There is a fine line between dramatic and depressing.

Chicago Med ALMOST crossed it.

Within the first 20 minutes of Chicago Med Season 5 Episode 9, a patient died, April learned she was infertile, and two people prepared to say their final goodbyes to their terminally ill partners.

Sheesh. Were the writers trying to get viewers to be glad the series is going on hiatus until January 2020?

Luckily, they changed direction mid-stream when Ben began spontaneously recovering from the infection that was expected to kill him.

Viewers needed a miracle as much as Maggie did.

Something had to go right for someone so that when the credits rolled, we didn't all feel like crawling into bed and never getting up again.

That's not to say that these stories weren't well done, because they were.

Charles: How'd you sleep?
CeCe: I slept great.
Charles: How's your pain, honey?
CeCe: You're not dressed.
Charles: I thought I'd stay home today. Don't try to talk me out of it.
CeCe: I won't. You're getting good at this marriage thing.
Charles: Maybe fourth time's the charm.
CeCe: Danny?
Charles: Hmm?
CeCe: I want you to remarry.
Charles: But I'm happily married to you.
CeCe: You know what I mean.
Charles: So what's for breakfast?
CeCe: I know you heard me.
Charles: Pancakes it is.

• Permalink: Pancakes it is.

Daniel's heartbreak about losing CeCe and his attempt to keep it together in front of him were so realistic it hurt.

Anyone who has been there at the end of a long, terminal illness could relate. You want to be positive for your loved one's sake, but you know the world is soon going to be a much emptier place.

Daniel's decision to give CeCe a going-away party so that everyone could remember one last happy time together was a beautiful, loving gesture.

But Robyn's being left behind while Daniel and CeCe go on their final trip was a tearjerker of a development.

CeCe wants Robyn to remember her as strong and happy, but Robyn doesn't get to say goodbye to her mother her way.

There is no real answer to this. Either way, someone is going to be devastated -- and even if she got to say goodbye, Robyn likely would be devastated anyway.

This is ridiculous. I have a kidney on ice ready to go.

Marcel

• Permalink: This is ridiculous. I have a kidney on ice ready to go.

Marcel, Choi, and everyone else dealing with the kidney situation also had a tough choice to make that had no real answers.

The Ethics department made the right call. Yes, Mrs. Schiller made a sacrifice for nothing, since her son died before the procedure began.

But without the kidney, the other patient would die too, and that was preventable.

April: You just want to make me feel bad, is that it?
Ethan: What about you? You've been at me all day. I don't know what's going on between us, but maybe it's good that I'm leaving for a month.

• Permalink: What about you? You've been at me all day. I don't know what's going on between us, but maybe...

Note to Ethan and April: This wasn't about you. It was about what was best for the patients concerned.

This time, April was more to blame than Ethan.

She could have prevented a lot of stress and arguments by simply telling Ethan that she is in early menopause.

Instead, she picked fight after fight with him, as if she'd decided that he wouldn't want to be with her if she can't have kids and was going to make him break up with her.

Ethan had no idea what was going on, but it was no wonder he didn't want to spend his last night home with April after the way she was acting.

That said, he also lashed out at her because he didn't get his way about the kidney conflict.

When Will said he and Natalie were not good for each other and just fought all the time, that could equally have applied to April/Ethan. 

Thank God Ethan is leaving for a bit so that he and April can both get their heads on straight.

Or it would be good, if April hadn't kissed Marcel.

Kissing someone other than your partner solves nothing, and I'm still not 100% convinced that Marcel and April's first almost-kiss at the crawdad boil was consensual.

Until Chicago Med addresses that, this couple will always have a skeeziness to it that will make them hard to root for.

WIll's case was the most interesting and the most emotional of the night, and then he topped that off by being mature with Natalie.

Father: This is my fault. I was compensating for having a kid with Downs. I just wanted to have a regular boy. So I pushed him into sports.
Will: Maybe you did, but he loves that sport.
Father: Jordi's the most important thing in my life. I can't do anything that would cause him harm.
Will: I get it. I'm the one who told you this was a safer option, and I certainly understand your fears. Maybe it's not about you. Maybe it's about Jordi and what he wants. I watched that video. He said 'I can fly.' I saw that. And he said, 'I want to be free.' I saw that too.

• Permalink: I get it. I'm the one who told you this was a safer option, and I certainly understand your...

This time, instead of trying to impose his own opinion onto the father of a young man with Downs' Syndrome, Will managed to be empathetic while giving the father space to make his own decision.

His speech about Jordi wanting to fly was moving and effective because Will didn't get in the father's way or judge him for his past decisions.

This version of Will is likeable. Let's see more of him.

Thank God the Natalie/Philip arc is over, too.

Philip's character assassination was complete now that he abandoned Sophie and was proven to be a pathological liar  and sociopath who would let his  infant daughter die because she wasn't useful enough to him.

But Sophie is healthy and going to new parents and Natalie remembers everything so that's that. Hopefully, Philip's name will not be mentioned again.

Natalie was heartbroken when Will told her that her mea culpa was too little too late and that he'd moved on, but it was the right move.

Manstead fans might be angry, but Will's characterization of their relationship was spot on, and it's best that Chicago Med does not go for Will/Natalie 3.0 (or is it 4.0?)

Of course, on most soaps, a declaration like that is just a temporary obstacle, and that could be the case here, too.

But as Chicago Med moves forward after the hiatus, hopefully, we continue to see a mature version of Will.

Natalie could come into her own too and find meaning to her character outside of her relationship with Will or anyone else.

Your turn, Chicago Med fans!

Was the fall season finale depressing or dramatic?

Do you think CeCe will get a miracle too, or is this it for her?

And what do you most hope to see when Chicago Med returns from its hiatus in January 2020?

Share your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget you can watch Chicago Med online if you missed anything.

Chicago Med returns on January 8, 2020. It will continue to air on NBC on Wednesdays at 8 PM EST/PST.

<

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.