Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 19 Proved The Medical Drama Is A Soap Opera In Disguise (And That’s Awesome)

Critic’s Rating: 4.3 / 5.0

4.3

Chicago Med fanatics have debated forever whether this series is a soap opera or a medical drama.

Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 19 provided a definitive answer to that.

Sure, there were some medical issues, but Frost’s backstory, Sharon’s issues with Dennis and his daughter, and Hannah’s desire to become a surrogate for her estranged sister suggested that this drama falls squarely on the soap opera side.

Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 19’s Biggest Story Came Closest To A Medical Storyline

The medical storylines were incidental, for the most part — this episode’s important aspects were the relationship drama throughlines.

The story about the paramedic who wanted to donate part of his liver came close to being a bona fide medical story, though.

The setup was fairly obvious. The paramedic had accidentally hit a child while rushing to a call, and the little girl needed a liver transplant in order to have a chance at recovery.

Naturally, Matt, the paramedic, was a universal donor (blood type O-).

Of course, in real life, blood type isn’t the only thing that has to match to make one a viable donor, but Chicago Med glossed over those details to get to the good stuff.

Matt was eager to donate despite his wife’s wish that he not do so. Dr. Archer believed that guilt was the wrong motivation, and therefore, accepting the donation would be unethical.

That’s why I said this story only came close to being a medical storyline.

It was entertaining as hell, but it had very little to do with medicine.

The paramedic was quickly confirmed to be a match for a partial liver transplant, and the drama was centered around everyone else’s disapproval of his choice.

There were no concerns with his pre-op tests, and his potential stroke during the procedure was a surprise that had not been foreshadowed.

Additionally, Matt came through fine despite some fears that he had stroked out and wouldn’t be able to speak or function the way he usually did.

Even Dr. Charles’ psych evaluation was an afterthought.

We didn’t get much of a dramatic scene out of it, other than Samantha storming off in a huff because her husband was insisting on being a donor.

Archer’s Concerns Made Little Sense

Archer was the only doctor standing between Matt and his dream of being a living donor.

His main objection was that he didn’t think someone who was motivated by guilt should be encouraged to act on that feeling by becoming a donor.

This didn’t seem like an ethical dilemma to me. As long as Matt wasn’t being bribed or coerced into donating, who cared whether he was acting out of guilt?

In an ideal world, he would be helped to realize that the accident wasn’t his fault, but that’s beside the point. He wanted to donate and was a match—what was the ethical quandary here?

It’s Hard To Know Who Was Right In The Case Of An Abandoned Child

When a woman dumped her child at the hospital, Frost and Charles didn’t see eye-to-eye on how to get the little boy to go with his foster family… and I’m not sure who was right.

Max insisted that his mother was a superhero who would come back for him eventually, but the truth was that she had left a note relinquishing her parental rights and asking for her son to be placed in foster care.

This set-up was strange. The kid seemed oddly happy despite his mother “going to the bathroom” and never coming back, and it wasn’t clear whether he was actually sick.

Plus, Max didn’t seem to have any negative feelings about being abandoned and didn’t exhibit any psychological stress until the social worker wanted him to stay with a foster family.

That was when Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 19 gave us the closest thing this story had to an ethical dilemma: Frost telling the child a lie to get him to leave the hospital.

I had mixed feelings about Frost’s way of handling the situation.

On the one hand, there was no talking this kid out of the idea that his mother was a “superhero” who would be back for him, and I was trained to always go along with patients’ delusions because arguing with them can do more harm than good.

That said, this patient was a child who could spend his entire youth waiting for his mom to come back and suffer serious trauma when he finally realized she’d abandoned him and that the adults he trusted had lied to him about it his whole life.

The heartbreaking thing about this dilemma is that Max was used to his mother disappearing for weeks on end. He had created this whole mythology about her leaving to save the world, which meant the woman had done this again and again.

I’m not sure he would have believed his mother had really abandoned him even if the doctors showed him the note proving it.

He had such a strong need to believe his mom was coming back that he might have interpreted it as a “coded letter” that was written to throw everyone off the trail so that his mother’s identity as a superhero wouldn’t be discovered.

Sharon’s Biggest Story Was Overshadowed By Her Relationship Drama

Sharon had the kind of stepdaughter drama that is par for the course on soap operas.

Dennis hadn’t told his daughter that he was dating again, so her surprise visit caused chaos for him and Sharon.

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I didn’t blame Sharon for being upset about that. It wasn’t like they’d just started dating — they live together, and have for months.

This wasn’t a bad story, even if it was a little predictable.

However, it took time away from the nurses’ contract negotiation story, which is far more compelling.

Sharon and Maggie butting heads makes for a compelling conflict, especially since they both think their point of view is entirely right and that the other person is playing games.

I’d rather have had more of that than Sharon and Dennis having the same argument over and over throughout Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 19.

Miscellaneous Thoughts About Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 19

• I’m not sure where this story about Lenox and Hayes is going. I hope he doesn’t turn out to be a creepy guy who doesn’t respect her boundaries!
• I’m glad for the Naomi cameo, but Lenox has to step back. Naomi isn’t her student anymore, and her speech about professionalism only put more pressure on her when she’s already feeling overwhelmed
• I’m glad Chicago Med continues to call Frost’s previous relationship with Ainsley what it was: sexual assault. Stories about male survivors are too rare on TV, but so far this one is being handled sensitively
• Who else thinks Hannah is going to get attached to this baby (which her sister didn’t ask her for) and struggle to give her up?
• I’m all for Ripley and Lynne getting together as long as the two of them spend most of their time off-screen. It keeps Ripley away from Hannah, which she (and the audience) really need

Your Turn, Chicago Med Fanatics

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Now that you know what I think, I want to hear your opinions. Say something in the comments — independent media like us needs YOUR voice!

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Chicago Med airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8/7c and streams on Peacock on Thursdays. The next new episode will air on May 7, 2025.

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