Following the season 7 finale, Will and Dylan are saved from the apartment fire. However, Dylan's girlfriend Jo passes away from her injuries, leaving Dylan devastated. The apartment building's arsonist is later arrested. Meanwhile, Ethan gets a surprise visit.
143
2
"(Caught Between) The Wrecking Ball and the Butterfly"
Nicole Rubio
Teleplay by : Stephen Hootstein Story by : Stephen Hootstein & Danny Weiss
Dr. Charles talks to and tries to help a patient dealing with schizophrenia. Meanwhile, Dr. Marcel treats a patient that has a spinal injury. Dr. Asher is upset at Dr. Choi for lying to her when a patient requests a different doctor due to her past.
Dr. Marcel helps a train conductor trapped inside the train after it derails inside the underground station. Meanwhile, Dr. Charles takes his therapist to the hospital after he collapses on a coffee table during a session. Mrs. Goodwin informs Dr. Halstead that there is a shortage of a medicine he needs to save his patient's life; Dr. Vanessa Taylor tells Dr. Halstead there is another way to get the medicine, but he refuses, fearing both will lose their medical licenses and go to jail. Vanessa gets the drug from a dealer and they give the medicine to their patient and save her life, agreeing to keep it a secret.
Ethan is surprised to see April again after she brings a patient to the ED for treatment. Meanwhile, a patient goes berserk in the ED, injuring Dr. Archer; it is the dealer Vanessa purchased the drugs from in the previous episode. As he had OD'ed on tainted drugs, they have to inform the police and the hospital finds out that they bought drugs illegally and gave them to a patient; Mrs. Goodwin tells them that, due to extenuating circumstances, they were let off. Dr. Marcel completes a lung transplant for the conductor injured during the crash in the previous episode whose lungs were damaged after inhaling lithium from the train batteries.
Dr. Marcel is being interviewed by the media after saving the train conductor twice from the underground train derailment. Dr. Charles treats a patient who is going through a tough time after recently giving birth. Dr. Halstead's patient wants Dr. Marcel to perform surgery on her arm, but he leaves during the procedure to deal with a VIP patient, something for which Dr. Halstead scolds him when complications arise. Dr. Vanessa Taylor accepts a job in the Philippines.
The doctors and nurses are out of scrubs due to them being in the laundry. Dr. Halstead and Dr. Asher deliver a baby. Dr. Archer is shocked to see his son in the hospital after his son was stabbed in prison; the inmate who stabbed him is also brought in to the ED. A lady who had a transplant a year ago suffers from a psychotic episode. As the anti-psychotic drugs dull her mind, her transplanted organ is removed.
149
8
"Everyone's Fighting a Battle You Know Nothing About"
Maggie receives an invite to Ethan and April's wedding. Grant takes Maggie on a ride in his restored car and they are involved in a crash after a truck hits Grant's car. Dr. Choi and Dr. Charles take a look at a patient's medical history and find out that the patient was in a different hospital for a medical fraud procedure and that his real illness was not treated.
Dr. Marcel is performing surgery in the new OR 2.0 and is unhappy that Jack Dayton has invited people to watch. Ethan is treating April's father in the hospital the day before the wedding. Dr. Charles asks the lady who cleans his office out for coffee. Ethan and April get married. Mrs. Goodwin receives the news that Jack Dayton has bought controlling shares of the hospital.
This is Brian Tee's final appearance as Dr. Ethan Choi.
A man is brought into the ED following a car crash and, when he regains consciousness, asks where his pregnant wife is. Drs. Lieu and Asher go to find her, where they deliver her baby. Sharon Goodwin comforts Maggie following the previous episode when Ben found out about the car crash and decided he and Maggie should take a break. Dr. Halstead wants Jack (Chicago Med's new CEO) to visit a girl who needs life-saving surgery, but he says he is busy. However, following Dr. Halstead having a go at him, Jack cancels a meeting to visit the girl and he convinces her to have the surgery. Dr. Marcel's patient has Crohn's disease and wants to have surgery, but Dr. Marcel says it's too risky; he eventually relents and performs the surgery in 2.0.
Drs. Lieu and Asher are at a rock climbing gym when another climber has an accident and gets brought to the ED. Dr. Asher has a problem when a patient is wrongly flagged by a new AI system as a potential drug addict. Dr. Archer's son tells him that he is being paroled the following day. Maggie tells Dr. Halstead that her and Ben are separated.
On their way to work, Maggie & Mrs. Goodwin assist after witnessing a hit and run. Dr. Halstead deals with a young boy with strange systems and the parents are worried, as they lost another son 12 years before with similar symptoms. Drs. Marcel and Archer argue about using 2.0 and the machine gets damaged, so Jack Dayton fires Archer; Mrs. Goodwin tells Jack that, if he goes, she goes too, so he rescinds and tells Goodwin that Archer is her responsibility. Maggie goes to see Ben to try and save their marriage, but Ben is unresponsive.
