S02.E06: Alternative Medicine

[WendyCR72]

Dr. Manning tends to a young cancer patient and struggles to inform the parents of her dire condition. Elsewhere, Dr. Reese gets contacted by Danny, the troubled young man, and turns to Dr. Charles and Det. Lindsay for help in resolving a difficult situation.  Goodwin and Maggie do their best to clear the logjam in the hospital, and Dr. Rhodes fine-tunes his instincts after both Dr. Latham and Dr. Halstead pick up on things he doesn't. Meanwhile, a teenage science geek and her friends impress Dr. Choi and Natalie with their bio-engineering lab.

[scarynikki12]

I was yelling at Reese to give the chip to one of the CPD characters. It's evidence that could assist in taking down the sex traffickers! I'm glad Danny's story is continuing as I found it interesting but don't get rid of evidence. 

Halstead 2.0 is just not good at the smaltzy stuff. He manages to both over and under act at the same time. Which is certainly impressive but not the way it should be. 

[izabella]

Oh, Manning,  It would have been kinder to tell the parents their daughter has liver failure and no one is going to give them a healthy liver to transplant into a cancer patient undergoing chemo, and that no, it's not likely for a turn-around.  That way, they might have some time to say goodbye while she was still alive instead of pinning their hopes on her magically recovering.  I know parents would never give up on a child, but when she came in all jaundiced after all her chemo and everything else, I was just shaking my head at what that child was going through.  I couldn't imagine watching a child whose life is all about cancer and failing organs and PAIN and continuing to push treatments on her. 

10 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

I was yelling at Reese to give the chip to one of the CPD characters. It's evidence that could assist in taking down the sex traffickers!

Totally agree!  I like Reese, but she's not very smart.

[Driad]

I was surprised that the parents did not ask if one of them could donate part of their liver to the daughter.  When the doctors did not mention that as a possibility, I took that as meaning that little or nothing could be done.

[tvdramageek]

In the Alternative Medicine...  I was totally surprised that Dr. Reese wasn't at all apprehensive about walking around alone....especially in an alley with the sex traffic victim..  Especially with the tracking chip and the fact that they say so many times that the people follow him and can find him anytime...  She could have gotten taken..which is what I thought was going to happen.

[tvdramageek]

Anyone recognize the lady at the end in the nursing home that Dr. Halstead talks with?  Her name is Dr. Rowan and she is not listed on Imdb in cast or all cast..  She looks very familiar to me.

[Lady Calypso]

For a Chicago Trio show, Reese's storyline was surprisingly tame. It really could have ended up a lot worse. Ask the people on Chicago Fire and Chicago PD (I presume, since I refuse to watch that show). I liked that Danny, at the moment, has somewhat of a happy ending. I hope it stays that way, because I liked the kid. I imagine the sex trafficking storyline isn't completely over, but at least it is for now. 

Man, Connor might have been getting a bit jealous with Latham's impeccable ear and Halstead's impeccable...touch? I'm glad he handled it maturely, though. He really is one of the good ones. Don't ruin that, show.

Manning has become so annoying this season. I don't know whether it's just this season, or if she always has been this bad and I just didn't notice. 

[oucellogal]

Solid episode all the way around. Everyone's story lines were equally interesting, and Halstead didn't even bug me! Is it wrong, though, that my favorite moment was Choi at the chicken truck explaining that he doesn't eat birds anymore?

[statsgirl]

Choi explaining why he doesn't eat birds any more was awesome.  Does anyone know what kind of parrot it is and how long it lives?  Choi might need to check that out with a future fiance.

Manning is once again the worst.  Why did she need to go to Charles and feel guilty about telling the parents to have hope?  Unless it's 100% sure their daughter will die, it's unethical to tell them she will.

Poor Connor.  He really does need a win, all he's been getting this year is losses, between losing his mentor and having Latham prove him wrong again and again.  Now even Halstead is doing it.

On 2016-10-28 at 0:12 AM, scarynikki12 said:

I was yelling at Reese to give the chip to one of the CPD characters. It's evidence that could assist in taking down the sex traffickers! I'm glad Danny's story is continuing as I found it interesting but don't get rid of evidence.

