Now that Chicago Med is in the midst of airing its 10th season, there is no denying that the show has been a huge success. In order for Chicago Med to have lasted so long and entertained millions of people for years, a lot has had to go right. However, the sad truth is that Chicago Med simply isn’t as great as it used to be for a very specific and disappointing reason.
Since Chicago Med premiered, something has consistently been happening that has caused the show to go severely downhill. Tragically for the show’s millions of fans, it also seems very likely that the trend that has ruined Chicago Med is irreversible.
Chicago Med’s Core Cast Members Leaving Have Made The Show Go Severely Downhill
After Chicago Med premiered on November 17, 2015, the show is currently in the middle of airing its 10th season. Similarly, Chicago Med is approaching the point when the show will have been on the air for a decade. As impressive as that is, the fact that Chicago Med still has a devoted fan following is the most impressive thing the show has accomplished.
Since Chicago Med’s currently airing 10th season has continued to get solid ratings, the show’s producers may think there is no reason to change things. However, the sad truth is that Chicago Med has been going further and further downhill over the last several seasons.
Now that it is becoming more common for the most popular shows to last many seasons, starring cast members can come and go. While that is becoming more common, Chicago Med losing so many of its core cast members has made the show go severely downhill.
Looking at a cast photo from Chicago Med’s first season, it becomes clear that only three of the show’s original stars remain a part of the show.
Chicago Med’s Best Characters, According to CBR | |
|---|---|
Character | Rank |
Dr. Sarah Reese | #10 |
Maggie Lockwood | #9 |
Dr. Connor Rhodes | #8 |
Dr. Dylan Scott | #7 |
Dr. Natalie Manning | #6 |
Dr. Will Halstead | #5 |
April Sexton | #4 |
Dr. Ethan Choi | #3 |
Sharon Goodwin | #2 |
Dr. Daniel Charles | #1 |
Chicago Med’s three remaining main characters from the first season are Maggie Lockwood, Dr. Daniel Charles, and Sharon Goodwin. Fortunately for the fans who still watch Chicago Med, all three of those characters are beloved. However, their continued presence hasn’t been enough to stop the show from suffering.
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A storyline from Chicago Med’s 10th season shows how missed the show’s original stars who’ve left are. After all, Rachel DiPillo returning as Dr. Sarah Reese was treated as a very big deal by fans. That makes sense since Dr. Reese is one of many characters that many fans miss.
Rachel DiPillo made her first Chicago Med appearance as Dr. Sarah Reese in many years during Season 10, episode 8. After returning to the show, it didn’t talk long for Dr. Reese’s actions to make her former mentor, Dr. Daniel Charles, very upset.
The main reason why characters like Dr. Reese are so missed is that it is hard to base an entire show that typically has lengthy seasons around three characters. As a result, it is a big problem that so many of Chicago Med’s best characters are now completely gone from the show.
After Dr. Reese became the first main character to leave Chicago Med, Dr. Connor Rhodes made his last appearance at the end of Season 5. Easily one of the show’s most interesting characters before his departure, Dr. Rhodes left the show amidst one of the Chicago Med’s most controversial storylines.
In June 2023, Screen Rant published an article about Chicago Med’s most “traumatic” character exits. Chicago Med fans certainly won’t be surprised that Dr. Ava Bekker’s exit was named the most traumatizing, followed by Dr. Connor Rhodes.
After Season 6 of Chicago Med, Yaya DaCosta’s April Sexton ended her run as one of the show’s main characters. While April would appear in a handful of Season 8 episodes, she was never one of the show’s main characters again. To say that losing April was a big blow for Chicago Med is a gigantic understatement.
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Torrey DeVitto’s Dr. Natalie Manning left the show after Season 7. While many Chicago Med fans grew to hate Dr. Manning, it was still the departure of another one of the show’s main characters.
By the time Chicago Med’s 8th season ended, the show took the biggest hit yet. After all, Nick Gehlfuss’ Dr. Will Halstead and Brian Tee’s LCDR Dr. Ethan Choi had departed the show by the time that season ended. Having two of Chicago Med’s most notable characters leave is the kind of thing that most shows can’t recover from.
Arguably the only Chicago Med character who was as good as the original cast members who was introduced later on was Dominic Rains’s Dr. Crockett Marcel. After joining the show during the 5th season, Dr. Marcel exhibited effortless charm that quickly made him a key part of the show’s core cast.
Since Dr. Marcel became a huge part of Chicago Med’s success, it was a huge blow when he left the show too. After Chicago Med’s 9th season ended, Dr. Marcel departed the show too.
Why Chicago Med Likely Won’t Be Able To Recover
To be clear, there is no reason to believe that Chicago Med is going to end anytime soon. Instead, it seems very likely that Chicago Med will continue to limp along for many years to come. Then, when Chicago Med finally gets canceled, formerly passionate fans will marvel that they forgot the show is still being produced. The reason why that seems likely to be the case is because the show has done such a poor job creating new characters that matter as much as the originals.
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Now that most of Chicago Med’s original main characters and Dr. Crockett Marcel are gone, it makes sense to look at which characters are still around. Aside from Maggie Lockwood, Dr. Daniel Charles, and Sharon Goodwin still sticking around, Chicago Med simply doesn’t have a strong bench of supporting characters.
Chicago Med’s only new starring characters who’ve stuck around are Steven Weber’s Dr. Dean Archer, Jessy Schram’s Dr. Hannah Asher, and Luke Mitchell’s as Dr. Mitchell Ripley. Every other new main character has either left that show too or been introduced during Season 10. Not only that, Luke Mitchell’s as Dr. Mitchell Ripley was only introduced during the 9th season.
Since Chicago Med has struggled so much to create new characters who can last more than a season, it seems near impossible for the show to replace its departed cast members.
Chicago Med
- Release Date
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November 17, 2015
- Network
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NBC
- Showrunner
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Michael Brandt
- Directors
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Michael Waxman, Michael Pressman, Charles S. Carroll, Milena Govich, Anna Dokoza, Bethany Rooney, Fred Berner, Tess Malone, Mykelti Williamson, SJ Main Muñoz, Donald Petrie, Martha Mitchell, Vincent Misiano, Timothy Busfield, Jonathan Brown, John Polson, Stephen Cragg, Anthony Nardolillo, Michael Berry, David Rodriguez, Afia Nathaniel, Oz Scott, Valerie Weiss, Gonzalo Amat
- Writers
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Joseph Sousa, Lily Dahl, Natalie Drayer, Darin Goldberg, Shelley Meals, Melissa R. Byer, Treena Hancock, Mary Leah Sutton, Simran Baidwan, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Jason Cho, Will Pascoe, Liz Brixius
-
Marlyne Barrett
Maggie Lockwood
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S. Epatha Merkerson
Sharon Goodwin
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Oliver Platt
Dr. Daniel Charles
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Nick Gehlfuss
Dr. Will Halstead
