Life and Death in the Urban Core: Inside the Heart of Emergency Medicine

Chicago Med is still one of my favorite shows, but it hasn’t been the same without several departed characters. The medical drama has had one of the highest turnover rates in the One Chicago universe, and few characters are left during season 10 who have been with the series since season 1. This cast change is not surprising, considering the show has been on for a decade. However, some newer characters have also left Gaffney Medical Center despite their popularity.

As a result, the Chicago Med season 10 cast is almost unrecognizable to anyone who is returning after taking a break from watching this medical drama. New characters mean new story directions, and Chicago Med has created interesting conflicts by adding characters such as prickly Dean Archer (Steven Weber), who arrived in season 6, and Caitlin Lenox (Sarah Ramos), who is a new addition in season 10. However, the series has a different feel than it did in its early seasons, and some characters’ absences are glaringly obvious.

Marcel was a replacement for Connor Rhodes, who left after Chicago Med season 4. He was my favorite character because he cared so deeply about his patients and often butted heads with other doctors and administrators over treatment plans. Marcel was also part of one of Chicago Med’s strongest love triangles when he and Will Halstead fought over Natalie Manning. However, the most interesting aspect of Marcel’s character was his tragic backstory.ư

Marcel came to Gaffney Medical Center to numb the pain of losing his 1-year-old daughter to leukemia. He was slow to open up to anybody about his tragedy or let anyone too close because of it, but once he let Natalie in, he told her everything — and it gave both characters and their relationship much more depth. Marcel’s every action at the hospital was layered, with pain, grief, and the desire to heal others all competing for top priority as he navigated complex medical situations.

His final storyline was as tragic as his past. Marcel had to decide to rescind approval for a liver transplant for a young boy at the last minute after the child developed an infection that couldn’t be resolved in time to do the procedure. Not only did the child die, but his father chose to take his own life. Marcel couldn’t bear the guilt and canceled his next surgery, though his final scene involved him promising Maggie he would be back “tomorrow.”

It adds insult to injury that after that strong story, Marcel didn’t get an exit scene. Despite his promise to return, when Chicago Med season 10 premiered, Marcel was absent and someone commented that he had moved to Boston. I was disappointed by this off-screen exit, especially since Chicago Med could have given Marcel a proper exit story by having him quit at the end of his final story instead of promising a return that never came. Instead, Chicago Med replaced him with the far less interesting Mitch Ripley, whose only character trait seems to be self-destruction.

For eight years, Will Halstead was the heart of Chicago Med. Halstead was the original reason for the spinoff — he was the brother of Chicago PD’s Jay Halstead. Will was a rebellious resident who constantly did the wrong thing for the right reasons. His impulsive choices often kept him one step away from being fired, and in many of the best One Chicago crossovers, he worked with Jay to get medical care for victims and bad guys off the streets.