Throughout its run, Chicago Med has seen its fair share of character exits, some of those being from shocking deaths. In season 11, we have seen the exits of a few characters, including Marlyne Barrett as Maggie and the returns of Halstead and Manning to wrap up their stories.
Well, the series just delivered another an emotional death, this time of an original series character. Chicago Med season 11 episode 6 marked the death of Sharon Goodwin's ex-husband Bert, who has been played by GregAlan Williams since the first season. Bert had been ailing from Alzheimer's and suffered a fall in the previous episode. Unfortunately, this was the end of the road for Bert.
It's unlikely that GregAlan Williams will appear in Chicago Med again as Bert, unless there are sequences in which he is featured in flashbacks or a figment of Goodwin's imagination. (Hey, that's something TV shows frequently do with dead characters.) Of course, it's hard to say goodbye to long-time characters and actors, but it was even harder watching the Goodwins say goodbye to Bert.
"The Story of Us" opened with a home video of the Goodwin family in 1995, when they were happily having dinner and spending time together as a family. It's a major difference to them surrounding Bert around his hospital bed. When Goodwin's oldest son David arrives from out of town, tension soon overtakes the room as he differs from the rest of us family about Bert's end-of-life wishes.
David wants to save Bert, but the rest of the family wants to honor his DNR and allow him to say goodbye peacefully and naturally. Their argument turns into the shocking reveal of a long-hidden familys secret: David isn't Bert's biological son. Michael and Tara weren't told this information about their brother even though Sharon and Bert told David when he was 12.
While the family could have fractured from this bombshell revelation, they allow it to bring them closer. Goodwin has a heart to heart with David to help him realize that it's unfortunately Bert's time. Once again, the family surrounds Bert as he dies. The episode gives the character a beautiful and emotional send-off. Seriously, try not to cry at the end of this episode!
As they say goodbye to their dad, the younger versions of the children are shown to mirror the home video that opened the episode. Leave it to Chicago Med to hit us right in the feels while writing out a character that has been on the show since the first season. However, it's not a bad choice for the series. It's a personal storyline that feels organic for Goodwin this season.
Chicago Med airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC, streaming next day on Peacock.