Chicago Med is short a cast member going into season 10, and this one hurts.
Dominic Rains' Crockett Marcel was in a precarious position as Chicago Med Season 9 ended, but with no official word that Rains was leaving, I hoped it was a false alarm.
Sadly, the news broke earlier today via Deadline that Rains is leaving Med.
Why This News Isn't Entirely Unexpected
Dr. Marcel seemed like he was getting more and more unhappy throughout Chicago Med Season 9.
Marcel was mentoring Zola for the first part of the season, but when she was fired for not following protocol, Dr. Archer blamed Marcel -- and Marcel listened.
He then tried to micromanage Dr. Tanaka-Reed to make up for his "mistakes" with Zola, leading to an unnecessarily tense situation.
Related: Chicago Med Season 10 Cast and Character Guide
Worse yet, Dr. Marcel lost a patient that triggered his trauma over his young daughter's death. Toward the end of the season, he fought for a kid to get a liver transplant even though the kid had a fever.
However, the infection was too much and he had to give up the liver -- and the boy died. Marcel then learned that the boy's father committed suicide.
Marcel was devastated and gave his next case to Tanaka-Reed before taking off. Later, he spoke with both Sharon and Maggie about how similar this was to his own situation, but promised Maggie he'd be back tomorrow.
I didn't know if he was staying or leaving past the end of the season, and prayed that he would stay, but apparently that was a set-up for his exit.
Why Chicago Med Losing Marcel Is Such a Big Deal
Marcel has been a major part of the series since Chicago Med Season 5, when he replaced Dr. Rhodes, who had left at the end of Season 4, and it's hard to imagine Med without him.
It took a while for me to warm to him -- at first, he seemed like a sleazy surgeon who cared more about getting into the nurses' pants than about medicine.
Later, however, his backstory about his daughter's death came out, and between that and his dedication to medicine despite his not-so-great bedside manner, he reminded me of my all-time favorite fictional doctor, Mandy Patinkin's Jeffrey Geiger from Chicago Hope.
Marcel also had big shoes to fill after Will left at the end of Season 8. He was now the longest-running doctor on the show except for Dr. Charles.
Now, for the second time in as many years, we will have to adjust to a major character being missing from the canvas. The series will go on, but it is going to be a difficult adjustment.
Marcel's absence isn't the only big change, either, as we are getting a new writing team after nine seasons, so there will be a lot of change to get used to all at once.
Related: Chicago Med Season 10: Everything We Know So Far About NBC's Flagship Drama
Chicago Med's Dr. Marcel Could Appear on a Recurring Basis
There is no news yet about how Marcel is to be written out, though we can guess it has something to do with the events of the season finale.
However, assuming he isn't killed off, he could appear occasionally as a consultant on difficult cases, somewhat like The Good Doctor's Dr. Glassman did after he retired during season 3 of that show.
Additionally, Marcel could conceivably appear in one or two episodes to wrap up his storyline. Since the decision was made recently for him to leave the series, there's still time for him to participate in one last episode.
Chicago Med Season 9 did this with Dr. Scott, who decided to leave Med at the end of the season premiere, so there's no reason the same thing couldn't happen for Marcel.
So far, news about Marcel's exit states only that Marcel will no longer be a series regular, so it's possible he could appear semi-regularly, though maybe that's wishful thinking on my part because Marcel was my favorite character.
Chicago Med May Be Rotating Cast to Save Money
Many broadcast shows are in dire straits financially because of the rise of streaming, and one way Chicago Med has planned to save money is by rotating cast members.
Dropping Marcel down to recurring would be one way to accomplish this, but there also may be other cast changes ahead. Even characters who are remaining as regulars on the series will likely only appear in a limited number of episodes, with NBC rotating cast members in each episode to save money.
This, in combination with the new writing team, promises to lead to big changes for Med, and it remains to be seen how it all shakes out.
Related: Chicago Med Review: [Marcel Is] Taking On Too Much
Over to you, Chicago Med fanatics. How hard has the news hit you about Marcel leaving the series? Will you miss him?
How do you feel about Season 10 now that you've learned this news? Hit the comments and let us know!
Chicago Med Season 10 will air on NBC on Wednesdays at 8/7c and stream on Peacock on Thursdays.