If you’re watching Chicago Med season 11, episode 6, “The Story of Us,” you might notice a main character from the show is nowhere to be found in the episode. That would be Dr. Daniel Charles, played by Oliver Platt, who does not appear in the latest episode of NBC’s medical drama.
Fear not, though, Dr. Charles has not left the show and will return in episode 7, airing November 12! This is once again an instance of the show needing to write its actors out of episodes on occasion due to budget constraints, resulting in series regulars, such as Platt, missing two to four episodes each season.
Typically, these absences are explained away in the episodes with a one-off line between two other characters. That was not the case for Dr. Charles, though.
Where was Dr. Charles in Chicago Med season 11, episode 6?
So where was Dr. Charles in Chicago Med season 11, episode 6? He was trading in the Windy City for the Miami sun!
At the end of episode 5, Dr. Charles was seen heading out through the lobby with a suitcase in hand as he thanked his daughter, Anna, for house-sitting. When he bumped into Goodwin, we learned that he was leaving Chicago to head down to Miami for a medical conference of some kind.
Given that the events of episode 6 pick up not long after episode 5, it seems that Dr. Charles’ absence in the episode is a result of him being out of town for the medical conference. Of course, it would have been nice for the show to give fans a little reminder of this in the actual episode, but at least an explanation was provided in the previous episode.
We’ve seen some exits this season that came with no explanation at all. This happened in episode 5 when Frost was missing without any reasoning provided to explain where he was during the episode. We were just left to assume he was off shift and thus not working that day.
The good news is that Dr. Charles will not be out of town for too long! He’s set to return in episode 7, and he’s not the only familiar face returning in the episode. Photos from the episode reveal that Manish Dayal will be back as Dr. Theo Rabari, and it seems that he’ll once again be working alongside Dr. Charles on a case at Med!
We also know that the episode will be the fall finale, so the episode should be an eventful one for the show. So hopefully Dr. Charles got a little rest in Miami, as he's likely going to have a lot on his plate upon his return.