Chicago Med – A Little Change Might Do You Some Good – Review

This episode allowed Chi-hards to start to get a better glimpse of possibly what leadership at Gaffney may look like under Jack Dayton, and also allow us to get a glimpse into some new characters and their back story, intertwined with the excitement and complex cases we are accustomed to in true exciting Dick Wolf Style.

Dr. Hudgins, Dr. Charles, Dr. Cuevas and the Kittle’s

Dr. Charles meets up with Lillianna and he asks her to have dinner with him, and she offers to cook dinner for him instead. It is to wonderful to see this relationship blooming, and to see Daniel so happy again.

Mrs. Martha Kittle is brought in by ambulance following a fall in her kitchen. Her grandson Alexander is with her and Dr. Cuevas meets him and begins to try to explain to him what is happening when suddenly he become violent and tries to stop them from treating her, because he is afraid that they are hurting her. His grandmother is able to get him to calm down, and Dr. Cuevas tells Dr. Charles that Alexander appears to be on the autism spectrum.

After he is calm, Dr. Charles and Dr. Cuevas go back in to speak to Martha and Dr. Cuevas takes Alexander to get a snack. Dr. Hudgins tells Martha that she has a broken hip and she tells them she has Stage 4 Lymphoma that has spread to her bones, but she has not told Alexander. She tells them that she cannot have surgery because she has no one that can help her with Alexander. Despite Dr. Charles’ best effort and brainstorming, it was heartbreaking to see that this woman had no options to provide care to her grandson.

Dr. Charles is able to contact (through an organization for Adults with Special Needs) someone who may be able to be a temporary guardian for Alexander who has experience with adults with special needs. Suddenly they are called into the room where Martha is calling for help and Alexander has stopped breathing. It looks like he overdosed, and they give him Narcan and he wakes up.

Dr. Cuevas and Dr. Charles go in to speak to Alexander to try to determine what happened, and when Dr. Charles suggests that maybe he took what he thought was candy out of his grandmother’s purse, he tells them that he does not have anything unless his Grandma says he can have it. Dr. Charles goes in to speak to Martha, and she tells him that she gave Alexander some of her pills in his soda because she did not know what else to do. She says she has tried him in Group Homes and every time it was a disaster, and that she loves him more than anyone and is concerned if she cannot be there for him, that he will have no one. It was such a heartbreaking scene to see that this grandmother felt she had no other options than to euthanize her grandson, and it is such a statement to what family caregiver often go through.

Dr. Cuevas and Dr. Charles take Alexander in to see Martha and they help her to tell him that she is sick and that he will have someone else take care of him and she asks Alexander to trust Dr. Charles, and she asks him to let them help him and take care of him. Alexander seems to hit it off with the temporary guardian, and for the moment, it seems that he will be taken care of.

Daniel has dinner with Lillianna and he apologizes for being glum as he had a hard day, but she says he helps people with their problems all day and it is only normal that occasionally one of the problems follows him home. She starts to clean up and begins to sing softly as Daniel listens. This was such a lovely scene, as Daniel gives so much of himself to his patients, and it is wonderful to see someone understand how taxing that could be for him and provide him with some support for a change.

Dr. Marcel, Dr. Dupre and Roy

Roy is a patient with Crohn’s Disease who comes in and his G-tube is clogged. It has happened before and Roy says he can’t do this anymore and needs to eat something, and he asks Dr. Marcel about the option of having his esophagus replaced. Unfortunately, due to his disease causing strictures and because of his many past surgeries for his condition, Dr. Marcel tells him it is too risky and he likely may not have any viable tissue to reconstruct with. Roy says he can’t go on living like this, and he is willing to take the risk.

Dr. Dupre overhears and says she would like to use the OR 2.0 imaging to help him do the surgery for Roy. Dr. Marcel is not convinced that it is safe. They go into the suite and start to test various options and theories of how to approach, and Dr. Dupre sets up the hologram so that Dr. Marcel can test some of the different options. As they go along, Dr. Dupre works to show Dr. Marcel all of the options and how she can assist with programming to make the OR 2.0 assist and not hinder the surgery.

Dr. Marcel uses the OR 2.0 with Dr. Dupre and they are able to complete the esophageal transplant. He tells her that he appreciates her pushing for the 2.0 and that he hopes he is evolving like the technology. This was a real turning point for Crockett, as he sees that this new technology could help him give hope to patients when it looked like all hope was lost. As someone who cares deeply about his patients and their outcomes, the OR 2.0 could be a real game changer when it comes to the patients Dr. Marcel may be able to help in the future at Chicago Med.

