Chicago Med season 6 character preview: Daniel Charles

What will Chicago Med season 6 have in store for Daniel Charles?

With Chicago Med season 6 coming in just a few weeks, it’s time once again to preview the new season for each character and look ahead to fresh episodes.

Where did your favorite character leave off when we saw them last? What are the big facts that fans need to remember before the season premiere? Where should they go next in season 6 for the best outcome? And is that where they’ll actually end up, or what direction is the show likely to take them in based on what we know so far?

Check out our detailed character preview, and let us know your thoughts on where you’d like to see each character go and why in the comments.

In this article, we’re profiling Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt).

Where we left off

Charles continued to be a floater throughout Chicago Med this past season, assisting other doctors when their cases had some kind of psychiatric angle.

The show did tease medical student Dr. Elsa Curry (recurring guest star Molly Bernard) as a potential new mentee for Charles, having her assist him during season 5, but that relationship never completely flourished. Mostly, Curry called Charles out for his various issues.

After the series killed off his wife Caroline (recurring guest star Paula Newsome), the final few episodes of the season saw Charles trying to parent his teenage daughter, who thought that he was a bad father. So if you think about it, the poor guy didn’t have anyone who really liked him in season 5, except for Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson).

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What should happen

Frankly, having Charles remarry Caroline only to kill her off felt like really reaching for dramatic effect. All of the One Chicago shows have a tendency to choose the bad ending because it’s the most dramatic, but that particular plot twist felt so unfair. Charles and Caroline’s courtship felt rushed to begin with…and then she died. It was hard to figure out what the point was except to cause Daniel trauma.

Nor was the storyline with his daughter that interesting. TV is full of upstart teenagers, and her asking him if she was going to get taken away from him because he hadn’t been a great father just felt like another unnecessary kick in the gut.

He deserves to have something good happen (and not the easy route of another love interest). It should be something that fleshes Charles out more beyond being Sharon’s BFF and the guy that everyone calls for a psych consult. Oliver Platt makes him so much fun to watch, but with Reese gone, he’s really kind of fallen into a mold.

What will happen

With the show’s focus on the Emergency Department, Chicago Med season 6 will likely continue to move Charles from one plotline to another as more of a supporting character (as opposed to when he and Reese had their own storylines in the Psychiatric Department).

The writers might continue to look for a replacement for Reese, but it’s not clear where that person would even come from. The pairing of Charles and Elsa didn’t really work. Most of the other main characters are doctors with their own responsibilities. So is there going to be a new medical student for him to play off of? The show has to find somebody that he can work with for more than an episode at a time.

One good thing is for sure, though: we’ll see at least a scene or two between Charles and Goodwin, because the writers always serve up a couple of those per season, taking advantage of the great chemistry between Oliver Platt and S. Epatha Merkerson. So if nothing else, we’ll have those to look forward to.

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For the latest Chicago Med season 6 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Med category at One Chicago Center.

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