What This Major Chicago Med Characters Exit Means For the Show

When Chicago Med eventually developed Crockett’s own personality and storylines that weren’t connected to someone else, the character flourished. He matured from a hotshot surgeon into someone who mentored other staff members and became involved in the hospital’s administration. He did a large amount of self-reflection — and not just about his devastating backstory involving an ex-wife and the loss of a child. He also thought about who he had been, as someone who emigrated to the United States when he was two, and who he wanted to be. Even in Season 9, he was thinking about how to be a better colleague after the firing of Zola Ahmad and his subsequent friction with Kai Tanaka-Reed. Crockett became a leader in the hospital and Dominic Rains likewise became a fixture of the show, finding wonderful depth in a character who first seemed like he’d never have any.

What Dominic Rains Brought to Chicago Med

The Actor Made Crockett Marcel a Much Stronger Character

Dominic Rains deserves an incredible amount of credit for making Crockett Marcel a success. The character would not have grown without him. Rains, who’s also well-known for playing the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. villain Kasius, was able to create a more serious and more grounded version of Crockett that didn’t always exist. That’s something that came more out of his performance, because the writing took him to some dramatic and even strange places. At the end of his very first season, Crockett became a murder suspect and was arrested — he was innocent, of course, but the story didn’t feel like it fit him. He wasn’t even the first main character to get arrested.

Then after Crockett’s relationship with Natalie ended, he embarked on a flirtation with Dr. Pamela Blake during Chicago Med Season 7. This had every chance to be a great story, since Blake was played by Suits standout Sarah Rafferty and she created a fun chemistry with Rains. But it was overcomplicated by an attempted love triangle between Crockett, Blake and Blake’s daughter Avery. The subplot never flourished and the character of Blake was promptly written out. Between kissing April, hooking up with Natalie after almost getting fired, and what happened with Blake, Crockett’s love life was always melodramatic. It’s a credit to Rains that he didn’t lean into it and kept Crockett feeling like someone the audience could relate to.

Professionally, Crockett brought back an element of the TV show that had been missing. Earlier seasons of Chicago Med were more broad in their stories; the action didn’t always center around the Emergency Department. Dr. Daniel Charles and Dr. Sarah Reese could have their own cases in the Psychiatry Department, while Connor and Dr. Isidore Latham could have separate plots as cardiothoracic surgeons. Obviously it was much easier for the writers to condense the show around the ED and not dedicate storylines to each different specialty every week, but the hospital felt so well-rounded and alive when viewers got to see the bigger picture.

Crockett going to board meetings and having his hand in the administration allowed for stories that explored the business of medicine beyond the usual financial complaints. In that respect, some of his scenes in the boardroom were more effective than those of his boss Sharon Goodwin, who was mostly used to diffuse conflicts between or caused by doctors. In Season 9, that didn’t even happen as much because there was more of a focus on Goodwin’s romantic life. And it was Crockett who wasn’t afraid to question Goodwin about her relationship with oncologist Dennis Washington. That was an example of him stepping forward, even if it was ill-advised. Rains had built up Crockett to the point where him sitting in a committee meeting and being the voice of reason made perfect sense. It was a wonderful character arc to see him end up in a place completely opposite from where he started in Season 5. With Crockett no longer a main character, Chicago Med once again feels smaller.

What Happens After Crockett Leaving Chicago Med?

Season 10 Has Some Explaining to Do

The news about Dominic Rains leaving Chicago Med didn’t indicate whether or not he’ll get an on-screen sendoff. He could once again end up following after Colin Donnell, whose departure was likewise announced between seasons, before he returned for one last episode. It would be ironic if Rains received the same treatment after he finally got out from under Donnell’s shadow. But on the other hand, it would be nice for the fans to get a proper goodbye and not simply hear that Crockett never came back. Wolf Entertainment already tried the latter approach when Elliot Stabler left Law & Order: SVU, and it didn’t work until several years later and a whole other spinoff.

Plus, leaving Crockett’s storyline where it is at the end of Season 9 is far from ideal. In Season 9, Episode 12, “Get By With a Little Help From My Friends,” Crockett cancelled a planned liver transplant for a young patient as the boy had contracted an infection that also meant he would likely die in surgery. It was heavily implied at episode’s end that the child wouldn’t survive anyway — and the Season 9 finale revealed that not only had he died, but the patient’s father had taken his own life. The suggestion is that Crockett’s heartbreak over the two deaths will prompt him to resign from the hospital. However, that feels like regression for the character given his backstory. Part of Crockett’s growth was continuing to move on from the loss of his own child. Sending him off because of the passing of another child is just trapping him in the same negative space all over again. Bringing him back for the Chicago Med Season 10 premiere would provide better context and some hope.

Perhaps he tries to come back to the ED, and then decides he’d rather focus on working with children in some capacity. Or he gets a promotion opportunity in New Orleans or another city, and takes it because he can move up the ranks and make more of a difference than he was able to in Chicago. So many One Chicago character exits have been connected to tragedy; if Crockett doesn’t come back, his last story arcs were questioning himself as a mentor and then questioning himself as a doctor. He deserves better than that, and so do the fans who’ve invested half a decade into rooting for his character. This show knows how to write happy endings — speaking of Natalie, it brought her back just to give Will Halstead one — and it would be welcome after a TV season where One Chicago fans are still upset over Hailey Upton’s controversial and vague departure from Chicago P.D.

Whenever Dominic Rains leaves, though, new Chicago Med showrunner Allen MacDonald has a bigger question to answer: does the show create another new doctor to fill Crockett’s spot, or does it just roll with the ensemble it has? The reflex on all the One Chicago shows is that whenever an actor leaves, they have to bring someone else in. That’s absolutely not the case this time; the show doesn’t need anyone else. Dr. Mitch Ripley can take the “heroic trauma surgeon” plots that Crockett used to get, and actor Luke Mitchell has been a fantastic addition to the show (it’s a shame he and Rains didn’t get more screen time together). And the largest issue facing Chicago Med is that it tries to cram too many plots into most of its episodes. Slimming down the cast is a way to also focus the series. Dominic Rains arrived having to follow in the footsteps of an incredible star, and he was able to find his own niche. It’s fine to just appreciate that and appreciate Crockett for a while, because he certainly has earned it.