When I finished last night’s Chicago Med episode, I had a feeling that “White Butterflies” had been just a filler. However, in hindsight, there were many moments that will most likely define the finale and the first stretch of season 3.
For instance, April and Ethan. What the hell was that? They spent the entire episode disagreeing about a patient, but when I saw him leaning in when they were talking up on the roof, I just stared at the TV in shock.
When did they become a possibility of a thing? Where was I? Granted, April backed away and nothing really happened – except a very awkward moment – but it still opened the door to something.
And in hindsight, the signs leading up to this were all there; I just hadn’t noticed them. They have been having an awful lot of scenes together, Ethan has been sort of mentoring her brother and they work well together.
But still, having them go from being a good team to potential romantic interests? It was a little bit of a stretch for me.
Of course, the case they had been dealing with was incredibly hard and tragic and heartbreaking, so they were both in a vulnerable, emotional state, so maybe we can chalk it up to that.
The patient they were treating had been in a car accident and had several fractures on his left side, plus a subdural hematoma.
The thing is, he had ALS, which was advancing rapidly, so by the time his fractures healed and he had the chance to go through rehab, he would be stuck in a wheelchair and not functioning on his own. So even though Dr Choi advised him to do the surgery to fix the bleed in his brain, he refused.
So April and Ethan argued the entire episode about this, because even though it was the patient’s choice to refuse medical treatment, going along with this was basically assisted suicide, because the patient would inevitably die.
So I understand why that moment on the roof might have happened. They were both vulnerable and still reeling from the patient’s death. It may turn out to be nothing, but I really don’t think it was.
Still on the topic of relationships, Manstead is totally happening, guys. They make such a good team and last night was no different.
When they received a 13-year-old girl with severe stomach pain and mental confusion, Natalie was at a loss of what to do.
Every single test she ran came back negative, so she turned to Will for help. He is her attenting physician, anyway, so he stuck around to see the case through. It turns out that the girl had herpes, which caused encephalitis, which nearly got her killed.
But she was a 13-year-old girl, how could she possibly have contracted a sexually transmitted disease? Things take a turn for the worse, though, when they perform a pelvic exam and see that there are signs consistent with sexual assault.
They call the police and Jay comes by to investigate. Now, Team Halstead Bros and Manning is awesome together. They dig into this girl’s life and eventually find out that it had been her orthodontist that had raped her and given her herpes and god knows what else.
It’s heartbreaking and tragic, but they solve the case and Will and Nat get even closer during their investigation.
Add to that the fact that Nat found out that Jeff was leaving and starting a new life in Hawaii, and we had her reach some sort of epiphany of her own. It’s time for her to move on with her life and start anew. So when Will invites her along to go to Molly’s with him, Nina and Jay (Seriously, Will?!), she accepts it, but tells him she’ll meet them there.
When she shows up at Molly’s later, Will’s eyes nearly bug out of his head and the dude just can’t stop smiling or take his eyes off of her.
She got a haircut and looks completely different and absolutely beautiful. They all compliment her on the new ‘do, but Nina very obviously senses that Will is completely in awe.
She wraps her arms around his territorially and compliments Nat with a strained smile. Patti Murin plays jealousy really, really well and that scene was absolutely on point.
Manstead is happening and it’s next week. Mark my words.
Elsewhere, we had Connor pulling in the big guns and bringing lawyers to the hospital, to contest Robin’s involuntary psych hold.
This storyline is just really sensitive, because it feels like it’s Dr. Charles versus Connor – Dad versus boyfriend – but in the end, Robin is still sick and she still needs medical treatment.
Dr. Charles went about it in the wrong way, but ultimately, it looks like he was right.
Most shocking moment:
Connor managed to get Robin released, but that blew up in his face when she had a psychotic episode in his apartment, in what was probably one of the most shocking moments in the history of this show.
While I thought that “White Butterflies” had been just a filler, the final scene sure made up for the entire episode.
That last shot of Robin locking herself out on the balcony, completely deranged, had my jaw on the floor. I truly hope that she didn’t jump and that Connor managed to save her before the worst happened.
Check out next week’s finale promo:
Chicago Med airs every Thursday at 9/8c on NBC.