Chicago Med season 4 character review: Will Halstead

What it means

Hands down, Will Halstead had the worst season of any One Chicago character. He was kicked at seemingly every turn, whether it was being pushed into undercover work he didn’t want to do, or almost getting killed, or watching the woman he loved dump him to take up with a patient’s dad instead.

It was just a constant string of negative happenings for Will; very little actually went right for him this season. And it’s not like he brought this on himself—the only thing Will did was not talk to his fiancee, at first to protect his cover and then because he was struggling with what he’d had to go through. It was like the universe had it out for him.

But aside from his lengthy list of bad luck, Chicago Med gave him a storyline that went on too long and at times was over-dramatic. The “undercover cop” thing didn’t feel like it fit on a medical show and Will got penalized for behaving the way anybody in his circumstance might have reacted.

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After nearly dying, it’s understandable that he’d want to carry protection and that he might not want to start talking about his trauma—but there was no empathy for that. Natalie fought with him for not opening up to her, and Will’s story in several second half episodes was some variation on “Will’s issues continue to affect his work.” He didn’t get much understanding, or any chance to grow and develop another storyline past the undercover one.

Plus, the show teased a potential romance with Lee that, while not necessary, it would have given him something positive—except the writers never did anything with it until she was awkwardly talking to him in the finale. Will Halstead’s arc in Chicago Med season 4 felt rudderless and like he became an afterthought by the end.