How will Chicago Med move on without Connor and Ava?

Connor Rhodes and Ava Bekker are leaving Chicago Med, but what will Chicago Med look like without Colin Donnell and Norma Kuhling’s characters?

The next season of Chicago Med won’t be the same. That’s a given after the news that Norma Kuhling and Colin Donnell won’t be returning in season 5, because of “creative decisions” that took the show in a different direction.

The question is, what is that direction supposed to look like?

That’s what’s being overlooked in the discussion of Donnell and Kuhling’s exits. It’s not just about Chicago Med not having storylines for Dr. Connor Rhodes and Dr. Ava Bekker; this is about how the characters’ absence is going to permanently change the series.

Cast changes happen all the time, many of them dictated by storylines. But these aren’t ordinary cast changes.

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Connor Rhodes is one of Chicago Med‘s most popular characters, and its most dynamic. Losing him means not only deserved fan backlash, but also a significant drop in screen presence.

Between the intensity with which he always carries himself and how versatile he is, every time Connor appears on screen, he commands attention—either because fans want to watch him specifically, or because he’s doing something that the audience needs to know about.

No other character has that same level of intensity. That’s not to say that they aren’t worth watching, but Colin Donnell has an energy that holds onto the audience. And Connor Rhodes, our trauma surgeon turned cardiothoracic surgeon turned some kind of combination of the two, can do things that the other characters just can’t.

Losing him also eliminates a number of interesting secondary storylines. No longer will Chicago Med have someone who can connect the medicine and the business of medicine—the doctor whose father is on the hospital board, whose mother is the namesake of the psychiatric wing. Even Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) hasn’t been as interesting in showing the conflicts between the two as Connor, because for Connor it’s personal.

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Connor’s background is a unique identifier that separates him from the rest of the main cast, who are mostly working-class, blue-collar doctors and nurses. Connor comes from a different social class, a different history (having ventured to other countries), and just a different way of looking at the world. All of that is gone now with Chicago Med getting rid of him.

Don’t discount the loss of Ava Bekker, either. With everything that Chicago Med has pinned to her, her eventual exit could be a major black eye for the hospital. If anything Ava’s been accused of is true, or even becomes public, then there has to be some kind of internal investigation and scandal.

That would be disaster for a hospital that once wanted to tout Connor as a rising star to draw more patients in; if it’s using its doctors for good PR, one who’s been manipulating cases for her own gain is conversely going to be terrible PR that should push business away from the building that’s been in financial trouble for two seasons now.

And here’s something else to consider: with both Connor and Ava gone, the cardiothoracic team will no longer be represented on the show. Dr. Isidore Latham has largely vanished (given that Ato Essandoh is busy with other projects), so unless the series hires other heart surgeons, that will no longer be a part of the series.

The show that was once so varied will now be entirely about what’s happening in the Emergency Department, with the occasional psych assist from Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt). That’s a much narrower scope, and takes away one of the big aspects that separated this series from the many other medical programs on TV.

Perhaps that’s what Chicago Med wants to do from here on out, but for a series that’s saying it doesn’t have enough stories for Ava and Connor, it’s also taking away storylines by not keeping them around.

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.