Torrey DeVitto’s Natalie Manning leftChicago Medat the end of season 6 for a reason. Natalie had been one of the main doctors in the Gaffney Center Emergency Department since the show’s beginning. Her on-again, off-again relationships with Will Halstead and Crockett Marcel were central to the series during those early years and helped solidify its status as one of thebest One Chicago shows. She also had several strong storylines in which she had to balance her empathy for pediatric patients with her duty to provide them with the best care.
Natalie also occasionally appeared in other shows in theOne Chicago universe, so her exit at the end of season 6 left a large hole. Her departure also came at the end of a long and emotional storyline involving her mother’s heart disease and seemed to be a permanent ending to the competition between Marcel and Will for her affections. Thus,it was surprising that she left, although in retrospect it made total sense.
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Torrey DeVitto Decided To Leave Chicago Med After Six Seasons
The Actress Was Ready For Something Different
Torrey DeVitto chose to leaveChicago Medon her own terms. The actress had been part of the series for six years, and she felt it was time to move on to other projects. Additionally,Natalie’s storylines had gotten somewhat repetitive, as she was constantly mediating fights between Will and Crockett over her.This may have contributed to DeVitto’s decision to leave the series, although she has never directly said so.
DeVitto was one of two major cast members who made this decision at the end of season 6, asApril Sexton also leftChicago Medthat season. Since the writers knew that she planned to leave the series,they had to write a reasonable exit story for Natalie before the season’s end that would honor the characterand wrap up her existing stories. While they could have simply explained Natalie’s absence after the fact through dialogue, this would not have been a proper ending for a major character who had been part of the show for six years.
How Chicago Med Season 6 Wrote Out Natalie Manning
She Ruined Her Career With A Desperate Action
Throughout season 6, Natalie had a hard time dealing with her mother’s serious illness. Her mother had heart failure and her prognosis was not good. Natalie thus turned to Will, who was conducting a clinical trial of a new medication. However, her mother was not able to be part of the trial, leaving her with few options.This problem led to Natalie taking desperate action, leading to her eventual fall from graceand exit fromChicago Med.
Natalie couldn’t accept Will sacrificing his job for her and thus came clean, causing her to have to leave Gaffney Medical Center permanently.
Natalie stole the experimental medication when Will left it momentarily unattended and gave it to her mother. This caused issues for Will and the trial, as well as making Natalie’s mother’s condition even worse. When her mother had to be admitted to the ED, Will realized what had happened, but took responsibility for the theft of the medication to keep Natalie out of trouble. However, Natalie couldn’t accept Will sacrificing his job for her and thus came clean, causing her to have to leave Gaffney Medical Center permanently.
Why Natalie Returned In The Chicago Med Season 8 Finale
Natalie returned briefly at the end ofChicago Medseason 8 to help give Will a happy endingto his story. Will had resigned from Gaffney after deliberately sabotaging OR 2.0, an AI machine that was supposed to help surgeons with complicated procedures but which had made a critical error that led to the death of a patient. In order to protect patients from the machine, Will deliberately fed it wrong information so that it would fail in front of investors. Afterward, he resigned from the hospital.
After leaving Gaffney, Will decided to go to Seattle for a fresh start, and his final scene involved Natalie and her son, Owen, greeting him when he arrived in the new city. Natalie’s brief appearance at the end of the episode implied that Will and Natalie would have the happily-ever-after they had never had when they were onChicago Med, thus ending both of their stories in a positive manner.
Chicago Med
Cast
Chicago Med is a medical drama series that explores the high-stakes environment of a bustling Chicago hospital. Set against the backdrop of chaotic emergency room scenarios, the series follows a team of dedicated doctors and nurses as they confront challenging cases inspired by real-world issues, while navigating complex relationships.
