Chicago Med wasted no time in the 2024 TV schedule before making changes to the ED, including saying goodbye to two doctors and welcoming two newcomers in the Season 10 premiere. In the second episode of the season, an ER alum has come on board as part of a case that causes problems for Dr. Frost (Darren Barnet). Sharif Atkins, who spent five seasons on NBC’s ER as Dr. Michael Gallant, spoke with CinemaBlend about joining Med to cause some problems for the new doctor.
Sharif Atkins guest stars in the episode of Chicago Med that airs on October 2, following the Season 10 premiere (available streaming via Peacock subscription) that totally upset the previous balance of the ED. It’s clear from the promo that Episode 2 won’t exactly calm things down, including a quick shot of Atkins’ character punching Dr. Frost. Atkins previewed what’s on the way and why he wanted to tackle the role:
It’s interesting playing the role of Joe Thomas, a father, married with a wonderful son. They learn after going in for what he believes is just a minor medical thing that their son’s cancer has resurfaced. [There’s] not only the heartbreak of learning about the cancer, but the heartbreak of believing they had beat it, because it was something he had struggled with previously. Just that story in and of itself, I was like, ‘Oh!’ To walk through that with some fantastic actors, Crystal Lee Brown and Kevin Chacon, it was really very profound, very profound.
“Profound” on a medical drama can often mean tragedy, and a happy ending isn’t guaranteed in One Chicago. (Case in point: recent events on Chicago P.D.) In light of the punch in the promo, I noted to the ER alum that it seems like his character is in for a stressful ride. Sharif Atkins laughed and said:
Things get a little bit heightened! Things get a little bit heightened. They crafted a really cool storyline where the parents and the doctor, Dr. Frost, played by Darren Barnet, butt heads, and in my estimation, it’s really about how best to love on our son. The doc believes that our son having every bit of the information he needs to make an informed decision about his own health is the way to go. His loving parents, I being one of them, believe that because of the diagnosis, we’d prefer to just have him be as hopeful as possible. It’s a heartbreaking storyline, and that tension really does reach its peak during the course of the episode.
All in all, the plot sounds like it would be stressful and heartbreaking for any of the Chicago Med characters. For Dr. Frost, who will be in just his second episode of the show, I imagine it could be even more complicated.
After all, Dr. Frost doesn’t have an ED full of close friends behind him like his new colleagues do. According to Sharif Atkins, he filmed this episode when Darren Barnet was still pretty fresh on Med:
Literally, when we were shooting, I think he had literally just got off the proverbial bus a couple of days before. But he really eased right into it. You would have thought that he would already have been on the show for a couple of seasons, because he was very smooth and had that requisite empathy that you would hope a doctor has.
See what Chicago Med has in store with Sharif Atkins with the new episode on Wednesday, October 2 at 8 p.m. ET. For a taste of what’s to come for the second episode under new showrunner Allen MacDonald, check out the promo below:
As always, Chicago Med opens NBC’s hit One Chicago block on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET. Chicago Fire follows at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. closes out Chicago Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET. The full runs of all three shows so far are all available streaming on Peacock. If you want to check out Sharif Atkins’ time as Gallant on ER, you can find that medical drama streaming with a Hulu subscription.
