Chihards are worried about the Gaffney psychologist after Dr. Charles had a mental breakdown on Chicago Med.
As a One Chicago fan favorite and Chicago Med mainstay, you can bet Chihards are worried about Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) after the harrowing midseason premiere of Chicago Med Season 11 (“Triple Threat”).
Dr. Charles has been weighing in on psych cases since Med’s series premiere, mentoring his colleagues almost as much as helping patients throughout his lengthy tenure at Gaffney. Despite becoming a beacon for mental clarity and a soothing voice around the hospital, it appears the years of prioritizing the mental health of those around him have caught up to Dr. Charles. After a particularly difficult patient case, he found himself confused, scared, and contemplating retirement, a jaw-dropping development for Med fans who’ve loved the Gaffney patriarch since the start.
After being forced to turn down a life-saving heart transplant, Dr. Charles opened up about one of the hardest shifts he’s ever had in therapy, giving viewers plenty to chew on.
Dr. Charles isn’t doing well after a tough case
During therapy, Dr. Charles struggled to open up about making the impossible call to turn down a mentally ill patient’s heart transplant after catching wind of a suicide attempt that occurred as she waited for a life-saving heart transplant. The patient’s sister initially lied about the nature of the overdose in an effort to preserve her “cursed” sister’s chances of getting the life-saving donation. She argued that her sister wouldn’t have ever felt the need to overdose if she knew she was so high on the donor life, and that the transplant would likely alleviate many of the patient’s mental health issues.
Dr. Charles had a dilemma: He trusted that the patient’s mental deterioration stemmed from her terminal heart condition. However, after learning the truth of the overdose, the protocol effectively forced him to deny the transplant. Dr. Charles felt haunted by the harrowing decision, feeling that he had sent someone to their death based on a hunch.
Sensing distance from her client, Dr. Charles’ therapist called him out for not being truthful with her. The shift had been difficult, no doubt. But the patient wasn’t taken off the list entirely; she still had a shot at the transplant someday. What was Dr. Charles hiding? After this confrontation, Dr. Charles got to the core of what was placating him so intensely.
Dr. Charles’ alarming panic attack
Turns out, he hadn’t been completely forthright about the challenges he’d faced at work the day before. After a tense moment with his therapist, Dr. Charles suddenly admitted he was thinking about retirement.
“I think about it all the time. I don’t know if I have it in me anymore…” Dr. Charles explained. “Everything just seems to be getting so much — I don’t know if it’s me who’s changing or the patients — but on days like yesterday, man, I don’t know how much gas I have left in the tank.”
Dr. Charles confessed that he’d left something out about an argument he had with the transplant surgeon, Dr. Justin Morris (Lee Jones), during the deliberation. After Dr. Charles got riled up while advocating for his patient’s eligibility, Dr. Jones snapped that he didn’t want a good heart to go to waste on an at-risk patient. After this heated altercation, Dr. Charles experienced a full-body panic attack that culminated in a nosebleed. Dr. Charles admitted he hadn’t had a panic attack in decades.
“I think there’s something really wrong with me, and I don’t know what it is,” Dr. Charles tearfully confessed. “I’m scared.”
Find out what happens to Dr. Charles next by watching Chicago Med on Wednesdays on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
