Chicago Med season 4, episode 16 takeaways: Old Flames, New Sparks

What can One Chicago fans learn from this week’s Chicago Med? Look closer at Old Flames, New Sparks with our Chicago Med season 4, episode 16 takeaways.

What did One Chicago fans learn from the latest Chicago Med episode? Here’s what we took away from this week’s installment, “Old Flames, New Sparks.”

“Old Flames, New Sparks” featured Dr. Connor Rhodes (Colin Donnell) undertaking a risky surgery to save the ex-wife of Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt). Elsewhere, no one was shocked when Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) crossed professional boundaries by making a house call that led to just making out.

If you missed any of this week’s episode or just want a refresher on the events that we’re about to discuss, you can catch up with our Chicago Med recap.

Below are our takeaways from this week’s episode:

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1)  Another Manstead love triangle?

It was no surprise that Natalie was kissing Phillip (recurring guest star Ian Harding) at the end of the episode. Chicago Med had clearly laid hints about that for weeks, from her being downright giddy about giving him her cell phone number to how she just decided to go to his house.

But fans might be groaning at this plot twist, and that’s totally understandable. This is going down a familiar road; we already saw this story when both Natalie and Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) were dating other people in season 2. Or the whole Dr. Frisch thing last season.

It seems like instead of having Manstead work on their problems, the show just sends them off with other people until one or both of them get jealous and they find their way back to each other. It’s just not interesting anymore, and you can’t help but feel kind of bad for the other characters, since you know they’re short-time interests.

And did anyone else find this last hookup a bit uncomfortable, considering Philip’s wife—the mother of his child whom he loved so much—died maybe two months ago? And Natalie’s already making a move on him? That felt fast.

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2) Or is it a square?

What are Chicago Med fans supposed to make of the show re-introducing Agent Lee? There’s only two logical reasons why she’s there: there’s going to be more blowback from his undercover stint, or she’s going to be his new love interest.

The former seems less likely, since it was mentioned that she lives near Will’s new apartment. So she’s not coming back into his life for a professional reason; she’s just in his life geographically. But does the show need to hook Will up with someone else, simply because Natalie’s kissing another man? That just feels unnecessary.

Plus, there’s no real reason for it; Will and Agent Lee hardly know each other. Their interactions thus far have been Will frustrated with her professionally. That’s not romantic or even friendly. How about leaving Will single for a while, since he’s got so many issues that the show has spent several episodes reminding us of? His time would be better spent getting himself right.

3) Is a Chexton reunion incoming?

This Chicago Med episode also hinted that Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) and April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta) are on the road to getting back together. Choi refused to meet Vicki Glass’s (guest star Cynthia Addai-Robinson) parents, which Vicki correctly assumed had to do with April. That would seem to indicate that Choi and Vicki are done for the second time.

Fans know April still has feelings for Choi thanks to that impulsive kiss a few episodes ago, and his inability to respond to Vicki’s accusation hints that he still wants April, too. But here’s where the show’s off-screen time jumps really hurt it: it’s only been a few weeks since fans saw April saying she didn’t even want to be friends.

More time has passed on the show, but from the viewer’s perspective it’s a bit jarring to see her say something that absolute—then see her wanting to be friendly and have the series hinting that they’re about to be a couple again. It would’ve been better if the show had time to depict them at least partially repairing their relationship, so it didn’t look like one case made it all okay between them.

For the latest Chicago Med season 4 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Med category at One Chicago Center.