'Chicago Med' Season 6: Will Natalie Manning move on? Here's what we expect will happen to her in the new episodes
With NBC's top medical drama, 'Chicago Med' now shortly away from its sixth season (the network also has 'New Amsterdam'), it is time for the 'Chicago Fire' and 'Chicago PD' spinoff to have settled into its own. For the most part, it has. When it first came out, viewers wondered whether a 'Grey's Anatomy' imitation would be needed, but the NBC medical drama has carved out a distinct space for itself and a large credit for that goes to its unique characters.
Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) is one of those unique characters. When we first met Natalie, she was heavily pregnant and recently widowed with her husband having been killed in deployment off-camera before the start of the series. Natalie is shown to be a perceptive and quick-thinking pediatrician, one who is in tune with her young patients' needs and what's right for them.
One thing that has defined Natalie since the moment we met her is Dr. Will Halstead's (Nick Gehlfuss) feelings for her. Natalie did not know why Will was being hard on her and it took an unexpected kiss for her to realize that. Over the following five seasons, Will and Natalie had grown closer and in the fourth season, they almost got married. Will hiding secrets from her led her to break off their engagement, but when she learns that he was working as an informant for the FBI, she tries to resume their relationship. Unfortunately, when one of the mobster's (that Will helped put away) minions hit them with their car, Natalie was seriously injured, giving her temporary amnesia (a classic soap opera trope).
In the midst of that accident, Natalie was dating Phillip Davis (Ian Harding), a patient's father. Phillip took advantage of Natalie's accident and amnesia to make it that they were engaged and it took a long time for that unnecessary character to go away.
Now, one reason that Will and Natalie have had problems is that Natalie has always had strong opinions on what is right and what is wrong. She is often steadfast in her judgment – and that judgment is often severe. Take Natalie's attitude toward the new doctor, Crockett Marcel (Dominic Rains) in the last season – she was always a little antagonistic to him, especially after she learned about the illicit kiss he had with April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta) who was dating another doctor.
With Crockett, Natalie eventually softened, especially after the two were held hostage, and it even looked like there might be some romantic developments between them. It could be possible that Natalie is going to move on, especially since Will has done so and will be having a pretty busy time in the upcoming season.
Natalie's strong opinions make her who she is and it is refreshing to see a doctor who is often right about what she feels. But that's where the problem lies because Natalie knows that she is right, she often does something without consulting the other doctors. In a hospital, this can, of course, create unnecessary tension. This is also perhaps what struck the final death knell in the Manstead relationship – when Natalie interfered with one of Will's patients in the last season, and that led to his patient overdosing and dying, showing us that Natalie's choices have consequences that are far-reaching. We also saw it when Natalie refused to help Maggie Campbell (Marlyne Barrett) and the latter instead forged Natalie's signature to help her dying boyfriend.
We do not want Natalie to change who she is, but it would be nice to see her acknowledging her colleagues' and friends' feelings. What Natalie ends up doing is usually the ideally right thing, but idealism does not always help your relationships with other people. Instead, should Natalie sit down and talk to her colleagues before she does whatever she thinks is right, it could go a long way in making her more understanding – and perhaps, help her look better with fans of the show.
'Chicago Med' Season 6 will premiere on NBC on Wednesday, November 11, at 8/7c.