A bad storm hits Chicago and they are shortstaffed, so Dr. Song is assigned to assist in the ED. The non-urgent patients are kept in the ED lobby and one of them is stabbed, the person who stabbed him found to be a mentally ill lady. Dr. Archer's son, Sean, brings a friend in with an injury. Dr. Archer runs a drug test and accuses his son of using again. On her way to the hospital, Dr. Asher sees a car which has hit the edge of a bridge; she stops to help and the car explodes, injuring her driver and damaging the vehicle. Sean hears this and goes to get them. Ben and Maggie reconcile.
155
14
"On Days Like Today... Silver Linings Become Lifelines"
Marcel second guesses his judgement in OR 2.0 during a tricky surgery for a man who has cut off his hand. Hannah helps a previous patient. Sharon is introduced to someone Jack wants on the hospital board.
The cleaners go on strike and Daniel joins the picket line with Liliana. An outbreak of bedbugs is found, as the replacement cleaners are not doing their jobs. Dr. Archer operates on a woman and a huge hairball is found in her stomach. Dr. Song assists Dr. Halstead on a case.
A man freaks out after his wife gives birth and gets injured when he runs into the MRI room. CFD are called and have to work out how to free him. Drs. Halstead and Cuevas investigate when a girl is brought in by her worried parents. Her brother had previously died of an unexplained illness and she is now exhibiting the same symptoms, but the insurance company insists that the girl be transferred to the hospital where her brother died. At the last minute, they diagnose the illness and save her life. Dr. Archer collapses and is told that his kidneys are worse, resulting in the need for dialysis.
Dr. Archer's son Sean gets a job at the hospital as a valet following a recommendation from Dr. Asher.; Dr. Archer is annoyed, as he has not told Sean that he is ill. A documentary crew visits Med to film Marcel and Abrams' groundbreaking surgery but, after Miss Goodwin refused to let the camera crew interview the patient's mother, Jack Dayton bars the doctors from using OR 2.0 on subsidized patients. Drs. Halstead and Song go out for a drink.
Dr. Archer discovers his patient has been pretending to be paralyzed, but has now really damaged his spine and needs surgery to prevent truly becoming paralyzed. Dr. Charles evaluates him for a disorder that means he wants to be paralyzed. Dr. Song's new pilot program gives the E.D. a technological facelift. Dr. Archer is to be evaluated for the transplant list. A pregnant woman comes in with her son and dies during an emergency cesarean. Miss Goodwin tries to get ahold of board members to try and stop Jack from turning Med into a for-profit hospital.
Sean Archer visits his father Dr. Dean Archer to offer a kidney and Dr. Archer confronts Dr. Asher at the hospital for telling his son about his diagnosis without his consent. The board are trying to rally support to block Jack from turning Med into a for-profit hospital and Vernon, who will be the deciding vote, collapses. He has surgery in OR 2.0 and later votes for the for-profit option. A deaf man is brought into the ED, as he is hearing voices. He sees Dr. Charles with his sister translating via ASL, but she lies in the translation and her brother refuses the medication.
Building work starts at Med on a new VIP floor. The very first 2.0 patient returns, as his cancer is back so he needs an operation, but Jack has rented OR 2.0 to a rich patient. Maggie overrules Jack and tells Dr. Marcel to do the operation; whilst operating, 2.0 starts to malfunction and the patient dies. Dr. Halstead is annoyed, as he finds out that they are turning away patients without insurance. Dr. Archer starts an operation and sees a tapeworm; meanwhile, the patient's wife, who had been complaining that she could not lose weight, discovers that she is pregnant and gives birth to a boy. Sean confides in his Dad, Dr. Archer, that he likes Dr. Asher and later sees them laughing together.
Dr. Halstead and Dr. Song fall out over their views of Jack and the direction that he is taking Med. Dr. Marcel tries to investigate the death of his patient from the last episode, but the file is missing from the OR 2.0 server. At a press conference, Jack announces that an operation in OR 2.0 will be live streamed the next day and that the patient will be him. Maggie goes for a job interview. Dr. Archer is told that his son Sean is a match to be a kidney donor. Dr. Samuel Abrams brings his wife to Med and they discover that she is pregnant. Dr. Abrams tries to stop Dr. Asher from performing a procedure on his wife, but she refuses. Jack tells Marcel that his patient's death was his fault and that he hid the file to protect him. Dr. Halstead takes the thumb drive with the info and gives it to Dr. Song, who discovers that 2.0 made a mistake. Sean's supervisor comes to Dean to tell him that Sean did not turn up to work and that they have been unable to contact him. Liliana's almost ready to buy a house until a complication arises with her brother. She and Dr. Charles argue about the siblings' relationship.
Drs. Halstead and Song tell Dr. Marcel that 2.0 made a mistake. Sean Archer is brought into the ED, as he fell off the wagon, not realizing it would make him temporarily ineligible to donate a kidney. Drs. Archer & Asher risk their jobs by conducting an operation off-book and, during the operation, Dr. Archer has to take a break due to his increasing kidney pain. Jack Dayton tells Miss Goodwin that he is now financially ruined and will have to sell his share of the hospital. After corrupting the technology for OR 2.0, Will finally leaves Chicago Med and reunites with Natalie Manning.
This episode marks the final appearance of Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss). Special surprise appearance of Natalie Manning (Torrey Devitto)
Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of Chicago Med season 8
