I never thought I'd say this, but where was Dean?

Chicago Med Season 6 Episode 10 featured yet another conflict between Will and Choi without a single instance of Dean butting in and making things worse.

I didn't miss him, but I was confused by his absence.

It could have been as simple as Dean wasn't needed for this story -- which he wasn't. It worked fine without him.

But since he usually follows Ethan around making grand pronouncements about how he would do things, it was weird that he was gone without explanation.

The other thing that was a bit strange was that Ethan seemed to suddenly have some sort of friendship/relationship with Dr. Veroni. And judging from his reaction to her leaving with Will at the end of the hour, he has more than a friendly interest in her.

Not only do I have zero interest in Will and Choi's competition extending to the romantic realm, but I had no idea Choi even knew Veroni.

Am I forgetting these details because Chicago Med hasn't been on in several weeks, or did the series stick things in that weren't there previously>?

It was predictable that Choi would want to do things the traditional way if Will wanted to do an experimental procedure.

Choi is more conservative by nature, and lately, his life's goal seems to be to do the opposite of whatever Will suggests. Will should start suggesting the opposite of what he wants to do so that Choi will agree to the treatment plan!

I know Choi is supposed to be the boss, but once again, he put his ego ahead of what was best for the patient.

Dr. Veroni was familiar with the experimental treatment, and she and Will presented it along with the risks, then allowed the patient to decide.

She could have chosen the more conservative treatment but decided that the baby's health was worth the risk.

It was sad that her reasons for doing so involved believing that this was the only way to atone for her neglect when her daughter was young, and she was too caught up in alcoholism to take care of her properly.

Choi would have been justified in insisting that Dr. Charles talk to the woman before she made her final decision, but there was no reason not to tell her about this option other than it wasn't the treatment plan he thought was best.

Going behind my back, throwing Hail Marys? We got the win today but you and I still have a problem.

Choi

• Permalink: Going behind my back, throwing Hail Marys? We got the win today but you and I still have a...

And then his ego was so hurt by the fact that Will "went behind his back" that he felt a need to confront him after the treatment saved the woman's life.'

If I were Will, I wouldn't care about Choi's friendship or his hurt feelings one bit. The only good thing to be said about Choi running the ED is he's a little better than Dean would be.

Choi's ego-driven decisions are not good for the ED, and I wish someone would realize it already.

Will wasn't the only one who faced some fallout for making an unorthodox decision, though.

I didn't think Marcel and Michael's plan was going to work out well. I don't care that it was an off-label use for the device, but I had this feeling that it wouldn't go as expected, and that would lead to trouble.

The patient was arguably in a worse position after the bullet traveled to his heart, especially once Marcel realized it could travel to his brain as well.

Sharon: I don't know what you said [to the patient in Farsi] but it seemed to make him feel better.
Marcel: Yeah. I said he had a good kid and he should give him a chance.

• Permalink: Yeah. I said he had a good kid and he should give him a chance.

This whole story seemed like a vehicle for Marcel to connect with the man based on their shared culture and the big reveal that he is Persian and Crockett Marcel is not his birth name.

I loved the last scene where Marcel encouraged the man to be more supportive of his son. I also liked the parallel that Marcel pointed out between this situation and Sharon's often-critical relationship with Michael.

The only thing missing from this is that Marcel didn't get a chance to form that supportive relationship with his daughter because she died so young. I wish that had been brought up at some point.

But still, I enjoyed learning more about Marcel.

Nat: So. Your name. Crockett Marcel. It doesn't seem very Persian.
Marcel: Yeah. My birth name is Dayoush. Dayoush Jaraboni. My parents changed my name to make it easier in school. They chose Marcel because it was popular in New Orleans.
Nat: And Crockett? Where does that come from?
Marcel: My Pops was a big fan of Miami Vice. Sonny Crockett. True story.

• Permalink: My Pops was a big fan of Miami Vice. Sonny Crockett. True story.

It saddens me that his parents felt the best way to help him fit in was to give him a new, American name. I know that this often happens, but it sucks.

It's just another way that immigrants, especially immigrants of color or those whose names don't overlap easily with American names, are seen as second-class citizens if they don't assimilate to the point that they change their names to be like everyone else's.

That said, Nat and Marcel never excited me much as a couple before, but Marcel sharing his real name and how to cook Persian rice with Nat felt like a big step toward a more authentic relationship, and it made me interested in them for the first time.

Finally, Nat and Charles' case surprised me.

When Emily came into the hospital and immediately asked for pain meds, it raised red flags for me.

I thought she was an addict trying to get pain meds, though it wouldn't have made a lot of sense for her to break her arm to do that.

But her mugging story sounded phony to me, and her disinterest in anything but meds made me think it was a scam to get drugs.

I'm glad Chicago Med went in a less predictable direction. I figured out that Brian had night terrors right before Dr. Charles did, but it turned out to be a very different story than what I was expecting.

Well done, Chicago Med!

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Chicago Med continues 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.