Chicago Med – This Could Be the Start of Something New – Review

In traditional Dick Wolf style, our episode before the winter break did not disappoint in terms of drama, surprises and secrets being revealed. You can also here the Chexton fandom let out a big cheer and sigh of relief as April and Ethan finally tie the knot.

Dr. Choi, April, April’s father and their wedding

At the beginning of the episode, Dr. Choi goes to speak to Goodwin about his idea for him and April to run a mobile clinic after they are married, and he lets Goodwin know he will be resigning. She is happy for him and wishes him luck. This was definitely a big surprise for all of us Chi-hards, and it will certainly be hard to say goodbye to yet another OG Chicago Med character. While we have been introduced to some great new characters, it certainly is always sad when we have to say goodbye. And the amazing transformation we have seen in the writing and character development of Ethan from hard core, rule following to more relaxed and willing to understand and connect with patients has been one of the biggest transformations we have seen in our Gaffney team.

April’s father comes in with chest pains. Ethan examines him and does a cardiac work up. He says that he is fine, but April tells him that this is nothing to play around with and Ethan agrees. April asks Ethan if maybe they should postpone the wedding and there is a rather tense conversation where Ethan asks her if she wants to postpone, and she reveals to him that getting married is a huge step. This was likely a concerning moment for Chexton shippers considering that we have seen this back and forth from these two for many years, and it certainly made it much more chilling being that we are finally at the eleventh hour before their wedding.

There is no indication that April’s father had a heart attack and Ethan and April have a heart to heart and agree that they want to go ahead with the wedding but April admits she is appropriately nervous, which is certainly a big step for her to share this with Ethan.

As he is being discharged he begins having severe chest pain again. Ethan orders a chest CT and they discover that he was born with a condition called myocardial bridging. One of his vessels is inside the heart muscle instead of on top, which is causing the pain, but while he will need surgery, it is not emergent so he will be able to come to the wedding as planned.

After this good news, Ethan pulls April aside and admits he is nervous too, which is a huge step for this character compared to how he has dealt with feelings in the past. They agree that together they will make this work, and the Chexton fandom is able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Ethan and April finally are married with all of our favorite Chicago Med team in the wedding or in attendance and they leave the church in their new mobile clinic as their getaway car. And while this may be a sad chapter for Chicago Med in saying goodbye to some original characters, it will be interesting to see if we are able to see this couple again and how the Mobile Clinic might be worked into future episodes. If we know our writing team, hopefully this is not the last we will see of the Choi family.

Dr. Archer, Dr. Charles, Lilianna and Mr. Paul Michaels

Dr. Charles is at a piano bar and sees a woman singing. She has a beautiful voice and he is quite taken with her. He asks her if she they have met and it turns out her name is Lilianna and she cleans his office at the hospital. It was so great to see Dr. Charles showing interest in someone again, as he certainly has had his share of losses when it comes to love, and it will be great to maybe see some success for this sweet character in this department.

Dr. Archer goes in to see Paul Richards after a fall, who is being worked up by Dr. Lieu. He has scrapes and contusions but no fractures. He seems confused and his daughter asks to talk to Dr. Archer and says her mom died of Alzheimers a year ago, and he is showing some of the same signs. Dr. Archer and Dr. Lieu ask Dr. Charles to consult, and his daughter fills him in on everything that has been going on and her concerns. Dr. Charles says he would be happy to chat with him and rule out some other things as he could potentially be still grieving, and in true Dr. Charles style, he is able to provide comfort and support to this distraught family member.

Dr. Charles does some memory testing and speaks with Paul. His long term memory is intact but his short term memory seems to have difficulty but he seems to be having difficulty concentrating. Dr. Charles lets his daughter know that his exam is just preliminary but he can refer her to a dementia specialist if she would like.

As they are leaving, Mr. Richards has a seizure and they bring him back in for more tests, including a CT of his head and they also do a spinal tap. Dr. Charles and Dr. Lieu are then able to return with a diagnosis. The tests show that he has an autoimmune condition that is causing inflammation in his brain and with medication, hopefully all his symptoms will resolve. His daughter is thrilled and thanks them both for their help. This pairing of Dr. Lieu and Dr. Charles was a great team, and we can only hope to see more of them working together. They are both knowledgeable but also very caring, compassionate and have a great bedside manner, being both informative and supportive to families and patients.

Dr. Charles then talks to Goodwin and says the woman he saw singing is part of the housekeeping department, and he wants to ask her out, but he is worried about the power dynamic. It is so typical and sweet of Daniel to be worried about how their roles might make her feel, and wanting to be sure she is comfortable because he feels for her. We can only hope that this will go well for him, as it would be so nice to see another love interest for him this season. He goes to see her and asks her if she would like to have coffee with him. She agrees and goes to change. We can only hope our next episode will show further development in this relationship…fingers crossed!

Maggie, Ben, Grant, Dr. Archer and Dr. Asher

Maggie is planning a cupcake party for Ethan and April for their wedding, and Ben is going to be dropping the cupcakes off. An ambulance arrives with Grant, who had a large leg bleed and Dr. Archer and Dr. Asher take the case. Maggie tells them about the aneurysm from the car accident and when they loosen the bandage, the leg is still bleeding so Dr. Archer takes him up to the OR.

