Will adjusts to hospital life in the aftermath of his recent undercover activities. Ethan and April's personal relationship starts to interfere with their working situation. Dr. Charles and Dr. Manning collaborate on a patient suffering from Alzheimer's. Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Bekker have a difference of opinion in dealing with a woman in desperate need of a liver transplant.
In 2018, there were 495 scripted shows airing amongst the linear channels and streaming services. The way people are consuming content now is so different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, there is less necessity to provide ample coverage of each specific episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site is making the move to shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. Premieres and finales may feature longer reviews. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of NBC's Chicago Med.
"Who Can You Trust" was written by Safura Fadavi & Meridith Friedman and directed by Charles S. Carroll
This episode marks a significant regression for Will. He has never been all that empathetic as a character. Even at his most upstanding, he still often came across as sanctimonious who needed things to always be done his way. At least everyone at the hospital is able to recognize that he is struggling with transitioning back to this job after the traumatic ordeal he went through. He just refuses to see it himself. That only makes him angrier though. His reaction to learning that Sharon and Charles are forcing him to go to therapy is absolutely appalling to Natalie. He never really listened to what she had to say before doing what he wanted. But now, Natalie is actually willing and able to stand up for herself in saying that Will is not the person she loves anymore. That could represent the dissolution of them as a couple. That may actually be heartbreaking to those who are invested in them. Moreover, it's odd that Ian Harding pops up briefly again as the new father who lost his wife during childbirth in the previous episode. He has a strong connection with Natalie. That could represent a new complication altogether. The show is clearly not letting it be a one-time thing. Natalie can relate to what he is going through as well because she started the series raising a newborn after her husband had died. The show needs to remember that Natalie is a strong character who has been through a lot. As such, she demands to be respected. Of course, her medical story this week with Charles is mostly just filler. It was a little too obvious too early on that the daughter was also suffering from early onset dementia. The twists and turns were too predictable without it really adding much substance to the proceedings. Elsewhere, Choi and April have an explosive fight because he believes the hospital isn't fighting as passionately for his patient as he is. The convenient excuse is that the hospital has to ration the available blood for the patients best equipped to survive. They are running low because of some accident that has happened elsewhere in the city. And yet, the hospital isn't suddenly overwhelmed by new patients. It's not a chaotic shift for anyone. They are all able to keep their attentions on their brief cases that may point out something that brings thematic resonance to their personal lives. That means this never realistically feels like a choice that Choi and April have to make. There is no understanding of why things are so low and need to be rationed. It just ensures that Choi and April have a fight right before they kiss again. And yet, that moment may not even be earned because Choi comes across in an unflattering light. Throughout this entire case, he has been annoyed by April seemingly pushing Vicki out of the process. But April really is following protocol by only divulging a patient's personal information to doctors who work at the hospital. Vicki has been popping up more and more lately. But she's still being positioned as the new girlfriend who stands in the way of Choi and April getting back together. That's not a good role for her at all. It makes it so one-dimension and lame. Finally, Connor is starting to suspect that Ava may have deceived him about what happened between her and his father. Their case together forces him to realize that she will do whatever it takes even if it's against the wishes of the patient. She ascribes to an "ends justify the means" mentality. That may lend some credibility to the way that Connor's dad says things went down between them in order to get the financing for the hybrid O.R.
