Chicago Med’s villain of season 4: Looking back at the Burke family

Chicago Med season 4 introduced fans to gangster Ray Burke and his sons, but how do this season’s villains rank compared to others?

Every One Chicago series had a recurring villain this season, and for Chicago Med season 4 the bad guys were Ray Burke and his sons Tim and Tom, all of them career criminals.

All seemed fine when Ray Burke was first introduced, offering Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) a venue for his wedding. But Will’s brother Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) quickly popped up to tell his sibling that Ray was actually under investigation by the FBI—and that opened a whole can of worms.

Because Will was treating Ray for his heart problem, he found himself strong-armed by Jay and FBI agent Ingrid Lee (recurring guest star Anna Enger Ritch) into acting as an undercover informant for their case.

Which, by midseason, turned into him almost getting shot to death—until Jay saved Will at the last possible moment—and having to go into witness protection, ruining the wedding at the same time.

This was a storyline that seemed more like it belonged on Chicago PD, but at least it was more worth One Chicago fans’ time than last season’s shenanigans with Robert Haywood (recurring guest star Michel Gill). Robert was insufferable, and made Dr. Sarah Reese (Rachel DiPillo) look incredibly naive.

The Burkes didn’t do that with Will; they were just garden-variety bad guys. Where things got sideways was that at midseason, Chicago Med seemed like it had wrapped that storyline up and was going to start exploring the idea of Will recovering and dealing with post-traumatic stress.

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But it never really explored that. What viewers got was mostly Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) wanting Will to talk to her, and Will being a little cranky under pressure. And the story petered out—until the finale, when one of Ray’s sons slammed his car into Will’s, wanting revenge.

It was an abrupt change-up. Why not dig deeper into Will’s storyline after midseason and make that the story? It would have been more interesting than Manstead’s relationship (or lack thereof) drama, and make it less jarring when that season finale twist happened.

Audiences will have to wait until season 8 to see the fallout from the car wreck, but the Burkes’ story should come to a quick end after that. One of them is dead, one of them is pretty injured in the car accident, and Will’s not relocating—so where else can the story go? It’s time to move on, and let Will get back to being a doctor, not an asset or a witness.

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.