While Chicago Fire and Chicago PD are preparing to say goodbye to several characters in the early episodes of their new seasons, it seems Chicago Med is about to say hello to a familiar face not seen on the show since season 10!
With production officially underway on the new seasons of the One Chicago shows, the cast and crew have been gifting fans with behind-the-scenes glimpses from the set. Most of these photos and videos haven’t given much away, but a new photo shared by Luke Mitchell quietly confirmed a major return coming early in the season.
In the photo, Mitchell poses alongside several of his Chicago Med co-stars on set, including Jessy Schram, Darren Barnet, and Steven Weber, who were all expected back for the new season. Also appearing in the photo, though, is actor Devin Kawaoka, who will apparently be scrubbing back in as Dr. Kai Tanaka-Reed.
Kawaoka joined the cast back in season 8 as a first-year surgical resident. Kai played a major role in the season, appearing in 11 of the season’s 22 episodes. It seemed like he was poised to become a key recurring player in the show, but his role gradually reduced with each passing season, with Kai appearing in just seven episodes across season 9 and that number falling to three episodes in season 10.
Oddly, Kai disappeared without explanation following season 10, episode 12, “In The Wake,” which aired on February 5, 2025. Following his appearance in the episode, Kai was written out of the show with no notice and failed to return in the season. Things went from bad to worse for the character in season 11, with not a single appearance from Kai and no explanation as to where he had gone
What likely occurred was that Chicago Med was forced to write Kai out of the show quietly due to filming conflicts created by Kawaoka’s role in Apple TV+’s Emmy-winning comedy Shrinking. Filming on Shrinking season 3 was delayed due to the Pasadena wildfires, which shifted the show’s schedule and likely prevented Kawaoka from appearing on both series, with Shrinking filming in LA and Chicago Med filming in Chicago.
Thankfully, the door was always left open for Kawaoka to return to Chicago Med and it seems he’ll finally make his way back to Gaffney at the beginning of season 12. Hopefully, the show will provide viewers with a bit of context as to what Kai has been up to since we last saw him, but there is also a chance he’ll simply return and the show will act as though he never left.
Regardless of how Kai is brought back into the fold, we’re just happy to see Kawaoka finally back on set and are excited for his return at the top of Chicago Med season 12. Hopefully, this won’t be a one-off guest appearance, and fans will be able to look forward to seeing Kawaoka in a more consistent recurring role this season after taking a break from the show.
We’ll find out what the writers have in store when Chicago Med season 12 premieres on Wednesday, October 7, at 8/7c on NBC!
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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