After Chicago Fire became a hit, NBC was so inspired by its success that it crafted the One Chicago franchise. With that in mind, there is absolutely no doubt that Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. both owe their many years on television to the influence of Chicago Fire. On top of that, it was recently revealed that Chicago Med would feature a Chicago Fire character as part of several mini crossovers.
While the One Chicago medical drama has been influenced by the show that started the franchise, that doesn’t mean that things can only go in that direction. Instead, it would be a great thing if Chicago Fire also improved thanks to the influence of Chicago Med. One perfect example of that is the idea that Chicago Fire should learn from the recent returns of Chicago Med’s Dr. Natalie Manning and Dr. Will Halstead.
CHICAGO MED — “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades” Episode 1103 — Pictured: (l-r) Nick Gehlfuss as Dr. Will Halstead, Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Natalie Manning — (Photo by: George Burns Jr/NBC) | Credit: George Burns Jr/NBCChicago Fire needs to learn a lot from Chicago Med’s Natalie and Will recent returns
Since the One Chicago franchise began, it has been clear that creating characters that viewers care about has been one of its biggest successes. As a result, when Chicago Fire recently introduced a bad boy character, viewers should have given the show the benefit of the doubt that they would be compelling. Just as importantly for the show’s future, Chicago Fire’s long history of creating beloved characters has opened up a huge opportunity for the drama series.
Between seasons 10 and 11 of Chicago Med, the show has brought back five memorable characters from the its past who’d been gone for years prior to that. Those characters were portrayed by Nick Gehlfuss, Torrey DeVitto, Rachel DiPillo, Mekia Cox, and Hannah Riley. Most recently, the returns of Gehlfuss and DeVitto’s characters, Dr. Will Halstead and Dr. Natalie Manning, have been a huge deal for Chicago Med. Chicago Fire needs to learn from that by fully embracing bringing back more characters from the past, similar to how Eamonn Walker’s Chief Wallace Boden returned.
On the other hand, Chicago Fire also needs to learn from the huge mistake that Chicago Med made with the returns of Natalie and Will. During the season 10 returns of DiPillo, Cox, and Riley’s characters, their reappearances had a huge effect on one of the show’s current main characters, Dr. Daniel Charles. Sadly, that trend didn’t continue with Will and Natalie.
When Will and Natalie showed up on TV again, their return storyline was its own thing that had next to nothing to do with any of Chicago Med’s characters who are sticking around. That meant that after their return ended, it felt like they might as well have never shown up to begin with. Whenever Chicago Fire brings back characters from the past, they need to make sure their returns have more of a lasting effect than that.
