The Allen MacDonald era of Chicago Med is off to a strong start, as Season 10, Episode 2, “Bite Your Tongue” features more bold storytelling choices and makes effective use of most of the NBC show’s cast. However, there are some lingering flaws that fans will recognize from earlier seasons — and audiences will likely want to brace themselves for what happens next.
“Bite Your Tongue” is all about what characters say and don’t say, with several people deciding to hide the truth and seeing the consequences (not that honesty would serve them much better). Dr. John Frost risks his health to tell a cancer patient that he’s terminal, while Dr. Mitch Ripley continues to deal with his Pawel problem in the wake of even worse news. There’s some convenient plot points that push the drama train down the tracks, but overall audiences have plenty to be interested in.
Chicago Med Establishes Dr. Frost As a Lead Character
Season 10, Episode 2 Gives Him a Place in the ED
Dr. John Frost, played by Never Have I Ever actor Darren Barnet, did not have the best introduction on Chicago Med. When he arrived at the hospital, he came across as a character too cute for his own good, and was hard to take seriously. “Bite Your Tongue” rectifies this by providing a story that puts Frost in a much harsher situation — and gives Barnet a chance to show his dramatic capabilities. When Joe and Gina Thomas bring their teenage son Max into the ED, they believe he’s just suffered a soccer injury… but it doesn’t take long to discover that Max’s cancer is back and this time it’s terminal. The family must decide whether or not to proceed with a surgery that would buy him six months, but take away his ability to walk. This is one of those classic Chicago Med impossible choices.
Frost finds himself shocked when Gina presents the surgical option to her son by saying it will make him “cancer-free.” His confrontation with her and her husband leads to the Thomases admitting they can’t bear to tell Max he’s going to die, and insisting that Frost likewise keep quiet. But any audience member will be able to predict that Frost is going to speak up. It seems like he shares more than a specialty with Dr. Natalie Manning. Viewers can debate what’s right and wrong, but the real talking point is that Frost gets in trouble for about one scene, while Max tells him that he’s choosing the surgery in order to make his parents happy.
Joe Thomas: We just want to keep his hopes up.
Dr. John Frost: His hopes or yours?
It’s very rare for doctors to face lasting consequences on Chicago Med, so it feels convenient when both Frost’s supervisors support his actions. The worst that happens is he gets punched, but that’s just another example of how freakishly terrible the hospital’s security is. But Barnet settles into his character in those two sequences. Audiences see the serious side of him — and while sometimes it felt like Natalie was outspoken to prove that she was right, it’s clear that Frost’s impudence comes from caring too much about Max. There’s still a long way to go in developing his character and in showing what Barnet can do, but Frost now feels like he belongs on this show.
Chicago Med Season 10 Reveals Another Ripley Cliffhanger
Episode 2 Pushes His Story to the Brink
While Frost takes a step forward, there are some huge red flags in the Mitch Ripley of it all. Season 10, Episode 2 ends on another Ripley-centric cliffhanger when he discovers that Sully (returning guest star Daniel Dorr) has been arrest for Pawel’s assault, which is exactly what Ripley didn’t want. At this point, Chicago Med is at serious risk of taking this storyline too far. The Pawel plot wasn’t a great idea to begin with given that it just made some controversial characters even more prominent. But it seemed to be resolved, and now the show is not only going back into it, but making it worse by tying it to Ripley’s romantic life. Audiences are going to get tired of hearing about this, and that’s if it doesn’t spiral into relationship drama.
Dr. Mitch Ripley: What the hell did you just do?!
Credit has to be given to Luke Mitchell for continuing to carry the storyline with his performance, no matter how many twists and turns are in it. Even at Ripley’s most frustrating moments, the audience still supports him because Mitchell can communicate everything going on in Ripley’s head. His words don’t feel like excuses or lines simply to keep the tension going. But making Sully’s cancer suddenly terminal — and making it seem like Hannah turned him in to save Ripley — is just kicking everyone when they’re down. Most Chicago Med fans would be happy to never hear Pavel’s name again, yet now viewers have to not only deal with that, but whatever it does to Hannah and Ripley.
And that’s not counting the cringe-worthy moment when Sharon Goodwin thinks that Dr. Daniel Charles should have “found a way” to violate doctor-patient privacy by warning her about Ripley before she hired him. This storyline needs to end, not only for Ripley’s sake but so Chicago Med can move on to other characters in need of development. There’s one character in particular who definitely needs it.
What Will Chicago Med Do With Dr. Caitlin Lenox?
Episode 2 Isn’t Likely to Win Her Any Fans Either
Frost’s introduction to Gaffney Chicago Medical Center may have been weird, but so far Dr. Caitlin Lenox is living up to MacDonald’s promises of being an antagonist. “Bite Your Tongue” sees more of her squaring off with Steven Weber’s character Dr. Dean Archer over control of the ED and trapping student doctor Naomi Howard in the middle. One of the conveniences of the episode is that their separate cases wind up being connected so that they can agree that each of them have a point. But even that is frustrating, because while Archer is gracious about it, Lenox really isn’t; her big comment is that she’s “grateful it only took you one shift” to agree with her. And therein lies the problem: an antagonist is fine but that antagonist still has to be someone the audience can embrace. See: Dr. Dean Archer.
