Spoilers ahead for Episode 8 of Chicago Med Season 5, called "Too Close To The Sun," and the episode description for the midseason finale.
Chicago Med kicked off the fifth season with Natalie suffering a traumatic brain injury that left big holes in her memory, which Philip exploited to convince her that they'd gotten engaged, and Natalie still hasn't recovered those memories even though she did eventually follow her instincts and dump him. Following the events of "Too Close To The Sun" and taking into account the episode description for the November 20 midseason finale, it's safe to say that Natalie's memories are coming back. But is that a good thing at this time?
Let's break it down, as there are definitely two sides to the situation.
On the one hand, of course Natalie deserves to know what happened in those final fateful moments of Season 4, when she and Will had a very important conversation interrupted when a bad guy plowed into the car they were sitting in with his own vehicle, injuring Will and giving Natalie her TBI. Philip subsequently tricking Natalie was the creepiest thing on Med since Ava manipulated Connor and eventually killed his dad, and Natalie has had her judgment questioned (admittedly, usually for good reason) all season long.
Of course she deserves her memories back so she can process what happened, realize the extent of what Philip did, and finish the conversation she'd wanted to have with Will.
On the other hand, the sticky part of Natalie recovering her memories in the midseason finale is that there's already a lot going that's arguably more urgent than Natalie's missing memories. Maggie is still undergoing chemo, and her new immunocompromised love interest Ben was diagnosed with the measles, which means his death due to his own chemotherapy.
Meanwhile, what seemed to be just another Chicago love triangle between Ethan/April/Marcel got a dangerous twist when Noah's attempts to help a young woman by giving her a place to stay backfired, and he was beaten to within an inch of his life, ultimately requiring surgery. He's probably not going to be back on his feet any time soon, and April could be quite preoccupied with her brother so seriously injured.
Now, there could even be more romantic drama involving Halstead. Elsa, who seemed to be crushing on him for a while, tried to ask him out to a concert, and although she fumbled the attempt, she still seems to have an eye on him. Her attempt to ask him out was foiled when Will introduced his paramedic girlfriend Juliet, which seemed to be setting up another (and weirder) love triangle. (Still not the weirdest love triangle that could have happened on Med!)
Then, the promo for the midseason finale suggests that the return of Natalie's memories means the return of Natalie's feelings for Will. Since she doesn't have any reason to know about Juliet, she could be in for a rude awakening if Will isn't willing to give their relationship another shot when he could have a fresh start with somebody new.
Basically, the midseason finale should be must-see TV for One Chicago fans. I'm personally glad that Natalie is getting her memories back, consequences be damned. She deserves to know what happened to her, where her head had been before Philip's manipulation, and what she wanted to do.
Be sure to tune in to Chicago Med on Wednesday, November 20 at 8 p.m. ET to see the last new episode of Med in 2019, ahead of the midseason finales of Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET.
