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Chicago Med season 1, episode 8 rewatch: Reunion

By Brittany Frederick

CHICAGO MED -- Season: 1 -- Pictured: (l-r) top row: S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin, Nick Gehlfuss as Dr. Will Halstead, Brian Tee as Ethan, Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Lily Manning, Oliver Platt as Dr. Daniel Charles, Colin Donnell as Connor Bradhaw; seated: Yaya DaCosta as Nurse April Sexton, Rachel DiPillo as Dr. Sarah Reese -- (Photo by: Mark Seliger/NBC)
CHICAGO MED -- Season: 1 -- Pictured: (l-r) top row: S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin, Nick Gehlfuss as Dr. Will Halstead, Brian Tee as Ethan, Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Lily Manning, Oliver Platt as Dr. Daniel Charles, Colin Donnell as Connor Bradhaw; seated: Yaya DaCosta as Nurse April Sexton, Rachel DiPillo as Dr. Sarah Reese -- (Photo by: Mark Seliger/NBC) /
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Look back at where Chicago Med began this summer. Read our retrospective on the eighth episode as we rewatch Chicago Med season 1, episode 8.

Over the One Chicago summer break, we’re looking back at where it all began by rewatching the first seasons of our shows—and today we’re revisiting Chicago Med season 1, episode 8.

If you want to rewatch this episode along with us, you can find Chicago Med season 1 on iTunes and DVD.

“Reunion” is the title of episode eight, because its two lead stories are about characters coming back, but the real importance of this installment is in its subplot.

No one knew it at the time, but what happens in the episode’s third story winds up changing the series permanently.

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But first, where the episode gets its title: Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) is reunited with her team when she returns to work after her maternity leave, and Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) is reunited with one of his former Navy colleagues.

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The former isn’t really a surprising story—Natalie returns, works with Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) and does everything we expect Natalie to do.

But the latter gives us more insight into Choi’s history in the military, which is one of the things that makes his character unique. Audiences knowing his backstory have a better grasp on who he is now, and Brian Tee is always so great when it comes to the scenes where he has to dig deep.

Then there’s that third plotline. “Reunion” is the episode that introduces Dr. David Downey (played by recurring guest star Gregg Henry), and introduces the idea of Dr. Connor Rhodes (Colin Donnell) becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon.

Looking back on it the second time around, you realize not only how much that changed the future of Connor’s character, but the entire setup of the show. Making him a specialist made the series need to come up with cardiothoracic surgery plotlines each week.

And him being up there alone would later necessitate the introduction of Dr. Ava Bekker (Norma Kuhling) this season, because the show needed to give him someone to play off of—or at least thought it did. If “Reunion” had gone differently, whole portions of Chicago Med would be different now.

It’s worth it to rewatch “Reunion” just to rewatch Downey’s introduction, and see Gregg Henry chewing scenery and try to figure out what Downey sees in Connor (and vice versa). Plus, there’s a big confrontation for Natalie and Charles, which you can see below. Revisit the rest of this episode on iTunes and DVD, but the best of Chicago Med season 1 is yet to come.

Next: Chicago Med season 3's best moments, ranked

Join us every Tuesday this summer for our Chicago Med season 1 review. For more Chicago Med related news, follow the Chicago Med category at One Chicago Center.

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