To say Chicago Med season 10 has been a rough one for Ripley would be the understatement of the year.
The season began with Ripley at risk of losing his job when he was identified as a suspect in the assault of Pawel, only for his name to eventually be cleared when it was revealed that Sully was behind the attack. Things started to look up for Ripley from there until Sully’s death sent him into a spiral that saw him making one bad choice after another.
Ripley finally hit rock bottom when he got into a fight with a man outside a bar after another night of drinking, then proceeded to treat the man when he was brought into the E.D. due to injuries sustained in the fight. When the truth about his connection to the man came to light in an explosive confrontation between Ripley and Frost, Goodwin had no choice but to suspend him without pay with termination likely.
We didn’t think things could get any worse from there, but then Ripley ended up literally buried alive after racing into action to help a young girl and her mother who had become trapped in a well. The ordeal nearly resulted in Ripley losing his life, but thankfully the firefighters were able to get to him in time and saved his life.
While Ripley survived his brush with death, his future remains very much uncertain as his suspension remains in place and his job is very much in jeopardy. The deck is stacked against him, but it seems all hope is not lost.
Speaking with TVLine before episode 15’s release, Luke Mitchell hinted that he has no plans to leave the show and very much wants to continue working on NBC’s long-running medical drama.
“Personally, I hope that he wins favor back from Goodwin, and she changes her mind, and the board makes the decision to keep him around because that means I still have a job, and I very much like working on Chicago Med. [Laughs] But we’ll have to wait and see. I think that would be more of a redemption arc for Ripley,” Mitchell teased when asked about Ripley’s future at Gaffney.
Honestly, we completely agree with him that Ripley winning favor back from Goodwin and getting the chance to return to Gaffney is the redemption arc we’re rooting for as we can’t imagine Chicago Med without Mitchell. After his near-death experience, we imagine Ripley is going to have a new lease on life and we’re eager to see how he’ll pick up the pieces of his life in order to get back on track.
Plus losing an actor like Luke Mitchell would be a major miss as he's become one of the show's most complex characters, one we can't help but to root for even when he's not making the best decisions. We deserve to see Ripley get a second chance and his return to Med following his suspension would open the door for some amazing storylines.