When Marlyne Barrett's departure from Chicago Med after 10 seasons was first announced earlier this summer, the news came as quite the shock to long-time fans. Barrett has starred as charge nurse Maggie Lockwood since the first since of the hit NBC medical drama, and she was one of the three last remaining original characters still featured as a main character.
While Barrett's departure was explained as taking personal time away from the show, and her privacy has been respected, Chicago Med season 11 still hasn't offered a concrete explanation for Maggie's absence. Except for a brief acknowledgement that Maggie isn't currently working at Gaffney, there are literally zero details about where she is, what she's doing, and if she'll be back.
Keep in mind, I'm only referring to Maggie's exit. We should all continue to respect Barrett's privacy and not pry with the questions we have for her character. Those are two completely different circumstances. Perhaps Chicago Med season 11 has opted out of offering details about Maggie's whereabouts out of respect for Barrett, but the fans need a little something in 2026.
Chicago Med showrunner Alan MacDonald addressed Maggie and Barrett's departures with People magazine ahead of the season 11 premiere, admitting that it's "unclear" if the character and actress will return. MacDonald also said that he would love for Barrett to come back to the series but didn't elaborate on any of our burning questions about Maggie.
Speaking of Maggie, the character has not been referenced since the season 11 premiere episode. Goodwin and Charles very briefly spoke about her leaving, with Goodwin saying that she hadn't "heard a peep" from Maggie since she left. They didn't mention where she left to or why she left, only that Doris has big shoes to fill while Maggie currently isn't at Gaffney.
Honestly, it's hard to know what to do when a series regular makes a seemingly temporary leave. Sometimes, shows are able to properly write out a character to give the actor time away, but Barrett's exit occurred in between season 10 and season 11. Maggie wasn't able to be written out in the season 10 finale, and she didn't have a storyline that could easily explain her absence.
Chicago Med doesn't need to fabricate a huge storyline for Maggie, since off-screen storylines very rarely work. But when season 11 resumes in January 2026, it would be smart for Maggie to be mentioned again, this time with a few more details about what she's up to. At the very least, the audience deserves to know if she's okay and where she ran off to.
The series not properly addressing Maggie's absence has been one of the few downsides of season 11, and that can be fixed very easily in the second half of season 11 with a simple line of dialogue. Maybe Goodwin even caught up with Maggie at Bert's funeral. That would allow Goodwin to speak to Maggie's whereabouts and give us a much more substantial update on her.
There's an elephant in the room in each episode of Chicago Med season 11. The show has largely continued without addressing said elephant and acting like Gaffney didn't lose a big piece of its heart. It doesn't feel right that the show seemingly swept Maggie under the rug. Again, that could be out of respect for Barrett, but to honor her, let's make sure to give Maggie her flowers.
Chicago Med season 11 returns with new episodes on Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 8/7c on NBC.