'Chicago Med' Season 5: High-stakes procedures make medical drama's second episode much stronger than the first
'Chicago Med' returned for its fifth season and delivered one of the weakest episodes of the series. Filled with drama involving the now-deceased Dr. Ava Bekker and her apparent-drama-replacement Phillip Davis, the episode featured over-the-top twists and turns and delivered an unsatisfactory ending to one of the most popular characters on the show. Dr. Connor left the hospital after Ava's suicide, without saying goodbye to everyone.
The second episode which aired tonight was much stronger and focused on what the show does best - what happens in the Emergency Department. The medical drama picks up 3 months after the first episode, meaning that 'Chicago Fire' and 'Chicago Med' are now on the same timeline. Also, April's baby brother, Dr. Noah Sexton is back and it looks like he and Dr. Marcel might not get along. Dr. Manning is back as well and she gets right into the action. The power goes out and the back-up generator does not come online, leaving Dr. Marcel and Dr. Manning in tough situations.
Dr. Marcel decides to continue operating despite doubts and asks Noah to scrub in. The former guides Noah as they complete the procedure and Marcel is impressed by his presence in the OR. Dr. Manning is stuck in an elevator with a patient who has a gunshot wound. Captain Casey joins her and helps her operate on the patient as he loses pressure. We are also introduced to a fresh face, medical student Steve, who holds up quite well under Dr. Choi's guidance on this nerve-wracking first day, but decides not to come back as he doesn't think he can face this situation again.
Meanwhile, Dr. Charles and Dr. Halstead deal with a group of girls who get sick and they have no idea what's happening. When Maggie also gets sick, they isolate the two girls and Maggie - keep in mind, no one but Sharon knows that she has cancer. Dr. Charles gives them placebos and turns out, they work - it was mass psychogenic illness - caused by stress and anxiety manifested as physical symptoms. Will suspects Natalie might not have gone to talk to him about her "getting" proposed and asks her if she loves Phillip, angering her.
As we said, this was the drama's strongest episode this season, though we are only two episodes in. We get a mini-crossover when members of 'Chicago Fire' come over when the power goes out. It was cool to see Natalie perform such a high-risk surgery in such a tense situation. Seeing her work with Casey was also quite interesting and fans would certainly have gotten Dr. Chase vibes from Jesse Spencer from his last medical drama, 'House.' Dr. Choi is quite a good mentor and this is a brilliant storyline for the character. We see Ethan and April being kind of like the mom and dad to Steve. The 'Chicago' franchise began strong this night with this great episode.
'Chicago Med' airs on NBC on Wednesday nights.
