Chicago Med interview: Show EPs tease Will, Natalie fall finale story, big cliffhanger
This Wednesday night on NBC, the Chicago Med fall finale will officially arrive! There’s a lot of excitement that of course comes with that — after all, Will and Natalie are having their wedding! Yes, there’s also a lot of fear, given that there’s no guarantee that the two will ever make it to the point where they say “I do.”
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Below, executive producers Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov teased to us the big (possible) Manstead wedding alongside some of what some other characters are going to be up to — plus, teases on the next part of the season including some returning characters! Check out our interview below for more.
CarterMatt – How nervous should I be for Will and Natalie’s wedding?
Frolov – Very. Very. (Laughs.)
Was the plan from the start of the season to tell this storyline with Will, Natalie, and of the course the Ray part of it, leading up to this wedding — or at least an attempt at a wedding?
Frolov – Yes, it was. We loved the idea of starting the Will story with this seemingly small, innocent move on his part. He just wanted to get a good deal on the reception hall and we spun out from that point. Will was just trying to act in his own self-interest.
Schneider – It came back to bite him in a way that he never could have anticipated.
We’ve also seen some medical side effects to what’s happening with Will — he’s basically making himself sick! Is that going to be a part of the story?
Frolov – He’s under tremendous pressure. He wants to be a good doctor, and he feels responsible to Ray and for Ray. He’s completely conflicted when he’s told not to treat him. He refuses that.
Schneider – Then, there’s the issue with his fiancée, the woman he loves. He cannot tell her what’s going on.
Frolov – He’s all torn up.
One of the things that I’m always curious about when you have characters like this and weddings is that while everyone would love to go, someone’s still gotta be back taking care of the hospital. Do you explore that?
Frolov – We do. We still are going forward with cases at the hospital. In the case of Connor in the fall finale, his case will relate to what’s going on with Will. We’re also going to have a case for Ethan and April.
Schneider – It will impact their participation in the wedding.
Frolov – We do keep things moving ahead. Yet, by the end of it, everyone is hoping that they will be able to go to the wedding.
Entering the fall finale, where can we expect things to be for Connor and Ava?
Frolov – At the moment, they’re in a good place, but there are some things that are still hanging out there.
Schneider – There are some surprises that will impact their relationship. But, that’s going forward — that’s after the [winter] break.
I’m not sure that Dr. Charles is completely the same person after Dr. Reese’s departure. I feel like that’s still lingering with him on some level. Is that something that is going to play out on a conscious level?
Schneider – It’s subtext to a lot of his behavior. He has a relationship with Molly Bernard’s [character of] Elsa. She’s a difficult medical student and very different from Sarah. Yet, he feels a responsibility to help her and then also a resistance to becoming too involved as a mentor because of what happened with Sarah.
But, we are going to learn more about his past!
One thing that definitely surprised me was seeing the Vicky Glass character come back. Is she someone we should expect to see around for at least the immediate future?
Frolov – Yes, she is. She will be recurring in the second half.
Schneider – Ethan will consider a relationship with her, but it’s going to be really difficult because he still has strong feelings for April, and April still has strong feelings for him.
Are we going to see some of the aftereffects of everything that’s happened with Emily?
Frolov – Yes. Emily will return.
Are there any other notable names who are coming back later on this season?
Frolov – We are bringing back Robin in the second half … and also Connor’s dad.
Schneider – Also, Dr. Nina Shore will be back! Dr. Latham will be back too.
So how do you arrange the schedules for some of these people and plan things out for them to return? I know you have to plan things out in advance, but then you’re working with people like Ato [Essandoh] and Patti [Murin], who are certainly very busy.
Frolov – It’s complicated. We check out, when we’re developing a story, the possibility that we can get a person with their representatives. Then, as we get closer, we just keep talking about dates.
Schneider – We try to not box ourselves in with a story and then we can’t get the actor.
Frolov – But everyone enjoys being on the show, so they’re willing to work with us.
What are you the most excited for people to see in the fall finale, and is there a chance at a big cliffhanger at the end of the fall finale?
Frolov – There is a big cliffhanger.
Schneider – The medical stories have such an impact on their personal lives. There’s this great combination of personal interaction with some fascinating medicine.
Frolov – It’s very satisfying for us as writers to see, after this long development [with the wedding and the Ray storyline], how it all comes to a head.
Schneider – After people watch it, they’ll definitely come back after the break (laughs).
Are the two of you already thinking about where you want the story to go moving to the end of the season?
Schneider – Oh yeah. Definitely.
Are there already some crossovers that you have planned for later this season?
Schneider – In episode 12, we have a lot of the Fire guys — Severide and Cruz are in that. Cops are coming back. Burgess is back in episode 10.
Frolov – At this point, we don’t have the full crossover that we did in episode 2, but we do continue to use many people.
Is it easier for you to arrange and schedule even small crossovers now with all three shows on the same night?
Frolov – It’s much easier. We can call one another up and say ‘we want to use this character. What are they doing tonight?’
Schneider – ‘You haven’t shot him, have you?” (laughs).
Frolov – You can see a PD character on our show and then on PD, so we have to make sure that we’re not doing something that impacts their episode and vice-versa.
Schneider – Because we’re all on the same night, we have to be particularly cognizant of that.
Do you have already ideas in your head about what a season 5 could look like? The ratings have certainly been good so far.
Frolov – Yes! We do.
Schneider – If all goes according to plan, we’ve got an interesting story that we want to pursue in season 5.
Related News – Be sure to get some other news on what lies ahead on Wednesday’s Chicago Med!
What do you think is going to happen on the Chicago Med season 4 fall finale? Be sure to share right now in the comments! (Photo: NBC.)