Chicago Med Season 11 Episode 21 Review: Heaven Help Us

S. Epatha Merkerson delivers the best breaking-the-fourth-wall look on Chicago Med Season 11 Episode 21, “Heaven Help Us.” The way her eyes draw the viewer in is absolutely magnificent, proving once more why she’s been part of the Dick Wolf universe for so long across different shows.

The anger and frustration Goodwin is feeling at the end of the episode are palpable through the screen. And, if we’re honest, it is completely fair. After saving Miranda’s life, the least we would expect of her is to keep Goodwin at her job.

However, considering Miranda was about to fire Goodwin before her health issues, we shouldn’t be surprised it has come to this.

Goodwin is known for putting her people first, so it’s no surprise that she wants to fight to the very end to keep Charles at Gaffney. It makes even more sense that she is fighting so hard for him, considering he is her best friend, and she straight-up tells him she can’t risk losing him.

What does come as a surprise is that she would go against Charles’s wishes and leak Theo’s file to Miranda. Not only is this a huge HIPAA violation, but it’s also everything Charles is against.

Even though using Theo’s diagnosis and research against him would have immediately helped him keep his job, Charles can’t lower himself to that level. He is bigger than that. Everything he preaches goes against that because he sees people as more than their diagnosis, and he gives Theo the same treatment.

Charles also confirms this when he meets Gio. The young man he thought had killed himself is at Gaffney, and their conversation reveals to him that Theo could actually do the “talking” part of therapy. This proves to him that he’s always been right: patients should be treated as human beings, not as a diagnosis on a file.

But now that Goodwin put Theo’s diagnosis out there, everything is going to be more complicated. Yes, Charles gets to keep his job, but she is placed against a wall and forced to resign.

Goodwin won’t go down without a fight, and this will make Chicago Med Season 12 far more interesting.

Lenox’s Walls are Coming Down

When Lenox first joined the show, it was hard to like her because she kept her walls up. The only way we got to know her was in the conversations she had with Archer, in which she revealed why she was that way.

After the diagnosis, those walls seemed to shake, slowly letting Ripley in. But even that wasn’t enough for Lenox to be honest about her feelings, wants, and needs.

As she is stuck in lockdown with Ripley, the words “I love you” spill out, and she can’t go back. It’s funny to watch her use her sarcasm to protect herself when Ripley tells her everything he is thinking, and she simply says an “I love you, too” would have been enough.

But it’s that moment, that conversation, that pushes her to be honest with her brother. She lets her walls down because she realizes she doesn’t have to fight every fight alone; she has people who care about her. And that is one of the bravest things Lenox has done since we’ve met her.

While she offers Ripley a “guilt-free breakup,” it’s nice to see him reject that. Both of them have grown so much since their relationship started, letting their guard down and their past go.

It will be interesting to see this relationship develop next season. Hopefully, Lenox will continue to learn to be vulnerable and let someone else take care of her for a change.

Asher, Archer, a Baby, and a Love Confession

Of course, nothing ever comes easy for Asher and Archer in their relationship. Archer has to be the one taken by the runaway prisoner, who threatens his baby. That is the only way in which Archer will comply.

But while Archer is trying to stay alive and make his way to the woman he loves and their baby, Hannah is being a superhero. She performs a complicated C-section while in lockdown and in labor. The baby is delivered safely, and Hannah can finally focus on her own birth.

However, the anxiety that Asher has been dealing with throughout her pregnancy is stronger than ever as she tries to control every little detail of her birth. Contrary to what Vera thinks, this isn’t because Asher thinks she knows best. It’s the death of her mother weighing on her, and the fear that she might meet the same destiny.

It’s funny that when Archer makes it to her side, Asher jokes about him being in mortal peril. It is the perfect representation of what their relationship has been up to that point.

Luckily, the Chicago Med Season 11 finale finally brings a happy break to shippers of these characters. Not only do we get to see the new parents enjoying their healthy daughter, but we also get a beautiful love confession.

Archer saying that it wasn’t just one moment that made him fall in love with Hannah is perfect. But it’s even more perfect to watch Hannah reciprocate this without necessarily voicing it. This is the understanding the two have, the reason why they actually work as a couple, and it’ll be great to see them be an actual couple next season.

While a life comes into this world, another leaves it. Frost has to say goodbye to his father, and he does so by forgiving him. He accepts that his parents made mistakes, but that the love he has for them is bigger than that.

Simultaneously, the runaway prisoner says goodbye to the man he loves, proving that he was trying to escape so they could be together. While he went about it the wrong way, we can now understand why his actions were that way.

Chicago Med Season 11 comes to an end in a chaotic, joyful, and heartbreaking way, reminding us why we keep coming back for more.

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

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