ONE CHICAGO Women: Chicago Justice 1×07, 1×08, Chicago Fire 5×18, Chicago P.D. 4×19, Chicago Med 2×19 & 2×20 recap

Disappointments, retraining, departures and unexpected returns – it’s been a busy fortnight in the ONE CHICAGO world. Read on to find out what happened with the leading ladies of Chicago Justice, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med…

CHICAGO JUSTICE — “Lily’s Law” Episode 108 — Pictured: Monica Barbaro as Anna Valdez — (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)

Anna Valdez: Last week’s episode dealt with a pregnant woman found dead and her baby nowhere to be seen. Valdez does some digging and DNA found at the scene matches to a high profile serial killer case from several years ago where Stone put away the accused. But if this suspect has been locked up, how could he have done it? It turns out DNA can also match those of a relative and it ends up being revealed that the serial killer’s daughter did it and she pleads insanity given her family history. Also last week, Valdez showed up on P.D. after Voight calls her in to the district for advice while they’re looking into the case involving Burgess’ sister.

In this week’s episode, after Nagel advises Valdez to never get married, we learn that Valdez is single, has no intention of getting married any time soon and has even less intentions to have kids. By the way, how great was it to see Valdez accompany Nagel while she did some sleuthing and mix things up a bit. It’s nice to see that she’s not restricted to the confines of the courtroom or ASA office? Speaking of the ASA, although the jury’s verdict was that the accused was found guilty, the judge overturns their ruling believing that they did not take their responsibilities seriously and were thinking based on emotion rather than facts, and so the accused gets off scott free leaving Valdez and Stone pretty upset with the outcome.

CHICAGO JUSTICE — “Double Helix” Episode 107 — Pictured: Joelle Carter as Laura Nagel — (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)

Laura Nagel: One of my issues with Chicago Justice is that it has been very procedural and focused on the cases that there hasn’t been enough time in the episodes to delve into characters back story’s more – I’m big on getting to know the characters more and connecting with them because if you can’t get me to care for these characters that I’m seeing week after week, that’s half my interest in the show gone – so I’m glad that the show finally amended that and that last week we got a glimpse into Nagel’s personal life. The case of the episode brings about discussions on genetics and over a drink at Molly’s, Nagel tells Stone that her father was a drunk and that maybe there is something to this genetics theory. While at the accused’s house, Nagel shares her fears with her partner that her daughter might be a pill popper one day and Dawson assures her that it won’t happen. At the end of the episode, we see Nagel visit a social worker and we learn that Nagel is trying to get shared custody of her daughter but the social worker tells her that her career and work emergencies don’t work in her favor and with this instable environment, she can’t recommend that Nagel be allowed shared custody. Ouch! In this week’s episode, Nagel’s issues with DCFS are clearly still evident when she makes a remark about the way the system works. It may have been in relation to the case the ASA office were working on but you could tell she meant it personally too.

On the professional side of things, last week Nagel and Dawson arrive at a crime scene where they find a woman inside a deep freezer. That’s not the disturbing thing though, nor is the fact that she was probably inside there for a couple of days, but rather that she was pregnant and the baby was taken out of her! At first they investigate the ex and then they go to the house of a woman from the deceased’s pre-natal yoga class. While there, the woman goes to tend to her baby and when they see the baby, it’s blue and clearly dead. Looks like they’ve found the culprit.

CHICAGO FIRE — “Take A Knee” Episode 518 — Pictured: Monica Raymund as Gabriela Dawson — (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC)

