'Chicago Med' season 5: Nick Gehlfuss's Dr. Will Halstead deserves a change in his story arc before he faces more drama
Season 4 was quite a ride for Dr. Will Halstead and Nick Gehlfuss did a great job with the material he was given. At the beginning of the season, he was enlisted by his brother Jay (from 'Chicago P.D.') and the FBI to go undercover so they could take down Ray Burke, a mob boss. Will succeeded, only to put his life in danger and alienate himself from his fiancee, Dr. Natalie Manning. In the midseason finale, after he was almost shot, he was sent into witness protection. When he came back, he had to see Natalie move on with the father of one of her patients. In the season 4 finale, as Natalie gets ready to tell Will something in his car, one of the Burke sons rams into him, seriously injuring Natalie.
The older Halstead brother has often gotten the short end of the stick. In the beginning, he was sued by a patient for violating the DNR. It has pretty much continued on so far. Unable to tell Natalie about his undercover work, he unwittingly puts a distance between them. His work for the FBI and what he went through has obviously given Will some issues, but those are issues he won't talk to anyone about or try to get help for. Instead, he acts out, and the season that has been constantly negative for him culminates in an accident that could prove fatal for the love of his life. And while the undercover story is interesting, Will's character development has been poor (on the writers' side).
What Will needs to do in season 5 is work on himself. We see many characters shirk off seeking help from a counselor for a myriad of reasons, but it is high time that Will put his personal wellbeing first. Natalie might be trying to tell Will that she wants to be with him, but he needs some time on his own, away from relationship drama or that of any other kind. With Collin Donnel leaving as Dr. Connor Rhodes, Will stands to take on Dr. Rhodes's place at the Gaffney Chicago Medical Center and on the show. Professionally, this could prove a very good thing for Will and we hope that this combined with Will having a few conversations with Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt) would prove better for one of the OG characters of 'Chicago Med' and for the show itself.