Reviewer Rating: 3.5/5.0
3.5
So frustrating, Chicago Med!
I guess I should have expected this episode to be painful, considering it’s called “Broken Hearts,” but I wasn’t prepared for so much death in one episode.
Two patients die, Maggie and Loren break up, and Hannah’s sister tries to manipulate Hannah after five years in hiding. What kind of start to the new year should this be?
We need at least a happy ending
The surgical team warned the conjoined twins who were admitted to hospital that one of them was likely to suffer a stroke, so this was not surprising.
That’s the kind of tragic ending “Chicago Med” likes: one twin dies, the other lives.
Even more ironically, the twin with stable chances died, while the twin who supposedly took all the risk survived.
Okay, okay, I guess that depressing ending was inevitable. But do we need to follow up on Sully’s random death just minutes before getting a reprieve?
If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while you’ll know that I’m not a fan of Captain Sully, but still. Powell’s death was bad enough without another following close behind.
This unnecessary loss will send Ripley into a tailspin, especially after he spent the entire episode trying to find a way to convince Lennox to order the test so Sully doesn’t end up in jail again.
Ripley: Where do you think he would be better cared for? Is this still Cook County?
Lenox: The health care he gets in prison is not my purview. I can’t save the whole world
Ripley: I’m not telling you to save the world. I ask you to just save this.
I don’t know if it would have been different if she had said yes right away, but I can almost guarantee Ripley would have blamed her.
Where was Dr. Charles when he was needed most?
One of the reasons I think Chicago Med is the best Chicago show is because it centers on psychiatry, which most other medical dramas don’t have, but this time Charles is missing.
Damn cast rotation!
I’d rather he tried to help the Sloan guy than have her story end with her thinking surviving the surgery was a way for her to slip back into being self-absorbed and obnoxious so her assistant quits.
I somehow knew that Sloan’s back pain was related to a heart problem. Maybe it’s the high-stress lifestyle and type-A personality, but there’s something about her that has heart disease.
Sloan’s aortic dissection surgery may also be another way to honor John Ritter. The family’s foundation was mentioned in a previous episode at the request of Steven Weber, a friend of Ritter’s who wanted to spread awareness.
Of course, Ritter died of aortic dissection, which I thought about when Sloan was diagnosed.
But damn, do we really need her to go back and push everyone? The only patient who didn’t die turned out to be more seriously ill.
Hannah’s sister is very manipulative, but is she doing it on purpose?
I hated Hannah’s sister for most of “Broken Heart.”
After five years of radio silence, she finally made contact with Hannah, only to ask her to commit medical fraud, then left again when Hannah refused.
I agree with Frost that Lizzie’s behavior is extremely manipulative.
Hannah: I can’t be her sister and her doctor.
Ripley: So don’t. Be the best sister you can be.
But she seemed genuinely surprised and touched when Hannah gave her all her money so she could undergo IVF.
Perhaps her desire for children blinded her to how controlling she was.
Both she and Hannah have survived the trauma of their mother’s death, and we don’t know how old they are or what else Lizzie has been through.
Their father or her caregiver may not accept her sexual orientation, and she may be processing the trauma in unhealthy ways.
Hannah started taking drugs, but we don’t know what Lizzie did. So maybe I’m being too harsh and she’s not a very manipulative person.
Maggie and Loren’s breakup is incredible
Why did Maggie break up with Loren?
She’s in a bad mood for no reason, stomps around the hospital, and then tells Frost she needs to break up with Loren.
But as Loren puts it, is this really because she “doesn’t feel anything”?
Her uneasiness seems to have started when Doris asked her if she had signed Goodwin’s card.
Goodwin’s near-death experience was terrifying for everyone, and it would make sense if Maggie distanced herself from her loved ones because she had trouble coping with it.
This would be a much more interesting story than a random breakup with Loren – the guy Maggie started dating because she was scared when he nearly died in a helicopter accident.
I’m glad Lenox might be neurodivergent
One of the only good things about Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 5, in what was otherwise a lackluster Halloween episode, was Lennox’s ability to help calm a non-verbal autistic child.
At the time, I thought she would eventually reveal that she had an autistic sibling, which would be a great fit for Sarah Ramos’ previous role on Parenthood, where she played the sister of an autistic child. Good recognition.
But now, I wonder if she has autism or another schizophrenia and isn’t prepared to reveal that to anyone.
The stories she shared about her childhood sounded like some sort of neurodivergence.
She never understood emotions, annoyed her family by refusing to be completely honest, and found comfort in medicine knowing that her honesty was saving lives, even if she was still ostracized for being different.
I feel a lot about this. Additionally, this explains why she has difficulty getting along with her employees.
Lennox does not consider emotions when making medical decisions. The reforms she proposed earlier in the season were the ones she believed would be best for the hospital, regardless of how people felt about them.
This heightened tensions, as doctors felt like they weren’t being listened to and Lennox was confused as to why no one cared more about best practices than being sensitive to everyone’s emotions.
The revelation was a bright spot in an otherwise depressing episode. I can’t wait to see where they go next.
Despite all the frustrations, fireworks and New Year’s celebrations show there is hope for things to get better.
Lennox also spoke publicly about her struggles for the first time.
Still, this felt like a dark episode at a time when many people turn to television for escape, and I was disappointed in how depressing it was.
What about you, Chicago Med fanatic? Is this episode too dark or just right?
Vote in the poll below, rate the episode, and voice your thoughts in the comments.
Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC and Thursdays on Peacock
Watch Chicago Med online
