8 Characters From One Chicago, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ & More Who Might Not Make It in 2026
Like every year, the 2025-2026 television season headed into its midseason break by leaving quite a few lives hanging in the balance across our favorite shows.
Whether we saw what happened (like the fallout of a hacker on 9-1-1: Nashville or a case gone wrong on Tracker) or just the aftermath (a car accident on Brilliant Minds or hearing what went wrong on Sheriff Country) or we just know something bad is about to happen (like a dangerous situation on Chicago Med), there are characters whose lives may completely change when the show resumes — or, die.
Below, we’re taking a look at the characters we worry won’t make it in 2026. Let us know who you’re worried about in the comments section.
Blythe, 9-1-1: Nashville
At the end of this 9-1-1 spinoff’s midseason finale, Nashville was under attack by a hacker (the same one who caused trouble during the mothership’s fifth season). When an alarm sounded, the horse Blythe (Jessica Capshaw) was on got spooked and threw her into barbed wire. Last we saw her, she was bloody. While based on what showrunner Rashad Raisani told TV Insider — “She has a tenacity and a grit and a toughness that belies the exterior sometimes, [and] we wanted to show that off about Blythe and about Jessica, about how tough she can be” — and the stories to still tell with her husband Don (Chris O’Donnell) and her father Edward (Tim Matheson), it doesn’t seem likely she’ll die, anything can happen.
Michelle, Brilliant Minds
The writing was on the wall from the moment Michelle (Stacey Farber) agreed to attend the gala with Van (Alex MacNicoll) after being reluctant and then didn’t show. It couldn’t be as easy as her just deciding against it. And so it was no surprise when the NBC medical drama’s fall finale ended with a glimpse at her unconscious, bloody, in her car following a crash. That will be enough for Wolf (Zachary Quinto) and Charlie (Brian Altemus) to put their conflict aside, Altemus confirmed to us: “As much as they have their personal vendettas, they are in the field of care, and they’re going to care for the people, for anyone, but especially people they care about.”
Van Meter, Chicago Fire
At the end of the Fire midseason finale, Severide (Taylor Kinney) and Van Meter (Tim Hopper) were unknowingly trapped, with an arsonist setting fire to the stairwell beneath them while they talked to the intended target. There’s no way the show is killing off Severide, but Van Meter? We hate to say it, but we’re predicting a tragedy.
Lenox, Chicago Med
We’ve been seeing the effects of her prion disease diagnosis on Lenox (Sarah Ramos) this season, and we think that came into play with how quickly she rushed over to the house of a patient (Olivia Nikkanen), whom she knew was being abused by her husband (Jack Falahee). But as the Med fall finale ended, said husband returned home and knocked Lenox out. What he’s going to do next is unknown, but we are very worried that she could, at the very least, become a patient in her own hospital.
Jo, Grey's Anatomy
Uh-oh, Grey Sloan may be about to lose one of its own on the operating table! The midseason finale saw Jo (Camilla Luddington) need a C-section, and while you’d think she and Link (Chris Carmack) have been through enough — there were fans certain that he’d die as a result of the finale-ending explosion last spring — if there’s anything TV or this show has taught us, it’s that more pain is always on the way. But would Grey’s really leave Link to raise four babies on his own (unless one or both of the twins dies, too)?
Oliver, The Hunting Party
The NBC drama returns with its second season early on in the new year (January 8), and when it does, it has to reveal if Oliver (Nick Wechsler) survives being poisoned by a serial killer. Last we saw him, it certainly looked he was dying in Bex’s (Melissa Roxburgh) arms. Still, “we want the audience to be rooting for his survival,” Roxburgh told us.
Travis, Sheriff Country
This is the definition of wrong place, wrong time. Travis (Christopher Gorham) is only at the sheriff’s station to try to convince his ex-wife Mickey (Morena Baccarin) to give things another go when it comes under siege — people trying to get to the patriarch of one of the town’s most powerful families in their custody. As Mickey learns over the radio, he’s shot, and it sounds like there’s a very real possibility that he doesn’t make it. His life “hangs in the balance and at an extremely emotional time where he is just on the heels of confessing to Mickey how he’s still in love with her and wants them to have another go at it. And Mickey is, I think, thinking about it and it’s obviously very, very dramatic,” showrunner Matt Lopez tells us. “You have to expose characters to jeopardy, right? I think it keeps the stakes alive, it grounds the show.”
Keaton, Tracker
Listen, Keaton (Brent Sexton) was in rough shape — bleeding out from gunshot wounds — before the fall finale-ending car crash as Colter (Justin Hartley) raced to get him to the hospital. “We went in there, we were going to kill him, but you’ll see what ends up happening,” showrunner Elwood Reid told TV Insider. “But it was an interesting thing because we did want a cliffhanger, but we knew it would be kind of BS to just have a cliffhanger with Colter in danger.”
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services