Gabriela Dawson: Dawson and Brett get assigned a new trainee to shadow them during shift. Chief Boden warns that he is to do exactly that – no touching patients or giving out advice, just follow the paramedics and observe. Their first call of the shift has positive outcomes and when they return to the house, Dawson reveals that after every successful run, they treat themselves to junk food. In the five years of Fire, this is the first time I have ever heard or seen this! She also advises the trainee to only take the job seriously when you need to otherwise he won’t last. He opens up to her about how his family is unsupportive of his career choice and you can tell that Dawson feels a connection with the kid. They then get called to a restaurant where they find some teenagers lying on the floor in pain and vomiting. As they search for the restaurant’s staff, the trainee spots an employee on the other side of the counter and oven cleaner beside the grill. He puts two and two together and realizes that they’re all suffering from cyanide poisoning. Before he can get back to Brett and Dawson, the employee begins to have a heart attack and so he does compressions on him despite Dawson’s warnings and cracks the guy’s ribs. Dawson is pretty upset that he disobeyed instructions and later confides to Brett that she would have done the same thing. When the big boss later shows up at Firehouse 51 after hearing what happened, Dawson takes the fall for the trainee because the truth would have resulted in him being kicked out of the program. She says that he was acting on her orders and Brett backs her up. The trainee offers to come clean but Dawson says that another mark on her record doesn’t mean anything. Oh how she was wrong…

CHICAGO FIRE — “Take A Knee” Episode 518 — Pictured: Kara Killmer as Sylvie Brett — (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC)

Sylvie Brett: So the trainee that Brett and Dawson were training ends up being transferred from training with them again, which Brett finds a shame because she enjoyed training newbies and now wants to do it again. Dawson warns her not to poke the sleeping bear. Dawson may have been a bit blase about the whole disobeying the rules but at the end of the episode she’s not laughing when her big boss informs her and Brett that as of next shift they’ll be undergoing mandatory retraining. Brett on the other hand being the adorable nerd that she is, doesn’t seem to mind.

Stella Kidd: When Casey notices that there’s a crackhouse in the neighborhood, during shift they drop by and Casey notices a young child in a car outside the house. As they are breaking open a window, the mother runs out of the house, yells at them and drives off but not before a quick thinking Kidd takes a photo of the license plate. It turns out the woman’s daughter is now residing in the crackhouse and she just wants her to come home,. Casey ends up calling PD’s Olinsky for help but when he reveals the police will be raiding it in a matter of days, Casey takes matters into his own hands and “pulls a Gabi Dawson” with the help of Truck, tries to get the daughter out of there and reunite her with her family. Kidd tells Dawson that her husband is a hero, and also offers to buy him drinks.

CHICAGO P.D. — “Last Minute Resistance” Episode 419 — Pictured: (l-r) Elias Koteas as Alvin Olinsky, Marina Squerciati as Kim Burgess — (Photo by: Matt Dinerstein/NBC)

Kim Burgess: Last week’s episode of P.D. took place the morning after the previous episode where Burgess woke up to find that her sister never came home from her night out. Unable to reach her on the phone, Burgess is increasingly worried by the time she gets to work. Finally her sister calls her, only to reveal that she’s in trouble before the call cuts out. At this point Voight arrives and tells them to ping her sister’s phone. Burgess and Ruzek find her at a train station curled up on a bench. Given the amount of blood she’s lost, it’s clear that something horrible has happened and she’s taken to Med. When Burgess returns to the precinct, she informs the team that her sister was sodomized and Halstead says that the tox report shows that there was enough Ketamine in her system to knock out a horse. Voight says that an attack on her family is an attack on theirs and so Intelligence split up to find leads. While on the hunt, they sadly discover the body of the friend that Burgess’ sister was with before she went missing – although she struggled and escaped, she actually died of hypothermia because the Ketamine eventually knocked her out and she froze to death overnight. Throughout all this, Burgess does a great job of keeping it together and staying professional as she knows as soon as she shows a hint of emotion, she’ll be pulled off the case. Or at least she does well at keeping it together until her sister’s estranged husband arrives at the precinct and Burgess lets it fly at him, pinning him against the wall and yelling at him for hiring a PI to follow her sister. When he tries to take her niece, she refuses and tells him to get out because she has a building full of cops that has her back. We like fierce Burgess!

