Chicago Med Season 11 Episode 2 Wrapped Up Will's Brief Stay Almost Too Perfectly

It was tough-and-go for a minute with Owen and Natalie, but did anyone doubt how this would work out?

Natalie made a difficult decision to help her son which could have torn apart her relationship with Will before finally sharing a vulnerable moment with one of her romantic rivals.

Chicago Med Season 11 Episode 3 upped the stakes after Archer tried to save Owen’s life, making this story feel more like the powerful medical dramas this show was once known for.

Owen’s Injuries Let Natalie Air Some Dirty Laundry

In some ways, this story was more about old resentments than about Owen’s health and best interests.

Natalie’s insistence on finding a donor for Owen was understandable. He’d have to wait months to be able to have a kidney transplant, and she was willing to risk everything to get him what he needed.

However, her lashing out at Will and at Hannah was uncalled for and reminded me of all the reasons Natalie was my least favorite character when she was a full-time member of the Chicago Med cast.

She’s both self-centered and stubborn, so that even when she has good reasons for what she’s doing she comes off as having not thought things through.

Accusing Will of caring more about their baby than his stepson was a low blow.

If she really thought Will didn’t care about Owen, she wouldn’t have let Owen come to Chicago with him in the first place, and it seemed needlessly cruel to say something like that to him when he was already blaming himself for Owen’s injuries.

Her remarks to Hannah also frustrated me.

Hannah was trying to give her medical advice based on her expertise as an OBGYN, and Natalie responded by claiming that Hannah being Will’s ex made any difference to the facts.

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It came off as a tantrum about Hannah not agreeing that Natalie’s suggested procedure was risk free, either to her or to the baby.

I understand why Natalie felt as if everyone was talking over her, especially Will, but her response wasn’t much better.

However, she managed to redeem herself by the end of the hour, which surprised me.

Natalie Finally Showed Some Vulnerability, Making Herself Far More Relatable

Natalie’s eventual conversation with Hannah about the procedure helped me feel better about her because she wasn’t lashing out to protect herself.

Instead, she admitted to Hannah that she was terrified and felt she had no choice but to do this procedure to save Owen, and that she knew Will didn’t love one baby more than another.

Instead of creating an enemy out of Hannah for no real reason, Natalie spoke to her woman to woman, which is something that is sorely lacking on this show lately.

Hannah validated how difficult this decision was and respected Natalie’s agency, and that made Natalie soften toward her.

I liked that Natalie asked Hannah about her own pregnancy and congratulated her.

It made it seem like there was a chance the two would bond over being mothers instead of remaining enemies.

Frost’s Case Was The Mirror Image of Will’s

While Will was worrying that he didn’t love Owen enough, Frost and Lenox dealt with a pair of parents who wanted their dead son’s sperm for their own purposes.

Julian’s common-law husband said that the rift had happened long before he was in the picture, but I had to wonder if the Wheelers rejected Julian because his gayness threatened to mess up the perfect family image they’d worked so hard to convince everybody of.

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I wasn’t surprised that Lenox went off on those parents after lecturing Frost about keeping his voice down.

I thought she did it on purpose so that if anyone got in trouble for speaking out of turn, it would be her, not her subordinate.

That’s standard leadership when something like that is going on.

Lenox’s words were harsh and somewhat judgmental, but they were far from the worst anyone has ever said to a patient on Chicago Med.

Archer’s still working there, and he’s gotten away with a lot worse.

Of course, that wasn’t the point.

Lenox’s lack of inhibition here is supposed to be part of her refusal to be scared of anything since she has a terminal diagnosis.

That’s the same thing that drove her to confront the woman with the gun — she’s not afraid of death and is taking more risks now.

I’m curious as to how this arc will intensify throughout Chicago Med Season 11, and whether Lenox will eventually agree to treatment — or will end up seriously hurting herself.

She also had something in common with Dr. Charles’ patient — he had blocked out the memory of being told his heart condition meant he could no longer fly, and that was why he had total amnesia.

I’d have loved it if Lenox had been part of this story because that seems similar to how she feels now that she knows about her diagnosis.

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Chicago Med airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8/7c and streams on Peacock on Thursdays.

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