Chicago Med Season 11, Episode 20 is what happens when a TV show has a lot to say, and not a lot of time left to say it. “Hell Breaks Loose” is an hour that includes several major plot developments and has to completely skip over some others, simply because the NBC series only has 84 minutes left in its entire season. This gives the episode a rushed quality, but one can’t deny it’s covering a lot of ground.
From a medical standpoint, the episode takes its title from the fact that one guard and several prisoners are brought into the hospital—the result of a prison riot instigated by the latter after the former got into a physical fight with a teenager. Meanwhile, Olivia the surrogate mother from earlier in the season returns to discover her baby is coming, which is a big giant clue to Chicago Med viewers that Dr. Hannah Asher’s baby is coming. Like every episode dealing with a mass patient event, there are a lot of different cases introduced, but very few of them get significant screen time and that makes it harder to connect with them. For example, Dr. Mitch Ripley treats a patient who very quickly goes from “probably just has a concussion” to “was in surgery and now we’ll have to see if he lives long enough.”
The bulk of the episode is about getting the main characters to the decision points they’ll have to face in the Chicago Med Season 11 finale. And because the script is balancing that with introducing the aforementioned multiple case of the week stories, the series has to tell people several important things rather than show them. Audiences find out right away that Dr. Dean Archer broke up with his girlfriend Jennifer over his feelings for Hannah. Dr. John Frost learns that his father is now in hospice because treatment was ineffective, meaning his dad is probably joining the list of tragically departed One Chicago family members by the finale. Both of these things feel like they would’ve been full-fledged scenes if they had happened in earlier episodes, or if the season had an hour or two more. But it doesn’t, so they become missed opportunities instead.
That being said, there are excellent scenes both major and minor within Episode 20. S. Epatha Merkerson doesn’t have a ton of screen time, but the scene in which Sharon Goodwin very sternly breaks up an argument in the ED is peak Goodwin. The moment between Frost and his mother features a great performance by Tamlyn Tomita conveying her character’s sadness, even if it comes too late. That scene is also a welcome contrast to the way Chicago Med had previously left the Ainsley subplot; at least this moment gives Frost one parent who understands him. And Dr. Daniel Charles and Dr. Theo Rabari have it out in the ED, which may be out of character for Daniel but is an argument well worth having. There’s an awful lot to take in with this episode, but the metric ton of plot doesn’t overshadow the acting.
Chicago Med does offer some moments of predictability to get its players where it wants them to go. As soon as Dr. Caitlin Lenox’s patient Wyatt is said to have “rage issues,” every person watching at home knows that means he’s going to escape and cause trouble. They also know that the hospital lockdown will be a convenient way to section off characters who need to have conversations with each other, most notably Lenox and Ripley. It’s not a new plot device; fans of the genre may be reminded of the House episode “Lockdown,” to name one other example. And because this is clearly the first part of a two-part finale, there are questions about how much of the plot is actually going to be resolved in a satisfying fashion.
For example, Frost’s plot about his patient Maxwell is full of untapped potential at the moment; here’s a teenage patient who feels completely unheard, and obviously Frost can identify with that. Plus, with Naomi there offering her opinion, this could be a way to further build out their budding relationship. But “Hell Breaks Loose” doesn’t get to any of that, because it doesn’t have the time. It could very well happen in the season finale, though. The same is true for the Charles and Rabari plot—will the fans get to see that board meeting? They should, but that would require Wyatt being caught in enough time next week for hospital operations to go back to at least semi-normal. And most notably, Archer and Hannah still have to have the conversation everyone’s been waiting for… but that can’t really happen either until he can actually get to her. So it’s very hard to judge this episode not knowing what’s going to be finished later on, and what may end up as another “might have been.”
There’s also one passing reference that will be much, much bigger to longtime viewers. Hannah mentions Maggie Lockwood as “a midwife who used to be a nurse here.” Fans know that actor Marlyne Barrett took a leave of absence early in the season, and reporting at the time hoped that she would return before the end of Season 11. But Hannah’s phrasing confirms that Maggie is no longer employed at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center. So does that also mean viewers have seen the last of Barrett? If so, that’s such a disappointment. Barrett was one of the few cast members from Season 1 still remaining, and she brought so much to the show. None of the other nurses have the presence that Maggie did. Here’s to hoping that Barrett is doing well, and that perhaps her character will return someday. After all, there’s Season 12 coming around the corner.
For what it is, “Hell Breaks Loose” is a buffet of entertainment. It has a lot of plot and plenty of memorable acting moments, plus a couple of one-off references (like a mention of Dr. Will Halstead and Dr. Natalie Manning’s baby having arrived). Chicago Med probably could’ve spread some of this plot over multiple episodes and made the season even better. But the show ticks off all the boxes it needs to, and accomplishes its primary mission of getting the characters primed for what should be an exciting season finale.
Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.