Invisibility sucks.
Chicago Med Season 7 Episode 5 did a great job demonstrating the many negative ways it affects kids (and former kids!) when they don't feel seen by the important adults in their lives.
It was one of the most emotional episodes yet, though I could have done without Archer's nonsense for a change.
Archer's attitude toward Dr. Blake didn't make any sense.
He agreed with Marcel that Blake had no business operating on her daughter, but then he let her call all the shots regarding Avery's care.
While Sharon was unimpressed with Blake's claim that she brought a lot of money into the hospital, Archer felt differently, and it could have cost Avery her life.
That was an especially stupid attitude to take, considering that Avery was a malpractice attorney! She didn't appear to get along with her mother and might have been tempted to sue her and Archer if Marcel hadn't ignored Archer's orders.
Archer doesn't like Marcel because Marcel doesn't blindly follow orders.
The problem is that this is not the Navy.
It's a hospital, and leaders should be focused on giving patients the best possible care, not rewarding those who do what they're told with obedience even when their ideas suck.
And it seemed like Blake wanted someone to stand up to her, anyway. That's the only reason I can think of that she'd ask for Marcel to scrub in on a kidney transplant when all was said and done.
Of course, she did it in the most unreasonable manner possible, demanding that Marcel come back to the hospital within half an hour of going home after his shift.
If this professional relationship continues, the dynamics between Marcel and Blake should be fascinating. He enjoyed Avery's company, too, so if Chicago Med decides to throw medical ethics further out the window and let Marcel date his former patient, sparks will certainly fly!
Meanwhile, Stevie was just as ridiculous when it came to Will.
His behavior, when it came to the Vas-Com machine, confused her, but it was a giant leap from that to the conclusion that Will just thinks he's better than her.
I don't know what petty problems Will and Stevie had in the past, nor do I care.
But whatever it was, Stevie needs to get over it. Yes, Will can be impulsive, and he can think he knows better than the patients what they need.
That doesn't mean unplugging a machine known for causing embolisms right after a patient has a mini-stroke is about undermining Stevie's authority.
She needs to get over herself. It's about patient care, not about her feelings. Sheesh.
Vanessa's story was predictable. As soon as she saw Maggie with that bottle of Adderall, I knew we were in for a doctor-abusing-drugs storyline.
She'd spent the entire hour insisting on sacrificing sleep, after all, and needed to keep herself awake somehow.
And she'd made mistakes that she blamed herself for no matter what anyone said, making me wonder if she had the same anxiety disorder as Ryan did.
Vanessa and her Adderall habit won't go anywhere good. But if Maggie ends up saving her from an overdose, maybe it'll open the door to permanently repair their relationship.
That whole mess came on the tail end of the hour's strongest storyline.
Scott's stories get better and better. He works exclusively with pediatric patients, or at least he has so far, and he has a gift for getting through to troubled kids.
He also works well with Charles, often asking his opinion about patients' problems, and their teamwork has helped a ton of kids get the right diagnosis and the right care for both their physical and mental health.
This story was no exception, and it touched upon an important issue: the overdiagnosis of ADHD.
October is ADHD Awareness Month, so it's important to emphasize that ADHD is a real thing and that not all kids on medication for it shouldn't be.
And while Chicago Med didn't do that, the series did do some equally important things: show how prevalent misdiagnosis is, touch on the problem of neurotypical siblings feeling left out, and point out that Adderall doesn't help kids who don't have ADHD and might make their conditions worse.
ADHD is often misdiagnosed because its symptoms overlap with those of other disorders, including anxiety disorders, Autism, and PTSD. I can't recall whether any other series ever touched upon this problem, but I was glad it was addressed here.
Misdiagnosis hurts both neurotypical people and those with ADHD -- some people overgeneralize and assume ADHD is a made-up disorder because kids are sometimes medicated for it when they shouldn't be.
And in this case, it was something that led to a ton of problems for Ryan's family, not because an evil psychiatrist prescribed meds for his reasons, but because a well-intentioned one made a mistake.
As a result, Alex felt invisible to his family while Ryan felt like he was a bad kid who was always in trouble for things he couldn't control.
Alex's head injury after he deliberately provoked Ryan into hitting him with a toy could have been fatal and almost was -- as it was, his brain surgery was nerve-wracking for his parents.
And Ryan's untreated anxiety causing him to push Vanessa down and then run away could have ended much worse than it did, too.
Thank goodness that Dr. Charles diagnosed the real issue and that Ryan's family eventually accepted his conclusion!
It all was a vehicle for Scott to re-examine his painful relationship with his father and was the first time we've met Officer Scott, which was far more compelling than Stevie and her homeless mother. More of this, please!
Your turn, Chicago Med fanatics! Was there a story you loved or hated on Chicago Med Season 7 Episode 5? Did Archer's behavior make any sense to you? Is Will in over his head with this Vas-Com investigation?
Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know!
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Chicago Med airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8 PM EST/PST.