At least once in every season of Chicago Med, there is an episode where things go from dramatic to full-on chaotic. “You Just Might Find You Get What You Need” is that episode for Season 9. The episode includes a helicopter that almost crashes, another shooting outside of the hospital, a woman who allegedly jumped off a balcony and something that is definitely not the flu. Visually and in terms of cases, this is an hour that’s not great if someone’s squeamish.
But all of that doesn’t make an episode; what matters is what happens to the characters through all of these events. Season 9, Episode 10 has some solid plotlines for Steven Weber, Oliver Platt and Marlyne Barrett — the latter of which is especially appreciated given what’s happened to Maggie since Season 8. It’s an episode with flaws, but it is one that reminds viewers that these doctors and nurses can be great at their work if they’re not getting pulled away by personal problems.
Chicago Med Almost Follows After NBC’s Transplant
We’re Gonna Need Another Helicopter
Chicago Med fans will remember that several years ago, Dr. Natalie Manning was trapped in a helicopter — which served as a platform for some Manstead moments when Dr. Will Halstead came to her rescue. Much more recently, NBC’s other medical drama Transplant had a helicopter crash at the end of Season 2, which resulted in the pilot dying and Dr. Theo Hunter being stranded alone in the woods for so long that it had a big impact on Transplant Season 3. The storyline with Maggie Lockwood and Loren Johnson in “You Just Might Find You Get What You Need” is closer to the Transplant side of the helicopter crash scale, but luckily no one dies.
As Maggie and Loren return from a routine flight to deliver an organ for transplant, ice begins collecting on the helicopter’s rotor blades and forces Loren to put the aircraft down suddenly in the woods. It’s not technically a crash because he’s able to land the plane and it’s also not mechanically damaged, but for purposes of the plot, it works. The point is for Maggie and Loren (returning guest star Henderson Wade) to have to express the feelings they’ve been so obvious about all season, and what more TV dramatic way than by giving Loren a medical emergency so that Maggie has to save his life? Watching her treat Loren involves a fair amount of cringe-worthy moments, but the severity of the situation is established enough to make the actual point — the emotional point — valid.
The audience can guess where this plotline is going from the start. Chicago Med does a solid job of creating the possibility that Loren could die in the middle of nowhere, but it’s a pretty small possibility throughout. When Loren loses consciousness, it’s right after he tells Maggie that he’s been attracted to her since Season 8… so it doesn’t make any sense for the show to kill him off, because then they’d also be getting rid of all the romantic tension they’ve been playing toward. The reason fans get invested is because of the performances by Wade and Barrett. Maggie has always been a character who connects wholeheartedly with people, so Barrett does some wonderful emoting. Wade is able to make Loren feel like an active participant even though he doesn’t move for most of the hour. It adds up to a predictable, but satisfying plot.
Why Is Chicago Med’s Hospital Security So Terrible?
Steven Weber Gets a Particularly Dramatic Storyline
The biggest plot point in Chicago Med Season 9, Episode 10 is that this hospital has the worst security ever. Even factoring in dramatic license, the security in the Emergency Department is terrible. Longtime viewers know that Dr. Daniel Charles was shot outside the hospital, that Maggie was stabbed, that Sharon Goodwin confronted a gunman and earlier in Season 9, members of a cult swarmed the ED. And factoring in the whole One Chicago franchise, fan-favorite Trudy Platt was able to sneak out of the hospital on Chicago P.D. This laughable but also scary trend continues in “You Just Might Find You Get What You Need,” when another shooting takes place just outside the doors.
Dr. Dean Archer treats Perry, a college student so out of his mind on drugs that he picked a fight with a tree. This sounds like okay, let’s laugh at the irresponsible college kid and send him on his way. Archer wisely asks that security check Perry’s clothes to make sure that he doesn’t have any more drugs on him. Around the same time, he’s flagged down by another doctor, who notices that the husband of a second patient — Greg Sanders, like the CSI character, and played by T.J. Thyne from the NCIS franchise’s 1,000th episode — has a gun clearly visible on his hip. So if Zach saw it, how did hospital security not see Greg walking in with a gun? How did they miss that Perry had meth in a compartment in his shoe? How did they not stop him from running out of the ED while high? And last but not least, how were they largely ineffective when Perry caused a ruckus outside, leading Greg to shoot him in self-defense?
The dramatic license comes in because if Perry doesn’t escape, there’s no dilemma for Archer or Greg, who has to be investigated by the police for what thankfully isn’t a fatal shooting. But one mistake is fine to handwave on a TV show; four is completely unrealistic, especially at a hospital with a history of safety concerns like Chicago Med. The implausibility of the story doesn’t negate the acting work done by Thyne and particularly by Weber, who utilizes Archer’s history of addiction in the way Archer interacts with Perry. The episode doesn’t need to remind the audience about Archer’s past; it comes out in Weber’s performance, and it’s wonderful to see the softer side of the character, since as Archer himself acknowledges at the start, he prefers to keep it secret.
Chicago Med Gives Dr. Charles a Heartwrenching Subplot
Oliver Platt Continues to Prove Why He’s So Beloved
Speaking of Charles, Oliver Platt continues to hold down the fort in Chicago Med Season 9, Episode 10, as the show gives his character an emotional storyline about a woman who seemingly tried to take her own life. June Bishop is brought in after stepping off a balcony — the detailing of her injuries, both in what is shown on-screen and what Dr. Crockett Marcel lists off, is the most uncomfortable moment in the whole episode. It is not a surprise that June can’t be saved. The plotline originally feels like a bureaucratic one, because Chicago Med desperately needs June’s lungs for one of Crockett’s other patients, and her husband Nathan won’t budge. The writers could have easily made the story about the hospital and its own self-interest. However, as ridiculous as the premise of Archer’s storyline is, that’s how relatable this plot becomes when Charles comes into the picture.
