To say that working in a hospital emergency department is a challenging job is a massive understatement. In Season 9 of Chicago Med, the staff at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center dealt with countless stressful (and gory) situations where life hung in the balance — including a memorable helicopter landing in Episode 10 in which charge nurse Maggie Lockwood (Marlyne Barrett) heroically saved the life of Dr. Loren Johnson (Henderson Wade).
But the Season 9 finale (“I Think I Know You, But Do I Really?”) stood out in an epic season. Episode 13 explored a heart-wrenching situation that reminded viewers that doctors are human, too — and that loss can sometimes trigger buried emotions and push people to the brink.
What happened to Crockett Marcel in the Chicago Med Season 9 finale?
Dr. Crockett Marcel (Dominic Rains) learned some devastating news in the Season 9 finale, when he discovered that not only had a boy who was his patient had died, but that the boy’s father had then taken his own life. What made matters worse was that Crockett made the decision in the prior episode to deny the boy, Colin Storch, a liver transplant because the kid had developed an infection just before his scheduled surgery. Colin’s father, Bill Storch (Josh Zuckerman), took the news of the denied transplant extremely hard, blaming Crockett and knowing it would likely amount to a death sentence for his son.
After Crockett received the horrific news, he backed out of a surgery, deeply affected by the boy’s death. Realizing the impact that the loss had on Crockett, Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) told him to take all the time he needed. He later admitted in a heart-to-heart conversation with Maggie that Colin’s death brought up memories of losing his baby daughter to leukemia, whom he said he never properly grieved.
What will happen to Crockett after that devastating Chicago Med finale?
We’re not sure yet — you’ll have to tune in next season to find out! Season 10 of Chicago Med kicks off in the fall of 2024.
In Episode 12 of Season 9, Crockett was set to give his young patient, Colin, a life-saving liver transplant as a match had been secured. But then, hospital staff noticed that Colin’s white blood cell count was off and that he had a fever. They soon discovered that the boy had stubbed his toe a few weeks before, which caused a stubborn infection that wasn’t immediately responding to antibiotics.
Further complicating matters, the organ was from an adult donor, meaning it had to be resized. Crockett was confident this wouldn’t be an issue, but Dr. Justin Morris (Lee Jones) warned him that it seemed “like a bit of a leap — even for a cowboy like you, Marcel.”
Crockett shot back that he’d done the procedure before.
“If you’re wrong, you’ll fry the liver before he even walks out the door,” Morris told the surgeon, adding, “And you can explain that to the next patient on the list who was passed over.”
Such a decision would weigh on anyone’s conscience, and the normally unflappable Crockett felt the pressure. As the clock ticked away to place the organ and Colin’s fever had yet to come down, Sharon broke some difficult news: “Unfortunately, we’re out of time. I just spoke with Dr. Morris. He’s convening the transplant committee. He’s insisting we release the liver.”
While Colin’s fever persisted, Crockett and Morris made their cases to the committee.
“He has a fever,” Morris said of the boy. “The infection is systemic.”
“With a new liver, his body will be strong enough to fight it off,” Crockett responded.
Morris wouldn’t let up, saying, “You’re wasting everyone’s time, Marcel. We have another candidate lined up and you refuse to acknowledge that your patient is no longer a viable option.”
Crockett then pointed out that Colin won’t survive without the liver.
“He very well may not survive with it,” Morris said.
Crockett Marcel had to make a tough call
With no consensus by the committee, Sharon left the decision in Crockett’s hands since the liver had already been allocated to his patient.
Ultimately, Crockett chose not to give the liver to the boy.
“His infection, fever, he’s not strong enough,” Crockett told Bill, Colin’s shocked father, who was beside himself with grief. “He won’t survive the surgery.”
Bill railed: “You promised me… You said you could save him. You said that!”
Later, as Colin was being discharged, he nervously asked Crockett, “Am I gonna die?”
Crockett tried to come up with an answer, but the boy’s father hurried the child out of the hospital, while glaring at Crockett.
Crockett got devastating news in the Chicago Med Season 9 finale
Fast-forward to the Season 9 finale, and Colin and his father Bill were still on Crockett’s mind. When the doctor ran into Maggie, he asked if she’d heard anything about the family, and she shook her head no. “Well, let me know if you do,” he said.
“I know it was tough sending that little boy home,” said Maggie.
Later on in the day, Maggie let out a distressed sigh after checking her phone. Handing the device over to Crockett, she told him: “You said you wanted to know.”
“Oh, dear God,” uttered the stunned doctor, who shook his head in disbelief and walked away with tears in his eyes.
As a planned surgery got underway, Dr. Hannah Asher (Jessy Schram) was surprised to see surgical resident Dr. Kai Tanaka-Reed (Devin Kawaoka) scrubbing his hands to prepare for it instead of Crockett. “Where’s Crockett?,” she asked.
“He asked me to cover for him,” responded Kai.
Hannah wondered why, and Kai explained that Crockett didn’t think he’d be at his best, saying he didn’t have any more info than that.
Crockett’s absence from the surgery raised a red flag, and Sharon later asked him in her office, “I was told you took yourself out of a surgery? Now that’s not like you.”
Marcel informed her, “I learned that Colin Storch, the young boy who needed that liver transplant, he died. And then, his father, Bill, killed himself.”
Sharon understood the emotional toll this was taking on him and, walking out from behind her desk, gently told the shaken doctor, “I know this is a terrible blow. Take all the time you need. Please.”
Crockett Marcel opened up about his dead baby daughter
Knowing that Crockett was deeply upset, Maggie tracked down him down, finding him alone on the hospital’s roof deck, lost in contemplation.
“Hear how Bill did it?,” Crockett asked her.
“Paramedics said it was a handgun,” Maggie told him. Then Crockett revealed: “I know how he felt. I didn’t have a gun.”
“What?,” asked a shocked Maggie.
“I lost a child too,” he revealed. His baby girl, Harper, died of leukemia just after her first birthday, he told her.
“What saved me, was my work,” Crockett said. “Work kept me going. It has all along. So, when I sent Colin home, knowing he was gonna die, it just put me right back there again. I felt that same sense of helplessness — nothing I could do. Death was coming, and there was nothing I could do.
“I guess it made me realize the way I’ve been living — I never really took the time to grieve,” he continued. “Grieve for my baby girl.”
As he trailed off, Maggie moved closer to Crockett and placed her hand on the back of his head to comfort him, explaining, “I don’t know what to say, Crockett.” She extended her hand, and he took it in his. “I appreciate you, Maggie,” he said.
“And I appreciate you,” she replied. Suddenly, the distraught doctor stood up to leave, and Maggie asked, “See you tomorrow?” Crockett gazed down at his feet without saying a word, and after a pause, nodded yes.
Season 10 is set to premiere on NBC in the fall of 2024, when you can catch the series in its regular time slot, Wednesdays at 8/7c p.m. To catch up on past episodes, watch repeats in that same time slot from May 29 through July 24, or stream them on Peacock.
