The cast changes have come for Chicago Med, after shifts for Chicago Fire’s Firehouse 51 and for Chicago P.D.’s Intelligence Unit elsewhere in NBC’s Wednesday night lineup for the 2025 TV schedule. Just days after the exciting news broke that Nick Gehlfuss is returning to Med in Season 11, an original series cast member will be out for the premiere in October: Marlyne Barrett, who has played Nurse Maggie Lockwood on the One Chicago medical drama going back to the very beginning. It’s not all bad news, but I feel like the timing couldn’t be worse for a couple of reasons.
Marlyne Barrett Is Stepping Away From Chicago Med
Marlyne Barrett is stepping back from her role as a series regular for Chicago Med Season 11 starting with the upcoming premiere, according to Deadline, but there’s a silver lining to the medical drama losing one of its last three original cast members. The actress’ absence is expected to be temporary with the hope for her to return as Maggie, which worked just fine when Taylor Kinney stepped away from Chicago Fire for part of Season 11. Barrett is reportedly taking the break for personal reasons. The only two remaining full-time original cast members are S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin and Oliver Platt as Dr. Charles.
The Season 10 finale in the spring was emotional for Maggie, as she was involved in the case of two dying children needing one available set of lungs for transplant. The storyline was part of why Chicago Med had me crying back in May. She wasn’t involved in the big Hannah pregnancy cliffhanger or Goodwin’s quiet moment with Bert, though. Her departure won’t affect the biggest twists from the end of the Season 10 finale, and I wish Barrett only the best in her break.
That said, though nobody's fault, I still feel like the timing couldn’t be worse for Maggie as a character in the ED.
Why I’m Bummed About The Timing For Maggie’s Absence
While it’s not clear at the time of writing how Med will write Maggie out, I truly wish that Maggie was at least going to appear in the Season 11 premiere to set up whatever reason she’s going to be missing for a certain number of episodes. Chicago Fire admittedly pulled it off without having Taylor Kinney on hand for an on-screen goodbye before his break, and I of course hope that Marlyne Barrett gets all the time and privacy she wants during her time away from Med. I’ll just miss Maggie, and I hope that we get an explanation for her absence earlier rather than later in the season.
The other reason I wish that Maggie was going to be back full-time actually has to do with Nick Gehlfuss’ return as Will Halstead. It hasn’t yet been confirmed when he’ll be back or how many episodes he’ll be in, but I always enjoyed the dynamic between Will and Maggie. Did he get on her nerves sometimes? Sure, but he got on a lot of nerves when he’d flagrantly break hospital rules. The ED doctor was a fun fictional character to watch from the comfort of a couch from home, but his coworkers in-show couldn’t always share that joy!
I’m crossing my fingers that Marlyne Barrett is able to return as Maggie for an episode that Gehlfuss is featured in as Will, but we’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully Barrett will get the break she needs and be able to return to her longtime primetime home on NBC.
Chicago Med returns to NBC for the Season 11 premiere on Wednesday, October 1 at 8 p.m. ET, ahead of Chicago Fire Season 14 at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. Season 13 at 10 p.m. ET. You can also revisit any or all of Maggie’s best episodes of Med streaming with a Peacock subscription.
