What happened to Crockett on Chicago Med? (Dominic Rains exit explained)

Cast shakeups are nothing new for Chicago Med as the long-running medical drama has undergone many casting changes across its ten seasons. Many actors within the One Chicago Universe have come and gone over the years, and Chicago Med has most certainly seen some of the biggest shakeups over the years including in the show’s tenth season which brought about the exit of Dominic Rains after five seasons on the show as Dr. Crockett Marcel. 

After making his debut in season 5, Crockett became a favorite character for viewers, and the character quickly developed into one of the show’s strongest characters. As the seasons passed, Crockett became more and more central to the show’s core storylines with the character emerging as one of the key characters in the series. 

It’s for this reason that his exit in the show’s tenth season left fans so shocked and disappointed, with many questions about his exit and whether we could see him again someday. 

What happened to Dr. Crockett Marcel on Chicago Med?

In the season 10 premiere of Chicago Med, it is revealed that Crockett left Chicago and moved to Boston. We learn that his friends at Gaffney Medical Center threw him a going-away party before he left, but that’s pretty much the extent of what we learn about Crockett’s exit. 

While it was revealed that Crockett left Chicago for Boston, we don’t quite know what took him to Boston as there was no context behind the move aside from the fact that Crockett left Chicago presumably for a fresh start. Whether that means taking a position at a new hospital or simply taking some time away from medicine is unclear, but we’d like to think that Crockett is somewhere in Boston still making a difference in the medical field. 

Interestingly, Crockett’s departure was teased in the season 9 finale after his future was left up in the air following an episode that saw him struggling with the tragic loss of a former patient and the patient’s father. 

Earlier in the season, Crockett had to make the difficult decision to deny a liver transplant to a young boy who would die without it due to the boy developing an infection that prevented him from safely having the transplant. Knowing that the infection could not be treated in time and that another patient was in need of a liver transplant, Crockett made the decision to allocate the liver to the patient without the infection. The boy’s father was understandably angered by the decision and told Crockett his son wouldn’t make it without the transplant, and sadly that was true.

After his son died, the father took his own life and this news rocked Crockett in the seaosn 9 finale. We saw him struggling with his own grief over the loss of his daughter, and he walked out on a surgery unable to focus after learning the news. 

There’s a reason why Chicago Med didn’t bring Dominic Rains back for season 10

As season 9 came to a close, Crockett confided in Maggie about how the news about his patient and the death of his patient’s father not only left him questioning whether he made the right call but also left him struggling with his own grief. In talking with Maggie, Crockett told her that he had thrown himself into his work after the loss of his daughter and questioned whether that was perhaps the best way to deal with his pain.

The scene concluded with Crockett telling Maggie that he’d be back tomorrow, but to many, the conversation felt like a goodbye and this is exactly why the creative team decided not to bring Dominic Rains back for an on-screen sendoff in season 10’s premiere. 

As new showrunner Allen MacDonald told One Chicago Center, the decision not to bring Dominic Rains back for an on-screen sendoff in the season 10 premiere stemmed from the creative team behind the show had already written the character out and that a return was not needed.

“The reason I decided to do that was just simply I felt that Dr. Crockett Marcel had already been written out at the end of last season," Donald told One Chicago Center when discussing the decision for Crockett’s exit to unfold off-screen. "It was left in a way that he could come back or if he left it, it was understandable that he had some issues of his own that he needed to work out in terms of his grieving process for the loss of his daughter. I didn't really feel there was a need to bring him back to write him out because I felt that had been done."

It’s unclear why Dominic Rains left Chicago Med

Although the show explained his character’s exit within the season 10 premiere, it remains unclear why exactly Dominic Rains left Chicago Med after five seasons on the show. 

Rains has yet to release any statement about his departure from the show, which leads us to believe that his exit was the result of the creative team which would make sense given the way in which the season 9 finale left the character’s storyline. 

It’s not uncommon for actor exits to stem from creative decisions made by the showrunners and writers, as many actors in the One Chicago Universe have exited the series as a result of storylines implemented within the series. Given Rains' exit occurred after season 9 ended and before season 10 began, it’s likely that the finale storyline was introduced as a way to write the character out of the show and the decision was made not to bring his character back as a result. 

From what we can tell, Rains left on positive terms and the door has been left open for him to possibly return in the future as we’ve seen many characters leave Chicago Med only to later return for guest appearances or even to return in a more regular role again. While no return is currently planned for Rains or his character, you can never rule out a return someday.