‘Chicago Med’ EPs Break Down Connor’s Farewell in the Season 5 Premiere
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Season 5 premiere of Chicago Med, “Never Going Back to Normal.”]
The Chicago Med premiere was a wild ride that offered answers to May’s finale cliffhangers.
Over the hour, we learned that Ava (Norma Kuhling) did kill Connor’s (Colin Donnell) father — and when he refused to give her time to flee, she slit her own throat. He tried to save her, but there was nothing he could do. Natalie (Torrey DeVitto) is going to be okay, but she doesn’t remember the events leading up to the accident, which made it quite easy for Phillip (Ian Harding) to declare to the world — and her — that they’re engaged.
April’s (Yaya DaCosta) not pregnant, but kids could be in her and Ethan’s (Brian Tee) future. And Maggie (Marlyne Barrett) has been diagnosed with metastatic adenocarcinoma.
What comes next for the doctors at Med? TV Insider turned to executive producers Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov for answers.
When did you know how dark you were going to go with Connor and Ava’s story and that it would end like that?
Andrew Schneider: We thought of that last season. … When we decided that she had this personality disorder, it was not going to end well. She’s an obsessive person with a real emotional problem.
Diane Frolov: She was going to get him no matter what.
(Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
Were there any “must haves” you wanted for Colin Donnell’s last episode? I especially loved Connor and Dr. Latham’s scenes.
Schneider: That was crucial to us because that was his mentor. The scene with Goodwin, too, because she had brought him into the hospital. And also he had developed this relationship with Will over the course of the four years, so it was important they have some moments together. They started out antagonistic to one another, but eventually became good friends.
Where did you want to leave Connor, and is there a chance we’ll see him again?
Frolov: We wanted the audience to feel there was a closure to his story. He is leaving the hospital, but obviously he’s alive and well somewhere else, so we can bring him back.
Schneider: And he’s an actor that we all love to work with and admire, so we would be very interested in maybe having him come back.
Frolov: But it wouldn’t be immediate.
How worried should we be about Natalie medically and personally? Now she’s engaged without having a say in it.
Schneider: Very.
Frolov: She can’t remember, though she’ll be trying to put her memory back. We’ll jump ahead in the next ahead, [about] four to six weeks. She will have been in therapy, in recovery that whole time, and we’ll see her come back on her first day back, but it’s going to be a struggle for her. There’s going to be a lot of conflict with Will over what —
(Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
Schneider: — she was going to say that night. And she still doesn’t have her memory back. The question is, will it come back, and if so, when?
Frolov: And the question also is how does it affect her medical judgement? We’ll also be playing with that.
You mentioned the conflict with Will. He seemed very resigned about their future once he heard about the “engagement.” What’s next for him? When you pick up in the next episode, has he fully recovered?
Frolov: He’ll be better.
Schneider: But it’s very hard for him to let go of Natalie.
Frolov: He’s not going to just give up immediately. Right now, he’s thinking, ‘She must have been coming to tell me she was engaged,’ but then he’ll doubt that.
Schneider: And he won’t let go.
Let’s talk about Maggie’s diagnosis and decision to keep it and her treatment a secret. I’m not surprised, given that she’s the one who helps everyone else, but how realistic is that? Will Sharon continue to have a major role in that storyline?
Frolov: Yes, Sharon will. And that idea of keeping it under wraps is something that will become a story point.
Schneider: Will it be possible to do that given the treatments and how it’s going to affect her?
(Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
Frolov: Will she eventually need to let the rest of her family in on it?
Are we going to see anyone stepping up to help in the ED while still in the dark?
Schneider: Goodwin will try to bring people to pick up the slack, so it becomes a story issue for Maggie, who doesn’t want to lose her power and position and usefulness in the ED.
April and Ethan haven’t had the easiest time once they got together, but are they now in a good place for the foreseeable future? And are they looking at the same timeline to “someday” have kids?
Schneider: The issue of having a baby and getting married is a continuing one throughout this season. Initially, they are in a good place together, but there will be things that will bring conflict into their relationship.
Are we going to see his sister again?
Schneider: We might. We don’t have immediate plans to see her. But we do see her brother, Noah. He’s going to recur this season.
Frolov: And we do see the baby.
What changes can we expect to see in the hospital this season? We met Dr. Marcel in the premiere. How will he shake things up and are there be more new doctors coming?
Schneider: He’s our main new addition to the series, and he has a very different kind of point of view and energy. He’s just a different kind of guy than we’ve had. He will shake things up.
What’s coming up for Dr. Charles? He’s married, but is there a happy ending there?
Schneider: [His wife Caroline] has a terminal illness. The question is, how long does she have?
(Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
Frolov: We want to play the happiness of this marriage. We will see Charles in a different place than we’ve seen him.
Is that going to change how he approaches his work with his patients at all?
Schneider: It does.
Frolov: His wife is very inspiring to him.
What can you say about the big One Chicago crossover coming up?
Schneider: It’s going to air as our fourth episode.
Frolov: It’s different than what we’ve done in the past because it’s more like a three-hour movie. There’s a lot of crossover within the hour —
Schneider: — on all three shows.
Are we going to see any of the doctors or nurses taking on different roles or going out into the field?
Schneider: Yes. we do take our doctors out into the field to confront a health crisis potentially affecting the whole city.
Chicago Med, Wednesdays, 8/7c, NBC
