A staple character was put in jeopardy in Chicago Med season 10, episode five, “Bad Habits,” which was also a fantastic Halloween episode.
Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) is in rough shape on October 31st, and the NBC procedural appears to be setting up a longer story arc where the Chief of Patient and Medical Services at Gaffney Medical Center will have to fight for her life.
Goodwin is convinced that a stranger has been spying on her at home, even though CPD says it wasn’t possible. While looking for her attacker, she ends up using pepper spray on the boy who lives on her street. The episode ends with Goodwin watching a videotape of her house thanks to her neighbor Helen’s camera. She sees someone’s shadow and knows she was right all along because someone is definitely out to get her.
Sure, this would be a perfectly creepy plotline for any Halloween episode of any TV series, but there’s more to the story. Goodwin got a death threat earlier in Chicago Med season 10, which is why she’s so terrified. I bet she’ll be in big trouble in the next few episodes. The person at her house may be the same one who sent her the death threat. The fact that they know where she lives is unsettling.
I don’t want anything bad to happen to Goodwin (or anyone at Gaffney), but this was a fun storyline. Procedurals sometimes can’t do all that much with episodes centered around Halloween, Christmas, or Thanksgiving. Since the characters have to go to work and it’s rare for them to get a day off to relax, it’s common to see E.R.s full of bizarre cases and strange 9-1-1 calls. Grey’s Anatomy often sees Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and the others attempting to have a peaceful holiday dinner but, of course, their jobs always get in the way. Chicago Med was smart to focus on one character’s eerie storyline. Like the Dawson’s Creek Halloween episodes about a serial killer and the main characters telling four creepy stories, which are my fave TV episodes set on October 31st, Chicago Med told a scary tale with flawless pacing and plenty of mystery.
This episode was also particularly entertaining since it centered around Goodwin. Every doctor at Gaffney needs to stay calm under pressure, and since she was a nurse before she began running the show at the hospital, she knows her way around chaotic situations. But even Goodwin couldn’t help but be freaked out by getting a death threat and having a likely stalker. It’s more than a little worrisome to see such a strong person in this alarming situation.
After missing Dr. Crockett Marcel (Dominic Rains), it’s hard not to be nervous that Goodwin could leave the show, too. That seems unlikely, though, especially since Merkerson told Us Weekly that there will be some season 10 scenes about Sharon’s love story with Dr. Dennis Washington (John Earl Jelks). She said, “Now that that relationship has been established, I think you will definitely see more of the doctor — the good doctor.” Would she say that if her character was going to leave? I don’t think so! If Goodwin’s track record is any indication, she’s going to figure out what’s going on, but she better act fast.
