The Will Detail That Tests Chicago Med Fans' Suspension Of Disbelief

When it comes to polarizing characters on NBC's hit series "Chicago Med," Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) manages to stir up plenty of fan debates. Of course, this is hardly a shock. Any central figure on a dramatic TV series that has endured and prospered for as long as this show is guaranteed to come with a virtual baggage car of intriguing and/or infuriating quirks and flaws designed to make a character relatable, memorable, or, at the very least, human.

In Will Halstead's case, however, some of the character's developments have clearly strained the limits of credibility with even the most loyal "Chicago Med" viewers. In his eight seasons with the show, Will's many narrative arcs have seen him engage in decidedly sketchy behaviors or found him burdened with newly devised or previous backstory elements that have fans giving the character serious side-eye. From getting fired and then immediately re-hired after covering up for fellow doctor Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) pilfering drugs from an ongoing medical test to ignoring patients' documented Do Not Resuscitate orders, this doctor has pushed the envelope of believability more than once. Considering his record on the show, what's one specific detail about Dr. Halstead on "Chicago Med" that fans find simply too much to go along with?

After he lands a $1.2 million "whistleblower" award for helping to expose a medical equipment scam at the hospital, it's revealed that Will Halstead bought a Chicago apartment building with some of the reward money. Fans have trouble swallowing this turn of events for a variety of reasons.

Posting on a discussion in the show's subreddit titled, "How did Will Afford an entire building?!", Reddit user u/Linguistin229 complained, "He got $1.2m, said he had sky-high [mal] practice insurance so he's maybe got half of that at best... this seems entirely unrealistic!" The poster went on to note that Will is also rehabbing the building's units, so he would also need money to cover that expense. On the same thread, another commenter feels the show overall is unrealistic whether the scenes take place in the hospital or outside of it, while poster u/skieurope12 wrote that Will might have gotten a mortgage before adding, "That said, I doubt the 1.2 million would even cover the down payment... So definitely unreasonable." 

However, Redditor u/zorbacles disagrees that Will's real estate gambit is out of bounds, posting links to a Chicago real estate site with comparatively low prices listed for several apartment buildings, commenting, "Doesn't take a lot of research... took me about 30s to find those. And im in Australia."