When they finally get a lead that involves Lindsay and another officer going undercover and back to the suspect’s apartment, Burgess pleads for the other cop to be her. Voight relents and warns the two not to drink anything offered and to say the code word as soon as they need an out.  Of course Burgess drinks the drink and asks for the bathroom. Instead she goes into a bedroom where it looks like the rapes took place. One of the guys finds her in their and locks the door. As he puts his hands on her and tries to attack her, she stabs him with the nifty weapon Platt gave her. With him wounded, she beats him until the rest of Intelligence arrive and pull her off him. This whole showdown is pretty impressive considering actress Marina Squerciati is currently pregnant and those scenes were shot not that long ago! Once the guy is taken into custody, Burgess is then taken to Med to get the drugs out of her system. Her sister is pretty surprised to see her there and confesses that she doesn’t know how to deal with everything that has happened and how to take care of her daughter. With her sister always being there for her, Burgess tells her it’s her turn to look after her sister and so she tells Voight that while she is so grateful to finally have her chance in Intelligence, her family comes first and she has to take time out to look after her sister and niece. Seeing as this is a completely different situation to when Ruzek left Intelligence a couple of months ago, Voight assures her that it is fine and that her spot will be waiting for her when she returns. In case you didn’t realize, this is the show’s way of writing Marina Squerciati out so that she can go on maternity leave so we won’t be seeing Burgess until next season.

CHICAGO P.D. — “Last Minute Resistance” Episode 419 — Pictured: (l-r) Sophia Bush as Erin Lindsay, Marina Squerciati as Kim Burgess — (Photo by: Matt Dinerstein/NBC)

Erin Lindsay: When Burgess’s sister is the victim of a horrifying assault, Lindsay and Burgess end up going undercover to nab the guy responsible. Seeing Lindsay play a party girl takes me back to actress Sophia Bush’s One Tree Hill days where she played the fun-loving Brooke Davis for nine seasons. Once the undercover stint is over and Lindsay is back at the district in the interrogation room, things get pretty heated between her and the accomplice to the point where Halstead has to pull her away from the guy. Yep, don’t mess with Lindsay and her loved  ones!

Trudy Platt: Believe it or not, but Platt used to go undercover back in the day and in last week’s episode of P.D. she had some helpful tips for Burgess and Lindsay including a handy device – a little pocket knife disguised in a lipstick, which proved to be helpful when Burgess found herself trapped in a room with the guy responsible for assaulting her sister. Platt also appeared on last week’s Fire when she notified Severide that his father had been brought in after getting into a fight drunk. She warns Benny that next time it happens she won’t be calling his son.

CHICAGO MED — “CTRL ALT” Episode 219 — Pictured: S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

Sharon Goodwin: Last week was not a good week for Goodwin – not only did the hospital get hacked leaving them unable to use x-rays and other machines and also unable to access patient’s medical files forcing the staff to go old school and manual, but her ex-husband showed up at Med after his new (and younger) partner was admitted. Awkward. Goodwin refused to give into the hacker’s demands fearing that it would set a precedence and warned the rest of her staff not to either. It’s a decision that not all the staff agree with, particularly Dr Charles daughter and Dr Rhodes’ girlfriend, Dr Robyn Charles and she ends up losing it at Goodwin when the hack affects the way she does her job. (Although we later learn that there was more to her meltdown than that…) Goodwin also spends a lot of the episode trying to avoid her ex and his new love and is upset when she realizes her friend Dr Charles knew about them. But some things can’t be helped, especially when the new lady asks to see Goodwin and reveals that she has a disease similar to Parkinsons where her prognosis is five years and Goodwin’s ex doesn’t know. For now Goodwin protects the secret. At the end of the day the hospital system is back online (Dr Latham unbeknownst to Goodwin paid it) and her ex admits that it was insensitive to bring his new love to her hospital, that’s as good of a win that Goodwin is going to get.

CHICAGO MED — “CTRL ALT” Episode 219 — Pictured: Marlyne Barrett as Maggie Lockwood — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

Maggie Lockwood: Oh boy did Maggie have her hands full when the hospital system was hacked last week! The whole way the hospital operates relies on technology, even the simple task of signing forms. However if there’s anyone you want in a crisis, it’s Maggie and she follows Goodwin’s lead and takes charge by confiscating tablets off the staff until their servers are back online. While she’s super busy running the ED the manual way, she still has time to look out for  her friend and tries to protect Goodwin by trying to get Halstead to discharge the woman because the last thing Goodwin needs during the hospital crisis is for her ex and his new love to be around.

