ER Turns 30

 

It's crazy that today is the 30th anniversary of my all-time favorite television series, ER. It's just hard to fathom about it because it was the series that hooked me to loving television. 

SkyMed Season 2

The second season of SkyMed takes off with exciting new challenges and drama. Here are my thoughts. 

Rescue in the Sky: SkyMed Season 1

 

Are you looking for a medical drama to get you through until Chicago Med or Grey's Anatomy returns? Sky Med on Paramount+ might be the show for you. 

ER: 25 Years Later Still a Classic

It's hard to believe that it was on this date, September 19th that television not only had changed in the medical drama but in drama in general.

It's hard to believe that it was twenty-five years ago today that ER debuted as a two-hour movie pilot; soon would take off as one of the greatest television dramas of the '90s. It was written in 1974 as a feature film scripted by the late Michael Crichton on his experience during his medical student day. But it didn't see the light of day until Crichton and Steven Spielberg was putting it together. That was until Spielberg learned of Crichton's new project, Jurassic Park, that soon stopped the process of ER and worked putting Jurassic Park.

Later that someone from Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment thought that ER would be a great television series, but getting the show on television would be more of a challenge given the current television dramas at the time. The pilot of ER was passed by the major networks twice; until NBC gave them a shot. After getting the pilot made, NBC was not too pleased with what they saw. The stories being dropped without any proper ending, the graphics of blood and the procedures and let alone the medical jargon. They didn't think the audiences would ever understand.

Well, they were proven wrong. After not only did Warner Bros. tested the pilot and learned that it tested high for any pilot; NBC did their own testing and even tested higher than the previous testing. They placed the two-hour pilot on Monday night and later made their stamp on Thursday nights and became Must See TV with Friends, Seinfeld, Frasier, and Caroline in the City.

Crichton wanted to make a real medical drama that didn't dumb down to the audience and give too many uplifting moments. Life in the ER whether it was from a doctor's perspective or the patient's perspective is always dealing with life and death decisions that will always never go the way you had thought it would. It was real and authentic was what he wanted to bring and the audience responded quickly.

And not to mention the ensemble casting that, probably only to Friends, were highly popular and recognizable. From Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Sherry Stringfield, Noah Wyle, Eriq La Salle. And Julianna Margulies, who by the way was supposed to have died in the pilot; but she tested so well that they wanted her back on the show because of not how great she was, but her chemistry between her character and Clooney's character was. It wasn't just all Ross and Rachael that stole everyone's hearts in the '90s; it was Carol and Doug as well.

After the pilot had aired, ER ran for 15 seasons on Thursday nights from 1994 to 2009. Before DVRs and streaming services; you had to watch shows live as they happen or even tape it on your VHS. My how things have changed since those days. In 2018, the show took a resurgence when Hulu got the rights to stream all 15 seasons of the series; which was about damn time; but I got my DVDs so I'm pretty good. Since ER debut there have been shows like House and Chicago Med that carry that gene.

I was five-years-old when ER premiered; I'd watched it with my grandmother and mother. I knew when I heard the opening intro to the series I knew ER was on. I might have had some nightmares, like when Dr. Greene got attacked in season three. ER was literally one of the reasons why I love television so much; from the character-driven stories and the connection to the characters; and not to mention the high action senses that come from time to time on the show. I highly recommend watching or rewatching the pilot episode; the medical terms might be outdated, but the stories hold up so good.

You can catch the complete series of ER on Hulu, iTunes, and Google Play. You can catch ER on Pop TV Wednesdays and Thursdays at 4/3c.

Always In my Television Heart: ER: 10 Years Later After Series Finale

It's one of those days I can't forget that changed my television world forever.

I remember it like yesterday, April 2, 2009, as the day it would change my life in the future television world forever. I've been through other series finales that made me cry, mad, and even laugh, but this one show meant more to me than anything else in the television universe. That specific date is the day that ER ended its 15-season run.

The morning of Thursday, April 2, 2009, was one gloomy day to start, as I had an early class downtown. It was cloudy with showers. I had stopped to pick up newspapers like the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune as I would think they would have put something in there for the series finale of ER. I've gone through each section and found several pages about the show and some with poster ads.

After my only class for that day, I headed back home while listening to the ER soundtrack on my MP3 player. As I get home, I go through the VHS tape of the Today Show when Noah Wyle was on to promote the series finale. I kept myself busy with the usual stuff from watching ESPN until 5 p.m. of the news that the Chicago Bears had made a trade for Jay Cutler (how great that turned out to be ten years later). My grandmother and I ordered Chinese food for dinner, and as time flew by, the world learned that Guiding Light was also ending.

At 7 pm, the special retrospective of ER begins as well, as the waterworks started as the doors opened at County General. As you're going through the hospital doors and into the ER, you hear the voices of all the characters that had worked on the show, from Anthony Edwards' Dr. Greene in the pilot to Noah Wyle's stepping up during an outbreak in Season 4; to George Clooney's Dr. Ross talks about how he tries to help kids who suffer from pain to even William H. Macy's character telling Edward's character that "you set the tone."

The special was an hour-long celebration of the show's origins and how the show has changed network television in medical drama and drama. Two parts restarted the waterworks, reliving the events of Dr. Greene's last episode to even acknowledging the creator of the series, Michael Crichton, who had passed away in Nov. 2008.

