Who’d have thought it would take a near-death experience for Chicago Med to finally provide fans with the answers to one of the show’s biggest mysteries?
In Chicago Med season 11, episode 17, “Altered States,” the Gaffney team raced to save the life of one of their own after Dr. Charles suffered a stroke and was found unconscious in his office. As the team worked to save Charles’ life, inside his mind, Charles went on a Christmas Carol-style journey as he was reunited with several familiar faces, both from his past and present life.
Among the many familiar faces Charles encountered along his walk down memory lane were all three of his ex-wives. That’s right, all three! This was a major deal because it marked the first time in Chicago Med’s 11-season run that we not only got to meet Charles’ third wife but also learn her name.
While it had been established that Charles had four failed marriages, little was ever made known about his third wife. Up until episode 17, the only information shared about Charles’ third marriage was that his third wife was from Spain and that it was the shortest of his marriages. Aside from that, the show never really provided viewers with information about Charles’ third wife and never even revealed the name of Charles’ third wife.
That all changed in “Altered States,” when we learned that Charles’ third wife was named Lucia. Not only did we finally learn her name, but we officially got the chance to meet Lucia via a brief scene as Charles was confronted with the ghosts of all three of his ex-wives via a sequence. In the sequence, Lucia (Pilar Valdés) reminds him of how he always said things would be different with them, but nothing ever changed. She then pointed out how he didn't need her because he never seems to need anyone.
The conversation didn't bring much information about their relationship, but it was nice to finally see the show provide us with information that has long been kept hidden, as it's honestly wild that it took the show 11 seasons to finally reveal the character's name. Now that we have a name for the character and have met Lucia, it does leave us wanting a little more information.
For example, what happened to Lucia after the divorce? As Charles saw figures from his life who are both dead and alive, we don't even know if Lucia had passed away or if she's still alive. That alone would be a piece of information that would be interesting to learn and if she is alive, perhaps that could open the door to an interesting storyline in which the real Lucia comes to town and Charles has the chance to actually catch up with her after all these years.
That's not to say it's a storyline we need to see, but it would be nice to at least know a little more about that chapter in Charles' life.