Chicago Med interview: EP on season 10, Ripley – Hannah conflict

The Chicago Med season 10 premiere is poised to air Wednesday night on NBC, and it is fair to say there are changes afoot. Not only has Dominic Rains left the show and the character of Dr. Marcel, but there are new additions both on-screen and off. That includes the arrival of Allen MacDonald as the new showrunner. He joins the series a significant ways into its run, and of course that means having to take on a lot of storylines that have been going on for a while — while introducing new ones, of course!

So what can you expect straight out of the gate for several of these characters, especially Hannah after that big cliffhanger involving Dr. Ripley? We turned to MacDonald recently for answers.

Matt & Jess – How do you prepare for joining a show that is so many years in and has so many episodes? How much time did you have to prepare?

Allen MacDonald – I was actually rather fortunate in that I had several weeks before the writers' room started to sit down, watch the show, and familiarize myself with it and finalize the writing staff. I thought about what I wanted to do in terms of arcs, what kind of challenges I wanted to throw in the path of our medical staff.

I will say that it was a lot, but my friends at Wolf Films have been very supportive and helpful, as have Andrea Newman and Gwen Sigan, who run the other two shows in the franchise. I hit the ground running, but I feel like I had an adequate amount of time to get rolling.

Were there any ideas or themes you specifically wanted to explore that maybe have not been here before?

It was helpful to watch the show and see what had been done and what had not been done. Often, pretty much everything has been done on this show — you have to find a way to tell stories that are in the same vein, but tell them differently. The truth is in medicine, similar cases pop up sometimes.

I would also be remiss if I didn't point out that we also have a writing staff of eight other writers who are supremely talented and helpful at keeping everything moving. No one can do this job by themselves and I have a really strong staff. I'm proud of them and excited for the work they are doing.

How much of a time jump are we going to get here, if any?

We are picking up about a month after the final season of 913, the season finale. The big problem in this episode is a mass-casualty event where a commuter ship has capsized in Navy Pier and there are a lot of injuries and deaths. The lion's share of these patients are being brought to Gaffney, as a nearby hospital is closing. Things are just crazy in the ED.

Then, you add on top of that whether Ripley was involved in the attack on Pavel in the season finale. Even though a month has passed, there is this icy chill still going on between Hannah and Ripley. The reason for that is because he has never told her what his involvement in Pavel's attack was — or, if he wasn't involved at all. He's basically avoided the question altogether. She has told him, at some point in the last month, 'I am not good with that. That is not cool. Unless you decide to be transparent, we're done.'

So that's where we are starting, and the question of who attacked Pavel will be addressed and answered by the end of the premiere.

You do have two new characters to explore this season. What can you say about them?

One is Dr. Caitlin Lenox, played by Sarah Ramos of The Bear and Parenthood. Lenox is a very efficient — I don't want to say the word 'cold,' but it applies — personality. She is brought in by Goodwin to handle the increase in activity at the ED because of the [aforementioned] hospital closure. She is brought in to save money and make the treatment of patients more efficient.

It isn't that she is some cold-hearted doctor that is all about the money. She's considering all those elements, but she feels like you can actually do a disservice to patients by becoming too chummy with them, because it prevents you from moving on to the next patient, someone who is probably of equal need of care. It's about numbers, but for her, it is about numbers in a human way.

One of the reasons that I brought her in was because I wanted a foil for Dr. Archer. There's nothing I love more than a grouchy Steven Weber, and she will certainly bring that. I've already seen it in the Dailies; it's happening. They're so great in scenes together.

Our other character is Dr. John Frost, played by Darren Barnet of Never Have I Ever. He is a pediatrician who works at that hospital that is closing down. In the premiere, we see him coming in as an employee of that hospital in their scrubs. He is bringing in a little girl who has a possible neurological issue. They can't get an MRI at his hospital because they've sold it. He meets Maggie and she helps facilitate the young girl getting what she needs.

Frost is just a very warm-hearted guy, a great sense of humor, and very likable. He loves kids and he knows how to relate to him. He believes very strongly that you have to be very honest with children about their medical conditions. If there is a conversation that needs to be had about how to treat them, they should be involved in that, even if they are four or five years old. Not every parent agrees with that since some like to protect their kids from the truth, especially if the truth is bad. You'll see in episode 2 that this is one of the issues that arises.

Will Dr. Marcel's exit be addressed in the premiere, or do you think it was handled fully last season?

It's addressed in the premiere. I've been saying that I don't want to falsely tease that he's coming back. He's not. We explain where he went. My feeling was that at the end of season 9, he essentially was written out. It was done in such a way where he could have come back, but he's gone. He's dealing with the grief of losing his daughter several years before. He's never really confronted that.

– Get more insight on what is ahead on Chicago Med season 10

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