After only eight episodes, Chicago Med is on its midseason hiatus, so let’s check in on how it’s doing.
The long-running medical drama has a new showrunner who has introduced two new characters and brought back one original character as a guest star during Chicago Med Season 10 so far.
It’s not all good marks on our Chicago Med Season 10 midseason report card, but after a decade, the series still has a lot to offer, so let’s dive into the good, bad, and ugly!
The first half of the season feels short, but it could be worse.
The ridiculously short season after the writers’ strike only gave us 13 episodes in total. Now we’ve had eight at the halfway point, so at least there’s a lot more to come.
Best Episode – “Trust Fall” (Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 3)
Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 3 gets high marks because it was not only incredibly emotional, but tricked us into thinking Hannah was going to relapse.
Hannah’s become my favorite character, and I was seriously scared she was going to throw everything away after she failed to save a patient’s mother.
Thankfully, Hannah’s mental health issue went in a different direction.
Yes, the episode used the trope of Chicago Med mothers dying in childbirth AGAIN, but it was so well done I didn’t care.
My heart broke for Hannah, for the baby, and for the mother who lost her life because other doctors didn’t do their jobs
Worst Episode – “Bad Habits” (Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 5)
Unfortunately, Chicago Med followed up the brilliance of “Trust Fall” with two mediocre episodes.
Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 4 wasn’t memorable except for the re-introduction of nurse Jackie Nelson, who had only ever been in one episode before leaving to deal with her mental health issues.
However, the Halloween episode gets even worse marks on our Chicago Med Season 10 midseason report card because it was almost all fluff (except for the Sharon stalker stuff.)
I didn’t mind the Halloween party at the beginning. The costumes were cute, it didn’t take up a lot of time, and it was nice for the characters to do something together.
I’m not happy with this Sharon stalker storyline to begin with, but the way it was handled on Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 5 was horrible.
It was understandable that Sharon would freak out because she thought someone was in her house, but why answer the door and mace someone instead of keeping the door shut and calling the cops?
Additionally, when she apologized for macing her teenage neighbor, the boy’s mother was entirely too quick to forgive.
To add insult to injury, the Sharon storyline was juxtaposed with some ridiculous story about boys with bite marks that was supposed to suggest there were real vampires or ghosts involved.
This Halloween episode was still better than most, but it gets low marks on the Chicago Med Season 10 midseason report card because of these two annoying stories.
Best Storyline: Archer Vs. Lenox
Sarah Ramos‘ Caitlin Lenox is a character that gets a lot more hatred than she deserves.
Yes, she’s yet another person trying to remake the hospital to fit a new vision, but at least she’s a doctor, and some of her ideas are decent.
Regardless of whether her proposed reforms make sense, she gets too much flak just for doing her job, but it’s been fun for her and Archer to go toe-to-toe.
Archer’s hated her from the beginning, and his complaints about her are incredibly hypocritical.
Which one of them was it who began their run by purposely putting a patient in a coma so that they could override that patient’s lack of consent to a procedure? Not Lenox!
Archer’s ultimatum backfired, but I was excited about the war between them heating up.
Sadly, this story has to lose a point on our Chicago Med Season 10 midseason report card because Archer completely accepted Goodwin’s decision to demote him, spent an episode being nice to Lenox, and then abruptly decided to quit.
I’m convinced this is a fakeout, at least the quitting part. Now that Archer’s walked in on Sharon’s dangerous situation, the fallout will probably make him re-evaluate whether he really wants to walk away.
Still, the Dean Archer I know and love to hate would only pretend to go along with this demotion idea while scheming to get back in the top position, and that’s what I expect of him going forward.
Worst Storyline: Sharon’s Stalker
I love mystery/thrillers, but this story… was not that.
Every episode that got lower marks from me lost points because of this stupid story.
It started out all right, with Sharon receiving death threats, but it didn’t proceed in an interesting or exciting way.
Instead, Sharon spent most of the first half of the season looking over her shoulder while nothing happened.
At the end of that Halloween episode, she saw a figure in her neighbor’s Ring camera, which should have led to significant progress.
Instead, Chicago PD‘s Atwater told Sharon that the stalker was a random white man named Paul Dunn, supposedly ending the story, only for the real stalker to be a Black woman named Cassidy, who had a bit part in Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 1.
There were few clues for the audience to follow, and the danger and violence seemed to come out of nowhere to create an exciting cliffhanger.
I’m also not a fan of stories where someone evades hospital security to attack staff with a knife.
I didn’t like it on The Good Doctor, and I don’t like it any better here.
Honorable Mention – John Frost
Both of the new characters on Chicago Med Season 10 are excellent, but I like Frost because he helps fill the Marcel-shaped hole in my heart.
He seems like a young Marcel, even if he does have that silly teen sitcom star/heartthrob backstory.
I’m unhappy with Marcel’s exit. He didn’t have one; someone mentioned after the fact that they threw a going-away party for him, and he went to Boston.
But Frost’s presence helps make it a little better. His banter with Maggie, his cockiness, and his skills as a pediatric resident are all fun.
Odds and Ends That Contribute To The Chicago Med Season 10 Midseason Report Card
There was a lot packed into these eight episodes! Some of the other things that got high and low marks include:
Hannah and Ripley’s relationship roller coaster was well done. I went from hating them as a couple to rooting for them.
Every time I think we’re rid of this stupid Pawel getting beat up story, one of the characters from it pops up again. Scully is supposedly dying, so I guess it’ll end soon, but ENOUGH ALREADY.
Some of the medical cases have been strong. I enjoyed Zoe, the little girl who had speech difficulties in the season premiere, the best.
Nurse Jackie might be an interesting addition to the cast if the show gives her a full story.
Zach’s firing was a shock. I still think they should have used him as the stalker instead of Cassidy.
I enjoyed Reese’s visit, and would love for her to be a semi-regular thorn in Charles’ side.
Your turn, Chicago Med fanatics! How would you score a Chicago Med season 10 midseason report card?
Vote in our poll to grade the show then hit the comments with your thoughts.
Chicago Med will air the second half of its season on NBC on Wednesdays at 8/7c and Thursdays on Peacock, starting on January 8, 2025.
Watch Chicago Med Season 10 Online
