SPOILER ALERT AND WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Chicago Med Season 11, Episode 21. It also contains discussion of suicide.
The Chicago Med Season 11 finale is sometimes the episode fans expect it to be, and then sometimes completely different. That’s what gives “Heaven Help Us” its charm. The NBC show has been inconsistent at times, but in this case, the variance gives the finale an extra burst of energy. And even the moments viewers already knew were coming are executed well.
The bottom line is that while some things work and others don’t, the Chicago Med finale gives viewers plenty to talk about and lots to look forward to. And that’s what a season finale is ultimately supposed to do. So in no particular order, let’s dive into the many moving pieces within Episode 21. Because this finale is so packed with ideas that it’s like assembling a puzzle.
WELL, THAT DE-ESCALATED QUICKLY
It’s interesting that the hospital lockdown—which was supposed to be a massive deal—ends relatively quickly. On another show, the lockdown would have persisted throughout the finale as an even bigger event piece. But Chicago Med quickly pushes it aside to focus on other issues. On one hand, that’s disappointing, because it makes it feel like the lockdown didn’t really matter at all. On the other, since there’s so much left to do, the script by showrunner Allen MacDonald and Meridith Friedman logistically has to get rid of the lockdown just so characters can get a move on.
Even when Wyett Dupere takes Dr. Dean Archer hostage, there’s not as much tension as there could’ve been, for two reasons. Number one is that since the audience doesn’t stick with those characters, the threat and the fear doesn’t build. The second is because this is Archer. His virtual lack of reaction when Dupere holds him at gunpoint is a reminder that he’s a military veteran who’s seen some things and is cool under pressure; there’s less reason to worry about him.
Kudos to guest star Eric Ladin, however; viewers may recognize Ladin from his work on For All Mankind and Bosch, and it’s fun to see him playing a bad guy while For All Mankind is in the middle of a new season. Ladin nails the scene in which Dupere finally seems like a human being, when he’s crushed to learn that Isaac—the fellow inmate he planned to escape with—hasn’t woken up and is braindead. That’s a touching moment that adds a layer to what could’ve been just stock villainy. Yet there’s more that could’ve been done with the hostage situation plot in general; perhaps if it had happened in any other episode but a busy finale.
DR. FROST’S PREDICTABLY TRAGIC DAY
As soon as Chicago Med revealed that Dr. John Frost’s father was ill, every viewer knew that his dad wasn’t going to survive the season. One Chicago has killed off plenty of family members for angst purposes, including a lot of fathers. Like Pat Halstead and Cornelius Rhodes before him, James Frost is a difficult character who ultimately meets a tragic end. And it’s not surprising that at the end, Frost is able to forgive his father.
But that predictability does not detract from the incredible performances by actors Darren Barnet and Tamlyn Tomita. Both of them are riveting, and this episode feels like the culmination of all the heavy lifting Barnet has been asked to do all season. He has to dig deep for one last emotional burst, and he truly delivers as Frost lays with his father as James passes. Then there’s the poignant conversation between Frost and his mother Celeste, as Frost pours his heart out—and for the first time in this awkward storyline, there’s hope.
The work done by Barnet and Tomita is so great that it actually shifts the viewer’s perspective on the whole affair. Despite everything, fans can’t help but feel for Celeste when she arrives too late to say goodbye to her husband. And when Celeste and John have their moment, there’s a want to see them mending fences in the future. To go from being frustrated at Frost’s family to hoping to see more of his mom in Season 12 is a big leap, and it happens because of the actors involved.
The other important point here is that this clears the deck for Chicago Med to move Frost forward. His whole season has been dealing with one of two things, or a combination thereof: his family or his past as a child actor. Both plot points were stretched out too long. The whole Nick of Time thing is very over, and now after the finale, Frost (and the audience) should be able to look ahead instead of back. Who is Dr. John Frost when he’s not carrying all of this old baggage? We know almost more about his past than his present. It’ll be exciting to see what Season 12 has to offer him.
