Change is in the air of the One Chicago franchise once again, with fans bracing for a rough start to the new seasons of NBC’s first responder franchise. Three major members of the One Chicago franchise are set to exit at the top of the new season, with LaRoyce Hawkins exiting Chicago PD after 13 seasons as Kevin Atwater, Joe Minoso departing Chicago Fire after 14 seasons as Joe Cruz, and Dermot Mulroney’s run as Dom Pascal being cut short after just two seasons.
Chicago Med fans have been waiting with bated breath for news of a cast shakeup at Gaffney, but it seems One Chicago’s medical branch won’t be impacted by any major departures. Instead, it seems the show’s creative team is hard at work bringing back an original cast member!
In a recent interview with Give Me My Remote, Chicago Med showrunner Allen MacDonald confirmed that he is planning on bringing back yet another original cast member.
“I am hopeful that another original cast member will be returning this season,” MacDonald teased of his plans for season 12.
Unfortunately, MacDonald did not elaborate further on his plans, which makes it hard to know if the plan is simply to bring this original cast member back for a one-off guest spot or if they could return for a bigger arc. We’ve seen both happen in the show’s past, but it certainly seems like this could be more of a guest arc situation rather than bringing an original cast member back in a larger, more full-time capacity.
Honoring the show’s legacy characters has been something MacDonald has prioritized since taking over as showrunner in season 10. In the last two seasons, MacDonald has managed to bring back several key characters from the show’s early seasons by staging the returns of Rachel DiPillo as Dr. Sarah Reese, Nick Gehlfuss as Dr. Will Halstead, and Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Natalie Manning.
Considering that two of the show’s original cast members, Oliver Platt and S. Epatha Merkerson, remain on the show, and MacDonald has already brought back three members of Chicago Med’s original cast, that leaves us with just a few names on the shortlist for MacDonald to bring back.
First there is Marlyne Barrett. Barrett took an unexpected step back from the show after season 10, and fans have been anxiously awaiting her return as Maggie Lockwood. MacDonald left the door wide open for Barrett to return, and it would be amazing if Maggie were the original cast member in talks to appear in season 12.
Then there is the duo of Brian Tee and Yaya DaCosta, who played Dr. Ethan Choi and nurse April Sexton on the show for several seasons. Ethan and April were the show’s core couple for several seasons, with the pair playing a central role in the success of Chicago Med’s early seasons. Fans adored both Ethan and April and were heartbroken when Tee and DaCosta left. After all these years, it would be nice to get an update on how the pair are doing and a glimpse into their lives together.
Finally, there is a character whose exit remains one of the show’s most shocking. We’re referring to Colin Donnell, whose time on the show came to an abrupt end at the top of season 5 due to creative differences. Throughout the first four seasons of Chicago Med, Donnell’s Dr. Connor Rhodes was a core part of the show’s ensemble and was the show’s main gateway into surgical storytelling, which helped give him some amazing arcs throughout his run. After such an extended break, it would be fun to see Connor back at Gaffney getting to interact with so many characters for the first time. We’re sure he’d ruffle some feathers along the way, which would definitely make for great TV.
No matter which of these original cast members MacDonald is working on bringing back, fans are in store for quite a treat. And who knows, there could end up being more than just one familiar face that Chicago Med season 12 brings back into the fold!
Chicago Med showrunner hints we've seen the last of one of the show's most disliked characters
The final episodes of Chicago Med season 11 took an unexpectedly darker turn for Dr. John Frost as the season revisited his traumatic experiences growing up as a child actor and his rocky relationship with his parents, who failed to protect him. It all began when Frost’s parents, James and Celeste, showed up in town hoping to reconnect with their understandably estranged son.
Frost would eventually agree to meet with his parents, and he came to learn that his father’s health was in decline due to his MS diagnosis. As the season progressed, Frost would come to learn that his father was not suffering from MS, but rather he had a tumor on his spine which was causing MS-like symptoms. He’d also come to learn that his dad knew about the tumor but didn’t explore treatment out of fear.
By the time Frost found out the truth, his father was no longer eligible for a medical trial which could provide treatment designed to shrink the tumor. Despite their fractured relationship, Frost didn’t want to give up on his dad and agreed to sign on for a Nick of Time reboot series in order to make the money needed to pay for his father’s expensive treatment.
It was clear from the start that Frost did not want to return to acting, but it was a means to an end to make the money needed for his father’s treatment. He was all set to proceed with the project until the reboot’s producer surprised him at lunch with the news that Ainsley, the woman who played his mom on the show and took advantage of Frost as a teen, had been added to the cast.
Upon learning the news, Frost chose to walk away from the reboot which was when he’d come to find out that his father knew about his relationship with Ainsley and never stepped in to protect him. Instead, he turned a blind eye. This led to another fallout between Frost and his father, one that was short-lived as Frost would learn in the penultimate episode of the season that his dad’s treatments were not working and he’d been moved to hospice care.
The season finale saw Frost make peace with his father as he stayed with him through his final hours and remained at his side until his father passed as the finale came to a close.
Jessalyn Gilsig not expected to return for Chicago Med season 12
Needless to say, the back half of the season was particularly trying for Frost in many ways, but it was one that allowed the show to close the book on the past as the show focuses on how Frost will move forward. With the closing of this book, Chicago Med showrunner Allen MacDonald seemed to indicate that we’ve seen the last of a character that quickly became one of the show’s most disliked characters: Ainsley.
While you can truly never say never in the world of television, MacDonald appears to have all but confirmed we’ve seen the last of Ainsley on Chicago Med. In speaking with Parade following the finale, MacDonald noted that while they’ll always make reference to Frost’s past and to Nick of Time and Ainsley, specifically, they’ve closed the book on that—seeming to hint that while Ainsley might come up in conversation, she won’t be popping back up on the show directly.
“There’s a weight lifted off his shoulders. I think the past has always been something he’s run away from, that he thought he didn’t need to deal with it but it was actually weighing him down more because he wasn’t. We’ve spent the last two seasons with him slowly confronting the past and growing from the processing of it, and now I believe next season he’s going to move on,” MacDonald revealed. “There will be other challenges next season for Dr. John Frost, but as far as the past and Nick of Time and Ainsley, those are things we’ll always make reference to, but I feel like we’re closing the book on that, on the past, and now he’s going to move forward.”
As much as we love Jessalyn Gilsig, who was phenomenal in the role of Ainsley, it does make sense for her appearance in season 11, episode 19, “Exit Strategies," to serve as her final episode on the show.
Frost will surely continue to unpack the events of his past in the new season as he works on his relationship with his mom following his father’s death, but we don’t need to see Ainsley back again as it’s time the show began to allow Frost to reclaim his future and move forward. Thankfully, that seems to be the plan, and we’re certainly eager to see what season 12 will bring for Frost as he begins this new chapter in his story!
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