Chicago Med Season 11 Episode 21, titled “Heaven Help Us,” left fans pretty concerned over the future of one character—Sharon Goodwin (S Epatha Merkerson).
While Sharon’s position at Gaffney wasn’t in jeopardy at the start of the season finale, nor was she put in the line of danger with the gun-wielding escaped convict that put the hospital on lockdown, it was a decision to spare Charles’ job from Dr. Theo Rabari that may be her undoing after all this time.
Now, if there’s one thing we know about Sharon, it’s that she’s willing to go bat for her team, especially Dr. Charles.
When his job was in question, as Rabari was gunning for his position, Sharon made it very clear that they didn’t have many options, suggesting that Charles use Theo’s sociopathy against him.
Charles understood the risks that Rabari was posing, but he couldn’t, in good faith, do that to someone in his profession—it went against every single one of his beliefs.
And honestly, it wouldn’t make him any better than Theo to use his medical diagnosis against him.
If Charles wasn’t sure about his decision, his very emotional meeting with inpatient Scott, whom he knew as Gio, the young man who called the suicide hotline earlier this season, affirmed it, admitting that Theo had helped him greatly as a therapist.
Charles knew he couldn’t destroy Rabari’s career simply to save his own, but did Sharon?
When Charles expressed to Rabari that he would not stoop to his level to save the department he built from the ground up—though that didn’t mean he was backing down—Rabari realized that he needed to be the one to stand down; he could never be the doctor that Charles was.
Miranda informed Charles and Sharon that Rabari had removed himself from the equation, which should’ve been a joyous moment, however, she then revealed that Sharon would be stepping down, which shocked them both.
She then suggested that Sharon Goodwin leaked Rabari’s medical diagnosis anonymously, which Sharon denied. Miranda’s ultimatum remained—either Sharon walked away or she would have to face the board and her reputation would be on the line.
When Charles questioned whether or not Miranda was telling the truth, Sharon gave a vague answer, expressing that he knew her well enough to know the answer for himself.
Usually, I’d think Sharon was telling the truth, holding steadfast in her morals, but this time, I’m not so sure.
Sharon’s reaction in her office, as she angrily knocked over everything from her desk and started into the camera, made it pretty clear that there’s some truth to Miranda’s accusations.
It seems Sharon thought no one would catch onto her, and she didn’t trust Charles when he said he would find a different way to handle it.
We went from one mess to an even bigger one.
Will Sharon leave Chicago Med?
A Labor of Love During a Lockdown
Elsewhere at Gaffney, a lockdown was taking place, though I cannot understand for the life of me why the lockdown was lifted before they found the suspect in question. Everyone was just galavanting around the ED while there was an escaped convict somewhere on the premises.
Also, why did Hannah perform a C-section while in active labor with no one around to help her, but shortly after, everyone was in the room? I guess this is one of those moments where you just accept the plot errors and move on for the sake of entertainment.
You can’t say it wasn’t a memorable delivery, as up until the final moments, it wasn’t clear if they’d find the baby daddy, who was held up at gunpoint.
Though Archer eventually made it in time to see the birth of his daughter, Mabel, before finally confessing his feelings for Hannah, which she seemingly returned. At least I think that’s what the kiss meant? Admittedly, the moment fell kind of flat for me, as Hannah simply thanked Archer for telling her before kissing him in a way that almost felt platonic. Maybe it’s the fact that these two don’t have that much chemistry anymore? I want to root for them, and I’m so happy they are getting their happy ending, but something was missing.
Seeing them in their parenting phase of life, especially co-parenting while juggling whatever it is their relationship status will be, is something I look forward to seeing next season.
The whole escaped convict plotline also fell a bit flat, with the threat almost an afterthought to everything else happening in the ED. At times, it felt like the show itself forgot that they had a murderer with a gun roaming the halls somewhere.
As fo the inmate’s motivation for the prison break, it also fell apart when he realized the other inmate he wanted to escape with suffered a brain bleed and ended up brain dead.
Lennox Finally Comes Clean
Lennox may finally be pushed toward confronting her feelings and even feeling them for once thanks to Ripley, who realized she lied about her GSS Pryon result and held her accountable. She couldn’t take her way out of this one, nor could she fake indifference, because he already picked up on her act and he wasn’t falling for it. So, she finally had to sit with the consequences of her actions—she couldn’t hide the fact that she loved Ripley, nor could she continue lying to her brother Kip that she wasn’t sick.
Kip didn’t take it well, but the truth is always better than being lied to, even if it hurts more, In the long run, she was only protecting herself from the pain. And Ripley wasn’t going to let her pretend she wasn’t sick, so she had to come to terms with the reality. She tried to offer him a clean break, but the truth is, Ripley was also madly in love with her and chose to stick around, positive diagnosis and all. I’m eager to see how these two will challenge each other moving forward.
Forgiveness and Goodbye
John Frost also had to face the hard feelings, as his father lay on his death bed, While John had a complicated relationship with his parents, none of that mattered in his father’s final moments. All he needed was forgiveness, which Frost gave him, realizing that his parents simply did the best that they could. And he never stopped loving them, even through the hurt. It didn’t minimize the pain, but it was a step in moving forward with love and empathy. Losing a parent is never easy, regardless of the mistakes they made.
What did you think of the episode?