It’s been a long time since Dr. Archer has gotten the spotlight, and Chicago Med season 10, episode 17 quickly brings the moment he is deserved. The question is whether he can keep the Emergency Department under control while he acts as head as it’s understaffed?
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Chicago Med season 10, episode 17.
The episode opens with it being just a normal morning for Archer. He runs on the treadmill and eats his breakfast while watching the news. It seems too normal, and a phone call from his son reminds us that this is a drama. His son is in the hospital because his mom, Archer’s ex, went on “one of her benders” and ended up falling over.
It was too late for the doctors in the hospital to do anything, and Archer has to learn that his ex has died. While he certainly feels bad that he isn’t there for his son — his ex didn’t want a funeral — this sort of death brings up some personal issues. Archer loved her once and they had a child together, so of course there are going to be some conflicted feelings.
Archer needs to focus on work, though. Lennox is out for the day, so Archer needs to run the Emergency Department. You just know it’s not going to be an easy day for him, and we didn’t need the promo to tell us that.
A case of an angry heart in Chicago Med?
The first emergency to come into the ED is a young boy who had a heart transplant six months ago. He's hypertensive and panicking, and while the boy's dad and Archer discuss whether this could be transplant rejection, the young boy shares he knows exactly what's going on. The heart is rejecting him.
This requires a trip to Dr. Charles. Archer wants to figure out what's going on because the scans show that the body isn't rejecting the transplant. Could this be all in the boy's head? It certainly seems it when the boy shares with Charles that the woman who originally had the heart is angry with him that he's still alive and she's not. This woman doesn't want him to have the heart.
Archer is sure that the entire situation is psychological. Milo is so sure that the previous owner doesn't want him to have the heart that he thinks it's rejecting him, and that's causing panic. Meanwhile, Charles thinks that there could be an element of tissue memory, and that Milo needs to meet the family of the donor to find out a little more about the woman to settle the fears and the mystery.
The donor's mom doesn't want to meet with the recipient of the heart, so Archer decides to do some digging. He decides to go and see the mom (Amy Acker!) to ask her to come to see Milo, and as much as it likely breaks a lot of rules, it's one of the best things he does all episode. He shouldn't have even told the mom about Milo and his medical issues, but it's what is needed to get her to go back to the hospital.
We get to the heart (no pun intended) of the issue as the mom goes to see Milo. As Milo shares that he doesn't deserve the heart, blaming himself for his parents arguing and getting a divorce. He shares that it was because he got sick that his parents started fighting. It opens a conversation with the mom, who opens up by sharing that her daughter drowned. Suddenly, Milo realizes why the donor doesn't want him to have the heart. It's not actually that, but that she wanted Milo to get out of the pool he was in.
There's a look that both Charles and Archer give hearing this. Is it possible that donor tissue has memories of the past? It's a topic that continues to come up, and I don't think we'll ever get an answer for it. Neither of them really know the answer to it, but it's clear that while guilt is a powerful emotion, absolution can be a powerful remedy. I feel like this is talking directly to Archer. He knows he's not getting that.
The ED starts to get overrun
We knew from the promo for Chicago Med season 10, episode 17 that the ED would end up overrun. There are signs of how this happens throughout the episode. Maggie brought up the nurse shortage in the previous episode, and while there are some travel nurses, that doesn't help all that much. The travel nurses don't know the systems, which means Maggie and her usual nurses will have to pick up after them later.
Then we learn that the computer system is down, and the nurse on the phone is about to accept the three-hour wait. Archer isn't accepting that, and he bribes the tech guy to get it back up and running. This is the ED, so it needs to be working before any other part of the hospital.
This is when we start to get multiple patients coming in. Considering his personal issues, Archer is able to keep his head for the most part. He does end up getting short with patient, but I feel like that's Archer as a person. Nobody else seems to realize that something is going on. He'll want to watch what he says to Maggie, though. Archer is becoming one of those stereotypical doctors who doesn't understand all the work that nurses actually do.
It doesn't help that the ED is a doctor down, as well. However, Lennox's personal day isn't to spend it outside of the hospital. A terminally ill patient was brought in the ED the night before, and Lennox has found out she has no family. Lennox can't bear to see her be alone, giving Archer a chance to see that there is another side to her. When the patient dies, Lennox even asks for Archer to come in to call time of death. As she's not on shift, she can't do it, and there is a sadness in her as she silently says her own goodbyes.
It doesn't help that not all the medical cases are quick and easy. One of them involves a man high on PCP, which is a sure-fire way to create havoc in the ED! This isn't as dramatic as I expected it to be. The PCP guy wakes up at one point and tries to attack, but it doesn't take long for Archer and Lennox to find a way to take him down.
A difficult choice for an expectant mother in Chicago Med
The second medical case of the night is a difficult one. A couple expecting a baby comes in after the expectant mother is accidentally electrocuted in their new house. As Asher — and yes, the idea of an Asher and an Archer in the same hospital is confusing at times — checks on the baby, it's clear there is a mass on her ovary.
It's cancerous, and now the woman has to make a choice. Will she risk the life of her baby to remove the mass, or will she allow the tumor to grow and risk her baby that way? Archer delivers some tough love, which Asher doesn't like, but it does seem to do the trick. The woman decides she'll opt for the surgery.
Sometimes it's best to do the work yourself
Maggie continues to have a problem with the nurses in the ED. A travel nurse was at fault for the PCP guy getting hold of some glass, but she refuses to take accountability. While Maggie can't fire her, she can send her home. It's a clear sign that sometimes it's best just to do it yourself.
While Archer doesn't seem to have much empathy for the situation, he does have a practical solution. The head of the nurses union is retiring, and the contracts are coming up for renewal. Archer thinks the best way to deal with the situation is to be head of the union, and we all know she would be great at that. She's always managed workplace politics.
The one who shouldn't do things herself is Lennox when it comes to stitching up the wound the PCP guy caused. This offers chance for Lennox to open up to Archer, showing a sense of humanity that we don't often get to see. At 19, her mom died of Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker Disease, and three hours after that, her dad took his own life. Lennox admits taht she has no idea if she has this disease as well, sharing that she and her brother took an oath that they wouldn't find out.
Why would Lennox tell Archer this? Well "cold dead hearts have to stick together."
While Archer may have a cold dead heart at times, he is also observant. He can see that things aren't great between Frost and Maggie. Maybe Lennox's words also hit through to him as he realized how awful he's been all day.
It's only at the end that Archer finds his own person to open up to, Asher. As Asher asks how Shawn is, she also wants to know how Archer is.
There are clearly a lot of regrets about his life with his ex-wife. Relationships don't just break down suddenly, and it takes a big person to admit that they failed. However, Asher won't let him go down the "what ifs" of the past. He gets the cold hard truth from her, but where does he want to be? Only he can answer that question, and it's not an easy one.
There is hope when Archer gets home and he's finally able to get his son on a video call. Considering Shawn's history with drug addiction, it's not surprising that Archer worried about him at first, but Shawn also needed to take time to accept everything that had happened.
While Asher did give him some hard truths, she wasn't going to let him deal with his pain alone. At the very end of the episode, Asher turns up at Archer's house with dinner and Captain Crunch Berries for dessert. Archer may not have done berries in the past, but it's time for a change. Are we about to see a change of pace for Archer in Chicago Med?
Chicago Med airs on Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.