Chicago Med producers talk diversity and who could come back

Chicago Med’s Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider discuss diversity in the hospital, and reveal which characters may come back in Chicago Med season 4.

The return of Chicago Med is less than a week away, and when the show comes back to NBC it’s going to answer everyone’s questions—and reveal a whole lot more.

Executive producers Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider spoke to One Chicago Center about tying up the loose ends from last season’s finale, and how diversity is an important part of not just the show’s casting, but the stories it tells.

They also revealed which fan favorite supporting character won’t be a major part of Chicago Med season 4, and which other characters might be making a comeback.

Most of next week’s season premiere is spent finishing up storylines from last season, which was a necessity. “If you set [storylines] up, you have to pay them off,” Andrew explained. “You have to honor your audience, what their expectations are.”

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“We started working on this [season] before we finished shooting last season,” Diane added. “It takes a long time ahead of when you see it, to figure it all out.”

The biggest addition is Gwen Garrett (Heather Headley). Introduced in the previous finale, Gwen is a recurring character in Chicago Med season 4, and she immediately butts heads with Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson).

“Sharon’s primary concern is patient treatment, Gwen’s primary concern is the bottom line, and they don’t always jive,” Andrew said.

“Gwen’s perspective is is this good for the hospital? Good for our bottom line? What’s for the greater good?” he added. “While Goodwin’s focus is, I’ve got to take care of this patient. I don’t care what this costs, I can’t have this patient die.”

It’s not just money that the two will fight about. “Immigration will be one of their conflicts,” Diane told us. “How do you treat people that are undocumented?

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There’s another component to the storyline, too, in that both Goodwin and Gwen are women of color in positions of authority. “We thought it would be very interesting that you had two black women who had two different points of view,” Diane said of having Gwen be African-American.

“We didn’t want the conflict between these two people to have a racial aspect,” Andrew agreed. “We wanted them to be, in a way, mirror images of each other with different points of view.”

The duo said that diversity is “absolutely” a consideration on Chicago Med with every script, but it’s not only about the casting process—it can also influence the writing of certain episodes.

“We have a casting concept meeting on each episode and we look at the guest cast,” Andrew said. “We say is there any concern, can this be anybody? Mostly we say this is open to anybody.”

The only exception, Diane explained, is that “Sometimes a disease is more prevalent in a certain ethnicity.”

“Chicago’s a diverse city,” Andrew added. “We ought to reflect that.”

What about Chicago Med‘s existing recurring characters? If you were hoping that the new season would bring back Dr. Isidore Latham, unfortunately that’s not happening. Andrew and Diane told us Ato Essandoh‘s character will still have a small role in season 4.

“We have the same issue with the actor. He’s still on another series,” Andrew said, referring to Essandoh’s casting in the upcoming CBS drama The Code. “So we have limited use of him, but we love him.

However, they are considering bringing back two other recurring characters—whose returns, if they happen, would have a huge impact on the show.

“We’re thinking about bringing Robin [Mekia Cox] back,” Diane teased,” and Vicky [Ethan Choi’s ex-girlfriend, played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson] back.”

For the latest Chicago Med season 4 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Med category at One Chicago Center.