The series finale was one that I believe was written for the fans but also paid tribute to the pilot. The two-hour pilot was like a documentary-style episode with bits and pieces of moments that took you back from the past 15 years of the show's history.

There were many moments of laughter, but moments that brought you to tears, from a husband losing his wife to a mother dying after giving birth to twins. Not to mention, a homosexual HIV patient learns that he's got terminal cancer and accepts it without fear as he feels he lived long enough.
I can't forget the significant moments of former cast members returning. Susan Lewis, Elizabeth Corday, Kerry Weaver, Peter Benton, and Rachael Greene, Dr. Greene's daughter, try to get in as medical students at County General, where her father worked.

As the finale ends, we get a moment when residents, doctors, nurses, and Rachael discuss their med-student experience. Sam got a call from EMTs about a mass casualty at a chemical plant explosion and was on the way. As everyone gets ready, all the doctors and nurses come out together, awaiting, and Carter gets prepared, too. As the ambulance rolls in, everyone takes each patient. Carter takes a burn victim. As he rolls them in, he turns to Rachael and asks, "Dr. Greene, are you coming?" and she comes along.

As the episode closes, the doctors and nurses check on other ambulances outside the hospital. As the camera moves back, we see for the first time the building that is County General Hospital with the theme music playing in the background.

"And In The End" was a series finale that was a remembrance of the 15 seasons of the show, with its powerful and emotional stories to the humorist side of the show too. Now, it only shows the strong character growth of the doctors and nurses, but the patients who come in and out may or may not live in the hospital. Still to this day, ten years later, I am still overwhelmed by rewatching the finale of ER.

Watching the series finale of ER was the first time I would lose a television show that I had watched since I was five years old. I'd always thought that ER could live forever, but I know that it will live forever, not only on DVD and digital but in my heart as well.  And on every April 2 since I do indeed rewatch the series finale, and not only do I still get emotional watching it. But I felt so lucky to have watched a show that ran for 15 seasons.

Chicago Med "Played By My Rules" Preview

Here's a preview of Wednesday's episode of Chicago Med titled, "Played ByMy Rules"

"Played By My Rules"

Dr. Charles struggles to convince Dr. Choi that surgery isn't always the answer. Dr. Rohodes finds himself in hot water with Goodwin when he disobeys her direct order. April becomes frustrated with Maggie when she continues to question her leadership role as the stand-in charge nurse. And Dr. Manning suspects Dr. Halstead is keeping something from her.

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Clips/Promo:

I'm thinking that with what Dr. Choi went through last week that needs an operation probably chemical burns or something. Rhodes might be pissed off at Goodwin from learning last week about his dad being the money donor for his hybrid OR. And for once can Will tell Natalie what is going on. It's literally freaking killing me that he's not telling her what's really going on.

You can catch Chicago Med Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

Trick or Treat: Chicago Med "Lesser of Two Evils"

When a child's life is in the balance, a secret will be revealed—this and many more, plus a party for Natalie and Will in this recap of Chicago Med.

When Ethan and April care for a child whose kidneys aren't working, it corresponds to Wilson's Disease.  She needs a transplant, but her parents aren't her biological parent. When Dr. Charles comes in to help, he feels there's something more than what meets the eye. The truth comes out when the mother tells Charles and Ethan that they didn't fully adopt her—but saved her when she was alone while her birth mother got high. The birth mother and smothered daughter don't want to see her. But even if that happened, she wanted to thank those who took her in.

Conner and Lanik butted heads this week, and I was looking for some fist-to-face moment, but I know Conner is better. When seeing Terry bring Lanik coffee and other things, Conner is amazed at how much scutwork Terry does. But when a trauma comes in, Lanik pressures Terry to put a central line in, but he fails nervously. Conner gives some advice to Terry while he tells him that maybe being a doctor was a bad choice. The wrong patient needs to lose his good chance to save the leg. Lanik doesn't think keeping the guy is essential because Conner thinks he's afraid that they 'lose him.

While getting ready for a Bachelor and Bachelorette party, Natalie and Will treat a woman who's shown bruises on her face down to her hips.  Thinking that it's her husband, Natalie gets the truth out of the patient. But soon, her patient had a blood clot, and any stress would cause the clot to burst. But her husband won't listen and brings her to leave. That is until that clot burst, and they pronounced her dead. Her husband goes pretty quickly while Natalie and Will get their patient help after she faked her death. It was such a tremendous Halloween-themed moment.

At the party, Will talks with Jay about Ray again and tells him he must bring him in for his heart condition. But Jay tells him not to because things won't be good. But it doesn't look like Will will leave it alone.

"Lesser Of Two Evils" was a very excellent ring episode.  The writing was so good. Ethan's story was so good,d and it could be an honest bitee about the difference between kidnapping and saving a child's life.  I was stunned, but I understood what they did was for the best of the child; I think that maybe the biological mother would want to share custody with them. There were many momomentsoo from Conner and Lanik butting heads to Conner and Ava having some good moments and Will and Natalie's party too. Will will do what he thinks is best as a doctor to treat his patients. Sorry, Jay.

Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Chicago Med Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

Gut Decisions: Chicago Med "Heavy Is The Head"

As Conner and Maggie put to the test of saving a patient while a med student is in questioned of her methods.  Here's a recap of Chicago Med!

