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Chicago Med season 4: Ranking the biggest moments so far

By Brittany Frederick

CHICAGO MED -- "Death Do Us Part" Episode 409 -- Pictured: (l-r) Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Natalie Manning, Nick Gehlfuss as Dr. Will Halstead -- (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
CHICAGO MED -- "Death Do Us Part" Episode 409 -- Pictured: (l-r) Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Natalie Manning, Nick Gehlfuss as Dr. Will Halstead -- (Photo by: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC) /
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Chicago Med
CHICAGO MED — “When To Let Go” Episode 402 — Pictured: (l-r) Jesse Lee Soffer as Jay Halstead, Nick Gehlfuss as Will Halstead — (Photo by: Elizabeth Morris/NBC) /

2) Pat Halstead dies

What happened: As part of the One Chicago crossover event, Pat Halstead (Louis Herthum) was brought into the hospital with injuries after his apartment building went up in flames. Pat swore he was fine and hung around long enough to argue with son Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer), but then was braindead and had to be pulled off life support. And he was only the first family member to be killed off this season.

The episode: “When To Let Go” (episode 2)

Why it’s important: Pat Halstead was a character with a ton of potential. He’d only appeared in one prior episode, “Generation Gap” in the second season, and it was obvious then that he had a thorny relationship with his sons. Louis Herthum was excellent in the role and it was great news that we were going to see more of him—until, of course, he was killed off.

From the moment Pat and Jay got into their argument it was clear that Chicago Med was going to kill Pat off for dramatic effect. And there’s something really sad about that, because the franchise has developed a habit of turning family members into victims (see: Alvin Olinsky’s daughter, Kim Burgess’s sister, Kelly Severide’s half-sister).

This plot twist took something away from the show that, while maybe not crucial, is something it can never get back. At the same time, it also revealed a nefarious fact that hasn’t been touched on since: that Gwen Garrett (Heather Headley) was willing to use Pat to puff up the hospital’s stats, by convincing Jay to keep him on life support. That showed a ruthless side of Gwen that changed our perception of that character, too.

All the way around, Pat Halstead’s death was a sad and cruel moment. At least it had excellent acting from everyone involved, but it was definitely a shocker in more ways than one. And that’s not the last terrible thing that happened to the Halsteads this season.

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