Chicago Med Season 9 Episode 3 Review: What Happens in the Dark Always Comes to Light

Talk about a bad first date!

On Chicago Med Season 9 Episode 3, Hannah’s date was interrupted when a man and his girlfriend passed out and almost died thanks to fentanyl-laced cocaine — was that a sign from the universe that this wasn’t the man for her?

Probably, especially considering who else was there… and what happened afterward. But maybe it all happened for a reason and she’ll wake up to who her Mr. Right is soon.

Chicago Med’s strength has always been in combining personal and medical stories. This was the first time that a doctor ended up operating on a woman who considered them her worst enemy, though.

Tessa’s labor was predictable. As soon as the camera focused on her sizable baby bump, I knew a tired TV trope about pregnant women was coming.

Trying to refuse Hannah’s help while she was in labor was silly. That was not the time to let personal grudges interfere with what was best for Tessa and her unborn child, and hopefully, she’s learned that lesson.

But that husband of hers certainly was a piece of work.

He used a false name on a dating app, made plans with Hannah, stuck around the whole time she was rescuing two OD victims, and kissed her good night. In what world is that okay when he’s married with a baby on the way just because he decided not to pursue a second date?

I hope Tessa realized which one was to blame by the time all this was over. Hannah stood up to “Kyle” and warned him he should be begging his wife for forgiveness and helping Tessa safely deliver her baby.

I’d have loved Tessa’s reaction, or at least a scene where she confronted her husband. But Hannah did her job and went home, so that’s the end of this story.

But what happened to the couple that OD’d?

ED’s been overrun with these ODs. People who had no idea they were taking fentanyl.

Mitch

Hannah and Ripley saved their lives, then vanished into thin air. You’d think they’d have at least gone to the hospital to be checked out.

Narcan can bring people back from an overdose, but that doesn’t mean they can go on with their lives — they usually need follow-up care to ensure the drugs are out of their system and can’t harm them anymore.

Having the couple appear simply as a precursor to Hannah kissing “Kyle” goodnight made Ripley’s comments about overdoses feel like a public service announcement rather than a legitimate part of the story.

Although Hannah and Kyle/Nick weren’t together, it seems they were given a split for the sake of drama so that Hannah could eventually date Ripley.

I don’t like the idea of these two being the latest will-they-won’t-they couple, especially after how judgmental Ripley came off when he asked Hannah why she didn’t drink.

The proper response to someone saying they don’t do alcohol is some variation of “Cool,” not sneering about the fact that someone wants to stay sober. I was already predisposed to dislike Ripley, and that nonsense didn’t help.

Elsewhere, Marcel and Ahmad tackled an important issue: insurance interfering with people getting lifesaving treatment.

Insurance making decisions about what procedures are “necessary” is a massive roadblock to Americans getting the medical help they need.

It’s not logical; doctors don’t prescribe treatment for the hell of it, and insurance adjusters aren’t trained medical professionals who can assess whether treatment is needed.

For insurance companies, it often comes down to not wanting to pay for expensive procedures that hurt the insurance company’s bottom line, and there is a ton of red tape around the appeals process. Vince’s situation illustrated that nicely without getting too preachy.

Vince shouldn’t have had to wait three months to get a CT scan, allowing his tumor to grow unabated. That’s not any better than not getting treatment at all.

Ahmad’s idea about how to rush things along was less bad than I expected from the synopsis — or it wouldn’t have been if she had asked Marcel’s permission before quoting him on social media.

Ultimately, Marcel agreed with her about the problems with insurance companies, especially that one, and was willing to risk his new board position to admit that he said what he said. But Ahmad had no right to quote him without his consent; she should have known it.

I can’t decide if I like Ahmad.

I’ve never had any stomach for political games, so I appreciate her passion for doing the right thing.  But so far, she has no impulse control or ability to think things through and doesn’t seem interested in changing that.

Marcel: You know, there are advantages to being accepted by management. You get seen and you get invited into rooms where you might be able to actually make an impact.
Ahmad: Thanks, but I’m not sure that’s the kind of impact I want to make.

Marcel gave her great advice about how to make a real impact. I hope she considers it and listens. It’s not always terrible to work with the policymakers instead of making yourself a thorn in their side.

Dr. Charles’ case was typical Chicago Med fare, with a doctor realizing there was an underlying issue when a patient presented with strange symptoms.

This could have been a moving mental health storyline about male depression. Men tend not to seek treatment for mental health issues, leading them to suffer in silence and sometimes commit suicide.

The story we got instead wasn’t bad.

Early detection is essential for pancreatic cancer — the reason it’s often so deadly is that it isn’t caught until it’s far too late, and viewers whose only experience with the disease is knowing that Michael Landon died of it might have needed this public service announcement.

I have a family member who was tested for this cancer after sudden-onset diabetes, and he was told almost precisely what Dr. Washington told this patient; clearly, the writers did their research on this one.

I was surprised to hear that diagnosis with Type 2 diabetes leads to weight gain rather than loss, though — I’d think that if the patient gets on a strict diabetic diet and sticks to it, they would lose weight immediately.

Did anyone else think Sharon canceled her date because she needed to accompany Maggie to her MRI?

Sharon’s been her biggest supporter since the divorce, and it wasn’t clear why she was breaking the date, but it made sense.

Being open and honest was the theme of the evening, with Sharon finally deciding to go public with her relationship, Hannah confronting Kyle/Nick about his deception, and Marcel coming clean about what he said about the insurance company.

Sharon made the right choice in deciding to be open about her relationship, but who will have a problem with it? Hopefully, nobody; Sharon Goodwin deserves some happiness after all these years!

But it wouldn’t be Med without the relationship drama, so someone will surely interfere.

What did you think, Chicago Med fanatics?

Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know.

Chicago Med airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8/7c. New episodes drop on Peacock the day after they air.

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Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.

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