Chicago Med Season 8 Episode 22 Review: Does One Door Close And Another One Open?

It might take me all summer to come to terms with this one.

Will Halstead has always been the heart of Chicago Med. Other characters have come and gone, but he was the one constant we could count on.

This isn’t the end of the series, but Chicago Med Season 8 Episode 22 certainly felt like the end of an era when Will walked out those doors for the final time — and ended up in Seattle with Natalie.

Will’s last act was to work with Grace to screw up OR 2.0 completely. I’m unhappy about that, though I’m even less pleased to lose Will.

Marcel was right that the tech had been helpful in many ways and that eradicating its credibility wasn’t the way to go. Marcel was the one person Jack trusted — he could have gotten Jack to sideline the project after the IPO and put Grace to work on fixing the glitches.

Jack should have delayed the launch, but that didn’t mean we had to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The machine failed Richard Evans, but how many other patients’ lives had it saved?

So many cases would have otherwise been terminal, but Marcel could do previously impossible surgeries and save lives. In a way, Will and Grace weren’t much different than Archer was when he broke the machine out of spite on Chicago Med Season 8 Episode 12.

Sharon: Dr. Halstead, we are now a for-profit hospital and Jack Dayton basically owns it. So if he wants to go ahead with the surgery, I no longer have the authority to stop it.
Will: I can’t stand what this place has become.

Will’s choice also had the unintended consequence of Jack deciding he had to sell the hospital because he lost all his money when OR 2.0 failed. That, combined with his departure, made me feel like this was a series finale rather than a season finale!

Med will go on somehow, so it’ll be interesting to learn how this is all resolved when Chicago Med Season 9 premieres.

Will’s departure was kept under wraps; it seemed like if anyone was going to leave, it was Maggie. The misdirection on this departure made it more powerful.

Until the last second, I didn’t believe Will was leaving permanently. He’s been in similar scrapes and somehow ended up back at Med, so I wasn’t convinced this would be any different until he said his final goodbyes.

I’m sorry I have to say goodbye. It’s not easy. You’ve been my family for so many years. I’ll never forget you. You will always be a part of me, and I’ll always be grateful for the time we had together.

Will

If this character had to go, it was a beautiful, heartfelt ending. And now the Natalie mention makes sense.

I wondered if Natalie was returning since Will suddenly mentioned Owen on Chicago Med Season 8 Episode 21. But it turned out to be the other way around — Will was leaving to be with her. Well played, Chicago Med.

Will’s departure was part of the theme of actions having consequences. Will had to leave Med and jeopardize the hospital’s future, and Sean had to face the consequences of his fall off the wagon.

Because Sean relapsed, he can’t donate his kidney for another six months, and his father’s disease is getting worse. That means that Archer has to accept the hemodialysis he didn’t want to have, while Sean gets to feel guilty over his screw-up.

Sean attributed his relapse to a misunderstanding. As Hannah pointed out, there is never any one reason an addict uses again, but at least this gave Sean a chance to clear that up.

Several TV tropes get overplayed, but I especially hate the trope of unnecessary misunderstandings driving drama, so the sooner this one was talked out, the better. However, I don’t believe for one second that Hannah and Archer have no feelings for each other.

Hannah went way too far in her effort to insist there was nothing there, and it makes me wonder what’s in store for these two when Chicago Med returns.

One constant throughout the series has been Dr. Charles’ unusual cases, and this was no exception.

I figured that Fred had some sort of brain injury — his accident was eerily similar to one my grandfather caused when he was suffering from vascular dementia. Alien Hand Syndrome was an interesting and novel diagnosis.

Charles was at his best while untangling the complicated dynamics between this husband and wife that contributed to their distress.

Not so great: this whole Liliana thing. Charles was right that Pavel was getting into LIliana’s head. Suddenly she’s saying nonsensical things about how she’s “just a janitor” who isn’t good enough for a doctor.

Pavel showed up at just the right time to demand she went with him instead of continuing to talk to Charles.

I hope we get a full story about Liliana realizing her brother is emotionally abusing her.

Otherwise, this storyline is merely annoying.

Liliana and Charles were doing fine until Pavel entered the picture — there has to be some more significant reason for this aggravating character than an attempt to manufacture conflict.

Your turn, Chicago Med fanatics. Did Will’s departure feel like the end of an era? Will you miss him?

Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know your thoughts on Chicago Med Season 8.

Chicago Med’s season has ended, but you can watch Chicago Med online all summer long.

Chicago Med airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 8 PM EST / PST. It will return for Season 9 sometime during the fall of 2023.

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