Chicago Med Review: Fathers and Mothers, Daughters and Sons (Season 6 Episode 8)
Chicago Med Season 6 Episode 8, “Fathers and Mothers, Daughters and Sons,” takes a look at the relationships not only between parents and children, but also between mentors and mentees, as the episode shakes up the status quo moving forward and solidifies some suspicions viewers may begin to have.
This episode just doesn’t add new characters to the cast, but seemingly removes some of them as well, notably Auggie, Maggie’s foster child, and a lesser-known player, Susan, Dr. Charles’s ex-wife and daughter to his child, Anna.
With the removal of Susan, what lays next for the personal life of Dr. Charles? And with a new out-of-left-field admission from Maggie, what will her next fixation be?
After not checking into Natalie’s family for a while, Natalie’s mother makes an out-of-the-blue appearance. Although Natalie’s relationship with her mother is important and probably will continue to play a role as the season continues, her heart attack exists to push forward conflict between Marcel and Will.
For the moment, Chicago Med seems to double-down on moving on from the Will-Natalie (Manstead) relationship which spanned much of the early seasons of the show. Will calmly and confidently explain to Marcel that while he’s a part of his life, but no longer romantically, is a bold move. And I actually believed him.
Will and Natalie work better like this, when there isn’t unnecessary (but more importantly redundant) drama between them. And Marcel works with Natalie romantically, like a yin to her yang.
Marcel’s greatest weakness so far is his insecurity which hopefully won’t escalate farther than seen in “Fathers and Mothers, Daughters and Sons.” After all, he has a lot to add as someone who has already connected with Natalie over their similar loss.
Even if Will and Natalie seem to have moved on, doesn’t mean the new relationship is safe. Not including the drama promoted by the network, if something happens to Natalie’s mom due to the LVAD choice (rather than Will’s persistent medical trial), the Manstead train may be back in full force.
This story is an interesting change for Natalie and a way to peer further into Marcel as a character, but the question is if Chicago Med can avoid returning to familiar patterns.
“Fathers and Mothers, Daughters and Sons,” also leaves Maggie’s life in a tailspin as she processes letting Auggie go to live with his brother in California. Auggie was unlikely to stick around forever, but any satisfactory emotional resolution from this plot is watered down by Maggie’s random admission to Sharon that she gave up a child for adoption when she was a teenager.
While this doesn’t contradict anything in Maggie’s past, this new addition to her history doesn’t seem very genuine either. It’s a new thing for Maggie to do since Auggie is no longer in the future — look for her long-lost child.
Maggie doesn’t need this. There are stories that can be told about a head nurse, a survivor, a wife, and a caretaker, especially as she’s already developed over five seasons, without fast and loose ideas disguised as an in-character secret.
Balancing out the departures comes the introduction of Steven Weber as Dr. Dean Archer, Ethan’s mentor and new doctor in the ED. While his presence is a little bit off-putting, the introduction of someone who has a personal relationship with Ethan is welcome.
Ethan has been designated to doing little this season outside of the conflicts that come with his new position, and the tolls it took on him. Hiring another doctor to assist is a good idea, but it’s ironic that it may cause just as much harm as the two adapt to a new balance of power.
Hopefully, as Dr. Archer integrates into the ED, Ethan will have more of an emotional stake outside of himself moving forward in the season.
“Fathers and Mothers, Daughters and Sons,” succeeds in setting up characters to move forward while breaking cycles, while still providing interesting cases, puss and all.
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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Amanda Reimer
In addition to working as a freelance writer, Amanda also works with animals and stage manages various live performances. She has an invested interest in the perspective and experience of fandoms as well as anything in the science-fiction genre. She also loves spoiling her cats, Drummer and Kiki.