Chicago Med 7×15 “Things Meant To Be Bent Not Broken” is about as filler an episode as this show ever has, with some storylines finally being brought to an end as the series sort of recalibrates and focuses on what it wants to do in the last third of the season.
It’s not really a bad episode, but it’s also not a particularly memorable one. Will finds a cause (been there), Archer is an ass (definitely been there), someone has an issue with Marcel (hahaha yeah been there), Dylan forgets he’s not a cop (of course we’ve been there). And Stevie is nowhere to be found…but Maggie, Goodwin and Vanessa are, even if they don’t get as much to do as the storylines that feel very familiar.
The only thing that deviates from the standard is that Will Halstead finally makes a decision for himself in this hour, something that is actually a great sign of growth. We’ve known Will as the one making the “sacrifice” for absolutely everyone, over and over again. He’s done it so much that at this point, it feels like Will is just the punching bag, and to be honest, he’s the one doing the punching most of the time.
But the thing about Will is he’s always so worried about what others think of him, about the expectations, about how things look. That’s sort of why he clashed with Stevie too: He hung on to his idea of her, she did the same, and both of those ideas had more to do with what they were projecting, with what other people expected, than who they truly were.
It feels like the decision he made is selfish, and perhaps it is. But he’s also not a billionaire giving up something he doesn’t need, he’s someone in debt whose life is definitely going to change thanks to that money. And that he took it means that Will is finally ready to do what’s best — for himself first.
That’s enough to make this a pretty decent episode, even if not much happened, and even if we got absolutely no explanation about where Stevie is. She might be in Michigan, she might be off, and she might just have had a headache, for as much as the show tells us. And honestly, I would normally say, that’s good. No explanation right now means one has to be forthcoming.
Normally. Because then I remember Vanessa Rojas and laugh as I cry.
Chicago Med Season 7 has reawakened my love for this show, and a lot of that has to do with Stevie — with her character, with the relationships she’s built, and with the possibilities for more. I don’t want to see her written off, but I especially don’t want the show to just handwave fourteen episodes away. So, explanation? Please and thank you.
And more of what the show has been doing before this hour. That’s been working.
Things I think I think:
- Repeat after me, Will: “I want to keep the money.”
- Well, I mean, I guess as long as YOU know it’s wrong, Dr. Charles.
- So happy to be disliking Dr. Archer again. He was nice for one hot second there, and it was very confusing.
- Dylan sees trouble everywhere.
- Yes, misguided crusade really is the Will Halstead way. But …that doesn’t make Archer any less of an ass.
- Dylan is as subtle as a sledgehammer.
- *yawn* surgeons fighting.
- Pamela, that was WAY too quick.
- Still weird, Dr. Charles. STILL. WEIRD.
- Where in the world is Stevie? If you guys are pulling a Rojas on her, I will never forgive you.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of Chicago Med 7×15 “Things Meant To Be Bent Not Broken”? Share with us in the comments below!
Chicago Med airs Wednesdays on NBC.