On a side note, Frost’s girlfriend Dr. Naomi Howard kind of gets left behind here, as her biggest development is cold-cocking the prison guard who tries to choke her. It’s understandable why she’s not in Frost’s plotline—that really needs to be about him and his parents—but it’s hard not to wish that the prison plot could’ve been resolved without her being assaulted. And there’s a bit of irony in that Frost’s patient Maxwell, the kid who felt so ignored, has his story resolved off-screen.
A VERY WELCOME CHARLES CALLBACK
One of the best stories in the Chicago Med Season 11 finale is actually one of its smaller subplots. MacDonald and Friedman give audiences a callback to “The Book of Charles,” and a positive one at that. Charles is stunned to find out that Gio—the young man whom he met on the suicide hotline and whom he thought had taken his own life—is actually alive and well. Gio’s real name is Scott, and he speaks to Charles not only about helping him that night, but the help he’s gotten from Dr. Theo Rabari.
Scott’s appearance is partly a way to button the Rabari and Charles plot, but what’s most important is the resolution between Scott and Charles. That isolated moment takes something that was so tragic and so painful, and makes it into something positive and beautiful. MacDonald and Friedman were under no obligation to go back to that story. They could have left Gio’s fate unresolved and moved on. The fact that they chose to provide an answer is incredibly meaningful. And the fact that they made it a heartwarming answer honors the work that MacDonald did in “The Book of Charles,” because it upholds that episode’s message that caretakers can be taken care of, too. Charles gets something back from Scott in that moment that helps him, not only professionally but personally.
“Heaven Help Us” is quietly a wonderful episode for Dr. Charles, because his subplot reinforces why he’s such an admirable character. He has empathy for Rabari, even knowing that Rabari is a sociopath who’s coming for his job. And he sticks to his principles when Sharon Goodwin wants to leak Rabari’s medical file to the board, even though that could cost him his job. Charles doesn’t just want to help people; he wants to do it the right way. And here’s another episode where he’s seeing the best in everyone around him.
HANNAH & DEAN’S BABY STORYLINE IS PERFECT
The most buzzworthy part of the Chicago Med Season 11 finale is the birth of Archer and Dr. Hannah Asher’s baby. And it cannot be understated how nice it is that their daughter Mabel arrives in the world without any overly dramatic complications, aside from Archer being slightly delayed getting to the delivery room. Any other medical show would’ve milked this for drama, whereas MacDonald and Friedman simply let this beautiful moment breathe. Hannah has already been through so much on her journey as an expectant mother; she deserves that break.
And after having a gun pointed at him, one could argue that Archer needs one, too. It’s both amusing and charming that the script makes the hostage situation a brief talking point between Archer and Asher. They could’ve quit with Archer making the quip about being “held up,” and fans would chuckle at the corny joke and be fine. But instead, there’s that extra beat of Hannah realizing that Dean was in mortal peril that makes it funnier and also more realistic (rather than quickly forgetting what just happened). It’s too bad the finale doesn’t have time to show Archer explaining the details later on.
What he does do is finally tell Hannah he loves her, which again is predictable, given that everyone’s been talking about Dean’s feelings for Hannah for weeks—including his son and her dad. This is overdue, and some fans may feel underwhelmed by the fact that it’s not a big, huge romantic moment where both characters profess their undying love. Yet Archer still gets to open up about his feelings enough for it to be satisfying, and the relative quietness of the scene is appropriate, not only for these two individuals but the fact that Hannah just gave birth. And the kiss they share tells audiences that they can look forward to Hannah and Dean as a bonafide couple in Chicago Med Season 12.
We’re going to get repetitive here, but it’s worth repeating how much both of these characters have evolved. Both Dean and Hannah were introduced as recurring players with very specific arcs—Dean as a foil to Dr. Ethan Choi and Hannah as a love interest for Dr. Will Halstead. Their stories could’ve ended in a couple of episodes. Yet they’ve now lasted several seasons and become the emotional core of this show. There’s something incredibly beautiful about that.