Dr. Archer is scrubbing in with Dr. Asher when he asks her to start and leaves to use the washroom. Dr. Asher asks him if he is okay and he says it is fine, but you can tell that something is not right. I find this pairing of Dr. Asher and Dr. Archer to one that I am coming to enjoy seeing. It really speaks to Hannah and the kind of person she is, that she is willing to move past how Dean treated her in the past, and reach out to him as clearly, he is not someone with a lot of friends and allies in the department.

Ben shows up with the cupcakes and is looking for Maggie. Kai is at the desk and tells him that she is upstairs with the guy she was in the car accident with last week and he will take the cupcakes to the lounge. Ben goes upstairs to find Maggie and confronts her about the accident. He is upset that she was in the car with Grant and he asks if she is having an affair and she says no but he says how can he believe her.

Goodwin finds Maggie as she is returning to the ED and asks how Grant is, and Maggie tells her that Ben found out about the accident and he says they need time apart and she does not know what to do. The friendship between Maggie and Sharon is such a staple for these characters, as they really are each other’s female confidant. It is also endearing to see that Sharon is not one to tell Maggie “I told you so”, which she certainly would be justified in doing since she had encouraged Maggie to be honest with Ben from the start. Ben and Maggie have survived so much together with their illness and losing Auggie, and I would hate to see this be the undoing of such a great relationship, so surely there will be many of us anxiously waiting to see what happens between the two of them.

After Grant is stable and out of surgery, Hannah asks Dean about if he has seen a nephrologist and reminds him about the kidney scan he asked her to look at a few weeks ago and all the trips to the bathroom. He tells her he is having renal failure and is seeing a nephrologist and she asks if there is anything she can do and he says to keep it to herself and she agrees. Again, it is so enjoyable to see these two developing a trust and friendship, especially when they both have demons they have been having to overcome in the department. It is so refreshing to see Dean treating Hannah as an equal also and respecting her knowledge and expertise and finally being able to look beyond how he had stigmatized her when she started. Let’s hope this continues and grows in the season to come.

Dr. Marcel, Dr. Halstead, Jack Dayton, Richard and the OR 2.0

There is a big media event for the new advanced surgical suite that Jack Dayton and his team has developed, and he has trusted it to the hospital for them to be able to use. The suite is very impressive to all the staff except for Dr. Archer, who as we all know is a bit of a traditionalist (remember his opposition to the Vascom). Dr. Charles asks Goodwin if there are any strings attached with this donation and she says there does not appear to be so far.

A gentleman comes in by ambulance with a laceration with retained glass. Richard is a 5th grade teacher and was practicing a science experiment for his students when the bottle imploded. Dr. Halstead reviews his chart and sees he has a pancreatic tumor and he tells Halstead they have rated the tumor inoperable. Richard’s wife is very distraught over the fact that they are not doing anything as she says she loves her husband and he is a great man, and you can immediately see those old cowboy wheels turning in Will’s head.

Dr. Halstead talks to Dr. Marcel about using the OR 2.0 to try to complete a resection of the tumor, but Crockett says he is not familiar enough with the platform. Dayton overhears and thinks it is a great idea to showcase the new technology and that Dr. Dupray from the development team will be assisting him, and Halstead says that Richard has no options and so let’s give him one. It is so wonderful to see that even as the characters change over the years, Will still will always do what he can to preserve the life of a patient (even though in the past sometimes it has not worked out in his favour). Clearly he cares and wants what is best for his patients, and this is one part of Will Halstead that remains steadfast over time.

Dr. Marcel explains all the risks but Richard says he does not have anything to look forward too anyway and this way he can help possibly with something groundbreaking, and he says even if the worst happens, hopefully they can learn something as that is how science works. He has been a huge science nerd his whole life and is excited to help with something cutting edge, so Crockett agrees to do the surgery.

When he goes to scrub in, there is tons of people and media in the gallery and Dr. Marcel tells Dayton that he will not be doing surgery with all of them there as the surgery is hard enough without an audience. Crockett tells him that this is not a simulation and he should be worried especially if the patient dies. He tells him to send them away but Jack tells Crockett that he needs to have faith in himself. While in this moment, it seems like Jack Dayton really believes in Dr. Marcel, there is definitely something suspicious about him, and you cannot deny that there does seem to be and underlying motive to his actions.

Dr. Marcel uses the OR 2.0 and he completes the procedure, but during the procedure the 2.0 give him some bad advice that he will not follow. Dr. Dupray, who has been creating the system makes an adjustment and he continues and is able to resect the tumor.

Dr. Marcel and Jack Dayton and Goodwin do a press conference and indicate that the tumor would have been inoperable if not for the technology in the new OR 2.0. After, Dr. Marcel asks Dr. Dupray what happened and says the system gave him bad advice, but she indicates she was overly cautious in programming it and it will not happen again. However, from his response Crockett is clearly not convinced. While he has always been an advocate for being on the cutting edge, one thing you can say about Crockett is that he is not willing to take unnecessary risks when it comes to surgery, and clearly his confidence in the new system is shaken. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out in the remainder of the season.

After the wedding, as everyone is gathered together celebrating the news comes in and Peter Kalmick tells them the board has just been informed that Jack Dayton has bought controlling interest in the Gaffney Medical Group. So it appears there may be an alterior motive to his kindness to Gaffney other than just generosity following Dr. Marcel's heroic act.

Overall this was an exciting week of changes, and it will be exciting to see what the Chicago Med writers have in store for us in January.

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