As Conner's hybrid OR is almost ready, a patient comes in with a bad heart and is need of repair. Conner can't get him up to the OR in time and decides to use his hybrid OR, which upsets Maggie. With the typical OR nurse can't find anything, Maggie steps in and helps Rhodes. In the end, Conner and Maggie saved the patient and he thinks that she would be great if she works with him in the OR. That might come different for Maggie.

Natalie and Curry treat a woman, who's in the early stage of pregnancy, is suffering pain. All signs point out to be an ectopic pregnancy, but the mother won't consent to the surgery thinking that god will help save this baby. Even Charles talks to her but sees that she's talking and thinking clearly about her decision. Curry doesn't like it and misinforms the mother about that there isn't a heart beat and had got the surgery. But Charlies learn that the equipment didn't malfunction and confronts Curry and tells her that he's gonna look thoroughly  of her cases.

Ethan and April deal with a child, who's in need of a kidney transplant. But they learn that the father is red flagged as he kidnapped him and calls the cops. As he's arrested, his son gets worst and tries to look for a kidney. Seeing that the father is a match, Gwen orders the team not to do the transplant. But the father later shoots himself in the head and Choi had no other options but to do the transplant.

And when all things seem to go Halstead's way, after treating his father's old friend, he asked if he could rent out a place that he owns for the wedding reception. After agreeing to terms, he tells Natalie about the deal. As they are thrilled about it; it turns out when a visit from Jay turns things upside down. The guy is a mob boss, who's been under watch for a while now and ask Will to step away.

"Heavy is the Head" is not only a great song from the Zac Brown Band, it's also a really great episode. As much as Ethan and April's story in this episode was very powerful; it was very interesting to see Conner and Maggie work together. The Curry story was shocking and pushing Charles is something I would be afraid to see from now on. And I don't think Will will turn down the place. I don't see why not have a wedding at Molly's, right?

Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Chicago Med Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

Changes Is On The Way: Chicago Med "Be My Better Half" Season Premiere

The season premiere of Chicago Med gave us answers, drama, emotions, and some shocking surprises.

The episode picks up after the season finale with Reese seeing Charles on his knees while her dad is on the floor having a heart attack. Quickly, Charles tells Reese what he knows, and they take the CPD to her father's warehouse, where he has kept evidence of his killings. Reese leaves after Charles apologizes.

A few days later, Reese was a no-show during morning rounds, and Charles wondered where she could be if she were okay. She comes in last, still mad, and tells Charles that she has decided to leave Med and complete her residency at another hospital.

Did Natalie give her answers to Will after he popped the question? Well, she did give him a solution, and it was yes, even though it took about a week to provide him with the answer. Will is excited and tries to plan everything, but Natalie wants a small wedding.

Well, with wedding plans in the works, Natalie and Will treated a man who's been deaf since he was a kid and came in after getting sick. His fiance believes that it was the ear plants that he had put in, but it doesn't look like it.  When the test results came back, they informed him that he had usher syndrome, which is genetics, and that he would also lose sight.

Upset at first, he didn't want his fiance to know about it, but she did anyway because she loved him and cared for him. And even though she was against the eye plant device, she went along with it so that two of them could be their eyes and ears.

Rhodes and Ava share some moments throughout the episode, one being that maybe he should stay and work out with this relationship. After treating a man whose heart's aorta, I tried to save him but failed and wrote up a proposal that the ED should have a surgical room. At first, it didn't go through, thanks to the new COO, Gwen Garrett, who didn't think it suited her agenda for Med. But the proposal was passed thanks to an unknown donor, Rhodes' father, thanks to Ava. It might have fixed the surgical problem, but it might be costing Sharon to see the proper side of Gwen.

Choi tries to talk with April about his sister. She's been going to AA meetings and getting help. Emily apologizes to April, and it seems that things are lightly forgiven. That is until Emily comes into the ED sick and learns she's pregnant. It didn't go well with Choi, and after talking with April, it might be best to help her through it.

After Reese left, Charles didn't have a good day, from writing down his notes, which I believe were his thoughts on the whole Reese and her father thing. To even going at it with a med student who sedated a patient who was a bit wild and crazy. But later, he meets with Reese's father, who's in prison, and tells him that Reese is gone and won't be seeing him again. After he gives Charles a crappy speech, Charles comes up to him and tells him that he'll ask his doctor to adjust the anti-depressants, which is probably for the best.

"Be My Better Half" was a fantastic season opener. This episode had some shocking moments, mainly that Sarah Reese is leaving Med. Rachel DiPillo was one of my favorite actresses on the show. She's a robust and innocent person who embraces learning the human condition. And her and Dr. Charles's mentor and mentee relationship was one of the best in this series. But I understand that it was a storyline thing.

I enjoyed the emotional side and humorist moments of #Manstead in this episode, from them treating the usher syndrome patient, which had some heartbreaking but uplifting moments. But watching Will bug Natalie about the wedding stuff repeatedly was like, "damn, I didn't think men care about this stuff!" But he wants a big wedding, let's have a big wedding.

