Spoilers ahead for Episode 10 of Chicago Med Season 4, called "All the Lonely People."
Chicago Fire ended the first half of Season 4 back in December on a huge cliffhanger for Will Halstead and Natalie Manning. Will's work with the FBI came to an end, but the result was that he needed to enter witness protection for his own safety, and that meant leaving Natalie behind. Given that all this went down when Natalie was getting ready to say "I do" to Will at their wedding, their separation was heartbreaking.
No bride wants her wedding day to end with her crying in her wedding dress while the groom is whisked off by feds before even getting to tie the knot! Well, the midseason premiere brought Will back to Natalie, but there will clearly be fallout from his time away as the season continues. Did Will's work with the feds and witness protection set the stage for a Manstead breakup? Here's what happened.
Natalie seemed to be doing alright in Will's absence, all things considered. She wasn't exactly overflowing with mirth, but she also was tasked with delivering a baby via C-section, two months before it was due after the mother went into labor and then died of an aneurysm on the table. She wouldn't have been jumping for joy even if the wedding had gone off without a hitch.
That said, she also didn't show too much joy when she received the news that Will would soon be coming home, as the heat was off in Chicago. She was warned that Will would likely be changed by his separation from everybody he cared about on top of his traumatic experiences. When Sharon surprised Nat by hiding Will in an exam room so they could reunite, Will's reaction was muted, and Natalie openly told him that she was angry with him for a long time.
Faced with the man she loved in the flesh, however, her icy exterior melted, and she pulled him in for a tight hug. Manstead reunited! Unfortunately, as we saw by the end of the episode, Natalie and Will are not in for a happily-ever-after right away, if at all. After they went home, seemingly content to resume their life together, Nat got a shock when Will pulled out a holstered gun and locked it away.
Now, Will didn't look unhinged or dangerous in the least when he handled the gun, and he didn't draw it out of its holster or anything, so he doesn't seem to have turned into a violent man during their time apart. He even told Natalie that the gun was just for protection, and he was very casual and open about it.
Natalie, however, was clearly shocked and horrified at what she was seeing. She reminded Will that he hated guns, but Will had plainly been changed enough by his experiences that he felt the need to keep a gun in the house for protection. Keeping a gun in the house was too much for Natalie, and she told him that he could not stay in the same home as her and her young son with a gun. So, Will left.
This was certainly not the end of their relationship, but Nat was quite obviously not going to compromise and allow Will to keep a gun in the house. This new and unpleasant relationship twist went down in the same episode that Nat met a man who seems likely to have a presence in her life moving forward. The husband of the pregnant woman who died and left him as the single parent to a baby girl needs help, and he bonded with Natalie.
For her part, Natalie wanted to help Phillip, as he and his wife had only just moved to Chicago to start a new life together. (In a fun twist, Phillip is played by one of Torrey DeVitto's former Pretty Little Liars co-stars, so PLL fans can probably count on seeing the two of them sharing more scenes together in the second half of Season 4!) How will Will respond to Natalie having a new man in her life, even if it's a man who just lost his wife and may be connecting with Natalie over the shared experiences of losing a spouse and gaining a baby?
See what happens next for Will and Natalie when new episodes of Chicago Med air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. The entire Chicago franchise has enjoyed killer ratings in the 2018-2019 TV season; only time will tell if the trend continues in the new year. For some viewing options set elsewhere than Illinois, check out our midseason TV premiere schedule!
