Chicago Med is making moves. The medical drama has announced that it will be introducing a new character in season 8, in order to fill the gap left by Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss). The character will also be a doctor, and according to TV Line, he’s known Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt) since he was a young man.
It makes sense to bring in new talent, given that Med lost Halstead, Dr. Dylan Scott (Guy Lockard), and Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) in season 8. These three drove a sizable chunk of the stories, so it stands to reason that the writers would want characters who could fulfill similar roles within the framework of the show.The thing is, the TV Line piece that broke the news included an interesting detail regarding the new character’s (and the show’s) future. The new character “is set to recur on the NBC drama, with the potential for a series-regular upgrade in Season 10”, the outlet states. Season 10?! There have not been any public announcements regarding the renewal plans for Chicago Med, or the other shows in the One Chicago franchise, but this sentence suggests that NBC is already looking to re-up.
While it’s possible that the outlet was assuming a season 10 was in the works, the definitiveness of the statement is worth considering. NBC is doing the best they can to initiate production on the One Chicago shows, with all three of them slated to begin shooting in late November, but the fact remains, the 2024 season will only feature 10-13 episodes.Given how successful One Chicago has been for the network historically, it would make sense to renew each of them, or at least open up the possibility of renewal for additional seasons. Fans are going to be eager to get another full season out of Chicago Med and its peers, especially if it brings in new talent and continues to evolve.
We will keep an eye on future reports discussing the show’s future, which should become more frequent given that that actors strike has been resolved, and actors and showrunners will be able to discuss and promote their shows. As it stands, we may have gotten an early indicator of (good) things to come.