Chicago Med season 6, episode 14 recap: A Red Pill, A Blue Pill

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CHICAGO MED — “A Red Pill, A Blue Pill” Episode 614 — Pictured: (l-r) Marlyne Barrett as Maggie — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC) /

This week’s Chicago Med gave One Chicago viewers a big Manstead moment, but probably not one they were hoping for.

Wednesday’s episode “A Red Pill, A Blue Pill” saw Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) finally forced to confront her actions when her mother ended up back in the Emergency Department. Meanwhile, Dr. Dean Archer (recurring guest star Steven Weber) definitely ventured over to the dark side, and new med students arrived at the hospital.

Here’s what happened in the latest Chicago Med episode for each of your favorite characters.

Chicago Med season 6, episode 14 recap

Chicago Med starts with Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) greeting a new crop of med students, including Vanessa Taylor (new recurring guest star Asjha Cooper). Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) reminds us that Maggie Lockwood (Marlyne Barrett) asked her to move Vanessa’s application to the top of the pile; the two women talk to Vanessa, whom Goodwin describes as “a go-getter.”

Elsewhere, Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) invites Archer to lunch, by which he means they need to talk. Archer still doesn’t want to and is saved from the conversation by the arrival of Neil, a patient who collapsed while at the park with what is decidedly not a stomach ache. He tells Archer and April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta) that they’re living in “a computer simulation.”

Archer immediately brings back Charles, who listens to Neil’s theories about artificial intelligence, compliance, and the red and blue pills. Charles tells Archer to go slow with Neil’s paperwork while he does a bit more research on the whole “simulation” thing.

Cut back to Maggie interrupting the med students’ tour to ask Vanessa why she’s not asserting herself a bit more. Then Maggie sees Natalie bringing her mom Carol (recurring guest star Margaret Colin) in. She’s gotten a lot worse, and Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) just happens to be the doctor up for the next case. That doesn’t make Natalie happy, and she tries to tell him that the situation is under control, but Carol asks Will to stay.

“Remind me again what medication she’s on?” Will asks Natalie, just before Carol mentions the “new pill you gave me.” She wants to show it to Will, but Natalie refuses to let her because of course, she’d be found out. Instead she goes back to her car, finds the stolen meds in her mom’s pill organizer, and stashes them.

After Maggie (and the audience) see Choi pulling Vanessa aside to work with him, Charles is back talking to Neil. Archer chimes in by telling Neil about his time in Afghanistan, telling him that some of the deaths he saw were preventable. “None of that actually happened,” Neil says. “You just think that it did. It’s part of the game.” Archer decides to palpate him, which makes Charles and April stare at him. Charles does not agree with Archer’s demand to force treatment, or his description of Neil as “a box of loose screws.”

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