Chicago Med Midseason Report Card: Best Storyline, Worst Plot Twist, and More!

Chicago Med solidified its place in the One Chicago universe as a medical soap opera.

The first half of Chicago Med Season 5 featured boyfriends with evil intentions, a seriously ill staff member, and an unhinged character meeting a gruesome end.

There were some medical storylines, too, but these mostly took a back seat to the relationship drama.

Check out our thoughts about the best and worst of Chicago Med Season 5 and share yours.

Didn't work: Dr. Rhodes' exit

For four years, Dr. Rhodes was the heart of Chicago Med.

He made difficult medical decisions regularly, butted heads with the hospital board, and did his best to balance out Will's impulsiveness.

He and Ava were always mismatched, and the whole question of whether she slept with his father was icky enough. Her suicide was gruesome and then Rhodes ran away from the hospital without bothering to say goodbye to Will, who was supposed to be his best friend.

If Rhodes had to go, he deserved a better exit.

Mixed review: Dr Rhodes' replacement.

Dr. Marcel is equal parts talented and sleazy.

He's not terribly likable, even if he does occasionally do the right thing, like telling Will that Natalie was not wearing an engagement ring when she was brought into the hospital.

And that whole thing with April's drink was so creepy it deserves its own entry on this list.

But still, there's something fascinating about Marcel, and we may get more layers to his character later on.

Didn't work: April and Ethan's on-again-off-again relationship.

There was a reason April and Ethan had broken up in the first place. Why couldn't they stay broken up?

The two of them butting heads constantly at work was bad enough, but them living together is a disaster.

And while infertility is a difficult and sometimes painful topic, April's decision to keep it to herself and pick fights with Ethan about other things was stupid.

So was her decision to kiss Marcel after Ethan left. Geez.

Worked: Dr. Charles' reconciliation with Cici.

Dr. Charles' renewed relationship with his wife has been an emotional roller coaster.

Not only did he have to learn to let go of her treatment, but now it looks like he has to accept that the end is near.

Cici's decline was a bit too sudden for television. One minute she was the town matchmaker, the next she was too weak to get out of bed.

Even being a talented psychiatrist can't protect Charles from the pain, anger, and grief after this development.

Mixed review: Natalie's traumatic brain injury

Natalie's traumatic brain injury could have been a powerful story.

Dr. Lanic's belief that she wasn't fit for duty, the errors she was making, and her own refusal to accept that she had limitations were emotional and realistic aspects to this storyline.

Unfortunately, it was mixed up with a lot of nonsense involving her love life, and Natalie made a miraculous full recovery after only a few episodes' worth of angst.

Didn't work: Philip the pathological liar

When Philip first showed up at Chicago Med, he seemed like a nice guy... and it should have stayed that way.

All that stuff about him being a pathological liar who wanted to possess Natalie was unnecessary, especially since she was stuck in a love triangle between Philip and Will.

And then having Philip abandon the baby he was so devoted to because she wasn't useful to him anymore seemed like out of character BS.

Couldn't Natalie be torn between two good guys so that viewers could make up their own minds who to root for?

Worked: Will being more mature

Will is often an annoying character who tries to impose his will on reluctant patients and constantly pursues Natalie when she's either moved on or is trying to do so.

But on Chicago Med Season 5, Will seems to have grown up a bit.

He was the one who tried to talk some sense into Natalie when her young patient's parents didn't want to consent to any more testing, and he ultimately decided to walk away from Natalie altogether.

Let's hope this new, mature Will continues to grace our screens. He's a lot more rootable.

Worked: Maggie's new love interest

In some ways, Maggie and Ben's relationship was rushed. In one afternoon, they went from chemo buddies to lovers, forsaking making jambalaya for the staff crawfish boil so they could have sex.

Then again, they're both cancer survivors--and they were right to seize the day, since Ben got seriously ill right afterward.

Thank God for Ben's miraculous recovery. It would have been too depressing for Maggie's new love to slip away just as she was beginning to find happiness.

Mixed review: Maggie's cancer

There's a reason so many medical dramas have doctors and nurses facing their own serious illness.

Health care providers' inability to control or deal with their own illness makes for powerful drama, and that was true for Maggie, too.

But Maggie's attempt to keep her cancer secret and just go on working was unrealistic. There was no way someone on the chemo regimen she was on could function in a hospital environment.

That aspect of the story took up too much time. Thank goodness we've moved on now.

Worked: The One Chicago Crossover

Chicago Med Season 5 Episode 4 was part of what was easily the best One Chicago Crossover ever.

The story was riveting, the stakes were high, and the characters from all three Chicago shows interacted with each other in meaningful ways.

Plus, Sharon Goodwin got a chance to shine as she battled with media representatives that were more interested in ratings than the truth.

Hopefully, any future One Chicago Crossovers will be just as strong.

Didn't work: That creepy almost-kiss

Marcel and April's almost-kiss at the crawfish boil was meant to be the beginning of a love triangle, but the way it was done suggested something else altogether.

April commented that her drink was awfully strong and seemed half out of it as Marcel kissed her. That's not the beginning of a love story. That's the beginning of a date rape story.

To make matters worse, no one involved in this story has suggested that the almost-kiss was anything but consensual, and now April and Marcel appear to be headed towards a relationship, or at least an affair.

Chicago Med is a Dick Wolf production, and Wolf also produces Law & Order: SVU, so he should know better. Hopefully, the truth about that scene will be addressed in the second half of Chicago Med Season 5.

Worked: Sharon's friendship with Dr. Charles

Sharon and Charles' friendship is one of the most endearing aspects of Chicago Med.

They are genuinely supportive of each other, know each other well, and have that friendship chemistry that could easily become something more but never does.

Here's to more of this friendship as Charles deals with Cici's last few weeks on Earth.

Didn't work: Choi's attitude

More often than not, Dr. Choi thought he knew better than his patients.

Granted, he's a medical expert, but that doesn't mean he gets to impose his will on people, and he managed to ruin at least one patient's life when he called Walter Reed to report an active duty member's infection in her prosthetic arm.

That wasn't a good look on Will and it's not any better when Choi does it.

Let's hope he comes back from out of town with a better attitude.