Critic’s Rating: 4.2 / 5.0
4.2
I knew it! As soon as Archer issued his ultimatum about one of them leaving the ED Chief position, it was inevitable that Goodwin would demote him.
Threats never pay, and Archer’s obnoxious behavior at the case review didn’t help matters.
Chicago Med‘s Season 10 Episode 7 offered a resolution to the Archer/Lenox conflict — for now, anyway.
Archer and Lenox Seemed To Be Competing To See Who Could Be More Irritating On Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 7
The case review scene was hard to take.
Lenox was trying to express herself in a professional manner, but Archer decided to be super aggressive.
He wouldn’t let her speak. In the space of a few seconds, he hurled about a billion accusations at her, and he wouldn’t shut up so that the meeting could proceed.
Archer’s claim that Lenox did whatever she wanted and didn’t care about patient autonomy was rich, coming from him.
One of his first stories on Chicago Med was about him deliberately putting a patient in a coma so he could override their wishes and do a procedure they’d refused to consent to!
After that scene, I was Team Lenox, but then Lenox had to be impatient and nasty to Student Doctor Howard for no good reason.
She gave contradictory instructions, then took it out on Howard when she didn’t follow them. It was abusive.
Half of her anger was probably because she was in a bad mood about the way Archer had treated her, but that wasn’t an excuse.
Lenox needed to be professional enough to leave her anger at the door and be fair to the doctors working under her.
The fact that she was trying to instruct Howard at all was a point in her favor.
Archer hates teaching students, and earlier in the season, he had to be told that it was part of his job description.
Ironically, Howard’s Support Probably Saved Lenox’s Job
Despite the way Lenox was treating her, Howard was the one person willing to be honest with Goodwin about Lenox — both good and bad.
I was about to get mad during that final scene on Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 7 when Goodwin told Lenox what Howard had said. As annoying as Lenox can be, Archer is worse.
I can’t abide hypocrites, especially ones who think that female doctors should be put in their place while being just as stubborn and insistent that they’re always right.
I didn’t want Archer to win this round, and if Lenox had been demoted, this review would have been full of vitriol.
I should have known that there would be a twist. How many times have Dick Wolf’s shows got me on this point?
People in positions of power on these shows always seem to be headed in one direction but end up doing the opposite, and Goodwin was no exception.
Archer seemed to be taking it well. He showed up at the bar and bought everyone a drink like he had no care in the world.
Maybe he’s secretly relieved not to have so much responsibility on his shoulders, but somehow, I doubt it.
He’s up to something, but I don’t know what.
With the promo for next week showing Goodwin saying to her stalker, “So it was you this whole time,” I’m worried they’re going to do something stupid like have Lenox turn out to be the bad guy.
That would suck and, obviously, would render her decision null and void, though she has bigger problems if Lenox is coming after her with a knife.
Hopefully, her stalker is not a major character.
I can’t believe any of the doctors currently on staff would send her death threats, and I won’t be happy if it turns out that’s the case.
The Lenox/Archer Drama Overshadowed Many of The Medical Cases On Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 7
The Lenox/Archer drama seemed to take up most of the show, even though there were three medical cases.
The guy with the ax in his back seemed like an afterthought. His case was a plot point so that Lenox could continually yell at Howard.
So there’s nothing to discuss about it.
Dr. Charles’ case was the most interesting of the remaining medical cases, as it almost always is.
I was surprised that Jemma’s father didn’t turn out to be an abuser.
He kept talking over her to give his version of events to the doctors and later confronted her about drinking based on a half-understood conversation between the doctors that he overheard.
While he wasn’t deliberately abusing Jemma, his high standards probably led to her body dysmorphia.
She felt she wouldn’t be accepted if she wasn’t tall and thin, even though being adopted meant she would have a different body type than the rest of her family.
I’m glad that Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 7 addressed the way drugs like Ozempic can facilitate a new type of eating disorder in combination with addiction.
Eating disorders are serious mental health issues that can be fatal if not treated, and the proliferation of weight loss drugs like Ozempic makes it easier for people to hurt themselves.
Hannah’s Story Was Interesting, If Predictable
Hannah wanted Alex and his father to reconcile so badly that I hoped I was wrong about how this would end, but I wasn’t.
Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 7’s story about an alcoholic father whose only chance for survival was his estranged son’s partial liver was predictable.
Alex was never comfortable with the father he hadn’t seen since he was eleven, so as soon as Hannah said she’d go get him, I knew he’d taken off.
I also wondered how they knew Alex was a match. If they did any testing to confirm it, it was off-screen.
They only mentioned pre-op testing, so I suppose it could have been then.
I know it’s TV and not real life, but these kinds of inaccuracies irk me.
If one good thing comes out of this story, though, it’s that Hannah is trying to reach out to her estranged sister.
I hope Elizabeth Asher comes to Chicago Med and that we learn more about what her relationship with Hannah was like before the drugs.
That’ll be a strong story, and I’m here for it.
Frost’s Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 7 Story Was Ridiculous
We do not need any more stories like the one Frost had.
First of all, I figured out in 30 seconds that the woman who came in with the heart failure patient was his lover.
That was not the shocking plot twist it was meant to be!
The story was somewhat flat. Declan’s wife didn’t care much that he had an affair.
Frost agonized over telling her, only for her to shrug her shoulders about the whole thing.
She decided not only to ignore the DNR, but follow it up by leaving so that Declan could be with his lover, whom he clearly loved more.
That’s classy, in a way. There’s no point in staying with someone who doesn’t want to be with you.
But this story lacked emotion. The wife made the decision the same way she might decide to try a different brand of coffee because it’s cheaper.
Over to you, Chicago Med fanatics.
What did you think of Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 7?
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Chicago Med airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8/7c and on Thursdays on Peacock.
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