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The Goodwin Decision That Chicago Med Fans Just Can't Fathom

As Head of Patient and Medical Services at the fictional Gaffney Chicago Medical Center on NBC's "Chicago Med," Dr. Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) is where the buck stops when it comes to keeping this major urban hospital humming along smoothly. As such, it's no surprise that her career on the show finds her at the center of the action where she's forced to make tough calls in everything from career-ending personnel issues to life-or-death situations affecting both doctors, nurses, and the patients they care for.

When it comes to sorting through difficult dilemmas that involve judgment calls vis a vis ethical or moral quandaries, Goodwin is frequently the one making those hard choices. For instance, when a doctor is suspected of taking kickbacks in a medical equipment trial running at the hospital, it's Goodwin who uses an offer of employment to basically blackmail Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) into spying on his supposedly corrupt colleague in the episode "You Can't Always Trust What You See." And while fans did take issue with this particular act of less-than-stellar decision-making on Goodwin's behalf, there was another choice she made that had longtime viewers collectively scratching their heads.

Goodwin's promotion of a certain disliked doctor confused fans

When Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber) arrived in Season 6 of "Chicago Med," he quickly proved himself an insufferable co-worker. Then, after Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) was shot and wounded by one of Archer's patients, the department was left leaderless. When Goodwin suddenly named anti-hero Archer interim chief, the fan response is salty.

Kicking off the discussion titled "why didn't anyone stop Goodwin from appointing Archer as chief of the ED?" on the show's subreddit, Reddit user Odd_Habit_8972 says, "I'm rewatching season 6 and just started on 7. How was Archer allowed to be chief of the ED after all his insane behavior?" The poster then goes on to enumerate this behavior, saying that Archer was responsible for Choi being shot, that he unethically drugged a patient with morphine, and engaged in other questionable medical conduct. 

Other fans were also puzzled, but offered explanations for the decision, with a commenter writing, "Goodwin has a lot more on her plate than people not getting along..." and then cites the stressful nature of the E.D. and opines that Archer is still a good doctor, if a prickly one. Another Redditor, on the other hand, also seems mildly confused by it all, but equivocates on the subject, feeling that Archer "...seemed to have changed a smidge like he was almost proving his worth. Soooooooo idk but I also agree" that Goodwin's choice was a puzzling one.