Chicago Med Review: Ties That Bind (Season 3 Episode 6)
On Chicago Med Season 3 Episode 6, “Ties That Bind,” Sarah’s fear of patients comes to a tipping point, while Robin reaches a very difficult decision.
The Tipping Point
Let’s talk about the big shocker that isn’t actually much of a shock: Sarah being the one who is suspended. It’s been a long time coming (since the beginning of Season 3), so let’s re-evaluate why that’s the case.
She’s been in deep denial about how safe she’s been feeling at the hospital, with Dr. Charles being shot and dealing with the patient who slashed her tires. On top of that, Sarah and Dr. Charles haven’t really been honest with one another or agreeing with each other on patient care.
After all that, Dr. Reese distanced herself from patient care when Dr. Charles takes leave — though what really sent her over the edge was when Dr. Sexton was attacked. Then, on Chicago Med Season 3 Episode 5, she was seen buying pepper spray.
The moment she places the pepper spray in her coat pocket you know that it’s not going to end well. With several different sorts of patients in the ER, you had to wonder what exactly was going to happen. Despite not knowing what patient would cause her to break, you knew she was going to burst.
The young man who comes in, shaking and screaming that he has radium all over his body, seems like the one she would go after. Yet, though she’s uneasy, she sits with him and safely removes his restraints, and it all seems fine. She makes it through the day.
Then, Dr. Choi throws her a curveball when he asks her to do a consult with his patient, a disgruntled man growing tired of showing barely any symptoms and who convinces Dr. Choi there’s something really wrong with him.
Throughout the episode, you see the patient is irritable and gets frustrated easily. Dr. Choi had only been calming him with promising to do more and more tests, despite negative results.
The patient corners Sarah when he hears what kind of doctor she is. He stands up and is way in her personal space. For Dr. Reese, who has felt so continuously unsafe at the hospital, this was terrifying — so she pepper sprays him, right in the eyes.
In light of her actions, Ms. Goodwin suspends Sarah. The patient gets extra tests done after the attack, but because of the extra tests, they actually find out the patient has a genetic disorder. Ironically, Sarah’s poor actions inadvertently may have saved this man’s life.
The best part of the entire unfortunate situation is when Dr. Charles heads over to Sarah’s apartment to comfort her. These two haven’t been the same since the shooting. Sarah is really not okay, though she’s been denying it. Finally, how she’s really feeling is out in the open.
Sarah Reese: What have I done?
Sarah is by far my favorite doctor, so I just hope she starts to heal and Ms. Goodwin allows her to return to the hospital.
The Eyes Have It
Sometimes, you can lose sight of situations, people, etc.
Robin: I’m tired of being a disease. I want to be a person again.
Robin’s lost sight of herself, because everything is about her disease and if she’s doing okay. She’s just so tired of having to constantly be questioned and rescued. Connor wants her to be better and wants to help her, but Robin feels like this broken toy.
Connor loves Robin, and there is no denying that. She loves him too, but she needs to gain perspective, so her leaving is understandable.
We know Connor hasn’t been taking care of himself either. Half his energy is at work and the other half is on Robin — not on their relationship, but on her disease and how to fix her.
Hopefully, she can feel like herself again and return home to Connor very soon.
Now, although Connor’s father uses a poor choice of words in describing Robin to Connor, he has a point that the relationship is no longer healthy.
Which begs the question: is Connor trying to save her and take care of her so intensely because he couldn’t do the same for his mother?
Choices
There’s a right way to handle situations and a wrong way. It’s that simple. A lot of the time, people handle situations for others because they think they know better — but where is the line drawn?
For this mother and daughter in Dr. Manning and Nurse Sexton’s care, that becomes the question.
The mother telling her 14-year-old daughter that she’s getting an appendix surgery (but in reality, having the girl’s tubes tied) is just heart breaking. She took that choice away from her daughter. She took away her right to bear children, and she did in fact want children.
April was understandably hesitant about whether or not to release the truth, but Natalie insists because their patient has the right to know. Though heartbreaking and unimaginably devastating, Natalie remains calm and reveals the long-hidden secret.
This mother and daughter duo only have each other. Hopefully, this won’t break them or their bond.
Spending Money To Make Money
Kudos to Maggie for taking the initiative to make a change. No one is happy with how tight the finances are. Maggie, in particular, is extremely unhappy.
She wants more nurses. The paramedics keep sending over homeless people without insurance. She wants the paramedics to be motivated to not send too many without insurance their way, so they can make money and thus hire more nurses. So she and Ms. Goodwin purchase a flat screen and some pizza for the paramedics.
I don’t know about you, but I would be very motivated with some pizza.
Other Thoughts:
- The episode opens with a #Manstead scene, like most of the episodes in Season 3 thus far. I love it.
- Will giving Natalie’s hand a comforting squeeze when she’s struggling with her patients is so cute.
- Charles being there for Robin is so heart-breaking and just so sweet. He really is such a great dad.
- I was surprised to see Noah at Sarah’s apartment. They like each other for sure, so it’s nice to see that he’s there for her.
- Hallelujah! Connor and Will scenes are back! I love these two! I’ve been itching for them to have scenes together.
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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Christina Cerutti
Christina Cerutti is a 23-year-old college graduate with a degree in Media Studies Production and Journalism. Her passions are video editing, writing, all things film, and obsessing over TV Shows & fictional characters. Christina's idea of a perfect night is in her bed with her laptop with a cup of tea.