I think the Ava and Conner relationship will grow slowly this season. I would like them to be together, but she's a bit of a mystery to me with her seeing Conner's dad as the donor of the new surgical room in the ED. And I think that Ethan and Choi are back together thanks to Emily, who helped break them up in the season finale.

Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Chicago Med next Wednesday in the epic One Chicago Crossover event, beginning with Fire at 8/7c, Med at 9/8c, and PD at 10/9c on NBC.

Breaking and Pushing: Chicago Med "The Tipping Point" Season Finale

The season finale of Chicago Med had everything you were hoping and still leaving you wanting more but it left with some pretty shocking moments.

Let's begin with the most biggest part of the episode: the separation of the twins. Even after Rhodes' stepped down after he lost a patient in last week's episode, he still has a hand in it no matter if he's scared of not. Playing more of viewing from behind the scenes, he did leave his mark and got in there to help perform a difficult procedure that required a shunt in the heart and later helping with the separation. It left with a very nice offer to Rhodes a position at the Mayo Clinic and after telling Bekker about it, it kind of broken things with them.

Ethan get worried about his sister running away with April reminding him that what she did was wrong to take and steal pain meds from the hospital. But when Deb and Kiki come in with pain, throwing up and liver enlarge, turns out that they have Hep. A and both him and Manning headed out there looking at everyone else to make sure they're okay. They find Laura and Ethan's sister as well, all brought back. Laura got the worst of the case and that also includes Hep. C. With her diagnosis, Laura's baby, that was adopted, had to come in to get tested and after seeing her for a few minutes and learning that she will be okay then Laura's condition took a tumble.

Reese has been trying to take care of her dad by helping him pick a nursing home for his rehab and let alone helping him get exercise too (walking). Charles gets word about the parents of the college student was murdered and after a couple of minutes talking with Haywood, he managed to have a chat with the parents and finding a item from her room (stuff monkey) which would later be found in Haywood's apartment.

Goodwin not only had to deal with the big twin separation news, but also was asked to be at board meeting but it was Burt, her ex-husband, that came in after trying to kill himself. Halstead tried to talk to him, even Charles tries to talk to him (even as a friend) but that didn't work til it was Sharon that tells him to think of what he still has, their three children, which kind of helped get him to admit of seeking help.

Now with all those moments, lets put those that left us with in shock state of wishing for the fall season to start. After treating  his sister, Ethan is determined to help Emily but April thinks that she can't get the help due to being damaged but Ethan isn't given up on her and tells her that she's coming back to stay with them that quickly turns into just being with him. After a successful day, Sharon gets word of a new Trauma chief on the floor and a new CCO of the hospital that she might need to keep an eye on. Rhodes and Bekker might have broken things up again.

After losing Laura, word about the twins being separated was celebrated among the hospital and even Frisch comes over to Halstead and asked if he wants to celebrate with him, for which he turns down and  Natalie finally learns who it was that he had a one night. After that went south, he's plan for a proposal up on the roof turned to being in the parking lot and asking on the spot.

But real moment came when Charles confronts Haywood about stories of murders around the campus where he taught and as they talked Haywood tells Charles that he can't admit that he had won his daughter back over what he had tried to do. But when Charles talks more about the case, it pushes Haywood fall to the ground with his new heart stopping leaving with Reese to come in and see both of them on the floor.

"The Tipping Point" seemed to be the tipping point of where are characters are with life challenges. With all the good things that had happen for the characters, it could be broken with one little saying or not informing or pushing to the limits. I thought the season finale was as strong of an episode as ever with strong character development and leaving us some major questions about certain characters: like for one did Natalie said yes or no? Even that was awkward proposal. But the big one was Haywood collapsing to the floor in front of Charles and Reese coming in at the end. Is he dead? If he is I assume that he caused his heart to stop in the way that he had Reese played to his hands an all. Probably not going to make the relationship between Reese and Charles good again. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10 and the season a 9/10.

You can catch Chicago Med when they return in the fall Wednesday night of #OneChicago at 8/7c on NBC.

Wake Up Call: Chicago Med "Crisis of Confidence"

When Rhodes puts himself on the line to save two people, he must make a difficult decision. Plus, could something be in the future for #Manstead? Here's a recap!

We can all agree that since Robin left, Rhodes has been on a dare, deviling decisions to save patients' lives, and what happened Tuesday night proves that he can't pull off all those miracles. When a pregnant mother comes in with a defective heart, the only way that seems to be easy is to abort the baby and fix her heart, but Rhodes thinks he can save both, which turns out not to be the case, and both the patient and baby died.

The patient's mother gives Rhodes one of the most challenging moments he has confronted, which is that it's his fault. It carries on towards the twin's separation rundown and tells Dr. Latham and Bekker that he can't help and wants to be removed from the group.

Ethan gets a call from his sister, Emily, after someone at a party that she was attending overdosed. But the question of what was he overdosing turns into questioning Emily about how pain meds were missing from last week's trauma event. April asks Ethan, and he questions Emily about it, but it turns out that she really did steal the pills and sell them. But by the time the truth came out from the patient, Emily was long gone to Vegas.

Meanwhile, Dr. Charles gets a letter with a note about Dr. Reese's father, along with news clippings that point to his involvement in murdering a college student. He didn't want to jump the gun, but he snoops around when he helps Reese grab a few things at her dad's apartment, where he spots a photo of the same college student in the clippings. Sharon tries to get him to get the police involved, but when he looks at Reese's father's storage locker, he sees things from books, photos, and clothes.

