After years of success, Chicago Med pulled off something that most shows will never get close to accomplishing when it aired its 200th episode. Since that is such a huge milestone, the team behind the medical drama had to have known that they needed to do something special with the 200th episode. Even with that in mind, Chicago Med's writer exceeded expectations.
Spoiler Warning: This article reveals details of Chicago Med season 11 episode 2, "A Game of Inches"
Before the 200th episode aired, NBC promoted that it would feature the return of Dr. Will Halstead, one of Chicago Med's most beloved characters ever. After learning that Dr. Halstead was coming back, fans had a lot of conjecture about the storylines he should be part of. What most fans didn't expect was for Dr. Halstead's return to lead to the 200th episode featuring a second huge character return and a cliffhanger ending.
Torrey DeVitto returned to Chicago Med as Dr. Natalie Manning
During the first six seasons of Chicago Med, Torrey DeVitto's performance as Dr. Natalie Manning was one of the cornerstones of the show. Then, Torey mostly left the show, aside from making guest appearances during seasons 7 and 8. After last appearing during Chicago Med's season 8 finale, Torey made her stunning return to the medical drama in the final moments of the show's 200th episode.
Just before the end credits began, Chicago Med season 11 episode 2, "A Game of Inches," cut to a shot of someone walking through a hospital while wearing a lab coat. Initially, only seen from behind, the camera panned around to show that person's face, and it turned out to be Dr. Natalie Manning.
Unlike the decision to announce and promote the return of Nick Gehlfuss, Torey's huge Chicago Med moment was kept a surprise. In my opinion, that was a very smart decision for the team behind the show to have made. After all, it is very safe to say that Chicago Med fans have a history of having mixed feelings about Dr. Manning, so not giving detractors time to grumble before her return makes a lot of sense to me.
Chicago Med's 200th episode featured a shocking cliffhanger ending
When Chicago Med's 200th episode began, it didn't take long for Nick Gehlfuss to appear as Dr. Will Halstead. Throughout the remainder of the episode, Dr. Halstead was shown grappling with two concerns: his desire to help a patient who was in peril and his efforts to bond with his stepson. What I didn't expect was for Dr. Halstead's two efforts to come together in such a shocking and explosive way.
From the very start, Dr. Halstead was convinced that his patient was in agony due to a blockage in his system. Before long, it became clear that the patient was smuggling small balloons filled with an illegal substance. The blockage those balloons created put the patient's life in serious danger.
Once the decision was made to operate to remove the blockage, a woman appeared, brandishing a firearm and demanding the balloons. After that woman departed the operating room, a commotion could be heard, followed by the sound of a firearm being fired.
At that moment, the episode cut to the reveal of Torrey DeVitto and her character was shown picking up a telephone. The voice on the other line turned out to be Sharon Goodwin, who informed Dr. Manning that her son Owen, who'd accompanied Dr. Halstead to the hospital, had been shot, presumably by the woman.
After the briefest moment of Dr. Manning looking shocked, horrified, and devastated, the episode ended. That cliffhanger left fans having to wait a week to see what will happen next.