CHICAGO MED — “CTRL ALT” Episode 219 — Pictured: Torrey DeVitto as Natalie Manning — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

Dr Natalie Manning: On last week’s P.D., it’s Nat who tends to Burgess’s sister when she’s brought in. Then on last week’s Med, Manning tries to treat a young patient without the aid of technology. She fears that his symptoms could be cancer and tries to get tests done, which is proving difficult due to the hack. With the help of analog methods, she eventually deduces that it is Valley Fever, which is a relief that it’s not as bad as she thinks. Also last week, Nat has to deal with a passive agressive Nina trying to stake her territory with Halstead, except Natalie is oblivious to the situation and doesn’t realize. The situation isn’t helped this week when Nina finds out via Natalie that Halstead’s father has been admitted to the hospital. Nina might be too nice to confront Halstead about his feelings for Manning at the moment, but I feel like she is going to snap any episode now and Manning is going to get caught in the crossfire.

In this week’s episode, we see the return of Clarke as he assists Nat on a case that hits close to home for the doctor. Already concerned that she’s not being a good mother because she doesn’t get to see her son enough due to her hours, Nat ends up channeling her fears and frustrations on a fellow single mother whose child is admitted to hospital with scurvy due to not getting enough nutrition because he’s a fussy eater.

CHICAGO MED — “Generation Gap” Episode 220 — Pictured: Yaya DaCosta as April Sexton — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

April Sexton: Last week April was impressed with the way that Dr Choi treated a patient with a gunshot wound during the hospital hack, especially when they had trouble removing the bullet. Thank goodness for his time in the field during combat and the skills he acquired there! She wasn’t the only one impressed, her younger brother Noah was pretty much fanboying over Dr Choi by the episode’s end. Aww. This week, she is once again working with Dr Choi when a teenage boy is brought in all beaten up but says that he deserves it and asks to be castrated. Like other teenage boys his age, he has sexual urges however he has been brought up to believe that sex is only for procreating. He reveals that he has a fetish for blondes and after his parents refuse to sign off on chemical castration and Dr Choi finds him in the hospital room of a young blonde female, the patient locks himself in the bathroom and when Dr Choi finally gets the door open, we see that he’s tried to do the castration himself. It is not pretty.

Dr Sarah Reese: Last week after Dr Charles reveals that the hospital is looking for a new ED resident following the death of Dr Wheeler and asks Reese if she may know anybody, she takes this to be his way of suggesting she should apply and that he wants to get rid of her. All episode she is upset and anxious as to what she has done wrong and wondering why Dr Charles wants to get rid of her to the point where she finally explodes and confronts him. He tells her that he doesn’t want her to quit Psychiatry, but she’s not entirely convinced and tells him it will take a lot more than him trying to get inside her head for her to jump ship. In this week’s episode, Reese is teaching high school students the responsibilities of having sex by giving them an assignment with dolls. As she is prepping the dolls and linking them to her computer system, Noah Sexton drops by to see how it all works. The students are less than impressed with the assignment and at the end of it, Reese confronts one of the students about rigging her doll and avoiding the purpose of the assignment. She later admits to Noah as they have coffee in the hospital cafeteria that she did the same thing back in the day and that she’s too scared to have kids because she doesn’t understand how you can do it all. He tells her that she’d be good at it and when she asks him why he thinks that, he tells her that he watches her. Looks like someone might have a crush? It’s a pairing that has never crossed my mind and now that the seed has been planted, I’d totally be aboard for this ship!

Chicago Justice airs Sundays at 9/8c, Chicago Fire airs Tuesdays at 10/9c, Chicago P.D. airs Wednesdays at 10/9c and Chicago Med airs Thursdays at 9/8c. All four shows air on NBC.

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