To the fans of #Manstead, after an emotional moment from last week's episode, Natalie and Halstead take care of a young patient who's having trouble breathing. Natalie and Will try to find the cause of the illness, but her decision, at first, doesn't seem to work until it actually does, and both she and Will share the moment. It made Will think it might be that time he asked Jay for their mother's ring to pop the question.

"Crisis of Confidence" was another marvelous episode that was tense and tense, with joyous moments. The episode had solid character development, pushing characters to memorable moments. Rhodes g, for a while after undergoing dangerous procedures that saved lives, now gets a bit of a wake-up call. I don't think he'll get over it in next week's season finale, but never say never about a surgeon; this is Conner Rhodes. Dr. Charlies is now in dangerous waters, searching for Dr. Reese's father's stuff. 

And speaking of Halstead, is a #MansteadWedding possible? I would love to have it, but it might be too soon to think about it. She's not ready if he does pop the question. And just when you think someone could change,, they don't,, and I wanted Ethan to be proven wrong about his sister that she could change from what he had been saying about her. The writing was strong, and the performances from the cast were as good but not close to last week's episode. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch the season finale of Chicago Med next Tuesday at 10/9c on NBC.

Overwhelming: Chicago Med "This Is Now"

A massive park shooting turns Med into a war zone of treating and saving with everyone they have with everything they've got.

"This Is Now" turns into one hour of intense, emotional fast pace episode that they haven't really done since last season's blizzard episode. But in this case, this was like five times as big with everyone at Med trying treat victims of a park shooting who can be saved and quickly move on to the next one. Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, Natalie deals with the thought that her son, Owe, might have been there during the shooting and tries to make the calls to her babysitter but no word and Jay was busy trying to find the shooter, who happens to be in the hospital with a severe neck wound but is saved by Rhodes.

Meanwhile, #Manstead fans would be all in the happiest moment when Will made some calls and went to get Owen and brought him over to Natalie. After seeing and hugging her child, all three were together hugging.

After what felt like three months of non stop action, the situation gone down and Goodwin tells the hospital lawyer that her demands of a new CT scanner is not enough of what they have just gone though and asked to more than CT scans and even a bigger ED to handle a massive causality.

This was one of the best action episodes since last season, with such driven and fast pace stories from one character to another.  It brought me back to the days of ER. Putting characters into situations that they are not normally felt comfortable, that goes for Latham who had to perform surgery in the doctor's lounge in the ED. Even the event put not only put April overwhelmed but even Ethan, who was shaken up after. Overall, I give this episode a 9.5/10.

You can catch Chicago Med Tuesday at 10/9c on NBC.

A Parent's Love: Chicago Med "The Parent Trap"

It was all about the parents in this week's episode of Chicago Med.

"The Parent Trap" serves the title purpose when talking about what this episode is all about: parents. From Reese's learning that her father is gonna die and figuring out if she should talk to him one last time, but she does it becomes an awkward moment as he talks out of his head. Either way, he did get the heart transplant thanks to Rhodes, who pushes for it.

For Rhodes, he learns that Bekker has been seeing his dad after she gets a huge basket of flowers. Or course, we know that Conner and his dad has had a family feud since the beginning of the series and after the heart surgery, Rhodes opens to her about it situation and his feelings for her.

Natalie and Will are forced to work with each other thanks to Maggie when a kid comes in with a bad bowel that's required surgery but learns that the kid has panda syndrome (yep it's real, look it up). But Will doesn't think the kid has it and that their family doctor is just pushing meds on him. It draws tension between Will and Natalie again but it opens up about how they're medical opinion isn't being heard. But the kid's mother holds a personal secret that her son doesn't have pandas syndrome but OCD.

April and Noah treat an elderly man, who comes in with what seems to be drug related but his daughter fights that he doesn't take any drugs. With the test results indicating that he's positive for drugs, it turns out that the man's coat contain powder of fentanyl, which turns the ED on emergency lockdown of that wing due to being the strongest type. It puts Goodwin in a bad situation with the hospital board committee when she confronts them about putting the ED on bypass til the drug is cleaned out.

Ethan get angry with his sister, as she doesn't return the car in time for his daily visit to the homeless kids that he's been helping. But when she finally comes, Ethan treats a kid who seems to have cancer, but needs to inform his foster parents, for which the kid doesn't want. Ethan's sister helps him by getting Ethan not to tell the kid's foster parents, but he does when the results prove right. But Ethan not only learns about the kid's decision to leave but also his sister's view on it too as she was a runaway as well. The kid did comes back to the ED, sees his foster parents, and gets treated but the relationship might not be there between them.

This episode was as good as it could be with the moments of Reese and her father being one of the best of the episode to #Manstead moments to even the worried moment between Goodwin and the board members when the hospital attorney tells her about how this could get her fired. The character development in this episode was as good with memorable moments and performances from the cast. Just three more episodes left til the end of the season, something big feels like is going to happen. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Chicago Med Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

Bold Decisions and Shocking Revelations: Chicago Med "Devil in Disguise"

From a bold surgical procedure to two bold medical cases and even a bold decision that could help someone's career. Here's a recap of this week's Chicago Med.

