Chicago Med’s Natalie Manning has always been a strong character, but are her choices in Chicago Med season 4 making her unlikable?

Natalie Manning is the most prominent female character on Chicago Med, so she’s been involved in a lot of the drama that the show presents. But this season has been especially dramatic for her, and it’s also casting her in somewhat of a bad light.

Over the last three seasons, Natalie (Torrey DeVitto) could already be frustrating at certain times, because she has very strong opinions—and sometimes does things despite what her colleagues, patients, or patients’ loved ones want.

Audiences have also seen that in her relationship with Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss), as they’ve spent a fair amount of time arguing over which one of them was right about something.

But the fourth season, particularly Wednesday’s episode, has featured Natalie making choices she might not have made before and being even more assertive than usual.

There’s her relationship with boyfriend Phillip Davis (recurring guest star Ian Harding), which hasn’t been any less uncomfortable to watch now that they’re officially dating.

When Chicago Med introduced Phillip, his wife and the mother of his child died. But it only took maybe two months—even with the show introducing one of its usual time skips—for him and Natalie to be kissing in his kitchen. And she initiated it, which made it worse.

Watch One Chicago on fuboTV: Watch over 67 live sports and entertainment channels with a 7-day FREE trial!

RELATED PRODUCT Chicago Fire Molly's Pub St. Paddy's Day Buy Now!

One could make the argument that Phillip was so distraught, that he attached himself to Natalie since she was there and trying to help him. Natalie has no such defense for her behavior.

As Maggie Lockwood (Marlyne Barrett) pointed out, it’s unprofessional; she was his wife’s doctor and until Wednesday, still his daughter’s doctor. She knows it’s unprofessional; she said as much while almost giddily admitting she didn’t care. It’s also slightly creepy that Natalie was so quickly attracted to a man whose wife died maybe four months ago at this point.

And as Will also noted last night, Natalie’s letting Phillip spend time with Owen a lot faster than she ever let Will be around him. Not just spend time with him—but leaving him alone with her son while she went to get coffee.

She’ll leave Phillip unattended with him, when she’s still getting to know him, but Will—someone she’s known for years—had to wait a lot longer to even get close to Owen. Her choices now don’t make sense with the Natalie Manning who’s been established before.

Then there are her actions outside of that relationship. Natalie’s treatment of the cult member in “More Harm Than Good” came from a good place—wanting to save her life—but it came off as a whole lot more than one of her usual disagreements.

Her believing that Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt) could place a patient on a psychiatric hold in order to force the woman to receive treatment she clearly didn’t want was shocking. It wasn’t just Natalie going against the patient’s wishes, but as Charles pointed out, going against what a psych hold is actually for.

When that didn’t work, Natalie was later seen having the patient restrained to force treatment, over the woman’s literally screamed objections—which barely seemed to faze her.

Natalie’s an opinionated character, but her wanting to manipulate the psychiatric care protocol to force a patient to do what she thought they should and then doing it anyway showed a complete disregard for anything but herself and her point of view. Would she have gone that far in the past seasons of Chicago Med?

Unfortunately, Chicago Med feels like it’s excusing Natalie’s behavior for dramatic license. In the same episode where Maggie tells her that getting close to Phillip is unprofessional, Maggie also encourages Natalie to go to him. After all, if Natalie changed her mind there wouldn’t be a love triangle for the fans to debate about.

Then there’s the conclusion to Wednesday’s episode, where Charles chastizes Natalie for her behavior—but then enables it. He convinces the cult member to take sleeping pills, then tells Natalie that legally makes it okay for her to treat the patient without her consent. She’s rewarded for her conduct, not only by Charles, but by the show since she’s saved the patient’s life (at least within the context of the episode).

Natalie Manning isn’t perfect, and she shouldn’t be expected to be. But the way she’s been written in Chicago Med season 4 is getting harder and harder to root for, which is even more difficult since she’s not just a main character but the show’s female lead. She should be one of the people we’re the most invested in—and instead, we’re wondering if this is all going to come crashing down on her.

For the latest Chicago Med season 4 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Med category at One Chicago Center.