Chicago Med Season 1 Finale Review: The End For One of Their Own

Chicago Med‘s first season wrapped up by saying goodbye to one of its own as the rest of Med’s staff focused on the future ahead. When it first premiered it promised to have the same level of realness that its predecessor Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. had, which Med has definitely succeeded at. Most of the season was focused on what the doctors learn from the patients, but the season finale was a little different in that the doctors learned what the job itself had to teach them, particularly about starting fresh.

We know Dr. Choi doesn’t always get along with people. The living creature he has managed to connect with is a parrot! Even stranger, Dr. Charles thinks that the parrot also suffers from PTSD, which would make him and Choi a good match. Watching Choi try to teach his new pet how to fly reminds me of the movie Paulie. Watching such a tough guy flap around his apartment is hilarious, but when the bird finally does fly, it’s a thing of beauty.

Dr. Manning and Reese treat an infant with an enlarged heart due to unlucky genetic circumstances. Reese can barely keep it together. Her boyfriend tries to get her to look on the positive side. Being stuck with Pathology as her field of study, there’s less of a chance of her getting close to patients and risking heartbreak. Reese is so sick with worry that she spends the night at the hospital and misses her own graduation. A graduation ceremony doesn’t begin to compare to the feeling of being able to give those parents good news about their baby. It makes Reese realize she can’t go into Pathology, which also means she doesn’t have a job. It’s both completely liberating and completely terrifying to have no idea what your next move is.

Dr. Halstead is seriously considering leaving Chicago Med right up until the moment he gets an offer to be a full-time Attending Physician in the ER. Now that Natalie has taken her wedding ring off, Maggie points out that maybe the timing has finally lined up perfectly for Halstead to make a move. He may already be too late. Med gets a new batch of medical students, one of which is an old transplant from Chicago Fire, former fireman Jeff Clarke.

A patient knocks April to the ground. Though she insists at first that she’s fine, it’s clear she’s in pain. Scans show that April didn’t have any internal damage from the fall, but she does have Tuberculosis. Her boyfriend is concerned when he finds out about the patient assault. How he jumped from concerned to proposing in 10 seconds I have no idea! wonder how he’ll feel when he finds out his would-be fiancee has TB.

Goodwin has been struggling for awhile with her recently retired husband. For anyone who doesn’t know that struggle, allow me to explain. The beginning of retirement is like any other transition period. Transition periods are difficult at first because there’s a residual impulse to go back to your routine, if only to be needed and valued, and especially if you don’t replace your time with something just as valuable. This is why Goodwin’s husband has tried, and failed, to persuade her to retire early with him. It appears he has reached his breaking  point in the argument. Maggie finds Goodwin at home the next morning, crying because her husband has left her.

Dr. Downey comes into the ER with complications from his cancer treatment. Dr. Rhodes has to perform emergency surgery on his mentor. The circumstances couldn’t be more difficult, especially when the doctors discover that the cancer has already spread to Dr. Downey’s brain. Any kind of surgery or treatment would leave Downey in worse shape than he is now, so he decides that it’s time to stop fighting. If he’s going to die, he’s going to go his way. Which is why he wants Rhodes’s help to do it. Rhodes refuses to help in that way, but he does help Downey feel like he’s back in the islands. Rhodes tearfully says goodbye to his mentor, then leaves the room. However, did he help Downey move forward before leaving? Maybe it doesn’t matter, since Dr. Downey died on his terms either way. He is even buried his way, courtesy of Rhodes taking him to his final resting place on the islands.

Let’s hear from you. Was this a fitting end to Chicago Med’s first season?