Since the first season of Chicago Med, Marlyne Barrett’s Maggie Lockwood has played a pivotal role in the show as one of the medical drama's most prominently featured nurses. After Yaya DaCosta exited the series at the end of season 6, Maggie became an even more central fixture in the show as the sole series regular character who played a nurse rather than a doctor.
Maggie was a central figure in the ED and was the true heart of the department. She was a strong advocate for both her patients and the doctors working to treat them, and she was often at the heart of each episode’s major storylines. In fact, through Maggie, the show was able to tell storylines that otherwise wouldn’t have worked by leaning into Maggie’s status as a nurse to explore the hardships that come from those in the profession.
When it was announced that Barrett would not be coming back for Chicago Med season 11, we wondered how the show would fill the void left by Maggie’s absence. They’d end up doing so by having Doris step up as the new charge nurse in the ED, which was amazing to see, but there was just one problem. While it was established that Doris had taken over for Maggie, she didn’t get near the level of screen time Maggie received, nor did she take center stage in any major storylines.
Yes, the show used Doris more prominently in the season and featured her more than we’d ever seen before in past seasons; however, they failed to give her the same types of storylines that put her front and center as we’d see with Maggie. Throughout the season she was relegated to the background rather than getting to truly step into the spotlight, which was such a shame.
The closest we came to seeing Doris play an actual key role in an episode came in “The Book of Charles” as Doris helped Charles find out more about his daughter’s new boyfriend. It was great to get to see Doris involved in a more central storyline, but even that episode didn’t really give her much to work with, which is such a shame because Lorena Diaz is an incredible talent the show is criminally underutilizing.
We understand that Doris has been more of a recurring side character through the years, but if Maggie does not return in season 12, the show needs to finally begin giving Doris the respect she’s more than earned through stronger storylines.
Let’s see Doris butting heads with an occasional doctor due to a disagreement in the patient’s care and stepping into the patient advocate role we so often saw Maggie take on. Put her in a position where she’s working more closely with a doctor and is closely involved in a patient’s case, helping to break through the noise by listening to the patient in the same manner in which Maggie would. Let’s see Doris coming to a doctor’s defense when a patient crosses a line or taking command of the ED during a crazy shift.
There are so many ways the show can look to feature Doris in a more prominent role come season 12 and it’s something that we desperately need to see in season 12. Nurses are the backbone of the medical industry, and it was always amazing to see Maggie and the nurses of Chicago Med represent these unsung heroes.
If Doris is truly to succeed Maggie as the ED’s charge nurse, we want to see the show giving her the chance to shine and betting bigger on her starting in season 12. She’s an incredible character and it’s time the show realizes this by giving Doris a more central role in the new season!
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!
Be the first to comment on this article!