CHICAGO MED Post-Mortem: Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider on the Premiere’s Unexpected Closure

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the CHICAGO MED season premiere.]

The CHICAGO MED premiere had an unexpected appearance—and farewell—in the opening moments.

Though Torrey DeVitto’s final appearance of Natalie was set to be the season 6 finale, the premiere found Nat packing up her car, preparing to leave Chicago, with off-on love Will (Nick Gehlfuss) there to see her off.

“I’m going to be okay,” she reassures him.

“I know,” he replies.

“You?” she asks.

“Yeah,” he says.

But Natalie is worried, since Will was fired in the finale, for taking responsibility for stolen drugs—which Natalie did to help her ailing mother. “You need to go back,” Natalie tells him. “Please call [Goodwin].”

Instead, Will worries about her. “Hey, you better keep in touch,” he says. “I’ll come find you.”

Though the on-screen farewell wasn’t originally a part of the premiere—and was only filmed last week—the writers knew it was important to see the duo ending on a good note.

“Will and Natalie’s relationship was an integral part of MED for six seasons, so we felt we owed the characters and our viewers a sense of closure—which could only happen with an on-screen good-bye,” executive producer Diane Frolov said via email.

It was also important for the MED team, since DeVitto had been with the series since its start.

“Torrey’s return was emotional for the actors as well as for the crew, production team and the two of us,” said Andrew Schneider.“Torrey was a beloved presence on the show and on the set, and she’ll be missed.

CHICAGO MED, Season Premiere, Wednesday, September 22, 8/7c, NBC

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