Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 21 Offers A Gut-Wrenching Lead-In To The Season Finale, But Also Sets Up An Unnecessarily Violent Story

The Hayes storyline gave me chills, while another story pissed me off.

Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 21 pressed all my emotional buttons in the perfect manner.

I’m not happy with how the fallout from one story will manifest, and I could have done without Charles’ funeral story, but on the whole, this was one of the strongest episodes in the medical drama in a while.

The Fallout from The Hayes Story Was Incredibly Strong and Trauma Informed

The Hayes story got my attention from the beginning.

The man seemed like a predator when he first asked Lenox out shortly after his introduction on Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 10, so I’ve been waiting for months for the other shoe to drop.

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Naomi’s confession to Lenox wasn’t surprising, nor was the fact that Lenox decided to report Hayes’ behavior despite Naomi’s desire to remain under the radar.

The scene between Naomi and the other resident in the bathroom was my favorite for several reasons.

Among other things, it made the point that not reporting does not make the predator’s next crime a survivor’s fault.

Brittany: I thought not saying anything was the smart move. But maybe if I’d come forward, he wouldn’t have done this to you.

Naomi: None of this is your fault.

I’ve been waiting forever for someone to say this. Law & Order: SVU has dropped the ball when it comes to this lately, but Chicago Med got it right.

The entire arc was done properly.

Both Lenox’s decision to file a complaint and Naomi’s desire to leave it alone were realistic and relatable.

I think it would have been stronger if Lenox had complained about the way that Hayes treated her instead of violating Naomi’s confidence.

However, it was entirely within Lenox’s character to file a complaint that the survivor had no interest in pursuing and believe she was doing the right thing.

Hayes: If you keep pushing this narrative, you’ll get yourself into trouble.

Lenox: You think you can get one over on me because you don’t follow the rules and I do, because I’m pragmatic. But maybe I’m not exactly who you think I am. Maybe I’ll light myself on fire just to see you burn.

Her full-throated confrontation of Hayes was one of the best scenes on Chicago Med Season 10. I loved her standing up to this man who thinks he is untouchable.

The board, of course, was as bureaucratic and optics-obsessed as usual.

They were angry that they had to punish Hayes after more women came forward (and went to the press with their concerns.)

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They were more concerned with protecting a popular doctor’s right to practice than addressing his inappropriate behavior.

I love stories about institutions protecting their reputation instead of fighting for justice. My own novels often revolve around this theme.

Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 21 addressed it perfectly, and the fact that the board didn’t get their way made it even better.

The Billionare Storyline Dovetailed Nicely With This Other Injustice On Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 21

While Naomi was struggling to believe she could ever get justice when standing up to a popular, powerful doctor, several other staff members dealt with an entitled billionaire who managed to game the system.

There was little nuance in this story.

Lancer was in the wrong, period. He used his money and influence to push his daughter to the top of the transplant list, edging out a 12-year-old who would die without those lungs.

While Lancer claimed that he was only doing what any parent would do to save their child, the fact is that he had outsized influence over the transplant decision because of his social and economic status, and he used it to save his daughter at the expense of another child.

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Nobody should be allowed to jump the transplant list like that.

If the lungs had been equally useful to both patients, Lancer might have been slightly more sympathetic (but still wrong).

However, he was refusing to face the reality that his daughter had little time left, no matter what the doctors did.

Those lungs went to a child who would die regardless, instead of to one who had a chance at life, all because Lancer had the money to fund his refusal to accept the truth about his daughter’s prognosis.

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It especially pissed me off that Lancer said that his daughter’s situation was more dire.

He couldn’t possibly know that — HIPAA would prevent him from being allowed to know anything about other patients’ situations. (Or did he buy someone else’s private info too?)

Plus, Noah had said an hour before that if he didn’t get the lungs, he would die, so there was no point in doing surgery to put him on ECMO.

The Fallout from This Story Looks Disappointing

[This section contains a discussion of the spoiler video for Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 22, so skip past it if you don’t want to know what’s supposed to happen next.]

I’m disappointed that the spoiler video suggests Noah’s father will pull a gun on people because of this situation.

There has been too much unnecessary violence on Chicago Med over the years, especially during Season 10.

We already spent half a season with Sharon’s stalker storyline, only for Sharon to quickly get over her PTSI, rendering the whole story pointless.

We don’t need yet another hostage story on this show. Stick to medical drama, please, even if it is the season finale.

Random Thoughts About Chicago Med Season 10 Episode 21

• The whole Charles funeral arc was weird (even if it does lead into his season finale story), but what was up with Frederick hugging Sharon for so long? That was creepy, especially given that she had to deal with the Hayes situation as soon as she escaped him.
• As soon as the lab said that Hannah couldn’t be a surrogate because of something in her tests, I knew she was pregnant. Who’s the father, though? Ripley and Hannah were over a long time ago, weren’t they?
• Lenox’s brother being seriously ill should make for an interesting arc that extends into next year.
• I agreed with Kip — what the heck was with everyone taking care of Sully’s kid for Ripley?

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Chicago Med airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8/7c and streams on Peacock on Thursdays. The Season 10 finale will air on May 21, 2025.

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