SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Chicago Med Season 12, Episode 3.

One wonders if Chicago Med producer Stephen Hootstein is a movie buff, because Season 12, Episode 3, “They Call Me Ms. Goodwin,” reminds viewers of the 1967 classic In the Heat of the Night. Namely, the iconic line from Sidney Poitier: “They call me Mister Tibbs.” While this episode is obviously very different from the movie, the sentiment of wanting to be seen and respected is the same, and S. Epatha Merkerson delivers an impassioned performance, much like Poitier did in that film. This is some of Merkerson’s best work in the role of Sharon Goodwin, and proves that the surprising decision to have Goodwin resign did indeed have creative merit.

As the title indicates, the bulk of this episode is about Goodwin’s return to work as a rank and file nurse, and everyone else having to adjust to that. It’s understandable that Goodwin spends a lot of her time asserting herself and her expertise. She hasn’t forgotten her decades of medical knowledge just because she’s now at the bottom of the organizational chart instead of near the top. First and foremost, it’s wonderful to see Merkerson in a totally new element. Goodwin has worked on the ED floor before in times of crisis, but this is her doing the most basic things. Creatively, it’s great that she now has different scenes to play, and the audience is engaged because they’re adjusting as much as the characters are. They, too, have become used to seeing Sharon Goodwin in a very specific way.

Read the rest of this review at Fangirlish.

Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC.

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