Dr. Halstead, Jack Dayton and Sophia Eastman

Sophia is a swimmer and attends a boarding school in the city. She was brought into the ED because she and her swim team were practicing in the pool and she passed out and was unconscious. She was pulled from the pool and eventually came too. Sophia says that she may have felt something in her chest. She asks if there is any chance she might get to meet Jack Dayton, as she is a budding developer and really admires him.

Dr. Halstead runs some tests and then speaks with her father and swim coach Cindy, and he asks to test her for Brugata Syndrome, which is a potentially lethal heart arrhythmia condition. Dr. Halstead does the test, and she does have the condition, and he tells her that she needs to see cardiology and that she will need to have an internal defibrillator implanted. Dr. Halstead says she will need to take a break until the surgery and take care of this right away, but Sophia and Cindy say that she needs to compete in 2 weeks or she will not be able to compete for the rest of the season. Dr. Halstead and her father however agree it is not safe.

Sophia does not want to get the surgery and decides to file for emancipation, and Dr. Halstead goes in to speak to Sophia and Cindy. Cindy says they are looking into precautionary measures that do not involve surgery but Dr. Halstead says if she does not get the surgery, she may die. True to his style of advocating for what he feels is the best treatment at any cost, Dr. Halstead seeks out Jack Dayton and asks him to speak to Sophia for a few minutes, but Dayton says that he has to leave for a meeting. Will reacts in a way we have become accustomed to (albeit we have not seen it in a while) and asks Jack why he bought a hospital and hoped it was because he cared about the patients but it appears they were just another toy for him to play with.

Dr. Halstead goes in to tell Sophia her discharge paperwork is ready when Jack Dayton comes in to speak with her. He convinces her to get the procedure and Will apologizes for what he said. Jack says that people never speak to him that way but that he can respect a straight shooter who cares about his patients and is glad to have Will on the team. This was an interesting development and with his past history of problems when pushing back, it will be interesting to see if this new hospital leadership will change the outcome for Will moving forward. And perhaps the addition of Jack Dayton to the leadership team at Gaffney will not be as terrible as we had all pondered…the coming season will tell…

Dr. Archer, Dr. Lieu, Dr. Asher and the Thompsons

Dr. Asher and Dr. Archer are in the lounge discussing all the gifts they are receiving from Jack Dayton, and also how Dr. Archer is doing with his renal diet. The banter and relationship between these two characters has become a welcome addition to each episode, and it is great to see them being able to be collegial and even friendly, as they both really seemed to need a friend in the department. Dr. Archer lets Dr. Lieu know he is with him that day and they take a patient coming in from the helicopter. Brandon Thompson is a 34 year old man who drove off the road and smashed into a tree. Dr. Archer and Dr. Lieu check him over and are hopeful he will wake up and be able to tell them why drove of the road.

Brandon wakes up and is able to be extubated and he immediately asks about his wife Tiffany. He asks if she was brought there and says she is pregnant and was in labour. They tell him that no one else was found at the scene with him. Brandon shows Dr. Lieu a picture and he asks Dr. Archer to go as he has experience in Search and Rescue and he says he is her best chance because he can bring the hospital to her and is able to provide support to the local team that as they may not have the resources needed to properly complete the medical search. Dr. Archer sends Dr. Asher with him since Tiffany is in labour.

Out at the rescue site, they review the accident and Dr. Lieu and Dr. Asher head out with the first team. Dr. Lieu shows Dr. Asher some of the signs that he thinks Tiffany is near and they mark the trail. They locate Tiffany and examine her. The baby is in distress and she is disorientated. She is fully dilated and they deliver the baby girl successfully and they bring both of them back to the hospital. Dr. Archer is there to congratulate them on a job well done when they arrive, and it seems that Dr. Lieu is going to be a real asset to the department, and is also very dedicated to patients like many other members of the Gaffney team. It was also a welcome addition to the storyline to learn more about Justin’s past, and see some of those skills in action to enhance his role with the team and in helping this patient, so that we have a better understanding of this new character.

Tiffany is reunited with Brandon at the hospital and Maggie and Sharon reflect outside the room about people finding their way back to each other. We can only hope this is forshadowing for Maggie and Ben, and a possible reconciliation in the coming weeks.

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