Chicago Med is back again, and it was well worth the wait.
Chicago Med Season 6 Episode 12 ramped things up a lot and explored parent/child relationships from several different angles.
And Dean was actually tolerable for once, so that was an extra win!
Dr. Charles’ continued problems with both Anna and Mona led to a compelling story.
The Mona situation is going to get worse before it gets better. That was always going to be the case, from the second that Mona switched her obsession from Dr. Bridges to Dr. Charles.
Charles said she was only a danger to herself, but did anyone else get the vibe that Anna could be in serious trouble?
Sharon was reluctant to have Charles remain involved with Mona’s treatment because Mona had crossed paths with Anna, Anna sneaks out of the house regularly, and Charles’ reaction when the nurse asked him to step out to deal with Anna’s needs undoubtedly reminded Mona of her relationship with her own father.
So the logical next step would be for an on-the-run Mona to kidnap Anna to either rescue her from what she sees as a bad situation or get Charles to wake up and realize he needs to be more attentive to his daughter’s needs.
She could even see Anna as a “competition” for Charles’ attention.
And when Anna asked Charles whether he’d caught Mona yet, I had this feeling that she might have been in contact with her online.
Either way, I’m sure we’ve not seen the last of Mona, and she’s got to be even more desperate now, so something big is going to happen.
I’m even more worried about Nat’s whole situation with her mother.
Dr. Young: I’d like to add an AICD.
Carol: And what is that?
Dr. Young: It’s a device that’s implanted in your chest that can help regulate your heart. If an arrhythmia develops, it can shock your heart back into a normal sinus rhythm.
Carol: Does it hurt, getting shocked?
Dr. Young: My patients do say it causes discomfort. One patient describes it like getting kicked in the chest.
Carol: Well, who can say no to that?
This has the potential to blow up in a lot of people’s faces in SO many ways.
First of all, the obvious: Carol’s use of the experimental drug is not monitored by a cardiologist since she’s not officially part of the trial.
Nobody but Nat knows Carol is taking the drug, and if something goes wrong, that could have serious consequences… for Carol and Nat.
The most important concern is whether Carol could die as a result of Nat’s subterfuge.
But what Nat did is also illegal, and she could lose her license if it’s found out.
Plus, Will is already on thin ice with Veroni because he unblinded a patient earlier. If anyone finds out that Nat has given Carol the experimental drug, Will may be blamed for it.
That could impact his license, job, future as a PI, AND his relationship with Veroni.
Not to mention that this whole mess could drive Nat and Will right back into each other’s arms, leaving Marcel out in the cold.
I hope not, but ex-lovers bonding over an emergency is a soap trope that Chicago Med may not be above using.
This is not to say that Nat’s decision wasn’t understandable under the circumstances.
Her mother is dying and won’t accept conventional treatment. And really, who can blame her for that when the doctor made it sound so uncomfortable?
Carol had a point that she’d have little quality of life with an AICD device, but Nat wants to save her mother’s life, so it was almost inevitable that she would steal the drugs.
There’s also the whole issue of Will and his previous bending of the trial rules. He did it to make sure that a patient got the best care, but it did jeopardize the study, and if word gets out, the whole trial could go down the drain.
He’s put Veroni in an awkward position, too, because of this, though it could also be argued that she’s not supposed to be sleeping with one of her lead researchers, either.
Choi was busy trying to save a guy at the site of a major accident, so he wasn’t competing for Veroni’s affections this time. But if he gets wind of what Will did, you can bet annoyingly rigid Choi will make sure it’s reported.
But at least for the moment, Choi had a more compelling story.
Choi: If you broke your leg, you’d treat it right? Mental health should be no different. There shouldn’t be a stigma attached.
Dean: It’s not that. I don’t need therapy.
Choi: You were the commanding officer, always putting everyone’s needs before yours. It’s time to take care of yourself. Call Dr. Charles.
Instead of interfering with patient care or lording it over WIll, Choi got involved in a rescue mission that triggered both him and Dean because of their combat experience.
His attempt to get Dean to get help made me feel for the first time that Choi was a decent boss who actually looks out for his employees.
And Dean was also far more sympathetic as a character when he was trying to save a man’s life and getting tripped up by PTSD than when he tries to outdo Choi in the nosey busybody department.
There wasn’t too much Marcel/Nat interaction, but Chicago Med made up for it by having April assist Marcel on the post-COVID woman’s case.
I know Mr. Forbes was worried about his wife, but I didn’t think it was a good idea for him to be in the room for every procedure and every discussion.
However, the purpose of this story was two-fold. Chicago Med did a great job of addressing the problem of some patients continuing to have serious symptoms even after fully recovering from COVID.
April: I thought she had anxiety.
Marcel: Hey. You made a diagnosis based on your experience. That’s what medicine’s all about. A lot of docs get their MDs and that’s it. But not you.
This story also pushed April to move toward being a full-fledged doctor, or at least a nurse practitioner. I was never much of an April fan during the April/Ethan on-again-off-again romance, but she’s coming into her own with this story, and I’m excited about these new developments.
Your turn, Chicago Med fanatics.
What kind of trouble do you foresee now that Mona’s run away from the hospital and Nat’s stolen the experimental drug to give to her mother?
Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know!
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Chicago Med airs 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 Twitter.