Bert's diagnosis was inevitable, but that didn't make it any easier to bear.

Chicago Med Season 9 Episode 6 left me in tears... again. There's something about Alzheimer's stories that gets to me, and this one was done exceptionally well.

It didn't take up that much of the hour, but it was even more impactful.

Bert's anger, paranoia, and forgetfulness suggested something was going on. If it weren't Alzheimer's, it would have been vascular dementia, Lewy Body Dementia, or some other type of cognitive decline.

But the moment the doctor gave Sharon the diagnosis, it hit me as hard as it did her. That was strong writing and acting!

I felt like we were firmly in Sharon's head, absorbing the shock, heartbreak, and overwhelm of hearing the words Alzheimer's dementia.

Her conversation with Charles also broke my heart.

Charles: There are lots of clinical trials and new treatments now. I'm sure we can navigate it.
Sharon: We? You mean me. I'm the one who will have to take care of appointments, decisions, treatments...
Charles: What about the kids?
Sharon: They have their own lives. I don't want to make this everyone's problem. But I can't do this. I have a hospital to run, a new relationship that's going well... and now I have to stop everything and take care of my ex-husband. I can't.

• Permalink: They have their own lives. I don't want to make this everyone's problem. But I can't do this....

I know all too well what it feels like when everything is going well, and suddenly, something pulls the rug out from under you. Whether medical, financial, or something else, it's always twice as bad when things are going well otherwise.

It can feel like the universe is punishing you for being too happy. In Sharon's case, things are even more overwhelming and confusing because she moved on from Bert a long time ago.

No matter how much she had wanted to leave Bert in the past, she couldn't do so now. Not only do they share children and grandchildren, but she's his emergency contact and probably his healthcare proxy, and he has a serious, progressive illness that will require more and more care as time goes by.

This is the opposite of a split for the sake of drama. It's a forced un-split, even if it's not romantic. Sharon was right to be concerned about how this will affect the new life she's built for herself.

The conversation Sharon and Charles had was important because it was one of the few times I can ever recall television acknowledging that the loved ones of people with Alzheimer's have the right to be overwhelmed and to resent the intrusion into their lives.

Daniel is such a good friend to Sharon that I almost wished they could be something more. (Incidentally, whatever happened to his girlfriend? That story seems like it fell into a black hole during the writers' strike unless I'm misremembering where it left off.)

Although he's a psychiatrist, he wasn't drawing on his professional knowledge when he told Sharon that she had the right to her feelings or insisted on being there for her when she was worried Bert might attempt suicide.

Daniel had a lot on his plate, too, as he had to keep Ripley in line.

Ripley: He's being irrational. He probably has lung cancer, but he's refusing further testing.
Charles: I'm sorry to hear that.
Ripley: If I let him walk out of here AMA, I'm basically handing him a death sentence.
Charles: Unfortunately, refusing further testing isn't really grounds for questioning someone's decisional capacity.
Ripley: He's got a terminal illness and won't get treatment. Sounds like he's got a problem with his decisional capacity to me.
Charles: Okay, so this is where I have to ask you, would you be pushing for this if he was just a regular patient?

• Permalink: Okay, so this is where I have to ask you, would you be pushing for this if he was just a...

I understood why Ripley chose to get into a fistfight with Sully. They're both from the streets, and that's how things are settled there. Ripley was trying to speak Sully's language.

Still, it's unprofessional for a doctor to get into a physical fight with a patient. It was odd that Sully was allowed to leave the hospital, and Ripley was allowed to go to Charles' office to calm down.

I know Charles told Doris not to inform Dean Archer, but the security guards didn't do anything except separate the guys, either.

Ripley's conversation with Sully at the bar was a step in the right direction. Old friend or not, he had to meet him where he was at, and Sully doesn't trust doctors, thinks Ripley has grown too big for his britches and isn't ready to deal with his lung cancer.

An inhaler won't treat his cancer, assuming Ripley's diagnosis is correct (since Sully refused further testing, we can't know for sure.). But it'll at least help him breathe better, and maybe giving him the inhaler will help rebuild trust and plant a seed in his head about getting treatment for the rest.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sully shows up again later in the season. People who make stupid medical decisions often end up back at Gaffney somewhere down the line.

I also wonder about financial issues. Chicago Med has demonstrated the flaws in our insurance system recently, but it didn't come up with Sully.

A working-class guy like him might have questions he doesn't want to voice, such as:

• Will insurance cover any of this?
• What'll the doctor say if I tell him I can't take time off work for all this testing cause I have bills to pay?
• What if my insurance rejects the claim, and I'm stuck with a hefty bill on top of my other expenses?

Those concerns could have also factored into Sully's decision, but no one even brought them up.

That's especially odd because the guilt trip Archer put Zola on had to do with the new post-surgical medication being too expensive and not covered by insurance.

I was annoyed that Zola let Archer's attitude influence her. She was passionate about pausing the other drug for a reason; it sucked that she lost all her confidence because the head of the hospital yelled at her that she should have kept her mouth shut.

Someone as anti-institution as Zola should know that activism comes with a price, and one of the things that often happens is that those in charge resent the hell out of the status quo being changed and blame the whistleblower for perceived problems.

Zola had done her research and found the drug was far more dangerous than reported.

It is not her fault that a board member decided to line his pockets by replacing the problematic drug with one his company produces. If the new drug is priced ridiculously high and insurance won't cover it, that's another issue for Zola and other concerned doctors to take up.

Zola was channeling her passion productively for once. She wasn't quoting Crockett Marcel without permission or doing anything else problematic -- except to those who prefer activists to stay quiet about things that are wrong.

I loved Marcel's speech when he discovered why she was second-guessing herself.

Marcel: You blaming yourself? Before you spiral out of control, let me remind you of what's really important: your patient, who is alive and well in large part because you listened to your instincts. Now, you may not be able to take down the medical-iindustrial complex, but you saved a life today. Zola, if that's not good enough, then maybe you should think about another career.

• Permalink: your patient, who is alive and well in large part because you listened to your instincts....

He's right; Zola has good instincts. And that applies equally well to her thoughts about that medication and the medical care she gave that patient.

Finally, Maggie had a storyline with some substance!

She's been moping over her divorce from Ben for far too long. At first, it seemed like we were in for more of the same, but that changed when she met Deb and Caleb.

Maggie understood that you can't get over trauma with the snap of your fingers and that Deb had valid reasons for not wanting to let Caleb get surgery. It was a shame that Deb had to overhear Archer's thoughts about it -- I wasn't sure she realized that Maggie disagreed.

The reluctant parent who changes their mind about their child's surgery after a talk with an understanding professional can be a bit of a tired TV trope.

Still, Maggie was in the best position to advise Deb, and I was glad Deb finally listened.

It was concerning that Caleb said this life wasn't worth living -- that should have sent up red flags for anyone who overheard.

Unsurprisingly, the surgery went fine, and now Caleb is happy, and his mother not only came around but gave Maggie a big hug.

That was the win we needed during this otherwise heavy episode.

What did you think, Chicago Med fanatics?

Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know.

Chicago Med airs on Wednesdays at 8/7c.

The next new episode airs on March 20, 2024.

Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.