Chicago Med season 4 character review: Ava Bekker

What it means

It’s baffling what happened to Ava Bekker this season. In fairness, the character was never quite fleshed out the way she should have been—it was clear in her first episode that she was here to be Connor’s next girlfriend, and she never received much development beyond that. Audiences can’t say much about Ava outside of their on-again, off-again relationship and the one episode last season where we met her mentor.

But instead of developing her, Chicago Med turned her into an unabashed villain, and not just that but it made her incredibly creepy and uncomfortable to watch. While she never confessed to any behavior outside of the strong implication that she killed Cornelius, even the accusations made for disturbing viewing. That she’d have sex for money, especially with her ex-boyfriend’s father? That she’d risk contracting HIV by hurting herself while operating on an HIV-positive patient?

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The plots got more and more ridiculous. From the HIV issue, to the fake kidnapping, it all felt like things that would be better on a soap opera than a medical drama. And it became clear that there was no future for Ava. Even if everything turned out to be false, she’d still have this very public spectre hanging over her—both at the hospital and for the viewers watching at home.

The writers really left themselves with no choice but to get rid of her. Which was frustrating, since it felt like we’d also barely scratched the surface of what Norma Kuhling could do as an actress.