Chicago Med season 12 is officially happening, but just because the show is coming back for another season this fall doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone in the cast will be coming back for the new season.
It’s become a recurring theme for there to be cast comings and goings every summer for the One Chicago shows, and you never know which series might be impacted. Last year, each of the One Chicago shows was impacted in some way, be it through cast exits or new additions to the series regulars' cast. Thus far, things have been relatively quiet on the casting front, which is both relieving and also makes us stressed about whether any cast shakeups could be coming and simply haven’t been announced.
At the moment, there are only two members of the Chicago Med cast whose status for season 12 has been confirmed: S. Epatha Merkerson (Sharon Goodwin) and Oliver Platt (Dr. Daniel Charles). Both of the show’s original cast members inked new deals to return for season 12, confirming their returns and making them the only two members of the cast whose involvement in season 12 has been confirmed.
This leaves the futures of Steven Weber (Dr. Dean Archer), Jessy Schram (Dr. Hannah Asher), Luke Mitchell (Dr. Mitch Ripley), Sarah Ramos (Dr. Caitlin Lenox), Darren Barnet (Dr. John Frost), and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut (Dr. Naomi Howard) up in the air and unconfirmed.
Looking at the ensemble, we don’t anticipate any cast departures, with all six actors expected to be back for Chicago Med season 12. There have been no indications that any of these stars won’t be returning, and they remain central members of the show’s ensemble. While their contract statuses remain unclear, we’d be shocked if Weber, Schram, Mitchell, Ramos, Barnet, or Chestnut did not return for the new season.
That’s not to say an exit isn’t possible, as we didn’t foresee the departure of Marlyne Barrett heading into season 11, so surprise departures can happen. We just don’t get the sense that any of the Chicago Med series regulars are looking to leave the show, and no main character’s exit was set into motion in the season 11 finale aside from Goodwin, who we know will be back for season 12.
The only other exit that was set in motion in the season 11 finale was the departure of Manish Dayal’s Dr. Theo Rabari. The finale closed with Theo seeming to offer a final goodbye to Dr. Charles, hinting that he was leaving Gaffney after his failed attempt to take over the psychiatry department. There is a chance we could see Theo back in season 12, but that final scene between him and Charles felt like a sendoff, so that’s the one character we’re not expecting back.
With filming set to begin in July, we’ll likely learn more about the Chicago Med season 12 cast in the weeks ahead and hopefully will get confirmation on the rest of the cast’s status. For now, we can at least rest assured that the show’s two remaining original stars will be back!
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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