If there is one thing One Chicago fans have come to expect, it’s that there are going to be episodes when key members of the casts of Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD randomly miss an episode. This has come into play quite often this season due in part to the nature of the TV landscape which had seen reductions to the number of episodes series regulars have been appearing in.
While series regulars once appeared in every episode of the show, cost-saving means have seen series regulars missing the occasional episode within the season. Typically, when someone on the cast misses an episode, the creative team finds a way to work it into the episode somehow either as part of a bigger storyline such as when Mouch missed an episode taking care of Trudy following the crossover event or when Cruz missed the crossover because of his suspension. Other times the absence is unexpected and addressed quickly via a one-off line about how the character is off on vacation or out of town for some sort of work event like a conference or course.
These mentions at least give context the the viewers as to why the character did not appear in the episode, which is why it’s perhaps so surprising that the latest episode of Chicago Med did not make any effort to address the absence of Oliver Platt’s Dr. Daniel Charles.
Oliver Platt was not in Chicago Med season 10 episode 14 and no explanation was given
There was a lot going on in the fourteenth episode of Chicago Med, “Acid Test,” but amid the chaos fans likely picked up on the fact that Dr. Charles was not involved in any of the medical cases of the week. Not only did not he appear in the episode, but we didn’t get any explanation as to what he was up to such as having a day off or attending a medical conference. He just simply wasn’t in the episode and there was no explanation provided as to where he was.
The prior episode included a pretty major storyline for Dr. Charles with him going to bat for Jackie at her custody trial, only to then withhold his feelings for her and seemingly pushing her way. It seemed like this story would have some fallout in episode 14, exploring how Charles was processing Jackie’s comments and whether he was having second thoughts about how he reacted when she confessed her budding feelings for him.
We imagine there is more to the story for the pair and it’s likely we’ll revisit the thread in an upcoming episode. There are plenty of episodes left this season to explore where Charles and Jackie’s relationship might go, but we have to admit that it was a bit of a miss to drop the storyline in episode 14 and not include any mention at all of Dr. Charles. Even a quick note about him taking a personal day would have tied nicely into the storyline hinting that he took time off to process his feelings or clear his head.
Instead, the show just acted like fans wouldn’t even notice that Platt was missing in the episode and that’s a true shame.