S02.E16: Prisoner's Dilemma

[WendyCR72]

Dr. Reese is contacted for help by a troubled teen in a psychiatric facility and Dr. Manning tries to help parents make a decision about their comatose daughter's surprise pregnancy. April begins to deal with repercussions from her personal life. Meanwhile, Dr. Choi and Dr. Rhodes work to save both a young girl from Ecuador who collapsed mid-flight, as well as her mother, who made great sacrifices for her daughter.

[Lady Calypso]

Of course Manning was right about her coma patient not being in a completely vegetative state. But I am happy Dr. Abrams solved the case. Manning got lucky this time with her diagnosis. But it's on a next level of disturbing that she was awake the entire time.

I'd say that the psych patient that Reese was trying to help is mentally ill, but not belonging in that ward, that's for sure. Hopefully Dr. Charles can help her out. 

I felt bad for Choi for being put in the position of lying. I feel for April for wanting to keep busy, and I totally felt for her when she explained that things were not good with Tate. She definitely was reacting to the drug mule mother, and I totally understand why she did it, much like how I empathized with Choi's difficult decision.

Dr. Latham becoming more empathetic was interesting to see, especially since it did affect his work. I think he needs more time to adjust and find a balance between being detached and being empathetic. I liked his last scene with Connor. 

[LittleIggy]

Locked-in Syndrome must be hell on earth. I like the neurosurgeon. He's deadpan, but he cares.

As much as I adore Dr. Choi, I didn't agree with his we have to report this. Screw what might have been. The drugs didn't get out into the community. That lady will have enough trouble hiding from the cartel and ICE.

Reese will feel guilty next week based on that preview!

[MakeMeLaugh]

Do they legally have to report it? Wasn't there something in season 1 where PD wanted a blood alcohol count and the hospital balked when there wasn't a warrant (was that why Maggie was arrested, for refusing to provide it?)? No one except the hospital knew about the mom being a mule as she wasn't being followed by DEA people. BTW I called that development as soon as they brought the kid into the ER (I called it for the kid first, I admit). 

[Netfoot]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

As much as I adore Dr. Choi, I didn't agree with his we have to report this.

So now his career is in the hands of a illegal alien drug-mule who will grass him out at the blink of an eye, the first time she gets in trouble.  And if it happens, his colleagues sure as shit ain't going to throw themselves under the bus to save him!

[Fireball]

Another day another patient for Manning to be judgy about; however, I will say I was right there with Manning and her judging the facility and the parents. The parents to me seemed way to excited about the prospect of having another kid to raise. I also found it annoying that Manning was right that the daughter wasn't completely in a vegetative state.

Dr. Abrams I haven't really been a fan, but I liked him here. To me it didn't seem like he wanted to be right about it being Locked-in Syndrome. I don't think Manning realized until the end what it actually meant that she was right about the patient being awake.

April I feel bad for her, but I'm glad the writers haven't just breezed by the aftermath of April losing the baby. I also feel for everyone else not knowing what to say. My cousin had a miscarriage and it was hard to know if I should say anything or leave her alone.  I think in my cousins case all the "I'm sorry" just made her feel worse.

Maggie annoyed me. I felt she was kind of lecturing April like "They're trying! You can at least acknowledge that!" 

Regarding Dr. Choi, April, and the drug mule I can see both of their perspectives. However, the main thing I came away with from that story was wondering "how in the world does someone swallow those cocaine bags? They looked huge!! There's no way I could swallow something that big!

I liked seeing Dr. Latham becoming more empathetic, but I thought it was very cliché that once he connected with the kid that he lost his detachment and froze. It felt so very cliché to me. I am glad that the cliché of "I promise you that your mom will be right here when you wake up only to have the mom die" didn't happen.

Next weeks preview really left nothing to the imagination. I hate when previews give away to much.

Spoiler

Reese is going to feel very guilty that she didn't recognize all the signs that Dr. WhatsHisName was at the breaking point. 

Edited March 10, 2017 by Fireball

[Texasmom1970]

Ugh, now Manning is more annoying than Halstead. I liked this storyline when it was in the episode "Locked In" on House. Mos Def really did a good job of showing what an incredibly awful state this would be. 

I know April just went through an unspeakable trauma but her brother was at least trying. When he usually is all about himself.

I think my issue with this show is I just don't care that much about enough of the characters. I am not saying I have to like them all, but at least be interesting. 

[LittleIggy]

3 hours ago, Netfoot said:

So now his career is in the hands of a illegal alien drug-mule who will grass him out at the blink of an eye, the first time she gets in trouble.  And if it happens, his colleagues sure as shit ain't going to throw themselves under the bus to save him!

That doesn't seem plausible at all. 

[Fireball]

1 hour ago, Texasmom1970 said:

Ugh, now Manning is more annoying than Halstead. I liked this storyline when it was in the episode "Locked In" on House. Mos Def really did a good job of showing what an incredibly awful state this would be. 

