Chicago Med Season 2 Episode 19 Review: Ctrl Alt
Elizabeth Harlow
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If we learned one thing from Chicago Med Season 2 Episode 19, it was to never cross Maggie. Oh, and the basic of locating a lost bullet without high tech help.
Okay, so the first lesson should have been a given. We should all be so lucky as to have a Maggie in our lives. Too bad she wasn't around for Nat during that passive aggressive territory marking by Nina. She might as well have peed on Will for all the subtlety she managed.
Which is interesting mostly because I'm still not getting the feeling that Nat is sitting around pining for Dr. Halstead. There's been maybe a moment or too or wondering what might have been, but nothing more.
At least on her side. If Nina's going to be paranoid, she needs to be asserting herself to her boyfriend, not his crush. Blaming another woman, especially not one who's actively seducing your beau, goes against the sisterhood, and lets him off the hook for his behavior.
Will makes enough excuses for himself, he doesn't need any help on that score.
In all seriousness, I wish the writers would stop pushing "#Manstead" quite so hard and let it develop naturally -- if it develops at all.
Will's crush needs to be resolved somehow, for sure, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he and Nat need to end up together. Besides, he has a lot of personal growth to accomplish before he deserves her.
Connor: Yeah, I'm sorry, but the note says that if we pay them 30 bitcoins, they'll give us a decryption key. So...
Sharon: It's hospital policy not to engage with extortionists.
Connor: So we're going to fly blind, with one arm tied behind our back? It seems a little shortsighted. I mean, it's what, thirty, forty thousand dollars? That seems like nothing.
Will [muttering]: Says the guy with the trust fund.
On the topic of growing up: was Bert bringing Lyla to Gaffney him twisting the knife in the wound, or just the most practical place to take her?
I'm leaning towards the former. Maggie is right when she says that there are a ridiculous number of hospitals in Chicago. Why the hell would you take your new girlfriend to your ex-wife's hospital? Not only is it cruel, it's stupid; of course everybody is going to treat you like ish there.
Lyla's lucky that Will's transient ethics decided to show up that day. I'm pretty sure Doris would have played Angel of Death if she thought she'd get away with it.
Maggie [about Bert and his girlfriend]: Tell you this, he could have come in here with Beyoncé, and it'd still be a step down from you.
Sharon: You don't have to say that.
Maggie: It's true.
The hostage situation would have provided the perfect cover really. After all, without technology, it's so easy for charts to get switched or orders misread.
As far as plot devices go, I'm not in love with whole hacker's holding the computer system hostage motif. It's very au courant, but it also is so prevalent at the moment that it feels overused and, dare I say, lazy.
It might be the Dateline security nightmare of the month, but there are other ways that you could put doctors in a similar situation without being so...mundane.
Abrams [giving a consult]: It could be anything from a basal ganglia disorder to normal aging. It's impossible to tell without a head CT or an MRI.
Will: You know, maybe, if you just examine her yourself--
Abrams: Do I need to explain the definition of the word impossible to you? I'm a neurosurgeon, not a magician.
Hell, there's all kinds of things that could cause a power outage, or even just mess up the hospital's servers. The hacker situation irks me because it's too easy to fix; as we saw, all it took was one person getting tired of the situation and paying the ransom.
At least when this plot device was used on The Good Wife, the audience had the satisfaction of seeing the hacker go down.
Sharon: Well somebody paid. Was it you, Sam?
Abrams: My kid starts Sarah Lawrence in the fall. Not a chance in hell I cut a check that size to solve your problem.
I did absolutely love how Choi was able to step up and treat his patient -- or rather, teach Noah how to treat his patient.
Noah's always been a bit of a...blockhead...when it comes to medicine, but Choi really got through to him. And Noah's resulting hero worship cracked me up.
I just hope that young doctor Sexton doesn't wear out his welcome with his new mentor. I don't see Choi being thrilled about the younger man's side hustles.
Connor: Nice work. I guess that Navy training wasn't a waste after all.
Choi: That's how we do it on the battlefield.
Connor: Well, if it hadn't worked, I would've blamed you anyway.
Choi [smiling]: I know.
Can we just take a minute to appreciate the duo's patient and his friend? How great were Jason and Marius? I would watch a show about their exploits for sure.
And did anybody else notice the low key way that Choi announced he's single now? I mean, it felt pretty obvious since we haven't seen (or heard of) what's her name all season, but still. Telling the nurses he's single is a pretty good sign he won't be for long.
But who to pair him up with? Sarah's relationship with Joey doesn't seem to be going so hot. Of course, I never really thought it was, but she seem's to be figuring that out now too.
That's not to say that Choi and Sarah will get together. But they've certainly worked well together, and he seems to have a soft spot for her.
Sarah really needs to be focusing on work though. Sure, she insisted that she was going to stay with psych, but was that just in the heat of the moment? Personally, I'd love to see her switch over to the ED, or maybe come up with some kind of joint specialty to pursue, like Nat is.
God knows psych gets called down to the ED enough to warrant someone there full time. And Dr. Charles wasn't on his game during this crisis.
Sarah: So, we have no access to anyone's medical records? How -- how do we...do...stuff?
Sharon: Well, there was a time not so long ago when we actually treated patients without the aid of computers. Imagine that. Tell them, Dr. Charles.
Daniel [as Maggie tries to take his tablet]: Can I keep it if I promise not to use it?
Was it just the stress of ransomware situation? It definitely seemed like something else was going on. It had to be more than withdrawal from the Candy Crush app he secretly has installed on his tablet.
What else could stacking the creamers be about than a paltry physical replacement for the rush of dopamine when you clear the board of all the jellies?
Or maybe Dr. Charles Sr's neuroses are related to Dr. Charles Jr's? Robin won't be getting better anytime soon from the looks Chicago Med Season 2 Episode 20 ("Generation Gap"). Is she having a psychiatric episode, or has she been infected by one of the diseases she studies?
Halstead will face the reverse situation when his father is brought into the ED with heart issues. Look for Jay to be stopping by as Connor treats their father and they try to work out their family issues before it's too late. And of course, the case will inspire Connor to patch things up with his own father.
Sarah might change her mind about sticking with psych when she's assigned to teach sex ed to high schoolers using robot babies. Talk about a nightmare scenario.
Choi will probably be wishing that at least one of docs from the psych team was available to talk to his patient, but alas, he'll have to deal with the sexually charged teenager on his own.
And Nat continues to over identify with her patients and experience feelings of guilt about being a working mother when she treats a neglected child. Will Jeff be able to assuage her guilt? Or is it Will that she'll turn to?
Choi: Don't worry, we'll drape off this area before we insert the Foley.
Jason: What do you mean, "insert the Foley?"
Noah [brightly, holding up Foley catheter kit]: Oh, this goes up your urethra.
What is going on with Robin? Where will Sarah end up? Who's hot for Choi (on the show, I already know everyone in the audience is!)?
We want to hear your answers in the comments below! Share your thoughts and start a conversation!
And remember -- you can always watch Chicago Med online!
Elizabeth Harlow was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She left the organization in October 2018.
