Chicago Med Says Goodbye to Major Cast Member in Season 8 Finale

The eighth season of Chicago Med has been a tough one for fans of the hit NBC series. This season has seen the exit of multiple cast members, including a couple of stars who were part of the original Season 1 cast. Brian Tee left earlier in the season, as did Guy Lockhard, Sarah Rafferty, and Asjha Cooper. In Wednesday night's Season 8 finale, Chicago Med lost its second original cast member of the season. WARNING: This article contains spoilers from the Chicago Med Season 8 finale! Continue reading at your own risk...

The Season 8 finale of Chicago Med saw star Nick Gehlfuss exit the series. Gehlfuss has played Dr. Will Halstead in every episode of the series since it began. Will was reunited with the love of his life, Dr. Natalie Manning, in Wednesday's finale, leading to his departure. 

This now leaves the One Chicago franchise without any Halstead characters. Jay Halstead, Will's younger brother, was a major characters on Chicago P.D., but star Jay Halstead departed that series after 10 seasons.

"This year was going to be the last year of my second contract, so I was going to have to make a decision about starting a new one or not," Gehlfuss told Deadline about his departure. "A few months ago, I made that decision. It was important to me to let everyone know as soon as I could in advance so that the writers could figure out storyline and I could have time to make that transition away from all these 8 year relationships. It was a difficult decision but I felt I had taken Dr. Halston as far as I could take him." 

Late last year, Brian Tee appeared in his last episode of Chicago Med as Dr. Ethan Choi, though he came back as director for one episode. 

"I've thought a lot about what Dr. Choi represents. As far as my career path, it was the school of hard knocks for a long time," Tee told Deadline when he announced his exit. "I took what the industry granted me as far as opportunities were concerned. At that time, the box I was allowed to play in around 20-plus years ago, was very limited; it was very stereotypical, and cliche like playing the Asian bad guy archetype. I have nothing against it; I was able to build a career but it never propelled me to a level of which I knew I was capable. Then literally, as I'm playing Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the villain of all Asian villains, my phone rings and it's my agent asking me if I want to go to Chicago."

What do you think is next for Chicago Med after losing so many key characters? Let us know in the comments!