‘Chicago Med’ season 2, episode 8 (fall finale) review: A pregnancy, Dr. Reese’s heartbreak, and Will Halstead sings

“Chicago Med” on NBC has a remarkable habit of being able to counterbalance pain and hope for the future, and in many ways, that is what we saw through Thursday night’s fall finale. There is a lot to unpack in here, so the best way to do that is take it on story by story.

Let’s begin with the most heartbreaking part, and that is seeing the end of Danny’s story in tragedy. After Dr. Reese spent most of the episode trying to find her former patient and sex-trafficking victim, eventually she learned that he was unable to fully escape the world in which he was previously so involved in. It seems per Lindsay that he was beaten brutally to death, and unfortunately this is something that will probably haunt Reese for some time.

While we did lose Danny, we’re not willing to personally look at this as a complete failure for Sarah by any means. She’s a young doctor trying to find herself and the right way to go about doing things. She didn’t make the wrong move in keeping Danny out of her home. She had to. It’s her job, and that’s her home life. Any other decision would set a terrible precedent. What she has to realize is that she can only do so much, and she cannot be a hero every step of the day. The episode played that beautifully.

Skirting over the rules – At the same time, we also feel like the episode did a wonderful job in terms of illuminating precisely some of what is happening with Natalie Manning and Will Halstead professionally — they’re learning that sometimes the letter of the law is not as important as the spirit of it. After trying at first to railroad a liver transplant due to laws against it (the donor, the man’s brother, was HIV-positive), eventually he found a way to make that happen without facing any of the same legal ramifications that were going to be there otherwise. This was a complicated situation, and while we do think that the show gave us a little bit of the optimistic viewpoint on it, it’s hard to be altogether upset about the end result. We’re okay if the show wants to be a little less cynical here and there if we are getting a story that makes us care and feel about the people involved.

Also, for some ‘shippers out there of the two of them, they probably appreciated seeing the two work together so much. However, if the two ever get together, we hope that Halstead doesn’t cheat on Dr. Shore to have it happen. They two are now living together — and Will gave a performance in celebration! Think of this as the lovely gift of Nick Gehlfuss’ singing voice.

Ethan’s frustration – We get what Ethan was going through tonight, especially since it’s not a story you see often on a medical show: Him having to try and save a prison inmate who had no interest in getting back to jail anytime soon. For him, this was a welcome respite from spending potentially the rest of his life behind bars. He didn’t want to continue helping someone like this, but at the same time, what could he really do? To not assist would be a violation of his Hippocratic Oath.

Dr. Rhodes makes two key decisions – First, he clashed with the parent of an extremely enthusiastic patient as to the right way to treat her — he wanted to have her undergo a risky surgical procedure, knowing that if it happened, there was a chance at complications because of her current ailment. Yet, he determined it was worth the risk. (This, clearly, was the week of doctors making extremely risky decisions while hoping they work out.)

Apart from this, Connor finally decided to go out for drinks tonight with Dr. Charles’ daughter Robin, even if he was extremely invasive and over-protective about the relationship. After all, what was he really going to be able to do about it in the end. Not that much, so she went ahead and made the choice that felt the most right for her in the moment.

Finally, heartbreak and hope – The great news for April was that she was pregnant, and that her new fiance was happy to hear it. Unfortunately, she also learned that there may not be all that much she can do in order to ensure the child comes to term because of a medication that she was ordered to take for her tuberculosis. As we move further into the season, we imagine that this will be the dilemma: Is she willing to take hope away for her child’s future in order to help her own?

Overall – As far as fall finales go, this one fired on all cylinders. Every major character other than maybe Dr. Charles had a fantastic storyline, we resolved a few threads, and there is more to look forward to. Other than maybe Ethan’s patient being a tad too over-the-top, there wasn’t too much to criticize in here. Grade: B+.