‘Chicago Med’ season 2, episode 9 review: Natalie learns Jeff’s secrets; April faces tough decisions
Despite everything that she went through with her TB struggles during the winter finale of “Chicago Med,” Thursday night’s new episode “Uncharted Territory” at the very least began with the April character in a slightly better place. She was looking to add some personal touches to her home with Tate, and was trying to build a new life together.
From here, the rest of the episode got started, and it felt like much of the same show that we very much enjoyed in the fall.
Two patients, ready to fight – From the medical angle, perhaps the biggest story of the hour was the arrival of two tough-guy fighters to Chicago Med who at times were more ready to beat each other up than focus on their recovery. The fact that there were two managers there who were equally interested in fighting did not help at all. As Choi helped to care for the two parties, it only matters worse as he dealt with racism from one of the managers, and then one of his patients ended up slipping into a coma.
As the fighter’s opponent started to come to terms with what happened, we actually saw a series of different touching moments between all of the characters. We saw tears, Choi finding a way to get through to some of these tough guys, and help them all come together despite all of the aggression and rage.
Jeff’s secret – For a big percentage of this episode, we saw him and Natalie reflecting on their past; however, midway through the episode, he revealed to her a secret that he’d long harbored … one that made it clear why he and Natalie had lost touch so many years before. Jeff had held a candle for her far longer than he ever made it clear, and Natalie’s former Jeff knew about it.
While Natalie tried to wrangle her feelings about this, she also had the challenge of taking on a young patient showing unusual symptoms. It was one that tried her and tried her, and eventually despite her best efforts, she still ended up losing him — and this wasn’t the only moment of heartbreak that plagued the hospital of the course of the hour. You can look at much of the story of Dr. Charles tonight as another example of that.
Back to April – As she learned that her medication may be causing problems with her pregnancy, she and Tate are facing some difficult risks. She doesn’t want to terminate the pregnancy because of her religion. This is something that is going to drain her over the course of the next several hours ahead, and we just how that she makes it through okay in the end.
Overall – A powerful, poignant return for the show, and a story that reminded us that sometimes, not all of these doctors can have the desired resolution all of the time.
Next week – You are getting an episode entitled “Heart Matters,” and a story that is going to be very important to the Maggie character in particular. Head over here if you’ve got an interest in reading a little bit more about it. (Photo: NBC.)