Will and Natalie prepare for their big day, but an unsuspecting Will soon finds himself sidetracked. Dr. Charles disagrees with Goodwin on how to best handle a patient's treatment. Dr. Choi and April are on their own when a pregnant woman delivers. Dr. Rhodes finds himself operating on a patient that is of great important to Detective Halstead.
In 2018, it has become very difficult to keep up with every television show out there. It's even more difficult to provide adequate coverage on this site about the episodes that air every week. Not every show can get full coverage because of my busy and hectic viewing schedule. As such, some reviews will now be condensed to give only some summary thoughts. But it also affords a space for me to jot down my thoughts on the various episodes. And so, here are my thoughts on this week's episode of NBC's Chicago Med.
"Death Do Us Part" was written by Stephen Hootstein & Paul R. Puri and directed by Fred Berner
Will and Natalie's wedding was never going to go according to plan. That was clear throughout this season because of all the underlying tension between them leading up to the big day. It's just been so difficult to see them as a viable couple if they keep hurting each other with secrets. Sure, it's mostly a one-sided conflict where Natalie gets left in the dark a lot about what is going on with Will. But it's also a repetitive and consistent problem with them as well. Sure, it could be easy to wipe all of this away and forgive Will's recent actions because he keeps being pulled into drama. He's not the one actually driving this story forward. He is abducted by the Burke children to care for Ray once more. He was forced into this arrangement by the FBI who showed no sympathy for his situation. But he still chose to lie to Natalie. It's absolutely devastating at the conclusion of this episode when he just has to cryptically say goodbye to her instead of marry her like they were planning. He misses out on his wedding because of all of this. He only got into this situation in the first place though because he wanted a hall for his reception from Ray. That does feel ironic while giving Will the appropriate level of comeuppance. However, it's also the show mostly doing whatever will be the most dramatic option. There is a moment where it seems like Will is killing Ray because he has to drill a hole in his head to drain the pressure. Then, there is the fear that one of the brothers - because they are all interchangeable after all - is about to shoot him in the head. There is no reason for Will to survive this ordeal either. He does and that creates a whole host of issues for other characters. But right now, the show is sending him away to protective custody simply because it keeps the drama high and intense for the audience. He and the feds apparently only had a minute to try and explain what is happening to Natalie. He doesn't do a great job with that. She has been terrified because she hasn't been able to talk to him all day. And now, answers still elude her. Moreover, no one seems to be worried about her safety. Will is put in protective custody because no one knows where the Burke family members are. They already tried to kill one of their associates who turned against them. So, the threat against Will is real. No one thinks to tell Natalie that she should evacuate the church as quickly as possible to protect the people there considering the Burke family knows that's where Will could be. Plus, no one does anything to protect Natalie. The Burke family also knows who she is and how much she means to Will. As such, this doesn't seem like a smart plan. It's just the option the show chose to pursue because of the personal distance it would have for Will and Natalie. It's not to protect as many people as possible who could be hurt by this dangerous family. Plus, Jay doesn't really seem to care about the potential repercussions of his forceful suggestion to get Connor and Ava to wake up their patient to tell them where Will could potentially be. The man dies. It plays as if it's directly because of the treatment decisions Connor made knowing Will's life was in danger. As such, that opens the entire hospital up to a lawsuit. The widow was questioning why her husband was taken out of surgery despite the procedure being unfinished. Sharon warned Charles against opening the hospital up to a lawsuit in the story that they are dealing with here. And yet, it appears that may still occur because she simply can't keep track of all of the decisions happening in the hospital. It just means that Connor is well-positioned to continue clashing with the hospital administration this season.
