she begins to sober up, and her parents thank them and ask to get those resources they had asked for.

Dylan goes home and when Milena arrives, he tells her maybe it is best if they don’t see each other anymore because it is not safe until her case is done, and that the cops saw her leaving his place. They are both clearly upset by this situation but decide they have to put things on hold for her safety and Milena leaves.

This has truly been one of the best seasons for some time with the medical complexity and ethical dilemmas within the storylines, and with the introduction of some amazing new characters also, this season will certain be one of the best we have seen from this show, and it will be exciting to see how the writers choose to end this landmark season.

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