Chicago Med’s Colin Donnell guest stars in Arrow season 8 premiere

Chicago Med alum Colin Donnell is reprising his role as Tommy Merlyn in tonight’s Arrow season 8 premiere. Here’s everything we know about it.

If you’re one of the Chicago Med fans who’s been missing Colin Donnell, you’re in luck: he’s back on TV tonight in the Arrow season premiere.

Donnell was a series regular in the first season of Arrow, playing Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) best friend Tommy Merlyn. Though his character was killed off at the end of the season, he’ll be popping up in tonight’s episode “Starling City.”

It’s not clear how Tommy comes back this time—he’s returned several times—but he’s one of a few characters coming back to kick off Arrow season 8, which also happens to be the show’s last season.

While One Chicago viewers are still disappointed that Colin Donnell is no longer on Chicago Med, he’s been pretty busy since it was announced this spring that he was leaving the show.

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He’s currently starring as Russell Hammond in Almost Famous: The Musical, which has been getting rave reviews at The Old Globe in San Diego. You have a little less than two weeks left to see it if you haven’t already; the production is currently scheduled to end its run on Oct. 27. Tickets are on sale here.

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In addition, the independent film Sell By—which he shot between seasons of Chicago Med—is making the rounds on the festival circuit. Colin previously sat down with us to talk about the film; you can read that interview here.

So while Dr. Connor Rhodes is very much missed in the One Chicago universe, Colin Donnell is perhaps busier than he’s been in a long time, and doing some great projects. Tune into Arrow tonight, not only to support one of our most talented alums but also because fans know he’s going to give a wonderful performance.

Tommy Merlyn remains one of the show’s most beloved characters, even close to a decade later, because of Colin and how earnest and charming he made the character. Tommy has still, despite his death, often served as an emotional rock to Oliver—so however he comes back this time it’ll probably still pull at the heartstrings.

Arrow airs tonight at 9 p.m. on The CW. You can also stream the episode here. While a trailer for the premiere isn’t officially available, the network did post a brief clip of Stephen Amell discussing some of his favorite scenes:

For the latest Chicago Med season 5 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Med category at One Chicago Center.