After-Take: CHICAGO MED “Fallback”

CHICAGO MED -- "Fallback" Episode 103 -- Pictured: (l-r) Colin Donnell as Dr. Connor Rhodes, Julie Berman as Dr. Sam Zanetti, Yaya DaCosta as April Sexton -- (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

CHICAGO MED — “Fallback” Episode 103 — Pictured: (l-r) Colin Donnell as Dr. Connor Rhodes, Julie Berman as Dr. Sam Zanetti, Yaya DaCosta as April Sexton — (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)

Name of the Episode: Fallback

Beware – the follow contains spoilers!!!

A man is impaled by a glass chandelier from a 20-foot drop at a department store. When Truck 81 brings him into the emergency room, it is revealed Dr. Rhodes knows the patient. His name is Russell, and they’ve known each other since childhood. But Russell is accompanied by Conner’s sister, Claire. Conner is surprised to see Claire, but she isn’t surprised when Conner is the doctor on call at Chicago Med.

Dr. Manning is still mad at Dr. Halstead because of him commenting about how she needs to act like a doctor, and not like a pregnant woman. Dr. Choi sees an Army Ranger, Captain Trevor Jackson who comes in for being light headed and causes a fender bender. They need to run more tests but the first prognosis seems that he could have type 1 diabetes. But if that remains true, he would not be able to be deployed again.

While visiting a patient to give a second opinion, Natalie says being a doctor was her fallback plan. Her real passion was to be a violinist. Will was in the room while Natalie and the patient bonded over music; he keeps trying to back track from the mean things he said to Natalie the previous week. Nothing he says seems to help his case. Natalie refuses to accept the olive branch.

Meanwhile, Dr. Rhodes and his team race to release Russell from the glass shard pieces. Dr. Zanetti is taking charge and doesn’t see Sarah as an asset, more of a hindrance to the operation. Conner meets with Claire to give an update on Russell, but they get into an argument about why he left. He left the family because of much he didn’t agree with his father. But in the process, he also left Claire behind. Everyone around the hospital is hearing about Conner’s connection to the wealth of his family’s department store, Dolan Rhodes. His father, Cornelius stops by the hospital to hear about Russell’s progress. But he doesn’t want to pay the co pay for the lengthy hospital stay.

Dr. Charles goes to visit Captain Jackson to find the cause of the elevated blood sugar and if he has any signs of mental illnesses present. But at the thought of a shrink coming to diagnose the situation, sends Trevor over the edge; he takes out his IVs and passes out while trying to leave the room.

Cornelius goes to Sharon to pull Conner off Russell’s case. He doesn’t feel Conner is the best choice for the job at hand. But she does not give into the scare tactic. He goes as far as to call the Chairman of the hospital to see Sharon to make sure his point is heard because the Rhodes family makes donations to the hospital.

The young musician, Dylan, is told she has a tumor inside her ear, and they need to do emergency surgery. But if they do, there is a good possibility she could lose her hearing afterwards. She demands to talk to Dr. Manning before she does any surgery. After speaking with Natalie, Dylan decides to wait on the surgery so she can give her recital. Knowing the tumors might kill her is a risk she is willing to take. Will is upset by her decision; being a doctor, he wanted to save lives, not to watch people throw theirs away.

Conner and Toni head Russell’s operation, and with his dad’s negativity fresh in his mind, Conner hits an artery while removing the glass; causing Russell to bleed profusely. They have seconds before Russell bleeds out. Conner makes a risky move that pays off, and seals the blood loss.

Dr. Charles confronts Captain Jackson’s wife with the facts: she was poisoning her husband with prednisone to make it look like he had diabetes. After seven tours and ten years of service, she wanted him home and safe. Sharon is forced to report the incident and she will be processed by law.

At the end of the episode, Natalie digs out her violin to play with Dylan. She decides they will make their own recital, because the tumor is life threatening. Natalie asks her to remember the vibration of the sound, because her body will always remember it even if she loses her hearing. Conner and Sharon address Cornelius and Claire about Russell’s great prognosis. He is expected to make a full recovery post surgery.

Dylan’s surgery is a success but as expected, her hearing is gone. But she is keeping an optimistic attitude because she will remember her recital with Natalie. Natalie finally accepts Will’s various apologies and they move forward.

Next Week: A theater shooting raises concerns as the accused shooter ends up in the emergency room; and the police become involved because a theatergoer had his own gun at the scene.