If you had to pinpoint one character in the Chicago Med universe that seems to be unfireable, it would absolutely, one hundred percent be Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson). She lives and breathes Gaffney Chicago Medical Center, having given her all to the job. Not only does she run a tight ship, but she has also rolled up her sleeves and worked alongside her team when it was needed.
Goodwin has always been a hands-on boss, making sure her team never feels left alone. Her behavior, experience, and people skills made us believe she would always be a part of Gaffney. We believed the show would end one day, down the line, and Goodwin would still be in charge… but boy, were we wrong!
Halfway through Chicago Med season 11, the fear that Goodwin might lose her job settled in, and viewers were on the edge of their seats for the remainder of the season wondering what would come next.
The unsettling news came during Chicago Med season 11, episode 12, “Spill Your Guts,” when, on their way to a board meeting, Miranda Lewis (Orlagh Cassidy) drops the news that chances are Goodwin will be fired. Before any decisions can be made and Goodwin’s dismissal is confirmed, Miranda suffers a medical emergency that requires the former nurse to save her life.
After that flight, most viewers were naive enough to believe that Miranda would drop the persecution of Goodwin and allow the experienced woman to stay in charge. It seemed that way for a few episodes, but everything changed toward the end of Chicago Med season 11.
The truth is that Miranda waited for the perfect excuse to fire Goodwin. She needed something that would make her dismissal reasonable, guaranteeing there would be no retaliation. As a board member, she knows that firing Goodwin won’t be easy and her team will stand up for her. Nevertheless, she moves forward with her decision.
When Chicago Med season 11, episode 21, “Heaven Help Us,” rolled around, we didn’t expect that to be the moment Miranda chooses to fire Goodwin. However, Goodwin does give her the perfect excuse on a silver platter. Revealing a medical condition goes against HIPAA, and Miranda knows it, so she uses this. Now, Goodwin must resign or lose her job in Miranda’s hands.
But in true Goodwin nature, she won’t go down without a fight. The final scene of the season proves this as we watch her angrily sit at her desk, pondering what’s coming. What stands out the most from that scene is the moment Goodwin looks into the camera, breaking the fourth wall and making fans feel her anger and frustration.
This perfect moment, according to what Allen MacDonald told TV Insider, was not scripted. S. Epatha Merkerson asked to try something on the fifth and final take of the day.
“She did that and she scared everybody at Video Village because we all felt like we had done something bad and didn’t know what,” said MacDonald. “But it’s a terrifying look. And she knew what she was doing, and I got to credit her for that entirely. She knows her character.”
Merkerson knows her character and the universe of Chicago Med so well that she did something that left everyone with their mouths open and ready for the next season. That is the kind of season finale we look for when tuning into a Dick Wolf show.
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