Chicago Med season 5 character review: Maggie Lockwood

What Chicago Med season 5 means for Maggie Lockwood

Firstly, it was wonderful to see more of Marlyne Barrett in this season than perhaps any other Chicago Med season. She’s traditionally been underused on the show, but she got plenty of time on screen in season 5.

That being said, it wasn’t all great; there were pros and cons to her arc. It’s lovely that Maggie is doing well health-wise, that she’s married and is going to be a foster mom for at least a little bit of time. From an entertainment perspective, the fact that the character is so happy is great. Yet when you look at her story arc from a critical perspective, and evaluate the writing, there are flaws.

Maggie’s cancer battle was a powerful storyline until the introduction of Ben. Then suddenly her fight became a story about him—and honestly their relationship doesn’t make a ton of sense. It was incredibly rushed, from them sleeping together right off the bat to impulsively deciding to get engaged.

And the fact that Maggie committed a crime by forging Natalie’s signature, but got into absolutely no trouble for it, was one of the most implausible moments of the season. (Though to be fair, no one seemed to face any severe consequences from Goodwin for any of the questionable things that they did this season; it wasn’t just her.)

Hopefully Chicago Med fans will continue to see more of Maggie next season now that all these changes have run their course. But what could have been an incredibly powerful season for her wound up getting simplified and not realizing its full potential.