When conjoined twins comes in, a couple weeks early before their separation surgery, for a heart issue, the team thinks that the best way is to move ahead the separation and to save one over the other. But Rhodes thinks there's a better way to save both and it divides both him and Bekker of their opinions on the situation. With the team informs the parents of the first procedure without informing them about Rhodes' plan.

But Rhodes gets the final word as he sneaks and talks to the parents about how he could save both and they agreed with his plan. With the team pissed, mostly the pediatrician, Rhodes performs with some complications at first but goes smooth and the twins are safe and ready for their separation in the weeks to come.

Meanwhile, Halstead tries to help a father, who might be suffering from a misdiagnosis, but when they learn of what he has the only thing that he's concern is the payment. This was due to the father's decision of getting a cheaper insurance so his son could go to college with the money he tried to save. He gave Halstead an earful of why couldn't he let him die. It's given Halstead another week of trying to help a patient even if they don't want it. He tries to talk to Natalie about it but she tries to avoid him at all cost after she wanted a break. But it gave us a nice Halstead-Rhodes bromance at the bar but leaves with that pediatrician sitting next to Halstead and ordered him a drink. Looks like that break with Natalie might be soon break up.

Talking about medical cases, Charles and Reese tries to diagnosis a patient, who's mother thinks she's possessed by the devil. But the father, otherwise thinks it has to due with her mother trapping her at her home and gives some bad vibes from Reese, who's kind of reliving what she sees in her relationship with her father. But when Charles and Reese tries to talk with the patient, she was talking gibberish and wetting the bed, which lead to Charles to talk with the parents and asked them about a certain book that he figured out she was saying.

Once he read the book, the patient was freaking out and even talking in words, for which the mother figured out why she was scared of the book. The father has done bad things to her when she was a little girl and as soon as he had enough, he walks out but Reese gives him a earful til Charles orders her to stop. 

Also Maggie could be facing termination from last week's doing but she gets word that if she had her EMT licence with an updated card, she would be safe. But wasn't the case as her card had expired two weeks ago and goes beyond to Barry for help to get a card renewed before her hearing. But as she got her card and headed up to the hearing, the heating was cancelled due to the family sticking up for her for saving their daughter.

And Ethan accepts his sister to stay with him for a couple of weeks. But when April finds out that she disobeyed his order of not having anyone over, she gives her a chance.

"Devil in Disguise" was amazing episode that kept me intrigue for the whole hour with some of the most interesting stories and character developments, mainly Charles and Reese's patient (which was  my favorite storyline of the episode), Halstead's third encounter with another patient that doesn't want help and trying to get Natalie's opinion. The Rhodes' story was good, there wasn't much doing between Bekker and him that I thought there was going to be. I was worried that Maggie would be the one to go, but glad she's staying. I would assume that her and Barry are okay with how things went while back. I'm not liking the last scene with Halstead and the pediatrician getting equated with drinks. Wouldn't that make the break move into break up with Manning?

Overall, I give this episode a 8.5/10.

You can catch Chicago Med Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

Serious Circumstances: Chicago Med "Lock It Down"

When a baby is missing at Med, the place goes on lockdown, which leads to severe circumstances.

As Halstead treats a baby and is about to send him up for more tests, it turns out that the baby has gone missing, and leads Goodwin to lockdown Med til the baby is found. Goodwin gets Dr. Charles and Reese to help understand who would take the baby and where they would take it. As they search the hospital, Charles and Reese express their opinion that the person could be a mother who had lost her child before, and searching for records leads to one person who happens to be caught on camera dressed as a nurse.

She thought that she went to the newly built OB/pediatrics ward, but it turns out that she was in the old building holding the baby. Charles tries to reason with her, but Reese not only reasons with her but lies to her when she takes the baby, and the CPD takes her.

With the lockdown in effect, it doesn't do well when a trauma patient needs a cardiologist, but instead gets Ethan and April trying to fix the guy's heart. They face-time Rhodes and Bekker, who are at a banquet. While it's not going well from Rhodes's end, he heads to Med as Bekker instructs  Ethan on working the patient's heart; Rhodes sneaks into the building in an old passage that leads him to the hospital and performs a successful job on the patient.

But it didn't end there when Noah's patient couldn't breathe, and he wasn't around, let alone any other doctor. It leads Maggie to make the unthinkable but rational decision to help first, trying to tube the patient but couldn't, and that leads to placing a tract in her throat. It doesn't go well when the patient has suffered from a stroke due to the lack of oxygen. It doesn't look good for Maggie, as she's suspended for a week.

But it could get worse for #Manstead fans as both seem to be coming into good terms, and planning to talk about what had happened in the last couple of weeks turns worse for them. When they treat a patient suffering from respiratory issues, they learn that their cancer has grown and that there isn't much they can do. But when Natalie tells Will that there is an experimental drug to help shrink the tumor and thinks it's the best treatment, Will shoots her idea down.

Natalie pursues the idea with the patient and wife and gets the treatment going, but later, the patient goes into cardiac arrest and dies. Later, Goodwin learns about what happened and the experimental drug used, and Halstead blames Manning for it. It pissed off Natalie that he did it, and when the test results showed that the drug didn't kill their patient but helped shrink the tumor down. Will tries to give the credit to Natalie, but Natalie doesn't want it and tells him that she wants to be respected as a doctor and not be protected, even if they are in a relationship. But it put their relationship on a break for now (I hope).

