Chicago Med Moments That Angered Fans
TV medical dramas appear and then vanish from network schedules with some regularity, but when it comes to outlasting the many competing shows in this tried-and-true category, few series can match producer Dick Wolf's long-lived fan favorite, "Chicago Med." Following in the action-drama footsteps of precursor "One Chicago" franchises "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago P.D.," the series' millions-strong fanbase has generated decidedly healthy ratings for the show since debuting in 2015 (per Cinema Blend). Immersing viewers in topical stories set amid the pandemonium and first responder heroics of a frenetic big city emergency room, the series dominates its Wednesday night primetime slot on NBC (via One Chicago Center). Basing its riveting emergency room dramas exclusively on actual, published medical cases (per TV Insider), the show consistently delivers the kind of realism fans of the genre crave.
That said, the truth is that not every scripted medical intervention or character-driven crisis in the series hits the mark every time. And dedicated Med-heads are quick to react when the action at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center turns out to be less than satisfactory. So, what are a few of the moments that most angered "Chicago Med" fans?
Maggie flat-out ignored quarantine protocol
Amid the daily chaos of the emergency department on "Chicago Med," charge nurse Maggie Lockwood (Marlyne Barrett) is the mistress of her domain, directing doctors and nurses to where they're needed most urgently. While its hardly surprising for nurse Lockwood to be stressed and even borderline overwhelmed in her job now and then, her most egregiously unprofessional moment on the show left some fans wondering "What the heck, Maggie?"
Her seeming low point was reached in the episode "Too Close to the Sun," when her boyfriend Ben (Charles Malik Whitfield) comes into the E.D. with a case of measles on the verge of blowing up into life-threatening pneumonia. Told Ben may actually die and that he needs to be quarantined in the hospital, Maggie instead forges a doctor's signature to get him out and take him home to die surrounded by family, even though he's dangerously contagious. Fans were not pleased. Posting on the Reddit discussion "Maggie should be fired," u/darkkushy felt she'd clearly gone too far, writing "Yoooo she dead— took Ben out of the hospital... Your a– should be grass." User u/tvCrazed concurred, adding that Maggie likely wouldn't even face any repercussions for her lapse, saying, "Maggie will strut through this like nothing. I would be shocked if they even address this next week." Redditor u/epr3176 went even farther, saying Maggie's behavior could result in serious complications for the department: "I agree she sooner or later is going to kill someone cause she has to show everyone how tough she is."
Ava Bekker's storyline made some fans furious
Another scene that prompted a strong degree of fan pushback on the internet occurred in the "Chicago Med" Season 5 installment "Never Going Back to Normal." The episode zeroed in on the romantic pairing of Dr. Connor Rhodes (Colin Donnell) and Dr. Ava Bekker (Norma Kuhling). As it turns out, the episode was already controversial due to Bekker having slept with Rhodes' wealthy father in order to gain funding for a new hospital program. But when Bekker kills Rhodes' father over the whole seedy situation, and then takes her own life, fans were quick to protest.
In the r/ChicagoMed Reddit thread "In your opinion, what's the most messed up plot/subplot/microplot on the show?" user u/iTiff made their feelings about the series' worst moment quite plain: "When badass surgeon Ava Bekker turned into a cuckoo sociopath." Redditor Dr. Mowri agreed with this assessment, saying that Bekker could have added more to the show had she lived: "Tbh, it was kinda sad to see what could have been a great character turn into that sociopath." Another poster thought Bekker's intriguing characterization up to that point was a valuable addition to the series, writing "For real! I mean it could have been interesting with them planting all those seeds with things she did just to get ahead... way to reduce a cool character to a totally flat wacko."
Fans didn't care for the Marcel-Manning hook up
Sometimes on a personality-driven series like "Chicago Med," it is not necessarily the conflict between characters that prompts fans to complain, it's the supposedly appealing affection between two favorites that turns viewers off. This seems to be the case in the Season 6 episode "Letting Go Only to Come Together." The moment in question here is between surgeon Dr. Crockett Marcel (Dominic Rains) and Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto), and fans simply seem to think the match up isn't working.
Commenting on the Reddit discussion somewhat ominously titled "Chicago Med has really lost its luster," user u/redditwastesmyday gets right to the point, saying, "IDK – This show just seems to suck to me now... last night Natalie and Crockett have as much chemistry as a brick." Ouch! Chiming in on the same thread, Redditor u/DomNessMonster07 reacted much the same way to the Crockett-Natalie hook up, writing, "...as you said theirs [sic] Crockett and Manning's relationship, they have about as much chemistry as a damp rag and a wet mop. The show's just lost its charm ...." Finally, complaining about Marcel's romantic technique, u/muffledtiger had a downright visceral reaction: "I don't even remember what corny romcom line Crockett used about his past last night but it made me want to puke a little bit."
Fans were shocked Halstead was re-hired... as a spy
From its earliest episodes, "Chicago Med" has promised its fanbase a show that opens a window into the authentic challenges faced by the staff of the hospital's always-busy emergency department. And while the series generally delivers on that promise, there are instances where reality seems to take a back seat to ramping up the drama. Such was apparently the case in the episode "You Can't Always Trust What You See," when Dr. Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) re-hired the recently fired Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) in order to have him secretly investigate the use of faulty equipment at the hospital.
For some, this was simply not credible scriptwriting. Joining a Reddit discussion about the episode, poster u/HannaMouse1 griped that, "The moment Goodwin told Halstead to go undercover in the ED, I laughed out loud. Not only is it the level of stupid and crazy that makes this hospital completely unfathomable, but the last time Will tried keeping tabs on someone he was kidnapped on his wedding night. Goodwin really think that this is the best way to bring him back in?" Redditor u/Theghostwhorocks felt the same way, saying "Well, they didn't waste any time jumping to the unbelievable this season... Will just gets to come back? Really?"
The E.D. staff flunked Mask Protocol 101
As Season 6 of "Chicago Med" begins, the first responders of Gaffney Chicago Medical Center not only have to contend with the usual emergency room crises, but are also faced with the Covid pandemic surging through the Windy City. And while the cast of doctors and nurses at the hospital are touted as among the finest medical professionals in the country, there were moments in this season's premiere installment that had viewers questioning their competence in one simple but vital subject matter: face masks.
Commenting on the Reddit r/ChicagoMed thread about the episode "When Did We Begin tto Change," user u/sparkey325 addressed the disappointing mask use on the show, saying, "It bothered me how while they're supposedly in the midst of the pandemic, all the doctors took off their masks to talk to each other or the patient's families and they couldn't be bothered to wear masks in the ER. It is unrealistic to think they know that everyone coming in to the er is negative for covid." Redditor u/cocgbay75 chimed in with: "Thank you... they could easily have kept their masks on...Come on ppl! I expected better." Citing their real-world credentials, user u/Mark7A wrote, "As a medical professional I tolerated the inaccuracies. But the season opener was too over the top ... no one wearing masks in ER."
All the above being said, while the series seems to generally offer a fact-based picture of hospital procedures, this episode's poor masking protocol seems to be one more instance of a "Chicago Med" moment that angered fans.