Chicago Med had some surprises in store throughout its Season 8 premiere, ranging from Jo’s death to Dylan’s decision to depart to the reveal that Jessa was the one who had set Will’s apartment building on fire. Possibly the biggest shocker came at the very end, when Ethan ran into none other than April at his father’s burial site. That had a loaded exchange that suggested there were still strong feelings between them; in light of the showrunners’ comments about how much he has changed, what does the future look like for April and Ethan?
Even though Brian Tee appeared in far fewer episodes of Season 7 than usual, he had an important arc through his recovery from being shot, his decision to pass the ED Chief role on to Archer, and then everything he learned about his father after his death. When showrunners Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider recently spoke with CinemaBlend (about the conflict on the way to the hospital and more), I asked about how much everything he went through last season and his discoveries about his dad changed him, and Frolov shared that he’d been “tremendously” affected. Schneider went on to say:
That, coupled with his being shot and recovered from that. He's a guy who now much more sees the gray areas in life and in medicine.
Schneider added that Ethan has “no desire to be in charge anymore” as well, so there’s no conflict between him and Archer about the leadership role in the ED, and he confirmed that Brian Tee will be back full-time for Season 8. So, in light off all of his tremendous changes and ability to see more of the gray areas in his job and his life, how will he deal with the return of April?
Well, Med wasted no time in showing that these two people who loved each other very much in the past are still drawn to each other. After Ethan established that she’s back in Chicago after becoming a nurse practitioner, they both made sure that the other hadn’t been married. It also seemed that distance and time apart didn’t change how much she cared about him and his family, as she visited his father’s burial site because she wanted to pay her respects rather than an excuse to run into him.
She didn’t just come back for a one-off appearance now that Yaya DaCosta’s Fox series has been cancelled. Diane Frolov told TVLine that DaCosta will be back as April “in a couple more episodes” and has a “big storyline” on the way. Whether that’s to develop (or deliver closure for) the relationship with Ethan or something involving medicine remains to be seen, but viewers can look forward to seeing how a changed Ethan interacts with April in Season 8.
They didn’t part on bad terms, to the point that there were big questions about how Med would pay off on April confessing her love in what was then Yaya DaCosta’s final episode as a series regular. It seems that answers are now on the way. After all of his physical and emotional pain during Season 7, we can only hope that his interactions with April lead to some more happiness.
The premiere of Med was eventful all around, with the medical drama losing not only Dylan but also Pamela (which sets up a big storyline for Crockett) and toying with whether or not Hannah and Will can truly get a clean slate (with the stars sharing their thoughts). Keep tuning in to NBC on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET for new episodes of Chicago Med Season 8, ahead of Chicago Fire Season 11 (which already delivered some bad news for Brettsey) at 9 p.m. and Chicago P.D. (with its brand new theme) Season 10 at 10 p.m. ET.
