ONE CHICAGO Women: Chicago Med 1×03, 1×04 and Chicago Fire 4×08, 4×09 recap

It’s the final fresh episodes for 2015, and the Chicago franchise is not ending the year quietly, that’s for sure! Here’s how the women of the ONE CHICAGO ended the year in the last two fall episodes of Chicago Med and Chicago Fire…

CHICAGO MED — “Fallback” Episode 103 — Pictured: S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

Sharon Goodwin: We may only be three episodes in to Chicago Med, but it’s already time for the penultimate fall finale episode. Sharon has to deal with hospital politics with Dr Connor Rhodes’s father and influential businessman Cornelius Rhodes, who demands that she remove Dr Rhodes as the doctor on a family friend’s case and she refuses. Even when Papa Rhodes tries to go to her superiors, she still stands her ground and refuses to cave. You go girl! In the fall finale, when a shooting breaks out in a cinema downtown and victims are brought to the hospital, it’s up to Sharon to contain the media circus that gathers at the hospital. The Chief Administrator also speaks to the widow of a patient who was trampled during the shooting and asks him to consider donating his late wife’s organs to the young man who triggered the shooting with his prank. It’s certainly a demanding two weeks for Sharon!

Maggie Lockwood: The head nurse delights in teasing Dr Natalie Manning about Dr Will Halstead’s affections for her. Nat may think that they’re just friends, but Maggie has seen the way he acts around her and thinks differently. In the penultimate fall finale episode, Maggie also notices Sarah Reese struggling with finding veins and drawing blood, so she volunteers herself as the live human test dummy for Sarah to practice on.

CHICAGO MED — “Fallback” Episode 103 — Pictured: (l-r) Nick Gehlfuss as Dr. Will Halstead, Yaya DaCosta as April Sexton — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

April Sexton: In the fall finale April is helping treat an older woman who is a racist and has no qualms about making such racist remarks to April. The nurse gets her revenge though when she and Dr Halstead discover that the woman is suffering from something that predominantly affects African-Americans and when he runs a genetics test, they realise that the patient is part African-American. The patient’s reaction when April fist bumps her and calls the woman her sista, is gold!

Dr Natalie Manning: Nat is still not happy with Dr Halstead and his remark to think like a doctor not a pregnant woman, and refuses to forgive him and ignores his olive branch attempts. However, being the compassionate doctor that she is, she can’t resist helping him when he comes to her with the case of a young musician who has a tumour pressing down inside her brain. The woman refuses to have surgery as there is a chance she may never hear again, which will then affect her being able to play.

CHICAGO MED — “Fallback” Episode 103 — Pictured: Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Natalie Manning — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

As Nat bonds with the patient, we discover she too used to be a musician but gave it up when she chose medicine. Nat manages to convince the woman to have the surgery and before she goes in, the two perform a duet together with Dr Halstead watching in on them. Nat ends up forgiving him by the episode’s end.  In the fall finale, Nat is treating a teenage girl who she suspects is suffering from an eating disorder, having seen the signs from when a friend in college was suffering from it. However, Dr Charles thinks that she is blinded by her bias and that it is something else. He turns out to be right when the patient is diagnosed with having a condition where food is blocked from travelling through her digestive system. Also in this episode, Maggie teases Nat about Dr Halstead being attracted to her. Nat insists that they are just friends, but her arguments aren’t helped when Dr Halstead tells her that when she goes into labor, she should call him and he’ll drive her to the hospital. Aww.

CHICAGO MED — “Fallback” Episode 103 — Pictured: Rachel DiPillo as Dr. Sarah Reese — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

Sarah Reese: As mentioned, Sarah is having trouble finding veins and drawing blood from patients and is frustrated because she can do it when she’s practicing on dummies – there’s the problem there, they’re dummies not real life people! She is determined to master it though and keeps practicing. Later on, she also pops up on Chicago Fire at Molly’s and gives paramedics Brett and Chili an update on a patient they brought in.

Gabriela Dawson: After Boden’s arrest, Dawson is blaming herself since she’s the one who told Boden of her conspiracy theory, leading him to confront Chief Riddle at the gala, as they are convinced Riddle is behind Boden’s drama right now. Dawson asks her cop brother (Detective Antonio Dawson from Chicago P.D.) to help clear Boden’s name. Also in the penultimate fall finale episode, Casey wants to go away with Dawson on a surprise weekend getaway soon. Aww.

CHICAGO FIRE — “Short & Fat” Episode 409 — Pictured: (l-r) Jesse Spencer as Matthew Casey, Monica Raymund as Gabriela Dawson — (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC)

In the fall finale, the gang have realised that it’s Maddox who is out to get Boden and that it looks like fellow witnesses in the case are being targeted, which means Dawson is next. While out on a call, Dawson is heckled by a member of the public who is making sexist remarks, although she tries to ignore him, she ends up losing her cool in front of a crowd and the next thing she knows, the video has circulated and appears on the local news. One of Dawson’s former colleagues at Arson is also targeted and discredited. There is a sweet moment in this episode where Dawson arrives at Boden’s house with a six-pack to show her support and assures him that the truth will come out. Thankfully this whole Boden saga is over when the CPD guys (with the help of Severide’s on/off lady lawyer friend) track down witness to the whole Maddox duplicity, Serena Holmes, and all is right in the world once again…well until Herrmann is stabbed in the storeroom of Molly’s at the end of the episode and no one realises, but that’s a post for 2016…

CHICAGO FIRE — “When Tortoises Fly” Episode 408 — Pictured: Kara Killmer as Sylvie Brett — (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC)

Sylvie Brett: In the penultimate fall finale episode, Brett and Chili rescue a victim from a car wreck who is mesmerised by Brett and her pretty blue eyes. No one thinks anything of it until he drops by Firehouse 51 once he’s released from the hospital with flowers and to ask her out, which sucks for Otis who is trying to work up the nerve to ask Brett out again. In the fall finale Brett is slowly falling for Austin, much to Otis’s displeasure, who runs a background check on him and discovers he was once charged with breaking and entering. Otis tells Brett, but before she can confront Austin while on their first day, he confesses to her about it – turns out he broke into a public pool when he was a teen. Kids do stupid things right? I don’t know though, something seems off about this guy!

CHICAGO FIRE — “Short & Fat” Episode 409 — Pictured: Dora Madison as Jessica “Chili” Clinton — (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC)

Jessica ‘Chili’ Chilton: In the penultimate fall finale episode, something weird is happening with Chili, first she’s late to shift (yeah we’re not buying that she overslept) and next she’s trying to distract Jimmy when he tries to probe into why she’s behaving weird. Chili picked the wrong day to be late because Boden is not in the mood and gives her a stern talking to and it doesn’t really help that she’s a bit too nonchalant about her tardiness. This casual attitude continues into the next episode too. After being reprimanded and punished with garbage duty by acting chief Patterson for sneaking about on the job, Jimmy tries to cool things off with Chili. Girl can’t take no for an answer, and while he’s in the shower during shift, she strips down and surprises him, causing the pair to be sprung by Patterson. Not cool (nor professional) Chili.

Chicago Med airs Tuesdays at 9/8c, followed by Chicago Fire airs Tuesdays at 10/9c, both on NBC. Both shows return January 5, 2016. Chicago P.D. is currently on hiatus and will return on January 6, 2016.