While Natalie was definitely frustrating, nothing compares to how Chicago Med completely turned Dr. Ava Bekker (Norma Kuhling) into a sociopathic villain this season. It was a complete and total 180 of her character that painted her into a corner where there was no other option but to get rid of her.
To be fair, audiences hadn’t entirely warmed to Ava yet—but that’s because she hadn’t been fully developed. We hardly knew anything about her life outside of the hospital, or her backstory; it was all about her relationship with Dr. Connor Rhodes (Colin Donnell). Making her obsessed with Connor didn’t fix either of those problems. It just made her one-dimensional, with the added side effect of turning her into almost a caricature of her former self.
Having a bad breakup is one thing. Having her descend into full-on manipulation and murder felt like a storyline better suited for a soap opera than Chicago Med. It was over the top and used up time that could have been utilized to better flesh out Ava—or even Connor, who spent most of what would be his final season tied up in Ava’s nonsense, too.
The icing on the frustration cake was that the show never resolved most of it. While Ava did confess to killing Connor’s father, the season finale didn’t say if she had done any of the other things she was accused of (like having sex with Connor’s dad), leaving the audience to imply her guilt. She wasn’t even held accountable for her behavior. It just ended, after an entire season of weird and uncomfortable drama.
And it’s hard not to feel frustrated for Norma Kuhling, who came in with the potential of playing a strong female character, and wound up leaving the show through no fault of her own. The writers ran out of storylines for Ava, but that’s solely because they made her into a literal crazy person.
Next. Chicago Med season 4's best characters. dark
For the latest Chicago Med season 4 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Med category at One Chicago Center.
