Who was shocked that Marcel found an infant donor for his patient within minutes of the other baby’s death?
Nobody? Me either.
Chicago Med Season 7 Episode 16 was all about Marcel dealing with more infant deaths, and it was as obvious that everything would turn out all right as it was that the story was about the death of his daughter.
The predictability doesn’t necessarily mean that it was a bad story.
In recent years, Marcel’s character has grown on me, and his difficulty dealing with his daughter’s death makes him more compelling.
And since he works in a hospital, sooner or later, something was going to trigger his memories of Harper’s death.
The circumstances were heartwrenching, too. Kayla’s parents were very young, and the baby was only ten days old.
If there was one weakness in this story, it’s that Kayla’s parents were mainly an afterthought.
Marcel: Kayla’s bowel is dilated and she’s got air in her small intestine. So I’m going to have to do surgery to find out what’s going on.
Lucy: Surgery? No.
Kayla’s father: She’s only 10 days old.
When Marcel initially told them the baby needed surgery, they were upset, and Kayla’s mother blamed herself for her baby’s condition.
But after giving them the upsetting news that their child needed a transplant ASAP or they might lose her forever, the parents faded into the background.
In a way, this made perfect sense. There wasn’t much for them to do but wait.
And the story was about Marcel’s difficulty dealing with an infant’s potential death after experiencing the loss of his daughter.
Still, there were ways Chicago Med could have incorporated these young parents into the story more.
They could have grabbed Marcel as he was going down the hall to beg him for an update, or someone could have found them in the waiting room crying and blaming themselves because their daughter was likely going to die.
Marcel could have tried to prepare them for the infant’s death by also talking about his own experience. That might have made the eventual discovery that baby Tyler was a perfect match more impactful.
For most of the hour, Marcel’s emotion was understated, but if you knew his backstory, you knew exactly what was going on.
Again, this wasn’t a bad thing — he was trying to be professional, after all.
But it made me miss Natalie, and I haven’t thought twice about her since she left. She was the one person Marcel could confide in, and if she were still around, he would have talked to her in an empty room or at his apartment.
Marcel: You know, for the longest time, my memory of her [Harper] was my greatest weakness.
Blake: Well, today it seemed like a source of real strength.
He did confide in Blake at the end, but it wasn’t the same, especially since it happened after all was said and done and not in the middle of the struggle.
Both Archer and Blake seemed to have mellowed between Chicago Med Season 7 Episode 15 and now.
Archer managed to avoid being snarky and annoying. He even congratulated Blake on getting the donated organs and asked her to save a lot of lives!
And Blake accepted that Marcel’s work in the trauma unit came first, something she wouldn’t have said a few months ago when she wanted him to be on call 24/7 for her.
Of course, in this one, Archer’s only real contribution to the story was that he operated on the car crash victims who eventually died.
As soon as he realized that Rose was pregnant at the time of the accident, there was only one way this story could go. Somehow or another, the baby would be a perfect match for Marcel’s patient.
Chicago Med could have gone for the ethical conflict-type story like Chicago Hope did once in a similar situation. That might have been too heavy for the writers’ purposes, though, and what they did instead was fine.
Rose’s parents were grief-stricken and in denial, and it took them time to accept their grandson was gone too. Once they did, they were willing to have part of him live on in another child.
Their bond with Kayla’s parents was sweet, as was Sharon’s comment that they formed a new family after both of their tragedies.
We will likely never see these people again, but I’d like to think that Kayla’s parents will allow Rose’s to be an extra set of grandparents for their baby.
Meanwhile, Vanessa and Charles’ case was one of the more interesting psychosomatic cases.
Abrams: Dr. Taylor, Mrs. Patel has nothing wrong with her neurologically.
Vanessa: Really?
Abrams: Residents.
Abrams won the night with his annoyance that a resident would question his diagnosis. Mrs. Patel’s relationship with her daughter was also a highlight.
I was disappointed we didn’t get to meet Varsha’s fiance and find out whether he was a great match for her, though!
I appreciated Will’s story. Long COVID is a thing, and some patients suffer mightily.
It’s tough to do a COVID story, long-hauler or otherwise, without becoming preachy in this highly politicized environment.
Will: COVID has been a long road for a lot of people.
Hernandez: I mask up, social distance, work remote to stay away from people, but I always seem to have something. Maybe I’m too cautious.
Will: No, I like what you’re doing. Unfortunately, nothing is foolproof.
Chicago Med managed to avoid this trap other than one quick PSA, though, and the PSA itself flowed naturally.
Plus, it was something that all of us who are weary of masking up or taking other cautionary measures needed to hear. As unfair as it seems, doing everything right doesn’t guarantee that you’ll stay healthy, but that doesn’t mean there’s no point in doing those things.
Rudy’s decision to roll the dice on a risky surgery spurred Will to invest in real estate, but Rudy changed his mind. What this means for Will going forward is anyone’s guess, but more importantly: Rudy WILL end up in the hospital again with another infection.
It might not be on-screen, but he can’t remain healthy when the lung cavity keeps attracting bacteria. As scary as the prospect of a partial lung removal was, it seemed like the only way to permanently solve the problem.
As for Scott, I wonder where this cop vs. doctor thing is going.
Scott no longer seems overly conflicted about being caught between two careers. He seems to have decided that he’s comfortable being caught between two worlds and will try to serve both his patients and the police investigation.
Maggie thinks Scott’s behavior is odd and has already started asking questions, which may be a problem.
And there’s still the open question of whether Scott is doing this because he believes in it or because he has feelings for the undercover officer who asked him to work with her.
Since Will mentioned Jay twice, could there also be a Chicago PD crossover coming up?
I hope so. It’s been too long since Jay or any of the other cops we know have paid a visit to their sister show.
Your turn, Chicago Med fanatics. Hit that big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know what you thought!
The next new Chicago Med doesn’t air until April 6, but in the meantime, you can watch Chicago Med online if you need to get caught up!
Chicago Med airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8 PM EST / PST. The next new episode will air on April 6, 2022.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.