We were shouting that here too.  Yes, it's a nice camera shot BUT IT'S EVIDENCE!

11 hours ago, tvdramageek said:

In the Alternative Medicine...  I was totally surprised that Dr. Reese wasn't at all apprehensive about walking around alone....especially in an alley with the sex traffic victim..  Especially with the tracking chip and the fact that they say so many times that the people follow him and can find him anytime...  She could have gotten taken..which is what I thought was going to happen.

I really think she was 'stupid for plot' this episode. At least I hope it's for plot.  As well as being dangerous, she wouldn't have been allowed to treat him walking around like that because the hospital insurance presumably wouldn't cover her if she's not on hospital grounds.

Edited October 29, 2016 by statsgirl

[starri]

I think Sarah ditched the tracking device because if it suddenly showed up in the CPD evidence room, the traffickers would know what Danny has been doing.  I have to admit, this story is OTT, but I've been enjoying it.  Particularly when Dr. Charles turned around and said it was wrong for her to get so personally involved (which he's right about, and it's an inclination you have to fight against), but since he knew she'd be doing it anyway, he was going to support her.  We should all have a boss like him.

Both the bodyhackers and Natalie annoyed the ever-loving crap out of me tonight.  I've never really thought Torrey Devitto was much of an actress, but man, she was terrible here.  I thought Jill Flint on Night Shift was the nadir of TV doctors, but she's Meryl Streep in comparison.  Also, I refuse to believe a bunch of tweens could be building prototype robots in their moms' basements.  There are science geeks, but then there's practicality.

I should be ashamed to admit this, but whatever.  It may be because I was coming off a 12 hour shift and that, once again, the Pediatric ED (two shifts!  I only had two shifts this rotation!) managed to get me the Pediatric Crud, but I got very close to tears watching Halstead go and thank the surgeon that taught him in med school.  Damn it, Will, don't make me start to like you.

[tvfanatic13]

As unrealistic as it was, I just loved the science geeks!

[Netfoot]

21 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Yes, it's a nice camera shot BUT IT'S EVIDENCE!

Even if you accept that she wanted to dispose of it, then the thing to do is get some chewing gum and stick it to a truck going out of state.  Or to a container being shipped to Sri Lanka.  You don't throw it in the gutter so it can vanish underground a few yards away, where it's last known location will be the very hospital you are trying to deflect attention from!

[MakeMeLaugh]

A big backfire on show trying to polish Manning's already shiny halo, as her acting, and the show's focus on her character, was laughable. Poor cancer child  (a recurting character, so we are invested in her) dies and parents are crazy distraught with grief at her bedside but wait, what about Manning's feelings? Camera focus on her tear slipping down her face vs them in the background. Plus yes, she lied to them. Holding out hope is one thing but come on, honesty is essential, and yes to above comments that she really stole something from them by misleading them.

I would jump Choi's bones so fast.

Yes also to gps chip/camera just coming to a stop in front of the hospital. Big flashing arrow with neon sign pointing at hospital: "Hi bad guys! Come right in!"

[TobinAlbers]

Lil' scientist's mom griping about not being able to get to the washing machine was hilarious. 

Also as a black girl science geek I'm all about Black girl magic, but Lil scientist needs to adjust the attitude a wee bit. You nearly killed yourself nerd. Say thank you and then think about revising your prototype. No need to be that rude.

I hope Connor missing things isn't a medical issue and just about his confidence being shook a bit. Still, nice that Connor gave Will the benefit of the doubt and checked the guy's bowel.

I've always rooted for Halstead despite his stupidness much of the time; his bringing flowers to his former teacher was more confirmation that I was right to hang in there with him. Just a great, thoughtful thing to do.

[Shades of Red]

While I had a problem with evidence being flushed, I didn't have an issue with it going down a sewer.  It will travel all over the city making it harder to find the kid.  Didn't one of the NCIS shows put cell phones in poly bags and send them down a sewer to confuse the bad guys?  Same principle here I think.

[autumnmountains]

I know I'm in the minority, at least here, but my favorite character is Halstead and I loved the scene with him visiting his old teacher :)