Chicago Med Season 7 arrived with a new episode called You Can’t Always Trust What You See.
There was a lot to cover in the episode, especially with two new doctors joining the cast.
For any Chicago Med fans who didn’t realize it, Dr. Natalie Manning is gone (after this episode). And we have likely seen the last of Nurse April Sexton as well.
When we last saw Chicago Med in Season 6, Dr. Ethan Choi got shot, and Dr. Dean Archer was made the new head of the ED. It was now time to find out what happened next.
Chicago Med Season 7, Episode 1 recap
We got a big surprise at the beginning of the episode when Natalie (played by Torrey DeVitto) appeared in order to wrap up the story of that character. Will helped her pack up as she moved away with her son. It was really nice to get some unexpected closure from that storyline.
As for April, it was only mentioned in passing that she was gone to become a Nurse Practitioner. That storyline was easier to close off because Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) did not appear in the episode either. He is off working through physical therapy before he can return to the job.
Dr. Will Halstead gets his job back… with a catch
Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) told Will that he could have his job back if he agreed to serve as a spy for her. She needed to have another new doctor watched closely (Dr. Cooper – played by Michael Rady) because she thought he might be breaking the law.
Halstead agreed to do it because he really wanted his job back, and it created an intriguing substory on the show that could be really interesting to watch play out over the coming weeks (or maybe months). The reason Goodwin and Halstead are doing this off the books is that Cooper has a family member (father-in-law) on the board for the hospital. Halstead also has a past relationship with Cooper she hoped he could take advantage of in the process.
At first, Halstead was very uncomfortable doing any of it, but he got on board when Goodwin showed him a patient file where possibly unnecessary treatment from Cooper had led to someone losing a leg. We will learn more about this story as the season progresses.
Some new faces at Chicago Med
Guy Lockard is playing Dr. Dylan Scott and Kristin Hager is Dr. Stevie Hammer for Season 7 of the show. We quickly learned that Halstead went to medical school with Hammer.
Scott was the first one shown in action, as he helped a boy who had been bitten by a rattlesnake as part of a gang initiation. Through him giving care, we learned that his dad worked for Chicago P.D. and that he used to be a cop himself.
Scott and Hammer later worked on a patient together, as a little girl suffered a stroke due to not being correctly diagnosed by her past doctor. The mother was suffering from early arthritis, and Hammer correctly guessed it was from sleeping sitting up in a car a lot.
We learned at the very end of the episode that Hammer figured it out because her mother is homeless and had been living in a van. Now that Hammer has returned to Chicago, she is working on getting her mom off the street.
We have a write-up here about the new doctors, Cooper and Hammer.
Patient care on Chicago Med
Dr. Crockett Marcel had to deal with a patient who had been in Halstead’s trial. They disagreed on treatment, with Halstead urging a different surgery. Marcel was against it at first but came around when the patient got worse and it proved Halstead had been correct.
Archer had a patient who was having problems with an ovary, but she came in with an identical twin. The twins did everything together we came to find out, including eating, sleeping, and even going to the bathroom. They demanded to both be operated on or neither of them. It angered Archer, who was upset with Dr. Charles, who felt they were both of sound mind and had to give their consent for surgery.
It made Archer even angrier when Charles was able to talk the sick twin into having the surgery. That was when the twins tried to pull a fast one, and they switched spots. The healthy twin tried to have the surgery first, but Charles was able to stop it in time.
That brings an end to an eventful Chicago Med season premiere, where a lot of time was spent introducing viewers to the three new ED doctors.
Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.