Clarity is the tenth episode of Season 1 and the tenth overall of Chicago Med. It aired on February 16, 2016.
Summary[]
Dr. Choi and Reese deal with an overbearing father while treating his son following a hockey incident. Dr. Halstead deals with the fallout from his last patient and butts heads with Dr. Manning. Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Downey perform a lung transplant on a 9/11 hero suffering from pulmonary fibrosis.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Nick Gehlfuss as Dr. Will Halstead
- Yaya DaCosta as April Sexton
- Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Natalie Manning
- Rachel DiPillo as Dr. Sarah Reese
- Colin Donnell as Dr. Connor Rhodes
- Brian Tee as Dr. Ethan Choi
- S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin
- Oliver Platt as Dr. Daniel Charles
- Marlyne Barrett as Maggie Lockwood
Recurring Cast[]
- Gregg Henry as Dr. David Downey
- Julie Berman as Dr. Samantha Zanetti
- Susie Abromeit as Zoe Roth
- Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Dr. Vicky Glass
- Patti Murin as Dr. Nina Shore
- Tosin Morohunfola as Dr. Allen Vorspan
- Cesar Jaime as Paramedic Cesar
- Desmond Gray as Paramedic Desmond
Guest Cast[]
- Lochlyn Munro as Jack Cooper
- Katherine Keberlein as Joan Cooper
- Chance Bone as Tim Anderson
- Damian Conrad-Davis as Bret 'Bear' Cooper
- Antonio Polk as Ray Mosconi
- Scott Allen Luke as Bill (Scout)
Plot[]
The episode begins with Dr. Choi relaxing in the shower and is negatively surprised when Dr. Glass joins him. She asks him if everything is alright with him, but he just says "yes" and moves on. She asks if he will join her for dinner before they attend a recruiting event that evening, and he confirms that he will.
At the hospital, Sharon is talking to Will about the case of the woman he resuscitated, even though she had a DNR - check previous episode for more info. Sharon tells him he is under the microscope, he has to deal with the consequences of his illegal actions. Adding to this everything he does has to be by the book and clean since his future at the hospital depends on it.
While Dr. Manning is trying to enter Treatment 3, Maggie tells her to go to Treatment 4. She is covering up for Dr. Rhodes, who is taking a cat nap on the treatment bed. Maggie wakes him up as Dr. Downey is on his way in. It's revealed he is working super-long hour shifts for Downey.
Maggie asks Reese why she is so glum. Sarah has to decide her residency match by the end of the day and she has no clue what to do. The residency match is a big deal as it refers to where she will be spending her following four years of residency and probably the rest of her career specialty.
A 17 year old male, Bret Cooper, comes in after falling on the ice ring. Choi lets Reese make the tests call. His parents fight over their son condition. The father is more worried about his sport scholarship than anything else, whereas the mother informs the team their son had a concussion the previous month.. The boy shouts as he lost his vision. Choi tells his parents it was just caused by anxiety so his vision is fine. The father has some difficulties talking, he appears to forget words or just random confusion. Choi and Reese stop by the trauma room, while Bret and his father are going through some hockey plays. The doctors inform them that he has no concussion and is allowed to leave. Reese tells Bret sports aren't really her thing. The father thanks Dr. Choi by shaking his hand but soon puts his hand in the pocket to hide tremors. However, the mother asks Dr. Ethan if he could have missed something as the boy has constant headaches. The father dismisses this saying that there is nothing wrong with him, but soon agrees to let him stay in order to run more tests. As Reese tells Bret to lay he complains of dizziness and falls on the floor on top of her. Ethan ices her shoulders and decides to call Dr. Charles in on the case, since the father experiences loss of memory and tremors. It's revealed that Ethan is having sessions with Dr. Charles in order to cope with his problem. Sarah performs a lumbar puncture on Bret. The father disagrees as such thing will prevent him from playing hockey. Dr. Charles chats with the father and tells Choi his instincts might be correct. The boy is diagnosed with a brain infection, like cerebritis.
