'Chicago Med' season 5 writers must avoid 'Grey's Anatomy' pitfalls when telling Maggie's cancer story
When 'Chicago Med' first aired, Maggie Lockwood (played by Marlyne Barrett) was the head nurse of the Emergency Department. She was responsible for calling all the shots in the ED, and the other doctors and nurses knew to follow her orders. Maggie is empathetic, kind, and highly capable of doing her job. In season 4, when the Hybrid Operating Room was inaugurated, she went with Dr. Connor Rhodes (Colin Donnell) to the Hybrid OR. We got to see Maggie being more hands-on this season and viewers got to see Maggie advancing professionally. During the season, Maggie donated her kidney to a patient which led her to discover that she has cancer by the season finale.
Maggie's story in season 5 will undoubtedly be about her cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery (being optimistic at this point). We also know that Colin Donnell is leaving the show, so with Dr. Connor Rhodes leaving the hospital and Hybrid OR could prove difficult for Maggie to handle with her cancer as the hospital appoints a doctor to replace Dr. Rhodes. The last time we saw a major character getting cancer on the show was Dr. Downey (Connor's mentor) in season 1, who ended up dying. Although he was only around for eight episodes, the show managed to show the character's struggle with cancer.
But with the writers treating their female characters differently, we hope Maggie's character won't suffer what we call the "Izzie Syndrome". On 'Grey's Anatomy', Izzie (Katherine Heigl) battles cancer for about half a season before she goes into remission. Before she was aware that she had melanoma, Izzie was hallucinating about Denny, a previous patient, and boyfriend of hers who died from cancer. Many viewers appreciated the way Izzie's suffering as a cancer patient was shown - her hair loss, her trying to preserve her fertility - but what did annoy them was the way her DNR request was not honored and the doctors brought her back to life against her wishes. Izzie's cancer storyline took the driver's seat in her story and thereafter, she was only about the drama.
The 'Chicago Med' writers need to ensure they do not do the same to Maggie. Maggie is highly mature and probably wouldn't want any attention to herself and her recovery with cancer. It would be interesting to watch how Maggie will manage her job at the hospital and her treatment. 'Chicago Med' is one of the most accurate medical dramas on TV, so we can be assured that the writers will portray as accurately as possible.
'Chicago Med' returns for its fifth season on Wednesday, 25th September 2019.