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Since exiting Chicago Med in Season 8, Brian Tee has returned to the beloved medical drama as a director on two separate occasions. However, fans are still eagerly awaiting an on-screen appearance as Dr. Ethan Choi. Is Brian Tee returning to Chicago Med? Keep reading to find out.
Chicago Med is NBC’s medical drama following the personal and professional lives of doctors and nurses in the emergency department of the fictional Gaffney Chicago Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. The series — which was created by Dick Wolf, the same mind behind the Law & Order and FBI franchises — is the third show in NBC’s One Chicago franchise, which also includes Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D.
Brian Tee starred as Dr. Ethan Choi, the Chief of Emergency Medicine at Gaffney and a former lieutenant commander with the United States Navy Reserve, from Seasons 1 to 8 of Chicago Med. Tee left the procedural in Season 8, with his character resigning from Gaffney to open a mobile medical clinic for underserved communities with his wife, April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta).
When asked by NBC Insider why Dr. Choi needed to leave Gaffney when he did, the actor replied: “I think Choi wanted more. I think he needed to help the people he felt needed him the most.” Tee continued, “I think he loved Chicago Med, but he had a higher purpose in the sense of really trying to heal a city that is wounded. Especially in the inner cities, especially those that, you know, may be struggling either financially or situationally.”
He was also asked if he would ever return to One Chicago, as many actors who have left the universe have done. “I leave the door always open. Chicago Med has been an incredible experience and ride for myself personally. And I’ve made some wonderful friends that I hold near and dear to my heart,” Tee said “And going back just to work—not even being in front of the camera—going back to work, and seeing and working with the cast and crew would just be a joy to do.”
Read on to see if Brian Tee is returning to Chicago Med and how he’d want his character to come back.
Is Brian Tee returning to Chicago Med?
Although we don’t know for sure, Tee is certainly open to the idea. In fact, the actor hasn’t entirely exited the show. Following his departure, Tee returned to direct the Season 8 episode “Know When to Hold and When to Fold,” as well as the Season 9 episode “I Think There Is Something You’re Not Telling Me.” While he is enjoying being behind-the-scenes for now, the Expats star told TVLine during a June 2024 interview that “there’s always conversation [about] returning on screen.”
“It’s interesting. I think, every season, Chicago Med goes through a bit of a flux, but I get to come back, and I play with all the cast and the crew on the director side of things,” he continued. “So we’ll always start that conversation, and if the right time or the right storyline comes along, maybe it might happen. So it’s kind of one of those things that you never say goodbye to.”
Not only is Tee open to returning on-screen, but he’s already got the perfect way for Dr. Ethan Choi to come back to Gaffney. “I think probably the hospital needs help. Some kind of tragedy is about to happen, some kind of major catastrophe drama,” he pitched, adding: “And maybe they bring back myself and Will Halstead [played by Nick Gehlfuss] and [Ethan’s wife] April [played by Yaya DaCosta] and bring back some of the old crew to kind of fix things to what it was.”
Gehlfuss exited the series in the Season 8 finale, while DaCosta left at the same time as Tee, shortly after their characters got married.
Tee is also interested in directing episodes of other One Chicago shows. “That would be my next thing. It’s not quite on the docket yet. I mean, it’s on the docket for me, hopefully. So we’ll see,” Tee told the outlet. “Everyone there, as far as P.D. and Fire, are doing incredible work. And I know it’s a lot harder to shoot because they shoot outside. Us on Chicago Med get to be indoors most of the time. So that will be much more of an adventure as far as my directing is concerned.”
Since leaving the show, Tee has remained booked and busy. He recently starred opposite Nicole Kidman in the Amazon Prime Video series Expats. The show, which premiered on Jan. 26, 2024, is based on Janice Y.K. Lee’s novel, The Expatriates, and has not yet been renewed for a Season 2. Tee portrayed Clarke Woo, a devoted husband and father who has no desire to exchange his expat lifestyle for American suburbia until he’s faced with an impossible choice.