I know April just went through an unspeakable trauma but her brother was at least trying. When he usually is all about himself.

I think my issue with this show is I just don't care that much about enough of the characters. I am not saying I have to like them all, but at least be interesting. 

Manning has always been a bit annoying to me, but this season it seems that's all she is.

Noah really was trying and I felt bad for him; I like him as the sweet younger bother. 

I'm not really invested in any of the characters either.

[starri]

I have nightmares about Locked-In Syndrome.  That's not even hyperbole, I have had nightmares about it.

Maybe it's just that April is just so sad right now, but I thought she had a lot of chemistry with Jeff.  Especially if she and Tate are having problems.  And he definitely had more with her than with Natalie.

It's hilarious that there's were two actual peds patients....and Natalie was treating the adult.  I know it was because she'd have gone along with April and Jeff without a second thought, but still.

[MakeMeLaugh]

1 hour ago, starri said:

..Maybe it's just that April is just so sad right now, but I thought she had a lot of chemistry with Jeff.  Especially if she and Tate are having problems.  And he definitely had more with her than with Natalie.

It's hilarious that there's were two actual peds patients....and Natalie was treating the adult.  I know it was because she'd have gone along with April and Jeff without a second thought, but still.

I wish April as originally written on Chicago Fire was the linchpin for this show--back then she was in med school, not nursing school, and imo Yaya DaCosta is amazing. I really liked her scenes with her brother (who I was thinking had been dropped from the show). They were very touching. She has chemistry with everyone.

I bit my tongue to not mention Manning not being assigned to the actual children in this episode.... glad you brought it up! I can't stand her smirkish smile responses instead of dialog with other cast members, which she seems to end most shows with. "Acting!" I guess.

[DearEvette]

9 hours ago, Netfoot said:

So now his career is in the hands of a illegal alien drug-mule who will grass him out at the blink of an eye, the first time she gets in trouble.  And if it happens, his colleagues sure as shit ain't going to throw themselves under the bus to save him!

What can she really do to him though?  If I recall, only April actually saw the original balloons.  The woman threw them up in the toilet and flushed them down before Choi and Jeff made it into the bathroom.  April is the one that told them she was a drug mule. He couldn't even say how many other there were.

The only one left that he did actually see was the one balloon that  burst in her esophagus. And they reported that to Goodwin who agreed that with just the one they didn't have to report it.

I did like the pysch patient story because it could have easily gone either way.  The girl could have been the victim of her mother, or she could have been a perfect pathological liar.  It was a nice dilemma.  I also liked the additional issue of her being trapped in the system actually would make her mentally ill.  What a nightmare.

Felt bad for April.  And this was the first time I liked her brother.  At least she cried at the end and it broke her out of that sad numb state she was in during the whole show.  First step in healing.

Manning.  Sigh.  I won't even talk about her because she makes me ragey.

[statsgirl]

My favourite part of the show is that Rhodes/Latham bromance.  I really like how that relationship has developed and how much respect both parties have for each other.

I feel bad that April's relationship with her boyfriend is in trouble. But who didn't see that coming with the fights about her working toohard

How did Manning manage to be judgemental about the new facility in an episode when she right about the patient?

On 2017-03-09 at 10:21 PM, Lady Calypso said:

I'd say that the psych patient that Reese was trying to help is mentally ill, but not belonging in that ward, that's for sure. Hopefully Dr. Charles can help her out.

I don't even know if she's mentally ill other than depression and some serious family and attachment problems.  I've seen too many cases of mental health professionals believing people they really shouldn't and becoming invested in being right.  The adolescent psychiatrist was too quick to get on her high horse.

Reese can't get out of psychiatry fast enough for me.  She's now rivaling Manning as the doctor I least want to treat me.

[NYCFree]

On the original flavor Law and Order there was a plot of a comatose woman being impregnated. In that episode, the twist was that the mom paid an orderly to do it, so she could have a grandchild.

This season of Chicago Med has been my gateway into the Wolf Chicago universe.  I started watching Chicago Fire as well, and now I'm binging on early seasons of CF.

[Tiger]

On 3/10/2017 at 9:55 AM, Netfoot said:

So now his career is in the hands of a illegal alien drug-mule who will grass him out at the blink of an eye, the first time she gets in trouble.  And if it happens, his colleagues sure as shit ain't going to throw themselves under the bus to save him!

I really liked this episode, except for Choi putting his career and integrity on the line all because of a drug mule.  I thought it was widly out of character for him to along with April and Jeff's lie.  

[statsgirl]

She agreed to be a drug mule because she was desperate to help her child and she had no money.  Now that her child has had the congenital problem fixed, she probably won't do it again. And I really think she wouldn't turn in the doctors who saved both herself and her child.

