On Monday, October 7, Nick Gehlfuss, Torrey DeVitto, Brian Tee, Yaya Dacosta of Chicago Med joined us in a roundtable discussion about the upcoming crossover episode/s—set to air October 16 on NBC.
Some major talking points were: new arrivals in the hospital, the emotional status of the characters and dealing with trauma, and what obstacles to expect as the stakes are raised this season.
This season, there’s a new arrival in the hospital. We’ve got Marcel in there. How will Will and Natalie react to this guy?
Nick Gehlfuss: “You know what’s interesting, the way they introduced him…he’s a night shift guy and when this accident happened, we all came in the night, and we lost a lot of doctors and he’s now on our regular rotation. And so, not a lot of us know much about this guy, but he’s a little dry, his sense of humor is dry. He’s pretty direct and tells it how it is. And I think that can be a little off-putting for some of us, but as far as our characters, we don’t really have a lot with him quite yet.”
At the end of this last episode, Will asked Natalie, ‘Do you love Phil?’ And she didn’t answer the question, so what do you think was said?
Torrey DeVitto: “Well, you know what’s funny? I did answer the question, they just edited it out. Yeah. So that was an editor’s choice, which I always find to be fascinating. So I know, but there’s a part of me that’s like, do I even tell the fans? Because I think they wanted it to be ambiguous. But I do know what Natalie said, and I think people forget how much trauma she’s been in as well. She’s been in a helicopter crash, she got left at the altar, her bloody fiancé shows up and gets taken away. So she has a lot of trauma, her husband has passed. So I think sometimes when somebody goes through that much trauma, they just want to cling to something that could potentially be stable even if the back of their mind is telling them all the warning signs. You just want to ignore things because you’re like, please, God, just make one thing go right. So I kind of think that’s where she’s at.”
Is Will going to push Natalie about this Philip stuff?
Nick Gehlfuss: “Will takes invested interest in Natalie’s ability to do her job and if she’s just being smart and safe with herself. So he sidelines with her a lot on a lot of the cases. And he’s really worried about her. There’s some things she’s doing that are questionable as far as taking care of her patients and Will thinks that she’s unsafe in the work environment and also, Will really wants to know what she was going to say that night when she came to his car. And so throughout all of this, the line gets blurred on what is really driving his intentions at certain points. But he is single again, folks.”
Where is he at with this season? Has he worked through some stuff or does he still have some things that he needs to deal with?
Nick Gehlfuss: “I think he’s got some stuff that he needs to deal with as well, but he was going to therapy at the end of last season, which any person should after what he’s dealt with. But he’s really taking an interest in Natalie, so far of what I know.”
Where is Ethan mentally in this season after giving so much of himself to others?
Brian Tee: “I think that’s Ethan’s MO, I think that’s what he does. To be completely honest, I think Ethan and April’s relationship is what gives him purpose. I think he’s found a soulmate, he’s found the one. I don’t think he would talk to anyone about having children if he didn’t know. Ethan is a very to the point human being and when he’s focused on something he knows. And I feel like the relationship has blossomed and developed into this beautiful loving situation where he feels safe and open and you don’t really see that with Ethan at all. Only with April do you really see the light in him. I feel the audience needs to see more of and hopefully this relationship will develop into more situations where there’s family and marriage and all this kind of stuff…And I feel like, when you put these two together, because of what they created, it really has this wonderful depth. It has the beautiful weight to it that I feel the audience really truly believes that they should be together. So when they do fight, it’s real. It’s filled with love, but things happen. And I would love to see more of those scenes than just kind of the typical melodrama that you see on other television shows.”
What kind of challenges are ahead for your characters?
Yaya Dacosta: “A lot. April as an individual faces some challenges with her brother who we get to see more of again in the hospital. Also some new challenges surrounding womanhood, you see her go through a motherhood challenge in the past with a miscarriage and just remembering that and encountering new obstacles is definitely just a part of those growing pains. So we’re going to delve into that world. And then the relationship, some more growing pains. But like Brian said, all coming from a very real place of nurture. I think it’s a really authentic and beautiful relationship, and so I’m really hoping to see it continue forward and continue to be one of the dopest couples on TV.”
Brian Tee: “I think Ethan’s focused on work right now. You guys have seen episode two. And I truly feel like he’s in his lane. I think he has his soulmate. Work is what he does best. He’s really passionate about both situations. He’s thinking about the bigger picture, he’s thinking down the line, but in those particular situations, I think he’s navigating that it’s not always that easy. There’s always a journey, there’s always a focus. And I feel like given the relationship, it’s always undertone with this love and I think that with that, Ethan’s always going to try to fight for it, not fight against it.”
With Maggie doing the things she has to deal with, is there a chance we see April step into that role? How does her role change?
Yaya Dacosta: “Well, we’ve seen April step into that role in past seasons in different capacities. Sometimes it’s for a day, a couple days a week. And yeah, I think it’s fair to expect some of that.”
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