Chicago Med Review: Over Troubled Water (Season 3 Episode 7)

On Chicago Med Season 3 Episode 7, “Over Troubled Water,” the needs of a patient always come first — even if those needs aren’t always what the doctor ordered.

And even if those needs are hard for family members to handle, even if it’s not best for everyone involved, or even if these decisions determine whether a patient will live or not.

What the Heart Wants

Let’s refresh our memories for a moment. Back in Season 2, we learned that Ms. Goodwin’s husband, Bert, had left her. He also found another woman named Lila. Bert and Lila showed up in the ER, and Lila confided in Ms. Goodwin that she has a terminal brain disorder called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and that she only has a few years to live. She hadn’t told Bert yet.

Lila now returns to the hospital, much worse than she’s been, with a high fever and a cough. Dr. Halstead had worked on her when she first came to the ER in Season 2, and he takes her case again since he’s familiar with her.

Bert has been aware of Lila’s terminal illness for quite some time. Despite Lila having been afraid of Bert leaving her when she broke the news, he stayed.

Unfortunately, Lila was just getting worse, and Will tells her there’s a good chance he’ll have to intubate her. However, she tells Will if she stops breathing on her own, she does not want to be put on a machine.

Any doctor would be upset, because a doctor’s job is so save their patients, but she no longer wants to suffer and instead wants to just get on with the inevitable. She’s known about this terminal illness for a while and knows she’ll die at some point; it might as well be on her own terms.

Bert, of course, does not agree and understandably he lashes out, causing Lila to change her mind about her decision to not be intubated. At the end of it all, Bert realizes that the decision wasn’t his to make; she was doing this for him. They say their “I love you’s” before Lila passes away.

That’s what love is, I think. She loves him enough that she was willing to put her decision aside and fight. Yet, Bert also loves her enough to know this decision was something that she didn’t want, and he loves her enough to let her go.

Love is about making tough decisions for the people you care about, even if it sometimes means unhappiness for yourself.

The Right Call

Paramedics rush in with a woman giving birth. The baby is out, but still attached to the umbilical cord. It’s all very bloody, especially when Dr. Choi reaches in and grabs the placenta.

They are able to save both mom and baby. However, the mom is so strung out she doesn’t even realize she’s had a baby.

As if this baby didn’t already have a hard enough time coming into this world, he’s also born with an addiction to heroin.

The mom, Leanne, wants nothing to do with getting treatment or seeing her baby boy, despite Dr. Charles trying to convince her otherwise.

Dr. Choi grasps her insistence on not wanting help faster than Dr. Charles. He understands better, because he knows from personal experience with his sister.

The baby’s health isn’t getting any better, and the medicine isn’t working. In some cases, like this, it helps if the birth mother has skin-to-skin contact with the child.

Dr. Charles really pushes for this young woman to not only seek help, but to also hold her baby — perhaps because she reminds him of Sarah in a way? Here, he can see what needs to be done and how to help her. The problem is, right here, it’s not hidden; he knows what to do here.

Leanne: I never planned on getting pregnant.

Dr. Charles convinces Leanne to eventually hold her baby boy. She agrees out of curiosity and guilt.

She holds her baby and the skin to skin contact helps him. She bonds with him, but despite the heartbreak and utter devastation she is feeling, the doctors had to push for this in order to give this baby a chance at life.

One patient’s needs were far greater than another patients. In this case, Leanne was willing to help her baby, but not herself. The bonding destroys her, but it is necessary for the life of the baby.

Feeling unhappy about Leanne, Dr. Charles goes to speak to Sarah. Dr. Reese is back, by the way — but under suspension and working under Dr. Chapman.

Dr. Charles tells her that he feels responsible for letting the situation get out of hand, and he feels like he let her down. Despite this, he knows that (unlike Leanne) he can actually help Sarah heal by letting her work under him again when her suspension is over.

Gaining Perspective 

For Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Bekker, it’s a very difficult day. They need to go help a man who is trapped in a building and in serious need of medical attention.

Despite the efforts of some of our favorite firefighters at Firehouse 51 on Chicago Fire, time becomes very critical. In order to save their patient, Gary, they must amputate his leg.

Gary is rightfully upset, but it has come down to either his leg or his life. It seems like an easy decision, but it really isn’t. Dr. Bekker and Dr. Rhodes show some great teamwork.

Dr. Bekker: Keep looking at me, Gary. I’ve got you.

She is able to calm Gary down while Dr. Rhodes does the procedure. They are able to take him to the hospital and stabilize him.

Later, when Dr. Rhodes apologizes, Gary tells him it’s okay — he’s alive, and that’s all that matters. He also tells Dr. Rhodes that, despite feeling like his leg is still there due to phantom leg pain, he’ll find a way to move on.

Gary’s situation is similar to how Dr. Rhodes lost Robin. She’s gone, but she’s not dead. Just like Gary will find a way to move on without his leg, so too will Dr. Rhodes without Robin. It still hurts that she left him, but he’s going to heal and try to move on with his life.

For Connor, the start of moving on is not chasing after her and buying a new car. Everyone has different coping methods!

Other Thoughts:

• For Maggie and Barry, who knows if they’ll ever start dating again. Can a person really change their ways?
• Still loving the fact that all of these episodes thus far are opening and closing with #Manstead scenes. It’s so cute that Natalie told him to stay at the end, telling him that Owen would find out soon enough anyway.
• Ethan opening up to April is so raw and heart breaking, but the good news is that Arden Cho (Teen Wolf) will be making her debut as Ethan’s sister very soon.
• It’s understandable for Ms. Goodwin to not comfort Bert about the loss of Lila. Lila did tell her to look out for Bert, and she is — from a distance. It’s no longer her place to comfort him like she used to when they were married.

What did you think of this episode of Chicago Med? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Chicago Med airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

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