"Lock It Down" was another intense episode that put the doctors and nurses of Med in tough decisions and circumstances. The character development was good, along with the writing. I thought Maggie and her decision as a nurse to put a tract for the patient was fantastic storytelling and should start a discussion: why can't nurses tube or tract a patient? Also, not to mention the storyline of Dr. Charles and Reese, as she learned that Charles talked with her father as a patient and wouldn't tell her. It also opened that she could or couldn't be like her father after she lied so well to the mother who stole the baby. And the #Manstead storyline takes a dramatic turn as their relationship takes a break. Not only does it hurt as a fan, but I also understand where Natalie is coming from, seeing how Will has protected her in the work area. Hopefully, he will change. And not to mention Rhodes and Bekker, as Rhodes still has a thing for her. But what the hell was that look between Rhodes's father and Bekker that seems very questionable?

Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Chicago Med Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

Expect the Unexpected: Chicago Med "Best Laid Plans"

 

From start to finish, this week's episode of Chicago Med will leave you on the edge of your seat for the ride of your life. 

Whether it's the drama moments of Rhodes and Bekker fighting over who gets the donor's heart: a man receiving transplants for the third time or a family man who's up for his first one, meanwhile, Manning takes on a patient who is taken care by his mother and has a dirty trach tube, and learns that his mother has been trying to let him go. But when Manning tells Halstead about it, he overreacts and gets the police involved. That led to a heated argument between Natalie and Will that will leave #Manstead fans shaking. 

Charles learns from Reese that her dad asked her to be his cosigner on an apartment and help care for him. But when Charles meets with her dad again, he confronts him about his condition and that he'll let the transplant board know he's not fit for a new heart due to his mental disorder. The tables turned when Reese went after Charles for what she had said to her father, which was a lie. But it did give Reese to think, and she decided to say no to her father. 

The surprise moments come when April and Noah treat an older woman with back pain, upset stomach, etc. As things began to worsen with every treatment, it turned out that the 55-year-old woman was pregnant and gave birth to a girl. 

Choi treated a patient who was found in the waiting room and couldn't find anything wrong with her through all the tests. But when given an MRI, it showed a stroke that's from her broken jaw that she got repaired years ago. 

"Best Laid Plans" was one of the best-hour episodes of Chicago Med so far with the cases that the characters took and the push to the limits they are head into, not to mention surprises as well. From the beginning to the end, the episode never stopped being less attractive as it kept you on the edge of your seats. Besides the drama, there were moments like Choi bringing his sister to April's cousin's party, where they all would have a good time dancing the night away. 

The writing was excellent and well-developed, and the characters were as well. The performances from the cast were so good, where it's Donnell, Kuhling, Gehlfuss, DeVitto or DiPillo and Platt. I don't know where Rhodes and Bekker will go as they don't have anything to lose, but Manning and Halstead, with their first big argument, could lead down to something, even after last week's episode for Halstead. Reese's father would be the most problematic for me as the character creeps me out and makes me worry that something will go wrong with someone. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Chicago Med Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

Unforgettable: Chicago Med "Born This Way"

This week's episode of Chicago Med was indeed an unforgettable one.

Let's face it: we don't know where this relationship between Rhodes and Bekker is going, and quite frankly, I would like to see where this is going. There might be something there, some spark ever since then they've been working together. After their one night, their relationship takes a test when one of Rhodes' patients comes in in need of a lung transplant. Bekker questions Rhodes about his decisions for the patient, but things get worse with each step he takes. But that all changes when Bekker and Rhodes ask the ECMO and find out that there is a clot in the machine and soon takes him to the OR for his lung transplant. But their relationship takes a bit of a turn when Bekker breaks it off with him.

After pulling a night shift, Ethan and Natalie go beyond the work in the hospital to help treat a pregnant homeless teen who's in labor and running a fever. But when the teen doesn't want to go to the ER because DCFS will put her back into the system, Ethan takes the chance and helps deliver the baby outside in the cold. As the delivery takes a drastic turn, the baby is born safe, but the teen, who still doesn't want to go to Med, makes the hardest decision to give her baby up.

Dr. Charles, who's been in between the latest reunion of Sarah and her father, sees that Sarah's father might be pulling something over her with his health condition. Looking at his brain scan and getting a second opinion from Nero, it seems that Sarah's father has a bit of a psychopathic mind. He confronts him in a session and asks him to tell Sarah the truth about his health and what he wants her to do to help. But when he does, it seems that Sarah's dad only told her half of the truth, which puts Charles in a tight position.

Halstead and April treat a curable cancer patient; if caught early, he could beat it. But in this case, the patient doesn't want anything to do with treatment and wants to die because he's a pedophile. With April not wanting to help the guy, Halstead tries his best to help him, even if it's not what the patient wants. With no hold from Reese, the patient's health takes a turn for the worse, and Halstead, who tries to convince the man to let him help, follows his wishes and holds his hand til the end.

