Chicago Med Recently Improved One Of The Best Characters And Needs To Keep Going

Since the first season of Chicago Med premiered, the TV show’s ensemble cast has been one of its biggest strengths. While it has been wonderful for fans to have so many characters to invest in, it has also created a problem at times. In the past, Chicago Med has had wonderful characters who weren’t given the amount of attention that fans obviously wanted.

Thankfully for Chicago Med’s dedicated fans, one of the show’s best characters has finally improved since they have been getting more attention. While Chicago Med should be celebrated for giving fans what they wanted, the show needs to keep going and give the character even more attention.

Sharon Goodwin Was Finally Getting The Character Development She Deserved

When the team behind Chicago Med’s first season were going through the casting process for the show, they made some brilliant decisions. For example, casting Oliver Platt as Dr. Daniel Charles before the first season gave Chicago Med the heart that the show needed to work for so long.

The argument could certainly be made that the Chicago Med’s best casting decision was the call to hire S. Epatha Merkerson. Cast as Sharon Goodwin, S. Epatha was so perfect in the role that she managed to represent an entire part of what makes a hospital work, the administrative wing.

However, because S. Epatha could embody a pivotal role in Chicago Med’s fictional hospital infrastructure, the character was limited for a long time. Thankfully, however, the character Sharon was recently improved in a major way.

For many seasons, Sharon was mostly seen in one of two ways.

First off, Sharon would operate as the show’s authority figure who weighed in on and play mediated any of the medicine-related arguments. On top of that, Sharon would be shown being a rock who was there for the other characters as they deal with any drama going on in their lives.

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Even though Sharon was almost always seen in those supporting roles, she still managed to become one of Chicago Med’s most beloved characters. Despite the fact that the character was still so successful, that doesn’t mean that fans should have been happy that her character got so little development of her own.

Thankfully, however, the recent seasons of Chicago Med finally gave Sharon some storylines that fans could grab onto. Most notably, fans got to watch Sharon dating someone, and it was fantastic to see.

During Season 9 of Chicago Med, fans were introduced to John Earl Jelks, the actor who brings Dr. Dennis Washington to life. On top of being the Division Chief of Hematology/Oncology at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center, Dr. Washington became Sharon’s boyfriend.

Given the fact that Sharon deals with drama and tragedy so much at work, it is wonderful to see her find some happiness. After all, it isn’t that Sharon needs a boyfriend to be happy. Instead, the reason why Sharon dating Dr. Washington has been so refreshing for fans is how sweet their relationship is.

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Since so much of society is youth-obsessed, older characters are often portrayed as constantly single or in a long-term marriage. What television viewers rarely see is older characters finding new love in their lives. In February 2024, S. Epatha Merkerson told Parade how happy she was that her Chicago Med character was so excited to be dating someone at her age.

“Listen, don’t it happen? Ain’t it the truth? Come on. You know what I’m saying? That’s why I think this is so lovely, is that we have a woman of a certain age who’s being giggly. Yes, that happens, ladies and gentlemen. I’ve known people who’ve gotten married in their 80s. The fact that we have to have the conversation cracks me up.”

To S. Epatha’s point, the reason why Sharon falling for someone is so delightful to see is how tender her relationship with Dr. Washington is.

Of course, Chicago Med is a very dramatic show. As a result, nobody should expect Sharon to find love and simply have a happier ever after. As a result, it was equally great to see Sharon have a sad but realistic storyline with her ex-husband, Bert Goodwin. After Bert was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, seeing Sharon do what she could to help her ex-husband was heartwarming too, despite how tragic it was.

The most important part of the storyline with Bert came when Sharon made a heartbreaking decision. After a couple of incidents that reflected Bert’s deteriorating mental state, Sharon made the decision to move him into a nursing home.

Between her storylines with Bert and Dr. Washington, Sharon was shown fighting for her own happiness. After Sharon was defined as a character for so long by how she treated others, it is a huge improvement to see her given more of her own spotlight. Most importantly, the team behind Chicago Med has got to keep the trend of portraying Sharon that way going.

Chicago Med’s Sharon Goodwin Had A Recent Storyline That Went In The Wrong Direction

Tragically in life, people’s lives are often affected by things that are out of their control. As a result, it makes sense that characters on a show like Chicago Med would have their storylines revolve around things that happen to them. However, a recent Chicago Med storyline revolving around Sharon Goodwin that she didn’t control was a mistake.

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During Season 10 of Chicago Med, Sharon Goodwin was being threatened by a stalker who sent her letters.

After several episodes of mystery about the stalker, it was revealed that they were the spouse of a past patient who died. More importantly, the stalker stabbed Sharon repeatedly and almost took her life, even though she would recover.

Since the dangers of the medical profession often aren’t covered enough, the stalker storyline was a good idea, at least in theory. However, even though having Sharon involved was effective, since fans love her so much, it was still a mistake to make her the victim at that moment.

Of course, being a victim of an attack doesn’t mean that a person or TV character is less assertive in any way. However, making Sharon a victim at this point in her character’s development feels like a step backward.

After years of not being at the center of Chicago Med’s storylines, it was delightful to see Sharon take the spotlight and put herself first. Following that up by immediately putting her at the center of a drama she couldn’t control was an unnecessary distraction from her character’s recent improvements.

Chicago Med

Release Date

November 17, 2015

Network

NBC

Showrunner

Michael Brandt

Directors

Michael Waxman, Michael Pressman, Charles S. Carroll, Milena Govich, Anna Dokoza, Bethany Rooney, Fred Berner, Tess Malone, Mykelti Williamson, SJ Main Muñoz, Donald Petrie, Martha Mitchell, Vincent Misiano, Timothy Busfield, Jonathan Brown, John Polson, Stephen Cragg, Anthony Nardolillo, Michael Berry, David Rodriguez, Afia Nathaniel, Oz Scott, Valerie Weiss, Gonzalo Amat

Writers

Joseph Sousa, Lily Dahl, Natalie Drayer, Darin Goldberg, Shelley Meals, Melissa R. Byer, Treena Hancock, Mary Leah Sutton, Simran Baidwan, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Jason Cho, Will Pascoe, Liz Brixius

• 

  S. Epatha Merkerson

  Maggie Lockwood

• 

  Oliver Platt

  Sharon Goodwin

• 

  Nick Gehlfuss

  Dr. Daniel Charles

• 

  Nick Gehlfuss

  Dr. Will Halstead