By Taylor Neumann
On a Tuesday in January, the cast and crew of Chicago Med gathered on the set — the hospital lobby — and prepared to celebrate a milestone: 100 episodes. First, there were speeches, including one from Lisa Katz, co-president of scripted programming at NBC. “One hundred episodes is an impressive number, but here are some other impressive numbers: Chicago Med is the No. 1 most-watched show in its time slot this season. You are one of the top six most-watched dramas in all of television. And last season, the show reached more than 56 million viewers. That’s a lot of people.” Famed producer of the series Dick Wolf made a sojourn to Chicago especially for the event. The 100th episode airs March 18.
As Wolf finished speaking, cast member Marlyne Barrett — who plays Maggie Lockwood on the drama — came running out. “Mr. Wolf, we have an incoming!” Out rolled a gurney pushed by Chicago Fire‘s Jesse Spencer and Chicago P.D.‘s Jason Beghe, trailed by the rest of the cast of Chicago Med. In the bed was a body — or was it?
Nick Gehlfuss (Will Halstead) playfully stuck his fingers in the body’s nose as Yaya DaCosta (April Sexton) hooked it up to a monitor that flashed “100” across the vital signs. Happy 100th episode,Chicago Med! A scalpel was wheeled out and S. Epatha Merkerson (Sharon Goodwin) helped Wolf cut into the body, only to reveal it as a lifelike red velvet cake.
After indulging in some human-shaped cake, the cast and showrunners had a lot to say about the upcoming milestone episode titled “Ghosts of Our Past.” When asked what they have planned, showrunners Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov teased, “A lot of big stuff. There is going to be a very special wedding. … A surprising wedding.” Could it be between Ethan (Brian Tee) and April, who recently got engaged when Ethan returned from military service? “Some recurring characters that we have had, you’ll see again.”
Oliver Platt (Daniel Charles) also has big things happening in the episode. “You’re going to meet a member of my family who’s going to come out of the past,” Platt shared, alluding to the episode’s title. “The whole episode, the stories vibrate off each other sympathetically.”
Gehlfuss also hints that his Dr. Halstead may be treating a familiar face — April. But leading up to the big 100th, Gehlfuss is excited about the direction his character is going. “Will starts treating a doctor who’s an addict. He finds out at the safe injection site that there’s a doctor there, and he starts putting his faith in that. It motivates this collision between the two worlds [and] actually brings Will back into Chicago Med in a great way from the safe injection site.” He also adds, for “Manstead” fans: “We haven’t lost hope that [Natalie and Will] could still live on, but they may need to grow separately to come back together. … There’s still hope for Mansteads.”
As for Natalie herself, there’s a case coming up that Torrey DeVitto says “really hits home for her.” Dominic Rains, who plays Crockett Marcel, explains, “With Dr. Manning, we deal with this abusive husband, and there’s a bit of contention in trying to figure out how to best move forward.” And even administration gets involved, with Goodwin stepping in as well.
After filming 100 episodes of the series, the group told us about some of their most memorable moments and episodes. But the most memorable moment for Gehlfuss happened away from the cameras. “I witnessed an accident in Chicago. I was out one night with my show bro in Chicago P.D., Jesse Soffer, and we saw an accident happen. This car went into a little moat area of a construction site. He called 911, and I got this girl out of the car. It was flipped over, and it was wild, and she ended up recognizing both of us. … I felt this adrenaline, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, this is what it really feels like. I will take this into my fake world.’”