When the hospital is in a lawsuit from a patient who says that the EMT passed him because he had no insurance, he claims it was Maggie's idea. When Goodwin confronts her, they pull the EMT, who made the statement that it was Maggie's idea, and when they face him, it all makes sense with the pizza room situation. The pizza room is for the EMT to bring in the better patients with the best insurance so the hospital can get paid. Goodwin decides to shut it down, but the hospital board won't accept it as it costs too much money.

"Born This Way" was an excellent one-hour episode with good writing and character development. The performance from the cast was terrific, including Gehifuss, Brian Tee, Donnell, and Norma Kuhling, who might have an excellent breakout performance as her character opens up to help the parents of a boy in need of a lung transplant help with guidance. I don't know about you, but I want to see where this Rhodes/Bekker thing is going, even if she breaks off with him at the end. What would be the nickname for these two? I thought that the Halstead story was chilling and so brilliantly written. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Chicago Med Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

The Madness in March: Chicago Med "Foile A Deux"

A questionable act of a patient, a father's weird reunion with her daughter and a moment that was slowly building has finally taken off.

When Ethan and April were playing around in his apartment, Ethan gets a call of someone getting stabbed in the stomach in his own apartment. The stabber is of course hurt too and freaking out and its put into question with Dr. Charles when he looks into her mental state. When her friend comes to visit, she gives a strange vibe and says things from having her check and who would drive her to work kind of thing.

Dr. Charles tries to show Jay Halstead that the patient wasn't the one who did it but her so called "friend" and tried to prove it by questioning her. He calls it "Folie A Deux" which stands for "two madness" or when someone's mental state convinces another person of the same mental state like she thinks the guy that she stabbed is a killer.

In the meantime, Natalie treats an infant that presents with whooping cough and goes through all the channels to help the kid survive, even though the baby isn't yet immune yet. But Natalie learns that the baby caught the illness from her son, who isn't vaccinated and gets a word with the husband and father about it. 

Noah treats a patient, who shows signs of a heart attack and gets the approval from the Troll, but when Rhodes and Bekker treat the patient it's a total different story. When Bekker and Rhodes take the patient to surgery, they see that the patient has a bad aortic dissection that requires to chill the patient in order to fix and save.

Bekker was pissed that Noah didn't see it and it really didn't make him feel better, but some guild lines from Rhodes did help. Later, both Rhodes and Bekker accommodated each other with how great of work they did with that patient. But they get word from Latham that he'll be hand picking his team to separate conjoint twins.  And soon after the news, the two talked a bit more and the moment came when they finally kissed.

With Dr. Charles taking care of his patient, he gets a visit from another person, who thought needed help and medication.  But it turns out the patient is actually the father of Dr. Sarah Reese, who wants to connect with her. Soon, Reese gets a letter from her dad, who hasn't seen him in 20 years, that he's in town and wants to see her, she does meet with him and is taking a chance with him. But I'm with Charles as things don't seem right at all with this as he tells him things that even Charles can't say to Reese about.

"Folie A Deux" was another great hour of television of character development, strong writing and kept it really interesting for the whole hour. I don't get too tired of watching Natalie stand up for vaccinations for kids and watching her call the husband/father/brother-in-law an idiot was something cool and such a Halstead move. The stabbing patient case was such an interesting one to watch through this episode and learning about a mental disorder that I've never heard of and not to mention Reese and her father. I thought that Reese's father would be somewhat kind of different but didn't expect a professor as all, but with the stuff he's pulling and saying to Charles, I question it 110 percent. Overall, I give this episode a 9/10.

You can catch Chicago Med when it returns in two week (due to the series premiere of Rise next week) on NBC.

Chicago Med "Folie A Deux" Preview

Here's a preview of a new Chicago Med this Tuesday titled, "Folie A Deux."

After a neighbor is stabbed, Dr. Choi enlists the help of April to figure out who is the real cause of the incident. Dr. Bekker and Rhodes expertise is put to the test when Noah misdiagnoses a patient. Dr. Charles is put in an uncomfortable position when Reese estranged father comes to him as a patient without her knowledge. Meanwhile, Dr. Manning rushes to save a baby with whooping cough.

You can catch Chicago Med Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

Oh man..... Chicago Med "On Shaky Ground"

Another week, another powerful episode of Chicago Med.

The title for this episode "on shaky ground" is probably the best way to describe the episode with it's well developed storylines and conflicts between the characters. From Natalie help deliver a 26 week baby that was still in it's amniotic sack is still alive and tries to do everything to keep him alive. While Bekker performs open heart surgery on her mentor that request that he be awake for it, but Rhodes has her back and helps her get through it. Reese overcomes her fears when going with Dr. Charles when visiting the Cook Country prison.

And not to mention April and Ethan having difference of opinion about a patient and the DCFS. The patient, who's a runaway from home due to the fact that her father beats her, comes in with unknown symptoms until they find that a cockroach had crawled through her nose and in her head drawn to spinal fluid. The reason she's been leaking spinal fluid was from the blows to the head from her father. April gets to Ethan about to reconsider after seeing that the DCFS system isn't the best thing. And April lets her leave to where she's been staying.

"On Shaky Ground" might be one of my favorite episodes so far this episode with some of the medical storylines that were so fascinating. Both the writing and the character growth was strong and not to mention that DeVitto, DaCosta, Tee and Donnell and Kuhling gave good performances. Overall, I give this episode a 8.5/10.

You can catch Chicago Med Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.