With changes already being made behind the scenes, Chicago Med season 10 is seeing a cast shakeup with the departure of Dominic Rains. Rains was first introduced to the One Chicago franchise with the medical-driven show in season 5, serving as one of the main trauma surgeons following the departure of Colin Donnell's Dr. Rhodes and making recurring crossover appearances in the other shows in the interconnected universe. NBC confirmed in March 2024 that Chicago Med season 10 would be moving forward with its main cast expected to return, though under the new leadership of Allen MacDonald following the departure of co-showrunners Diane Frolov and Andy Schneider.
Deadline has brought word that Rains will officially not be returning for the Chicago Med season 10 cast after being a main star for five seasons of the hit NBC show. The news comes on the heels of the shocking season 9 finale setting up a potential exit for the Dr. Crockett Marcel actor after facing a traumatic event regarding one of his patients. At the time of reporting, the reason for Rains' exit as a series regular is unknown, nor is it clear whether he will still appear in a recurring or guest capacity in the next season of the show.
Rains' Chicago Med Exit Continues A Worrying One Chicago Trend
Though the report doesn't indicate whether Rains' Dr. Marcel is gone for good in the show, it does seem likely that if he does return for Chicago Med season 10, it will only be a brief appearance in the premiere to fully write him off. The season 9 finale saw Crockett grappling with his own past trauma as he refused to operate on a liver transplant for a young boy over concerns of an infection, which led to the death of both the young patient and his father, who took his own life out of devastation. This, in turn, brought up unfortunate memories of his own baby daughter's death from leukemia.
With the finale seeing S. Epatha Merkerson's Sharon offering Crockett to take an undetermined amount of time off to recuperate from the situation, it would make the most sense for Chicago Med season 10 to feature him in the premiere as he officially tenders his resignation. Whether Rains does make an appearance, though, his exit from the show does continue a troubling recent trend of the One Chicago franchise losing so many creatives both in front of and behind the camera.
Beyond Chicago Med's Rains and former showrunners Frolov and Schneider, both Chicago Fire and Chicago PD have been rocked by a number of cast exits in recent years, including Tracy Spiridakos' Upton, Rome Flynn's Gibson and Kara Killmer's Brett & Jesse Spencer's Casey, who married and moved to Portland together. Given all of the One Chicago shows continue to prove successful in viewership for NBC, it seems they will need to find a way to convince more of its stars to stick around in order to avoid alienating fans too much about the loss of their favorite characters.
