Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 20 Review: The Invisible Hand

Time and time again, Chicago Med has made it obvious that the nurses are short-staffed and have been working extra hard to keep up with the number of patients coming in through the ED doors. Now, Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 20, “The Invisible Hand,” finds the nurses doing a sick-out to show the hospital what they would be missing without them.

While some may think this isn’t fair to the doctors who can’t decide their pay, it makes sense that they want to show everyone how irreplaceable they are at the ED.

Even though Maggie first felt Goodwin was against them, this episode proves she is fighting hard for the nurses to get what they deserve. It might not be in the same way that Maggie and the rest of them are fighting, but she is doing her best with the resources she’s got.

From the moment we see the nurses start to walk out, we can tell something is going on. It isn’t until Maggie’s badly faked cough that we know they are faking their illness to walk out and leave them without the help they are so used to.

It is no surprise to anyone that Maggie is the one behind the plan. After all, she was the most upset at Goodwin for what happened after the board meeting. However, as the episode goes by, we see that the one truly calling the shots is the union representative.

What does come as a bit of a shock is when Maggie tells Goodwin that she will stay with “my people.” Until then, everyone in the ED seemed to be one big family. There were no separations between nurses and doctors because they all fit together like a perfect puzzle.

Now, there is a division between them because they chose to walk out. So, it’s surprising to see that. However, it all turns around when Frost arrives at the restaurant and buys everyone lunch with Archer’s card. That is how they show they are still in this together, no matter what the board says.

The other moment that proves they are still a family is when Goodwin stands up to Miranda and lets her know that if they fire the nurses, she will be turning in her resignation. While that’s not the answer to what the nurses are asking, Goodwin shows that she is still on their side and is willing to do whatever it takes to get them a fair deal.

While they don’t get everything they asked for, the nurses get a fair deal thanks to Goodwin, proving that it was also personal for her.

While the tensions are high at the hospital as the doctors scramble to figure out how to work without their regular nurses, Frost and Archer make things fun for themselves by placing a bet on who can discharge the patients on their roster faster.

It is quite nice to see a goofy side of Archer, letting his professional guard down for a second to play with a co-worker. He goes as far as changing up Frost’s roster to try to slow him down. However, when a patient needs their help because she has been ignored by other doctors, Archer puts his desire to win aside and helps her.

Frost’s win helps close the gap between the nurses and the doctors, so this is definitely a successful bet.

Even though things go smoothly for Frost and Archer, everything is more complicated for Charles, who sees her mom in the ED with her fiancé. The two of them haven’t seen each other in months, and their relationship is clearly tense as Charles tries to warn his mom about the man she is going to marry.

As he gets to know Freddie, Charles realizes he might be wrong about his feelings. However, it is too late to make amends with his mother because by the time he goes to tell her about Freddie, he finds her dead.

The last thing Charles says to his mother is that she drives people to take their own lives. Now that he can no longer fix that, it will be interesting to see how he deals with this loss and the guilt he might feel.

Charles isn’t the only one facing the hardships of life in the ED. Lenox has continued to let her guard down for Hayes, going as far as planning a getaway together and kissing at the hospital.

However, the happiness she might have felt in that moment doesn’t last long when she finds Naomi bailing on another procedure. Knowing that Naomi was professionally raised by Lenox, it is hard to believe she would walk out on such an important surgery.

But when Naomi finally opens up to Lenox about what happened with Hayes, we understand why she is continuously walking out. Not only is the incident sad because Naomi was harassed by her mentor, but it’s also sad for Lenox because the situation described is quite similar to how her kiss with Hayes happened.

Watching Lenox let her guard down and opening up to someone was the most impactful part of her storyline. Sadly, that turned out terribly as she must now face the reality of who Hayes is. This realization leads Lenox to have a breakdown, which is the first time we see her lose her temper.

Even though Naomi asks her not to say anything, we know Lenox won’t stay quiet while Hayes is out there using his position of power to prey on other women. It will be interesting to see how this moves forward before the season finale.

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

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