Chicago Med Season 6 Episode 2 Review: Hidden in Plain Sight
Jack Ori
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I understand how Will feels.
On Chicago Med Season 6 Episode 2, Goodwin chose Choi over him as ED chief. While her analysis of Will's flaws was spot on, Choi was a poor candidate too.
He's just as impulsive as Will when he wants to be and spent most of Chicago Med Season 5 ruining patients' lives to try to force them to fit his moral code. So what gives, Goodwin?
Choi tends to be overbearing. He thinks everyone, from patients to staff, should do things his way, and his rigidity is not any better a quality in an ED director than Will's impulsivity.
Abrams: Here he comes. The new chief. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Will: That's Sam. Seriously though. Well deserved.
Choi: I appreciate that. Hey, how's your case going?
Will: A bit of a mystery, but eventually I'll crack it.
Choi: Let me see if I can help.
Will: Thanks, but I'm good.
Choi: Actually, as the new chief I'd like to take a more hands on approach.
It was unsurprising that he almost immediately butted heads with Will.
They've had similar arguments about how to treat patients before; the only difference is that now Choi is in charge, so he has the power to force his opinion on other doctors.
And Choi's opinions are usually backed up only by his own sense that he knows best and doesn't need to even consider anyone else's point of view.
That isn't what Goodwin should be looking for in a manager.
Her reasons for choosing Choi were ridiculous.
His military experience didn't do that patient who broke Army rules to get a prosthetic arm any good, so there's no reason to think that he'll do right by patients just because he understands organizational hierarchies.
And he's been on the receiving end of just as many of Goodwin's lectures as Will has been.
That doesn't mean Will was the right man for the job either. But Choi certainly wasn't, and Goodwin would have done better looking outside of the hospital for an ED chief.
Goodwin was right that Will's impulsivity wasn't a great way to run the ED, but his relationship with Hannah was irrelevant.
At least Will would have compassion for patients suffering from drug problems. Choi would see them as lawbreakers and be just as likely to call the cops as to provide treatment.
We both assault an officer. She gets separated from her baby. I get a slap on the wrist.
Nat
Speaking of cops, how mad did Nat's story make everybody?
When I was interning as a social worker in criminal justice settings, I heard countless stories like Iesha's.
People, especially people of color, got in trouble for ridiculous infractions that shouldn't have mattered to anyone. So I was thrilled that Chicago Med tackled this issue.
It seemed inhumane for the cops to want to shackle Iesha every chance they got, regardless of what it did to her or her baby.
All these protocols and none of them prioritize the health of the people in their care.
Douglas
And if the cops were willing to unshackle her temporarily because the doctors said so, there was no reason they couldn't leave her unshackled and require the doctors to take responsibility for anything that happened at other times.
Nat shoving the cop seemed a bit overdramatic, but it was understandable considering that a police guard who was twice her size was advancing on her and treating her as a criminal because she was trying to take care of her patient.
Besides, it set up the contrast nicely. Iesha gets into major trouble for shoving a cop and Nat gets, as she said, a slap on the wrist.
I was glad, too, that Nat and Iesha managed to develop rapport considering their rocky start.
It seemed like Nat's eyes were opened to a lot of injustice throughout the hour and that allowed her to treat Iesha with more compassion rather than assuming she was violent.
Meanwhile, April's storyline was heartbreaking.
Real-life nurses have testified as to how hard it is to be the only one sitting with a dying patient because family isn't allowed in. So it was unsurprising that Choi didn't want to allow April to make an exception for the mother of a dying girl.
He was right for once: it would be too risky for the mother. But as soon as April couldn't get in touch with her, I knew it was too late to worry about that.
Also, Choi supervising his ex-girlfriend is not going to work out well. He's either going to get hardheaded when she wants something he doesn't want or give in when he shouldn't.
That's a secondary reason why Choi is a poor choice for ED chief. Hopefully, Goodwin will realize that sooner rather than later.
Finally, I'd completely forgotten that Charles had an ex other than Cici.
Her illness was graphic -- I had to look away when she spit up blood all over the sink -- and I was expecting her to end up with COVID too.
Instead, she had an ulcer, which was fine. But her decision to move away without telling anyone wasn't.
If she was planning on taking Anna with her, she should have told both Anna and Charles.
Her custody agreement probably requires it, and anyway, you don't just move out of state without telling the people it affects. Especially not when one of those people is your daughter that you're planning on taking with you!
I wonder if Anna will elect to live with Charles full time now that her mother is moving away.
Her dynamic with her father adds an additional level of interest, so hopefully she's sticking around.
Your turn, Chicago Med fanatics!
Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know what you thought!
Don't want to wait til January 6 to see Chicago Med again? Watch Chicago Med online right here on TV Fanatic to get your fix!
Chicago Med airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8 PM EST/PST. The next new episode airs January 6, 2021.
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.