LENOX & RIPLEY FINALLY GET SOMEWHERE
It took forever and a day, but the Chicago Med Season 11 finale is the first episode where Dr. Caitlin Lenox’s storyline starts to make sense—and her relationship with Dr. Mitch Ripley might actually show some potential. It’s still not enough to get on board the Lenox and Ripley train, but it’s a start.
Like Frost, Lenox’s character arc has hit the same note repeatedly; the big difference is that Frost’s story has at least given him some strong emotional scenes for Darren Barnet to sink his teeth into. Since her prion disease test, Lenox’s storyline has amounted to “Lenox does a reckless thing again, and somebody might or might not say something about it, but no one actually does anything about it.” The biggest example of this has been her hookup with Ripley. It started completely randomly in a stairwell, and she showed little regard for him throughout, yet the audience was being asked to care about this as an actual relationship.
And Ripley had two chances to call out Lenox’s behavior—once when he disagreed with her surgical choice, and once outside her apartment building after she almost got him beaten up—but his protests were wholly unconvincing. It’s not until “Heaven Help Us” that Ripley feels like he takes a stand with Lenox the way he’s been able to stand up to everyone else from the start. Lenox also gets more to do, as she finally tells her brother Kip about her diagnosis, and so audiences get to see a side of her that isn’t all snark and condescension (although Chicago Med would still do well to tone that down; even when she’s being semi-vulnerable with Ripley, she still feels too flippant).
For Ripley and Lenox to work, Lenox needs to be more fully developed, and the writers need to show more of her personality beyond the attitude. It’s no fault of actor Sarah Ramos that Lenox is relatively one-dimensional compared to the other characters around her. Once the viewers get closer to Lenox, then they’ll care more about this pairing, because they’ll want her to be happy and they should see whatever Ripley sees in her.
The other hurdle is Lenox’s diagnosis; Ripley points out how that’s basically a red herring. Yes, she’s going to die, but because it could be a year or 20 years from now, the fans know it’s a non-issue unless Chicago Med pulls a Dr. Ava Bekker and escalates the situation before writing her out of the show. The prion disease angle won’t mean anything to the audience until it stops being an intangible. But at least Ripley and Lenox might start having meaningful conversations next season.
THAT GOODWIN CLIFFHANGER
It seems like there’s an unwritten rule that every One Chicago show must end each season on a cliffhanger. For Chicago Med, that’s Goodwin facing a call for her resignation, after it’s heavily implied that she’s the person who leaked Rabari’s medical information. But how seriously should fans take that uncomfortable last shot of S. Epatha Merkerson glaring into camera?
As it turns out, not much. The news cycle has already spoiled that S. Epatha Merkerson has renewed her contract to continue on Chicago Med, so Goodwin isn’t going anywhere. This is another one of the countless TV ideas ruined by spoiler culture. Having said that, it’s interesting to think of what this means for Goodwin going forward. Merkerson has earned the right to leave Med on her own terms, and if she had decided to do so, this would have been the perfect exit for Goodwin—giving up her career to protect that of her best friend. Especially after “The Book of Charles” and “Altered States” reinforced the value of Goodwin and Charles’ friendship, it would’ve been a sad but beautiful goodbye.
Since it’s not, how is Goodwin going to get out from under this accusation? Her response to Charles is a pretty big indicator that she did indeed leak the file, and while that’s easy to defend from an emotional standpoint, it’s near impossible from a professional one. Plus, how will Charles react when he gets the full story, since she just did what he very strongly objected to? It’s going to add an even bigger wrinkle to their friendship. Chicago Med has let its characters get away with a lot legally (remember when Maggie Lockwood forged Natalie Manning’s signature?) but hopefully Season 14 won’t sweep this under the rug.
The Chicago Med Season 11 finale is predictable in places, and it does have its flaws. But “Heaven Help Us” pushes everything forward. It wraps up the stories that needed to go and gives the audience at least some idea of where the remaining ones can go in the future. And the directions that it points toward are genuinely interesting. Season 11 has had its ups and downs, as if the show was occasionally searching for something. But the finale wraps with a sense that the series has found it.
Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC.
