Did You Notice This Clever Detail Hidden in Chicago Med’s Episode Titles?
Chicago Med episode titles used to match the season number, leading to some seriously creative episode names throughout the years.
Over its 10 triumphant years on air, Chicago Med has maintained the tradition of delivering pulse-pounding suspense, emotional medical drama, and blood-pumping One Chicago crossovers with Chicago P.D. and Chicago Fire. For years, the show's episode titles held another clever tradition of titling episodes to coincide with the season number.
From the show's earliest seasons, Chicago Med quietly established a unique naming convention that reflected the depth of the viewers' journey with the series. Every episode was named with as many words as the season it represented. For example, Chicago Med's pilot, Season 1, Episode 1 ("Derailed"), has a one-word title, while the Season 9 premiere ("Row Row Row Your Boat on a Rocky Sea") has nine. It was a fun, behind-the-scenes flourish that offered some structure to the chaos of Gaffney Chicago Medical Center — for fans who noticed.
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So, what's the deal with Chicago Med's titling system? Check out some of the writers' most impressively worded episode names, below.
Chicago Med's episode titles followed a fun pattern for many seasons
By the time Chicago Med entered its milestone 10th season, the playful formula for episode naming had started to bump against natural limits. After all, a ten-word episode title can get a little cumbersome. Season 2 episodes, such as "Generation Gap" and "Alternative Medicine," were concise and to the point. By Season 4, it was easier to pick up on the pattern, with titles like "More Harm Than Good," "Ghosts in the Attic," and "Old Flames, New Sparks" following an even more deliberate four-word format.
The longer the show ran, the more noticeable this trend became. Season 8's "How Do You Begin to Count the Losses" and "Everyone's Fighting Battle You Know Nothing About" truly stretched the limits of primetime titling, often culminating in episode titles inspired by characters' quotes. The lengthy episode titles not only gave the brilliant Med writers a fun and creative challenge for each week's episode but also provided viewers with clues as to what to expect ahead at Gaffney Medical Center.
Alas, with Season 10 of Chicago Med, the series officially called time on the word-count game. While a ten-word title might not seem too unwieldy at first, maintaining that standard for an entire series' run proves tricky — and Dick Wolf's One Chicago shows have maintained their chokehold for decades. Imagine it: a Season 14 Med episode with a fourteen-word title becomes less of an episode title and more of a tongue-twister.
The Chicago Med cast honors 10 years of Gaffney thrills
Chicago Med's titles might be shorter nowadays, but the storytelling is still as bold as ever. While celebrating hitting a milestone Season 10, Med O.G. Oliver Platt — A.K.A. Dr. Daniel Charles — spoke of the joys of connecting with his Gaffney family every season.
"We work with these extraordinary Chicago-based crews, and it's such a cliche, but we've been doing this for 10 years now," Platt told NBC Insider. "That's a significant percentage of my life, right? ... It's sort of like there's a family reunion happening at the beginning of every season. Which just adds to this overwhelming sense of gratitude."
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Med's Steven Weber (Dr. Dean Archer) echoed the sentiment in a November 2024 interview with NBC Insider. "There's such a connection between the actors and the crew people and the technicians and the producers and the creatives and the writers," Weber revealed. "And everybody's so grateful to be there that it's becoming one collection of great memories to come. We've had loads of laughs; there have been tears. There's been a real bonding that happens."
