Chicago Med season 4 episode 7 review: Who returned … and who kissed?
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For Dr. Ethan Choi and April Sexton, this story proved to be the best and worst of both worlds. This was a dramatic affair that started with Ethan saying goodbye to his sister Emily and her creepy, he’s-probably-going-to-ruin-this boyfriend Bernie and then ended with him almost dying in the hospital. In what is surprisingly yet another entry into the annals of “people who want to kill TV doctors,” a man showed up tonight with a dangerous chemical, demanding answers on a patient (his wife) who died under Dr. Choi’s care. When Ethan was unable answer him in a satisfactory way (let’s be clear here; there was no satisfactory answer), this led to him letting loose the chemical and throwing the entire ED into utter chaos. There was screaming, there was scrambling, and every other crisis for the week stemmed out of this disaster.
Yet, for Ethan, there was eventually some happy news — though it did take some time to get to it. First, Goodwin ended up ordering the attacker treated before him due to protocol; then, PD had to figure out the right toxin. When they did (it was cyanide, which did make us think for at least five second that Brian Tee was actually leaving the show), they were able to make the right moves in order to help him. That means bringing in a treatment, one in which he was able to use to recover.
Then, the night’s big twist crept out of nowhere. Ethan was sent up to ICU and, soon after that, was visited by none other than his emergency contact: Vicky Glass! That’s right, she’s back! She hasn’t been seen since season 1, which means that there’s a reasonably good chance many newer fans don’t even know who she is. (Chihards may also remember the even earlier days of Chicago Med, such as that shocking time Will Halstead didn’t have scruff on his face.) Vicky’s arrival means that Ethan can reconnect … but not knowing that April just so happens to want to do that with him too. She’s realizing that those feelings are still there but now, someone may be in the way.
As the Chicago Med turns…
Are Ava, Connor back on?
We’d say so, and what a turn of events it was for the two of them tonight! Remember, in the early going Dr. Rhodes finally learned the truth about his father funding the OR — and that she knew about it. He was angry, but there’s something about being locked in the OR and watching her save someone’s life that is incredibly impressive / admirable. They were stuck in there due to the toxin spreading through the rest of the ED and with that, they had no blood other than Ava’s universal-donor magic. She came very close to killing herself giving blood to the patient so that Connor could finish the operation and he could survive.
At the end of all of this, Ava admitted to being responsible for convincing his father to donate the money — at that point, the guy was clearly too smitten over her selflessness to really care. Or, maybe the thought of her being so intent on having him stay flattered him. Either way, maybe Connor and Ava are closer to being a thing, and maybe some detractors are getting closer to actually being on board with her. Maybe. We understand her keeping this secret a little bit more than the other big one this week.
Now comes the part we question Will Halstead … again
At this point, we get it: Will knows that Natalie would not encourage what he’s doing when it comes to Ray, the mobster he’s both trying to save and trying to rat out to the cops. Yet, she’s also a grown adult who understands nuance and that sometimes situations are difficult. It’s still unfathomable why he’s keeping this secret about working with Jay on the sting operation. He clearly thinks that he’s in too deep at this point but he’s also giving himself an ulcer trying to keep things under wraps. Natalie knows that he’s hiding something and, beyond that, the problem is still not going away.
This story is mostly baffling given that at this point, it’s so hard to really be excited for the Manstead wedding (if it even happens) since some of the potentially-happy storylines are being pushed aside for this. Will and Natalie shouldn’t be walking through daisies and celebrating a perfect life, but can’t there be a mixture of happiness and conflict? Why all the secrets when Natalie’s capable of handling it and clearly capable of allowing Will to do what he needs to do? This is a woman who performed a C-section outside an elevator shaft! After the toxin spread that was her only way out. We should give a wag of the finger here to Dr. Charles for letting her believe she was getting advice on how to deliver the baby from another doctor via the phone — hasn’t he learned not to emotionally puppet people at the hospital yet? Remember Dr. Reese? Unfortunately, Chicago Med seems to still do this at times — see Noah Sexton while you’re at it.
CarterMatt Verdict
We don’t want some of our frustrations on the Will / Natalie storyline (which feels like it’s going on too long) to completely sour what was a good episode in parts elsewhere — namely the Ethan storyline and Yaya DaCosta’s performance throughout tonight. In our mind, she may be the Chicago Med MVP of the night. This was a good exploration into the Ethan / April relationship and also what she does when the chips are down and she wants to save someone she cares about. Elsewhere, there was much-needed progress on Connor and Ava. It is shocking in some ways that there remain so many couples within this one particular wing of a hospital, but Chicago Med is a pretty small world like that. It’s what works for the writers and, for the most part, it works for most of the fans. We’re just not sure many of the secrets do.
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Did Chicago Med season 4 episode 7 work for you, and are you equally frustrated with the Will / Natalie storyline? Share now in the attached comments. (Photo: NBC.)