Spoilers ahead for Episode 12 of Chicago Med Season 7, called “What You Don’t Know Can’t Hurt You.”
Ethan Choi made his triumphant return to Chicago Med with an episode that started out with him all smiles and making big strides in his recovery from his surgery, but the smiles wouldn’t last too long after his plans with Dr. Charles were thrown off by news of his father running into some medical problems. He ultimately learned that his dad was dying from a brain tumor that he’d known about for a year without telling his son, and it got even worse. After his dad more or less bullied him into leaving on an errand, he got the news that he had passed away, and hadn't wanted his son to watch him die. Poor Ethan has been struck by another tragedy, so how will Med move forward?
Well, Med won’t move forward by shifting focus to Ethan’s mourning process in the aftermath of his dad’s sudden death, and actor Brian Tee’s comments about his character make even more sense in hindsight of the episode airing. Back in December, co-showrunner Diane Frolov shared when Ethan will come back for good with TV Insider, and it wasn’t Episode 12. She shared that he’ll return in Episode 18, which won’t air for quite some time, as “What You Don’t Know Can’t Hurt You” was the last episode of Med until after the Olympics on NBC.
While it’s not impossible that the show will deliver some updates on Ethan and his mourning process during the five episodes before Brian Tee comes back again full time, the odds seem to be that Med will handle the tragedy of Ethan's dad's death by keeping it off-screen. Tee crushed his performance in this episode, just as he crushed his previous episode of Season 7, so fans are certainly getting some juicy storylines out of limited screen time before he returns for good toward the end of the season. It just appears that however he immediately processes his father’s death won’t happen in any episodes of Chicago Med.
Of course, “What You Don’t Know Can’t Hurt You” delivered some developments to guarantee that Med won’t exactly be short on storylines just because Ethan’s initial grieving will presumably happen between Episode 12 and Episode 18. Stevie took a big step toward finalizing her divorce by booking a flight to Detroit to talk to her soon-to-be ex in person, while it’s looking like Crockett’s bond will be growing more with Dr. Blake rather than her daughter. The crisis teased in last week’s promo fortunately didn’t claim any lives, although all hands had to be on deck to transplant a liver. Even Goodwin was back in the operating room to pitch in as a nurse, with no problem from her health struggles this week.
Dylan’s efforts to help his ex’s son just keep making her husband more and more furious, to the point that he had to be escorted out of the hospital by security. Since the little boy presumably won’t be getting better too soon, that storyline seems likely to continue. Dylan shed a little bit more light on the background and how he didn’t treat Carmen well when they were together, dishing some details to Maggie. So much happened this week that some characters didn’t even appear; even if Ethan is going to be absent with his grief off-screen, Med has plenty to cover.
Chicago Med will return to its normal time on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC following the Olympics, leading into Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. For some viewing options in the coming weeks other than the Olympics, be sure to check out our 2022 winter premiere schedule.
