It’s great to have Chicago Med back, but Marcel’s conflict with Washington was a lot of nothing.
On Chicago Med Season 9 Episode 7, Marcel accused Goodwin of siding with her boyfriend instead of with medical science. Then, everything changed for the patient, and the conflict evaporated.
Will this rear its ugly head some other time? It moved so quickly that it felt pointless despite some great performances.
Marcel and Washington’s argument was a classic medical drama trope. TV hospitals are full of medical personnel who think surgery is too risky and surgeons who think the patient’s prognosis will be poor if they don’t go under the knife right away.
In this case, it was complicated by Sharon’s relationship with Dr. Washington, which made Marcel believe she was not being objective in her decision about who to listen to.
Washington’s plan initially made a lot of sense. If radiation could shrink the tumor, it would make the need for surgery far less urgent and make the cancer easier to remove.
Hillary’s sudden collapse changed everything and was a little too convenient. For a split second, I thought Marcel did something to make it appear the patient needed surgery. That’s more Dean Archer’s style than his, but the timing was suspicious.
Once Hillary’s condition worsened, Sharon talked Washington into signing off on surgery, Marcel did the procedure off-screen, and everything was fine. The suspense over whether Hillary would make it through surgery lasted through the commercial break.
That wasn’t much of a story!
The point seemed that Washington was afraid to sign off on surgery, which fit with the theme of the hour, but once he made that decision, everything got tied up neatly.
The surgery was a success. Washington was relieved that Hillary had woken up, and Marcel apologized to Sharon Goodwin for doubting her integrity as the credits rolled. Win for everyone, but it felt a little bit TOO tidy.
Whatever Happened to OR 2.0?
Washington’s original complaint was that the surgery was risky — but it wouldn’t have been if Marcel used OR 2.0. He took the machine out of retirement once before for a dangerous surgery, so why not this time?
Archer was also worried about the risks to his patient during surgery, but he hates the tech, so it made more sense that he didn’t suggest it. But the hospital still has access to OR 2.0, and it should at least be mentioned in difficult cases!
Archer Learned Playing It Safe Doesn’t Work
Archer and Asher butted heads over what was the safest way to proceed with a patient whose birth control implant had gotten lodged in her heart.
As an aside, Marisol’s condition was scary. Even if she hadn’t rethought the issue of having kids, I wouldn’t blame her for not wanting that implant to be replaced.
Asher: You’re gonna remove a whole part of her lung?Archer: It’s that or let her bleed to death.
Those two have a great platonic relationship even when they don’t see eye-to-eye about how to deal with a patient. They both pushed each other to stop being afraid and make a move with the person they liked, too.
Archer doesn’t always learn his lesson, but this time, he did, in an epic way. He saved the day with Marisol, sharing his fears when Sean was born to help her understand that fear isn’t necessarily a reason not to have kids.
That was a massive step for him, as was hugging Sean and telling him he loved him at the sober party at the start of the hour. I don’t know when Archer got comfortable with vulnerability, but I like it.
The lady with the snake in her ear at the beginning of the hour was a nice touch. Archer was squeamish enough about the snake that he asked Doris not to give him any more such cases. It felt symbolic of his desire to stay in his comfort zone, making his decision to ask Margo out much more poignant.
Ripley and Charles Found a Creative Solution to a Patient’s OCD-related Treatment Refusal
I’m glad that Ripley and Charles are getting along better than they used to. Both characters are far more enjoyable when they’re working as a team.
Oddly, Ripley told Jason to get out of his way when he entered the hospital, yet he didn’t recognize him when the security guard reported Jason was blocking traffic into the building.
Despite that blip in continuity, I loved this story. Chicago Med often does a great job of taking mental health issues seriously, and this was no exception.
Dr. Charles modeled how to demonstrate acceptance and compassion for a patient whose ideas are self-destructive. He was able to get Jason to open up about what had triggered his OCD in the first place, which allowed Charles and Ripley to come up with a creative solution.
Dr. Tanaka-Reed, who is often obnoxious, was perfectly pleasant as he went along with the plan to demonstrate to Jason that his fear was misplaced.
Would that have worked in real life? I’m not sure. A patient with severe OCD like Jason might have thought that his mom just got lucky or waited for something worse to happen because he didn’t engage in his compulsive behavior.
Still, it worked within the confines of the episode. It was a better solution than what I had come up with, which was to convince Jason somehow he had a second heart attack when he didn’t so that he’d consent to the procedure.
Your turn, Chicago Med fanatics! What did you think of these storylines?
Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know
Chicago Med airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8/7c. New episodes drop on Peacock the day after they air.
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Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.
