Chicago Med is on the verge of returning from a brief Season 6 hiatus, and the March 10 episode will introduce a brand new character played by Steven Weber and deliver a custody hearing that could separate Dr. Charles and Anna, but it will also revisit a dynamic that was central to earlier seasons. The trailer for the next episode, called "Fathers and Mothers, Daughters and Sons," reveals that some scenes between Will Halstead and Natalie Manning are on the way, and star Nick Gehlfuss has teased that Manstead fans can still have hope.
Nick Gehlfuss spoke with CinemaBlend and other outlets in February for One Chicago Day in honor of Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D., and while he spoke about Will's attraction to Dr. Virani, he also teased a moment on the way that will deliver some of the Manstead that has been missing from Season 6. Gehlfuss said:
I can tease this beautiful moment. The writers justify a lot of these moments so well, but Natalie and Will will come back together for an episode and try and figure out the best course for a case. Trying not to give too much away about it, but it'll cause them to go down memory lane a little bit. So Manstead fans, there may still be hope. Who knows?
Something "beautiful" is happening on the Manstead front this season, and the ugliness of their breakup doesn't mean that a trip down memory lane has to be unpleasant. They wouldn't have gotten engaged if not for all the good times, right? Moving on with other romantic partners doesn't erase all that history... or automatically mean that there's no future, despite Will's relationship with Hannah and subsequent attraction to Dr. Virani, not to mention Natalie's romance with Crockett.
That said, Nick Gehlfuss certainly didn't say that Chicago Med is getting Will and Natalie back together, and the romantic focus for both characters in the sixth season so far has been on others. Med went pretty far in breaking them up back in Season 5 as well, so even the most hopeful Manstead fans probably shouldn't head into "Fathers and Mothers, Daughters and Sons" expecting them to hook back up by the end of the hour.
Based on the promo for "Fathers and Mothers, Daughters and Sons" (which seems to be the episode that Nick Gehlfuss was referring to at One Chicago Day), Crockett isn't going to be too happy about a trip down memory lane between Natalie and Will. Take a look:
Natalie's mom being hospitalized at Med is a natural way for Chicago Med to revisit Manstead in some form or other, since Will and Natalie's mom were very nearly related by marriage. The moment in the promo that gives me pause is Natalie's reaction when Crockett sees her hugging Will, looking like she thinks she was doing something wrong. Is it a sign that she still feels something for Will, or just an acknowledgment of the awkwardness for Crockett?
This isn't the first time that Crockett has found himself interested in a woman who has had a serious and long-term relationship with a doctor at Med, although the situation with Crockett/April/Ethan had some big differences from what might go down with Crockett/Natalie/Will, especially if Natalie's feelings for Will are more in Crockett's head than anything else. However it goes down, "Fathers and Mothers, Daughters and Sons" should be an interesting hour of television.
Check out new episodes of Chicago Med on NBC Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET, ahead of Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. To relive the Manstead days gone by, you can find earlier seasons of Med streaming on Peacock now. One Chicago has felt a little smaller in the 2020-2021 TV season due to precautions preventing the series from crossing over on a regular basis, but there may be a way for Will's story to open the door to crossovers with P.D.
