'Chicago Med' Season 5: A look back at Dr. Connor Rhodes's journey on the show
Breaking many hearts everywhere, Colin Donnell bid farewell to his character on 'Chicago Med' when the show returned for its fifth season last week. Donnell and Norma Kuhling (Ava Bekker) agreed to return for the premiere to close out their characters' storylines. While Ava killed herself knowing that she could be implicated for Connor's father's death, Connor left the hospital, presumably to deal with all the events that transpired over the last season with Ava and his father.
Fans were devastated on Connor's exit and hoped since he's alive, he might return sometime in the future. While we got a goodbye scene between him and Dr. Latham, Connor tasked Sharon with telling the rest of the hospital about him leaving. But we did get a nice moment between Connor and Dr. Will Halstead, where Will is preoccupied with Natalie and her supposed engagement to Phillip. It's a long way from the beginning of the series when Will and Connor would often butt heads, but grew to respect each other as friends and colleagues. Who remembers the moment when Connor tells Will, "you're a good doctor, the world needs good doctors, you a**".
Connor was an empathetic doctor and was not afraid to tell them the bad news, he knew what his patients needed and how they wanted to be treated, so Connor gave them that respect. Connor was one of the brightest doctors at Gaffney Chicago Medical Centre and headed the hybrid Operating Room (OR) when it was started in the last season. Connor's visibility meant the hospital could use him to pull in funding and his absence is certain to affect that.
Connor was also a great doctor because he was a great student. This is something the viewers got to see more for Connor than anyone else. There was Dr. Downey in Season 1 who later passes away with cancer. Then, there is Dr. Latham whose Aspergers meant that it took some time before the two were in sync. They too, by the time of Connor's exit, became friends.
What's certain is that Dr. Connor Rhodes and actor Colin Donnell will both be missed on the show. They were a big part of the defining moments of the show's beginning and it would be interesting to see where the show and the hospital would go without them.