Chicago Med Review: Don’t Want to Face This Now (Season 6 Episode 6)

Chicago Med Season 6 Episode 6, “Don’t Want to Face This Now,” doesn’t shy away from keeping the doctors on their toes with emotional strife, from false positives to career shifts and liver transplants.

“Don’t Want to Face This Now” greatly improves on the previous episode, although much of the conflict faced on this episode was only introduced in the previous one. 

However, even through these hastened plot points, some of the performances still stand out. Oliver Platt and Dominic Raines both knock it out of the park, coincidentally, as they both face the hardships of fatherhood. 

“Don’t Want to Face This Now” is led by the escalation in Auggie’s condition, making his need for a liver transplant dire. This plot was a ticking time bomb, finally coming to fruition. Maggie’s story of her recovery and family, while endearing, moves from 1 – 60 with no time to breathe. 

That’s not to say that this isn’t a good story — it is. It’s just a story that isn’t served by its rushed timeline. With an ensemble cast, there is no reason that Maggie and Auggie’s story needs a big development or even a mention every episode. 

Chicago Med is established, and it consists of seasons with more episodes as compared to a show you might find on a streaming service or a show airing in the back-half of the yearly season. There is plenty of time to follow Maggie through this journey, and perhaps it would even be more cathartic that way. 

Chicago Med has this problem as a whole. It rushes storylines, almost to get as much drama as possible, when the audience would experience a lot less whiplash being dragged from plot to plot, from character to beat to character beat. It was only last season that Maggie recovered from breast cancer, married Ben, and took in Auggie as their foster child at the end of the last season. 

Just a few episodes later here we are, with Auggie calling Maggie his Mom and Maggie with the intention of adopting him, with only a mention of this discussion offhandedly. 

Maggie has a story, an empowering one, but it’s hard to see the character in front of you when her progression moves like a chaotic rollercoaster. But it’s time to tap on the breaks and let some other of the players in the ED an A plot. 

While Maggie’s plot pacing seems aggressive, at the same time Chicago Med doesn’t know what to do with two doctors who seem isolated from the rest of the ED. 

With Will’s connection with Natalie lost, he doesn’t have much to anchor to. To make things even more isolating, “Don’t Want To Face This Now” doubles down with Ethan pushing him further away as he tries to maintain a working ED.

This doesn’t work. Both of these men step away from the things they care about or in some cases, need. 

Will’s snap decision to look into shifting his career to medical trials feels ridiculous. Even if Will isn’t currently in the ED acting rashly and putting himself and the hospital in legal danger (as fun as that is), he’s still letting a single altercation with his boss determine his path.

Does Chicago Med realize it’s putting one of its staple characters completely to the side? Even if he does interact with the other trial rep, there’s no investment in that. And when inevitably the relationship strays from purely professional, the audience won’t care about that either.

Unless Will’s trial’s destiny is to integrate with another character’s medical case of the week, this direction is a complete flop. Maybe it’s time for Will to go, or maybe Chicago Med has decided to center its energy on characters who are capable of growth. 

On the other side of the isolation spectrum is Ethan, whose self-imposed solace fits in much better long-term with Chicago Med. Even if Ethan is having many issues taking over an ED, and it seems that April, although firm with him, is also the only one who takes time to check in on him or try to understand his position as not only a doctor but also a manager.

And since Chicago Med (and its audience) love an angsty back and forth relationship, this trend will likely continue to bring April and Ethan closer together once again. 

Ethan isn’t always the most likable character, but he is necessary to serve as the more grounded balance to the rest of the chaotic personalities that seem to fill up the ED. And while the urge to do anything to save a patient is strong and expected from these nurses and doctors, Ethan is the best choice, maybe even the only choice, for this job as evidenced by his ability to find reason and his dedication to his patients and what they want. 

It’s strange how Chicago Med can fumble one character while growing the other successfully. But then again, Will can be pretty one-note. But hopefully, Will will surprise us and become a phoenix, dying and finding more dimensions in his rebirth. 

Ending with a light note, the strongest stories from “Don’t Want To Face This Now” come from Marcel and Charles. Both of these men struggle a bit with fatherhood – the former still coping with the loss of his daughter a decade ago, and Charles navigating fatherhood separated from his daughter’s mother. 

Anna, following suit of compressed story arcs, tells her dad about the pregnancy, has a health scare, and is revealed not to be pregnant pretty quickly – but the experience strengthens Anna’s relationship with her dad. While it shouldn’t have taken a pregnancy scare to pull Dr. Charles out of the battle with his ex, this was a good wake-up call to remind the father who all of the stress is really about. Anna. 

Their story is one that cushions the rest of the heavyweight of the episode quite well, while also highlighting Oliver Platt as Dr. Charles. The character is one of the stand-outs as a character who has moved forward and continues to be a bright spot on the show, despite the loss in his personal life. 

And while he hasn’t been a great father in the past, it’s obvious that he wants to be and he’s cut out for it. It’s significant to note his calm, but concerned, disposition when Anna’s health was in jeopardy, and how he too could admit his mistakes. A psychiatrist indeed. 

But the most heartbreaking aspect of “Don’t Want To Face This Now” is Marcel. Although the little snafu with Natalie from “When Your Heart Rules Your Head” seemed highly likely to just be another bump for Marcel and Natalie in their “whatever this is,” relating this incident back to Marvel’s past is a much more interesting direction. 

Not only has Chicago Med has layered Marcel’s character well and integrated him into the cast quickly via flings, arguments, and more, but Dominic Raines has Marcel down to a T, giving great performances week after week, and he raises the bar yet again with the more personal and intimate moment.  

So, despite Chicago Med‘s obvious pacing issues, it’s taking a step closer to balance Chicago Med has a hard time nailing down as we head into a probable mid-season (as episode counts have yet to be announced). Evidence to support it? The only two rules broken this week, down from a whopping four. 

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

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Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

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