After Dr. Choi informs them of the diagnosis he talks to the father about his condition. The father doesn't take it well and almost punches him. As this happens Dr. Charles appears and prevents the situation from getting worse. He also tells Ethan that this is why he needs to stick to his therapy plan. While Reese checks on Bret they chat about life choices. He tells her people can't escape who they really are. He also tells her he has nosebleeds all the time. With this information Reese checks his mouth and makes a diagnosis. Bret has hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. He's advised to quit hockey as one hit could kill him. The father is already at odds with Dr. Choi and decides to go for a second opinion. Bret decides to play despite his condition. This case has a toll on Reese.
Meanwhile, a Gift of Hope truck arrives with a set of lungs for a transplant. Rhodes, now woken up and rested from his nap, is ready to assist Dr. Downey. Their patient is a former firefighter, a 9/11 first respondent. He explains the procedure to the patient. Soon Dr. Downey tells him to speak English next time, meaning he wants him to be more clear and talk in a normal person perspective instead of a doctor's. As they start the operation Rhodes and Downey find out that the patient needs a heart valve replacement surgery before they can proceed with the lung transplantation. However, they need to come up with a plan fast, as the lungs won't be suitable for transplantation after a few more hours. They both brainstorm, until Dr. Downey finally comes up with the plan. During the operation Dr. Downey starts feeling down and tells Rhodes to take over. Turns out he wasn't feeling down at all. He told Rhodes that when given the responsibility people rise to the occasion. He tells Rhodes he has an impossible amount to teach him and he doesn't want to be pleased by his intelligence. All he wants is for Connor to learn.
Elsewhere, April and Maggie try to help Sarah deciding on her residency. She tells them she's not conflicted about the hospital, but about the specialty. She always considered pathology but being in the ED has changed her mind. Bret's case has a toll on Reese. She was finally enjoying being in the ED saving lives but, the fact that Bret is going to continue playing hockey even though that can kill him, she decides to go with pathology.
Meanwhile, Zoe shows up at the hospital. She talks to Will about how much fun she had the previous night, revealing they were together and drinks were involved. They both make plans for night 2. After that Will attends to his diabetic patient. His patient suffers from heart failure. He comes in with shortness of breath. Dr. Halstead decides to run some tests. Natalie fights Will about his treatment decisions, saying he is overboard with the tests he wants to run. Will tells her that he is not dismissing her but it's his case and thus his call. The tests he orders come out negative. Natalie doesn't inform him and instructs April a medication change. Later on, the patient has a cardiac arrest. Will tries everything to resuscitate him, but Natalie wants to call time of death. As Will is going over his patient's file to find out what he could have done wrong he finds Natalie's request. He confronts her about it, she justifies her actions but Will accuses her of being the cause of the patient's death. After the fight Natalie asks to change schedule, but Sharon tells her she can't do it as Will under scrutiny. She also gives her advice about the situation. Elsewhere, Will participates in the biopsy of the earlier patient. He realizes Natalie had nothing to do with his death and that he was wrong. Zoe is at the hospital and talks to Will. She also asks him to take a rain check on dinner, and tells him she understands he is under a lot of pressure. Zoe advises him to go talk to Dr. Manning, and tells him, she is sure that Dr. Manning will understand. Will finds Dr. Natalie Manning in the common room. He apologizes. Natalie is tired of being his punching bag and asks why he always takes things out on her. He asks if she doesn't know and kisses her.
Meanwhile Dr. Sam tells Rhodes he looks like crap as he doesn't have enough rest. She presumes he is on the transplant. He tries to bond with Sam about the procedure but she cuts him out. His trauma patients are assigned to her now. Later on, Rhodes finds her at the dining table. He begins to share with her his earlier experience with Dr. Downey. She asks him to talk about something else. Rhodes gets the feeling something is wrong, but he is paged and leaves.
The episode ends with Choi meeting Glass at a recruitment event for the Navy. As they enter, he confides in her that he has been talking with Dr. Charles, his hospital's psychiatrist, about some of the things he experienced during his time in service. She tells him he doesn't need to explain and she is there for him. She asks him what he will tell all the students who are attending the recruitment event. Dr. Choi tells Dr. Glass that his dad was in the Navy, and that he could not have considered doing anything else, and that he would do it again.
Rhodes meets Sam at Molly's. He tells her that he is aware their relationship hasn't been the same since he started as Downey's protégé, but if she makes him choose he will choose Dr. Downey. Sam tells him he won't make him choose.