[Netfoot]

42 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Now that her child has had the congenital problem fixed, she probably won't do it again. And I really think she wouldn't turn in the doctors who saved both herself and her child.

Maybe.  Why should Choi put his career on the line on the hope that this is so?

[statsgirl]

Because that's the kind of human being that Choi is.*   He's putting his career on the line if he says nothing, but he's putting his humanity on the line if he doesn't.

I'd say it's a pretty safe bet though.  She's not a professional drug mule, she's someone who did it when she was desperate. But let's say she does it again, and she gets caught.  What's she going to say?  "It's okay that I did this because the last time I did, the doctors lied and covered it up"?  What kind of sense does that make?  She'd do better at self-preservation by not mentioning this trip at all and saying that this time (i.e. the one they caught her on) is her first time.

*(It's something my father would do and he's one of the best doctors I know.)

[MakeMeLaugh]

The crime she committed means she is a danger to her child, who is the patient; the hospital really should have called DCFS. She lost several thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of dollars of cocaine throwing it up so I imagine someone will come after her to find out what happened to the drugs; someone was supposed to receive them. Dumb storyline, all in all.

Edited March 11, 2017 by MakeMeLaugh

[statsgirl]

They're from Equador. DCFS would have handed her to ICE who would have either put the daughter in one of those prisons converted to hold illegal aliens or put the girl on a plane alone back to the country she came from, and who knows it there would be anyone there to take care of her.

[MakeMeLaugh]

She's not a real person and I'm an open-borders supporter, but regardless, the law is the law. Now if Show were ever to have any continuity in these story lines, we would see a "no good deed goes unpunished" followup that could go in several directions--that would be interesting. Not holding my breath.

[spunky]

I desperately wanted doctor Manning to be wrong, because of how quick she is to rush to judgment. I understand why the mother did what she did. Her only thought was getting her daughter the help that she needed. I also understand April's empathy for the mother and her understanding that the daughter is the one who will suffer the consequences of them reporting the one recovered packet of cocaine. I also like that Jeff backed April. Doctor Choi is usually compassionate, so I was surprised by his insisting that they report it. An entire hospital filled with medical and psychiatric professionals and no one has observed that doctor Wheeler is depressed or at least going through some difficulties. Him becoming drunk in the middle of a shift, asking Reese for drugs and about therapy are all cries for help. I'm loving doctor Latham struggling with the new emotions he is discovering. He needs more time understand his new emotions and not let fear make him stop his treatments.

[spunky]

On 3/10/2017 at 3:39 PM, starri said:

I have nightmares about Locked-In Syndrome.  That's not even hyperbole, I have had nightmares about it.

Maybe it's just that April is just so sad right now, but I thought she had a lot of chemistry with Jeff.  Especially if she and Tate are having problems.  And he definitely had more with her than with Natalie.

It's hilarious that there's were two actual peds patients....and Natalie was treating the adult.  I know it was because she'd have gone along with April and Jeff without a second thought, but still.

April and Jeff would definitely be a hot couple. Natalie has no personality and would suck the life out of anyone

[Mrs Shibbles]

I'm liking Dr Latham experiencing more connection with patients and the staff, while at the same time  wishing Manning would dial her emotions back.

Every time she gets judgey and smirky about others' parenting decisions  I'm thinking to myself "exactly how much time do you spend with that baby of yours  while you are working?"  I wish they would write her with a little more introspection, if that makes sense.

[limecoke]

Dr. Choi and Jeff saw at least two packets.  Just watched that scene again to be sure.  They yanked one out, plopped it in the tray and April said, "Ok, one to go."  The second one was the one that burst but they all saw it in tact on the monitor.  So they all lied.  They put Choi in an awful situation and I hope it doesn't come back to haunt him.  Without debating the wrongness or rightness of the situation, I find it hard to believe that a nurse and medical student could influence a doctor to lie to his superior.  Wouldn't happen.

Of course Natalie was right and paraded her smuggery for all to see.  This character is running a close second to CF's Gabby for me as a character I cannot abide.  

Edited March 13, 2017 by limecoke

[Fireball]

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 10:10 PM, statsgirl said:

How did Manning manage to be judgemental about the new facility in an episode when she right about the patient?

Manning was also judgmental about the new facility? I forgot about that. What did she dislike about the new facility?

[statsgirl]

She said how could the parents really know that something like this wouldn't happen in the new facility too even though they had checked it out.  It was weird because what did she expect the parents to do?  Keep her at home and take care of her themselves?  Maybe then Manning  could worry about the respite care if they got some.

I think she is supposed to be the doctor who CARES but it ends up coming out emo and too cognitively simple.

[Shades of Red]

Was anyone else expecting this to be a crossover episode with the Locked in Syndrome patient showing up on P.D. to solve who was raping her?  I wasn't impressed with her parents and their lack of concern for finding out who the rapist is. 

[Chas411]

I liked the last scene with April and Jeff. I'd like to see more of them together.