There are many reasons Chicago Med fans have been watching the hit TV show since the first season. As anyone who has seen the show will be able to attest, one of the most obvious reasons why people have invested in Chicago Med as a show is how great some of the characters are. However, the unfortunate truth is that recent seasons of Chicago Med have done things with the show’s characters that haven’t worked.

One of the most obvious things that Chicago Med has done wrong in recent years is making Dr. Daniel Charles’ personal life too miserable. On top of that, Chicago Med’s last few seasons have done a bad job with introducing new characters. Fortunately for the show’s fans, Season 10 is doing a much better job introducing new characters.

Why Chicago Med Did A Great Job Of Introducing Sarah Ramos As Dr. Caitlin Lenox

Since Chicago Med is currently in the midst of airing its 10th season, the show has had to introduce a lot of different characters over the years. In many cases, the show did a great job of introducing those characters.

However, over the last several years, many characters were introduced in a rather haphazard way that really didn’t work. Most notably, there were several characters who were introduced and then had their personal drama instantly come to the forefront. That really didn’t work, since it is near impossible to care about a character’s drama before you’ve become invested in them in general.

During the 10th season of Chicago Med, fans were introduced to Sarah Ramos as Dr. Caitlin Lenox. Fortunately for viewers, the way that Dr. Lenox was introduced to Chicago Med was much more effective, to say the least.

Throughout the history of medical dramas, there has been a trope that fans usually really, really hate.

That trope has been that after fans come to love the main characters, a new authority figure is introduced who is a power-hungry jerk. That new character will then proceed to make the main characters stop doing what fans love for several episodes until they lose power somehow.

The fact that many medical show showrunners have thought introducing a character that ruins what fans love has been a good idea is flabbergasting.

During the early episodes of Chicago Med’s 10th season, it seemed like Dr. Lenox was set to be the latest example of that trope.

Dr. Lenox’s introduction led to Steven Weber’s character, Dr. Dean Archer, losing his position as the head of the hospital’s Emergency Department. If that wasn’t enough, Dr. Lenox also questioned if Jessy Schram’s character, Dr. Hannah Asher, should continue working in the Emergency Department at all.

After a handful of episodes, however, Dr. Lenox quickly began to be fleshed out as a character. At that stage, it became obvious that Dr. Lenox wasn’t throwing her weight around in the Emergency Department. Instead, Dr. Lenox is simply very passionate about her work and all her efforts were meant to streamline the fight to save lives.

Furthermore, Dr. Lenox took another character under her wing, student doctor Naomi Howard, as portrayed by Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut. Importantly, Dr. Lenox didn’t suddenly have her heart melt and become nicer. Instead, Dr. Lenox simply recognized Naomi’s potential as a future doctor and pushed her to make that a reality.

In addition to everything that fans saw Dr. Lenox do in her career, they eventually learned more about her personal drama. After waiting enough episodes that fans had strong feelings about Dr. Lenox, Chicago Med finally gave viewers answers about why she behaves the way she does.

As it turns out, Dr. Lenox saw her mother pass away from a genetic disease when she was young. Dr. Lenox and her brother Kip both have a 50% chance of being diagnosed with the same disease and have promised each other to not get tested. That has resulted in Dr. Lenox feeling very driven to live a life of value, which has led to her being extremely dedicated to helping people as a doctor.

It is also important to note that Chicago Med’s portrayal of Dr. Lenox’s personality isn’t solely based around her potential health issues. Instead, Dr. Lenox has also said on the show that she has difficulty dealing with emotions. That personality trait also plays a role in how tunnel visioned Dr. Lenox is about making the Emergency Department run well.

How Chicago Med Expertly Introduced Darren Barnet As Dr. John Frost As Well

In addition to Chicago Med’s 10th season introducing Dr. Lenox, Darren Barnet also joined the show’s main cast as Dr. John Frost. Just like Dr. Lenox, it is impressive that Chicago Med did such a great job of introducing Dr. Frost, but in a very different way.

While Dr. Lenox was introduced as a no-nonsense character, Dr. Frost was very jovial. While it was quickly clear that Dr. Frost was a good doctor, his first episode featured him trying to flirt with Chicago Med’s beloved charge nurse, Maggie Lockwood, and utterly failing.

If that wasn’t enough to make Dr. Frost seem like he was introduced to add some fun to Chicago Med, the show hinted at a silly secret. Before too long, that secret was revealed and it turned out that Dr. Frost was a former child star. Notably, Chicago Med’s other main characters were also shown having a lot of fun joking about Dr. Frost’s former TV show.

After several episodes of Dr. Frost seeming like a fun character, the other shoe dropped and it was stunning.

To the surprise of Dr. Frost, one of his former co-stars from the TV show that made him famous, showed up in Chicago. Since she was preparing to portray a nurse in an upcoming acting role, Dr. Frost arranged for his former co-star to shadow Maggie. After Dr. Frost kept bumping into his former co-star in the hospital, it was revealed that they had a disturbing relationship when he was 15 and she was in her 30s.

There are definitely elements of this storyline that I just don’t like. For example, the truth is that kind of ongoing storyline simply isn’t what I want from Chicago Med. On top of that, the way Maggie reacted upon learning about Dr. Frost’s past felt wrong to me. While it was clear she wanted to help Dr. Frost, she didn’t seem as empathetic to him as I have come to expect from her character.

That said, I have to say that the way that Chicago Med introduced Dr. Frost was brilliant since this storyline clearly was the goal. After all, it is so much more impactful to see a character that fans like and thought was fun go through so much turmoil. With that in mind, it is staggering that previous seasons of the show would have new character almost immediately embroiled in that kind of drama.

Chicago Med

Release Date

November 17, 2015

Network

NBC

Showrunner

Michael Brandt

Directors

Michael Waxman, Michael Pressman, Charles S. Carroll, Milena Govich, Anna Dokoza, Bethany Rooney, Fred Berner, Tess Malone, Mykelti Williamson, SJ Main Muñoz, Donald Petrie, Martha Mitchell, Vincent Misiano, Timothy Busfield, Jonathan Brown, John Polson, Stephen Cragg, Anthony Nardolillo, Michael Berry, David Rodriguez, Afia Nathaniel, Oz Scott, Valerie Weiss, Gonzalo Amat

Writers

Joseph Sousa, Lily Dahl, Natalie Drayer, Darin Goldberg, Shelley Meals, Melissa R. Byer, Treena Hancock, Mary Leah Sutton, Simran Baidwan, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Jason Cho, Will Pascoe, Liz Brixius

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  Marlyne Barrett

  Maggie Lockwood

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  S. Epatha Merkerson

  Sharon Goodwin

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  Oliver Platt

  Dr. Daniel Charles

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  Nick Gehlfuss

  Dr. Will Halstead